Johannesburg — TWO-year-old Cape Town TV (CTV) is challenging a decision by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to refuse it a permanent licence, arguing that the community television channel provides a valuable service, is a going concern and has made large investments in infrastructure.

Community broadcasters, both in radio and TV, are nonprofit groups set up to give communities a voice, often in their specific language, and to air community issues while also providing training in broadcasting. These are services which, it is felt, cannot be provided by national or regional broadcasters.

While the government has often said that community broadcasters need to be nurtured and assisted, CTV station manager Karen Thorne said on Friday that community TV broadcasters were operating in a "largely hostile environment", with temporary one-year licences and the same signal distribution tariffs as commercial and public service broadcasters of R65 000.

"Icasa was mandated to look into tariffs levied by national signal distributor Sentech in terms of the Broadcast Act of 1999, but it has not done so and community broadcasters continue to bear the burden of this omission," she said.

CTV, which says it has more than 1,3-million viewers, has paid R700 000 to Sentech over the past few years and is struggling to pay the remainder while running a 24-hour free-to-air channel. "Another problem is the issuing of one-year temporary licences, which not only creates uncertainty but makes it difficult to build a sustainable TV station," Ms Thorne said.

The station services the area around Tygerberg mountain but can also be picked up in the City Bowl and Muizenberg. It generates its own news and talk-show programming and survives on content from local nongovernmental organisations and film organisations.

Ms Thorne said CTV was notified by fax that it had been refused a class (permanent area-specific) licence by Icasa, based on a moratorium on the granting of licences to community television stations issued in March. It is to remain in place until digital migration because of the present lack of frequencies.

Ms Thorne said CTV had sent a lawyer's letter to Icasa, telling it the regulations did not relate to existing broadcasters but specifically stated that no licences would be considered or granted to community television stations from March.

"After the moratorium was instituted, broadcaster licences were granted to other community initiatives, which CTV believes constitutes unfair practice.

"What is frustrating is that we are finally getting the advertising and sponsorship we need to survive and now we are looking at closure. If we are taken off the air, even temporarily, our clients will lose confidence in us," she said.

Icasa allegedly informed the station that it would consider the matter this week .

Ms Thorne said CTV was hopeful that the Public Service Broadcast Bill will address the tariff issue. "But by the time it is passed, most community TV broadcast stations might have ceased to exist," she said.