History
TEABBA was incorporated on the 10th October, 1989 under the Aboriginal Council and Associations Act (1972). The new association obtained temporary housing for an office and studio at Batchelor township, 100km south of Darwin. Studio equipment was provided by the ABC for use by both TEABBA and students attending Batchelor College and studying the Diploma in Broadcasting and the BRACS certificate course.
Due to the expansion of Batchelor college, TEABBA was forced to seek alternative accommodation and the Board made a decision to move the operation closer to Darwin to give better access to services and organisations wishing to use the radio network. The move was completed in June 1994 and coincided with TEABBA securing access to a spare audio channel on the Imparja satellite transponder for its radio network to cover the Top End of the Northern Territory.
Access to a satellite channel allowed TEABBA to pioneer the regional radio network model of linking BRACS stations to a central hub (using dial up telephone lines), then relaying programs to Alice Springs for up-linking to the satellite. This program was received and rebroadcast on FM transmitters at each of the 30 BRACS communities in the Top End of the Northern Territory.
Today, TEABBA broadcasts regular programs from both the Darwin hub studio and community BRACS stations using the dial up program line principle, however the analogue line interfaces have given way to the latest digital device, that can deliver broadcast quality programs over a dial up telephone line.
TEABBA is a recognised voice within the Indigenous broadcasting sector and continues to play an active roll on matters of policy, future direction of community and national Indigenous broadcasting, and actively promotes the development of local broadcasting so that Aboriginal people can gain access to information important to their community and for the maintenance of culture and language.
