Predecessors of NITV Indigenous groups and individuals lobbied the
Australian Government to fund a nationwide Indigenous television service in the 1980s and 1990s, however no major political party championed this cause. The
Alice Springs (Mparntwe) based
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association received a licence to cover the remote parts of the
Northern Territory and
South Australia in 1988. With this it launched the
Nine Network affiliate
Imparja. This licence was later extended to include the remote parts of eastern Australia and Norfolk Island as well. For a time it carried a central Australian news program, and an Indigenous children's program. In the late 1990s, Imparja launched the free-to-view
Imparja Info Channel (also known as
Channel 31) on the satellite
Optus Aurora service, providing largely Aboriginal programming directly to homes and via a network of BRACS transmitters to remote Aboriginal communities. In 2001, the Alice Springs-based
Indigenous Community Television (ICTV) was formed, and organised most of the Aboriginal programming on this channel. In 2004, Imparja stated a desire to run a better funded Indigenous service, at least within its license area. In the same year, a voluntary NITV Committee was formed and a summit was held in
Redfern, Sydney. The summit involved a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media professionals and community members committed to the establishment of a national Indigenous broadcasting service. Following an Australian Government review in 2005, the Government announced $48.5 million in funding for NITV. Meanwhile, the Imparja Info Channel was replaced by a full-time ICTV channel in 2006.
Establishment In 2007, NITV established a head office in Alice Springs and a television arm in Sydney. On 13 July 2007 NITV launched, replacing ICTV on Optus Aurora and in the remote Aboriginal communities it previously reached. It soon after also became available free-to-air on Optus D1 to Australia and eastern
Papua New Guinea. NITV launched on 1 November 2007 on
Foxtel and
Austar's satellite services on channel 180, with it becoming available on their cable services soon after. It showed Australian programs and sports like
The Marngrook Footy Show, and the annual
NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout. On 27 October 2008, NITV was added to Sydney's
Digital Forty Four datacasting service on channel 40. On 30 April 2010, this service shut down.
Under SBS In 2010, the Australian government commissioned a wide-ranging review of its investment in the Indigenous broadcasting and media sector. The review was headed up by retired senior public servant
Neville Stevens with the assistance of Expert Panel members Laurie Patton and
Kerrynne Liddle. The review recommended that NITV continue to receive government funding only on the basis that it was re-structured. Subsequently, Communications Minister
Senator Stephen Conroy invited NITV to enter in negotiations with the
Special Broadcasting Service to access one of that network's unused digital terrestrial channels. On 8 May 2012, the SBS received $15 million per-year in government funding dedicated to a new free-to-air Indigenous Australian channel which would replace the existing NITV in July 2012, with 90% of staff transferring to this new channel. SBS took over the management and operation of NITV on 1 July 2012, and NITV was re-launched on 12 December 2012 by SBS as a free-to-air channel on
Freeview channel 34. The channel launched with a live
special from
Uluru,
From the Heart of Our Nation, followed by a special episode of
Living Black focusing on Indigenous broadcasting and media in Australia. A
prime time Celebration Concert was also aired on NITV and
SBS One, featuring performances from Uluru by Indigenous musicians. Tanya Denning-Orman, a
Birri Gubba and
Guugu Yimidhirr woman was appointed to lead NITV, a position she retains into 2021. Denning-Orman was appointed SBS's first Director of Indigenous Content in early 2012. In December 2020, changes were made to NITV's senior content editorial leadership team: Kyas Hepworth (née Sherriff) was appointed Head of Commissioning and Programming; Rhanna Collins to Head of Indigenous News and Current Affairs;
Karla Grant, while remaining host of
Living Black and
Karla Grant Presents, expanded her role, becoming Executive Producer, Living Black & Special Projects. The following year, NITV marked its tenth anniversary as a free-to-air channel. NITV announced in May 2023 that it would be abandoning its official Twitter account, citing the "racism and hate" that the network encounters daily on the platform. On 31 October 2023, as part of SBS' 2024
upfronts, it was announced that NITV would become a high-definition channel on 5 December 2023, using channel 34. A standard-definition simulcast was also made available on channel 36. The following week, NITV marked its eleventh anniversary as a free-to-air channel. ==Programming==