At the absolute last moment, a day before the axe fell, Minister Fletcher gave the community broadcasters in Melbourne and Adelaide a reprieve of another 12 months. It did not come in a spirit of generosity.
‘It’s been our policy since 2014, that these community television stations should move to operating in a digital mode’, he told the ABC’s Q+A program on Monday night. ‘And both channel 31 in Melbourne and Channel 44 in Adelaide have several times said yes, they’re going to make that transition. They have been extended several times. I’ve agreed now and we’ll be announcing it formally tomorrow to extend for further 12 months just for those both of those channels.’
