Digital Forty Four
CountryAustralia
Broadcast areaSydney
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
OwnerBroadcast Australia
History
Launched17 March 2004; 19 years ago (2004-03-17)
Closed30 April 2010; 13 years ago (2010-04-30)
Availability
Terrestrial
SD Digital4; 40-49; 401-407

Digital Forty Four was a Sydney-only trial datacasting service that was licensed by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (now the Australian Communications and Media Authority) beginning on 17 March 2004 for an initial two-year run until 31 December 2006.[1][2] The license was extended on several occasions past 2006,[3] however on 29 January 2010 it was announced that Broadcast Australia's datacasting licence for Digital Forty Four would not be extended past 30 April 2010.[4] At midnight on 30 April 2010, all services from Digital Forty Four ceased broadcasting.[5]

The services provided at various times during its six years of operation have included a television guide for free-to-air television, a community service channel providing information on road, weather and surf conditions, with live broadcasts every fifteen minutes, the Australian Christian Channel, Expo shopping channel, NITV, Teachers TV information channel and live broadcasts of the meetings of the Australian Parliament, with audio-video coverage of the House of Representatives and Senate.

Channels

Under conditions associated with the datacasting licence, channels on the Digital Forty Four service had to be either text based or narrowcast services. Entertainment programming was not allowed on the service, however some programming on the Australian Christian Channel was shown in a reduced screen format with text content around it, as that satisfied the datacast requirement.

Channel lineup prior to trial end[6]
DVB name LCN Launch date Discontinued date Notes
Channel 4 4 2008 30 Apr 2010 Video program guide for free-to-air and D44 channels.
NITV 40 27 Oct 2008[7] 30 Apr 2010 Existing subscription channel added to D44 service. Remains available on subscription satellite and cable television. Available free-to-air on LCN 34 via SBS since 12 December 2012.
ABC News, Sport and Weather 41 17 Mar 2004[1] 30 Apr 2010 Text only.
D44 Homepage 42 17 Mar 2004 30 Apr 2010 Broadcast on LCN 44 prior to addition of TVS in March 2010. Simulcast on LCN 40 prior to addition of NITV on 27 Oct 2008.
Television Sydney 44 Mar 2010 30 Apr 2010 Existing digital community television channel added to D44 service.
Teachers TV 45 3 Nov 2008[7] 30 Apr 2010 Broadcast on LCN 47 (shared with House of Representatives channel) until 30 June 2009.
Australian Christian Channel 46 2004[8] 30 Apr 2010 Existing subscription channel added to D44 service. Remains available on subscription satellite and cable television.
Federal Parliament House of Representatives 47 17 Mar 2004 30 Apr 2010 Live video/audio feed of House of Representatives sessions.
Broadcast on LCN 401 until 3 November 2008, LCN 47 shared with Teachers TV from 2008-09 (broadcast when the House was not in session).
Federal Parliament Senate 48 17 Mar 2004 30 Apr 2010 Live video/audio feed of Senate sessions.
Broadcast on LCN 402 until 3 November 2008.
Expo 49 2006 30 Apr 2010 Existing shopping channel added to D44 service. Still available on Foxtel subscription television.

Former Channels

As it was a long term trial, many channels that started on the service did not continue until the cessation of broadcasts.

DVB name LCN Launch date Discontinued date Notes
Channel NSW 45 17 Mar 2004 1 Jul 2009 Community channel broadcasting real time traffic, coast watch information and government announcements owned by the Government of New South Wales. Channel space replaced by Teachers TV.
Macquarie Digital 47 12 Oct 2004[9] 11 Jun 2007 Broadcast financial information. Owned by Macquarie Group.
SportsTAB 48 17 Mar 2004 1 Jan 2005[10] Broadcast sports betting odds.[1]
House of Representatives
Main Committee 		403 17 Mar 2004 3 Nov 2008 Live video/audio feed of House of Representatives Main Committee sessions.
House of Representatives Committee Room 1 404 17 Mar 2004 3 Nov 2008 Live video/audio feed of House of Representatives Room 1 sessions.
House of Representatives Committee Room 2 405 17 Mar 2004 3 Nov 2008 Live video/audio feed of House of Representatives Room 2 sessions.
House of Representatives Committee Room 3 406 17 Mar 2004 3 Nov 2008 Live video/audio feed of House of Representatives Room 3 sessions.
House of Representatives Committee Room 4 407 17 Mar 2004 3 Nov 2008 Live video/audio feed of House of Representatives Room 4 sessions.

Legacy

Free-to-air television guide

The ACMA decided in closing the service that it was unlikely that datacast services would come to auction in the near future, and decided continuing the trial was unnecessary for that reason. NITV, which gained coverage on the service, considered the closure of the service a blow to its chances of gaining permanent spectrum for the service, and put the long term viability of the service into question.

Most of the other channels on Digital Forty Four are available unencrypted on satellite or via online streaming.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "First full datacasting service launched". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 March 2004. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  2. ^ Washington, Stuart (25 November 2004). "Macquarie on a TV mission". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Possible extension of Sydney datacasting trial" (PDF). ACMAsphere. February 2007 – via the Australasian Legal Information Institute.
  4. ^ "Sydney datacasting trial to end". ACMA media release 16/2010 – 29 January. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  5. ^ Gonzalez, Miguel (30 April 2010). "Digital Forty Four TV services go off the air". Mumbrella. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Information on the Datacasting Trial provided by Broadcast Australia to the ACMA 2010" (PDF). Broadcast Australia. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  7. ^ a b "New Digital Content on Sydney Television Trial". Broadcast Australia. 27 October 2008. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Christian channel conquers Australian airwaves". Sydney Anglicans. 1 December 2004. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Macquarie Bank adds datacasting to its range of media services". radioinfo.com.au. 12 October 2004. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Information on the Datacasting Trial provided by Broadcast Australia to the ACMA - December 2006" (PDF). Broadcast Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
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