About Imparja Television

Imparja Television

Imparja Television is Australia's only Indigenous-owned commercial television service: the Nine Network affiliate broadcasting across the Remote Central and Eastern Australia licence area from its headquarters in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Known as IMP, it has been on air since 2 January 1988, when it became the first Aboriginal-owned television station in the world to broadcast to such a vast area. Its signal reaches more than 3.6 million square kilometres across six states and territories — from Mutitjulu to Tennant Creek, from the Queensland Channel Country to the South Australian outback — serving over a million residential viewers and the millions of tourists who travel through the Red Centre each year. It is a symbol of Aboriginal Australia: the outback's Nine, owned and controlled by Aboriginal people.

Overview

Imparja Television is the Nine Network affiliate for remote central and eastern Australia: a commercial television station owned and controlled by Aboriginal people, broadcasting from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Known as IMP, it is widely regarded as a symbol of Aboriginal Australia — the first Aboriginal-owned commercial television service of its scale in the world. Its broadcast area is the Remote Central and Eastern Australia TV2 licence area: more than 3.6 million square kilometres across the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The station's website is imparja.com. On air since 2 January 1988, Imparja is the outback's Nine: Nine's news, sport and entertainment, delivered by an Aboriginal-owned, Alice Springs-based broadcaster.

History

The name "Imparja" is the anglicised form of the Arrernte word "Impatye", meaning footprints — and the name describes the station's reach: a footprint stretching from Mutitjulu to King's Canyon, from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek. Imparja Television Pty Ltd was established in 1987, and the station began regular transmissions on 2 January 1988, broadcasting via the AUSSAT satellite system. The first test program, transmitted live on 2 January 1988, was the Australia versus Sri Lanka test cricket match from Perth; regular transmissions began two weeks later to an initial audience of 62,000. From its first day, Imparja was a world first: an Aboriginal-owned commercial television station, broadcasting by satellite to one of the largest licence areas on earth.

The late 1990s were a period of expansion. In December 1998, Imparja was aggregated with QQQ (Seven Central) and ITQ into the Remote Central and Eastern Australia licence area — the regulatory act that created the modern three-station outback market. From the late 1990s until 2007, Imparja also produced an additional channel whose Aboriginal programming later became Indigenous Community Television (ICTV), which launched on 12 July 2007. ICTV carried Indigenous-produced content — a legacy of Imparja's early commitment to Aboriginal broadcasting, and a service that continues to serve remote Indigenous communities today.

On 3 February 2008, Imparja changed its logo, dropped Ten as an affiliate, axed its Imparja National News bulletin and added the Nine dots to its logo, becoming "Nine Imparja" — the station's full alignment with the Nine Network. In 2009 it reverted to the "Imparja" (or "IMP") branding, restoring the name that had made it famous. In December 2010, Imparja commenced terrestrial digital broadcasts and satellite broadcasts on VAST, with two feeds: Imparja North (Queensland and the Northern Territory) and Imparja South (New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania) — a one-hour timeshift to account for daylight saving. The multichannels 9Go! and 9Gem followed, giving the outback the full Nine family. On 16 November 2022, Imparja dropped its independent branding and became a straight relay — a "dirty feed" — of the Nine Network, a cost-saving move that ended the era of the distinctive IMP on-air identity.

Imparja has faced serious challenges in recent years. In March 2023 the station was broken into and vandalised. In May 2023 the Albanese government provided extra funding to keep the service on air — a recognition of the station's unique cultural and social role. On 1 April 2025, the VAST signal was upgraded to high definition, bringing the outback's Nine into the HD era. Through it all, Imparja has remained what it was established to be: the Aboriginal-owned voice of the outback's television — on air since 2 January 1988, and still broadcasting.

Programming and Content

Imparja's programming is the Nine Network schedule — 9News, A Current Affair, reality, drama, sport and entertainment — with 9Go! and 9Gem as sister multichannels. As the Nine affiliate for the remote licence area, Imparja carries the full Nine offer: the network's news and current affairs, its reality and entertainment slate, and its major sporting events, from the NRL to the Australian Open. The station has historically produced Aboriginal content, including the additional channel of the late 1990s and 2000s whose programming became ICTV — the Indigenous Community Television service that continues to carry Indigenous-produced programming to remote communities. The IMP identity — footprints across the interior — remains the station's public face, even as the on-air presentation has become a straight Nine relay.

Coverage and Audience

Imparja broadcasts across remote central and eastern Australia: more than 3.6 million square kilometres across six states and territories — the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The service area stretches from Mutitjulu to King's Canyon, from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek, and deep into the Queensland Channel Country and the South Australian outback — a footprint, in the Arrernte sense, across the Red Centre and beyond. Imparja claims more than a million residential viewers, plus the roughly three million tourists who travel through the Red Centre each year, and some 200,000 people in terrestrial black spots who depend on the VAST satellite service. In 2023 Imparja reported that it maintained eight retransmission sites: Ceduna, Coober Pedy, Leigh Creek and Woomera in South Australia, and Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Bathurst Island in the Northern Territory. RMIT research has found that up to 80 per cent of Indigenous households have no working free-to-air television — a statistic that underscores how vital Imparja's service is, and how fragile the infrastructure of remote broadcasting remains.

Ownership

Imparja Television Pty Ltd is controlled by Aboriginal people: a 100 per cent Indigenous-owned not-for-profit, according to its submission to the federal government's Media Reform Green Paper. The station is widely regarded as a symbol of Aboriginal Australia — the first Aboriginal-owned television station of its scale anywhere in the world. Its ownership structure is unique in Australian commercial television: a not-for-profit, Indigenous-controlled company operating a full commercial licence in one of the largest television markets on earth. That structure has shaped everything about the station: its Alice Springs base, its commitment to remote and Indigenous audiences, and its survival through the funding crises and ownership changes that have swept Australian regional television — the footprints, still on air.

Digital Presence

Imparja's website is imparja.com, the station's home for news, program information and community notices from Alice Springs. The station is available in 1080i high definition on VAST (upgraded 1 April 2025) and on Freeview's virtual channel 9, with 9Go! and 9Gem as sister services. For the outback, Imparja is the Nine service: Nine's programming, Aboriginal-owned and Alice Springs-based — the footprints of the Arrernte, carried by satellite across the interior. On air since 2 January 1988: IMP, the outback's Nine, the footprints across the interior.