Fly TV

Fly TV
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Launched	1 November 2001
Closed	30 June 2003
Network	ABC Television
Owned by	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Country	Australia
Language	English
Broadcast area	Nationally
Replaced by	ABC2
Sister channel(s)	ABC ABC Kids channel
Availability
Terrestrial
SD Digital	Channel 21
Satellite
Austar	Channel 14
Cable
Optus TV	Channel 21

Fly TV was an ABC Television channel available to viewers of digital terrestrial television in Australia. The channel featured programming aimed towards teenagers and young adults. It was launched nationally on 1 November 2001, and aired alongside the children's-oriented ABC Kids Channel, which aired during Fly TV's downtime. The channel broadcast a 6-hour block from 6:00pm to 12:00am, which was repeated again from 12:00am to 6:00am.

Fly TV was also available from 6:00pm to 6:00am on both digital terrestrial television and subscription services: Austar, Optus Television, and the newly established TransTV (In Canberra Only). However, it could not gain carriage on Foxtel.

Popular were its interstitials, created by many young emerging artists including a young Anton Emdin.

Closure

The ABC launched the channel without additional funding, hoping that its success would prompt an additional government grant. However Fly TV was discontinued on 30 June 2003, along with the ABC Kids Channel, in the first of a series of cuts to save around A$25 million a year for the ABC. The ABC could not secure government funding to keep the channel on-air, but eventually launched another digital-only channel, ABC2, less than two years later in March 2005. The sluggish uptake of digital television in Australia at the time made justifying a digital-only channel with a low viewership against the cost of keeping the channel on air difficult.

External links

• Official Site
• Corporate Site
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation