A Griffith man, left frustrated by the disappearance of 9Life and 9HD from the city’s available channels, has called for the equal provision of television services to regional areas.
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Dave Nolan says he originally did the ring around to Win, Southern Cross Austereo and Channel 9 back in July of last year when a changeover of channel ownership saw a number of television channels disappear.
In July 2016 Fairfax Media reported Southern Cross Austereo, which switched over to showing Nine’s channels that month, as expecting channels 9Life and 9HD would be off-air until the middle of August while they installed the required transmission equipment.
“I rang them and I sent an email and eventually I got an email back from someone saying that it should be done for Griffith by the end of August,” Mr Nolan explained on Monday.
“That was August last year and we still don’t have the channels back.”
While the 9Life channel has catered to the dreams of reality and lifestyle TV show enthusiasts since it launched in March 2016, 9HD impressed viewers with it’s better quality imaging.
Its disappearance and the lack of a solution has remained a point of frustration for Mr Nolan since then, but on Wednesday night it reached tipping point.
“Watching the football [Origin] last night, watching one of the tightest games one of the most important games of the season it dawned on me to ask why we are still watching sports like the NRL on VHS quality,” he said.
Mr Nolan said his frustration centred around the fact that Wagga, just 200 km down the road, had access to the channels while Griffith residents did not.
“We had it before and Wagga still gets it I am just not sure why we aren’t getting it now if it is available in other larger regional centres,” he said.
Adding fuel to his fire is his previous enjoyment of 9HD – and while he was understanding of the fact it was only a minor issue in the grand scheme of things Mr Nolan said he just wants a straight answer on whether it was coming back.
“It is a higher definition channel, it is better quality and having had it before the changeover you can notice the difference,” he said.
“I am just wondering what the hold up is, why there is such a delay in the service returning.”
The Area News rang Channel 9 about the issue, who suggested we contact Southern Cross Austereo.
Southern Cross Austereo in turn said the issue lay with Win Television and suggested we call their office about the problem.
However they were unable to be reached for comment.
