Penrith. TV head calls it a day

Laurie Paton, CEO, of Sydney's community channel, TVS, steps down from the position at the end of the week, after six years at the helm of the station based at the University of Western Sydney, at Penrith. “Now that the federal government has guaranteed the future of community TV in a multi-channel digital world, it is imperative that the sector lives up to its promise by screening high quality watchable locally made programs", he said. Volunteers and not-for-profit organisations create most of the programs screened on TVS.

Penrith. TV head calls it a day

Laurie Paton, chief executive, of TVS, a free-to-air television station, based at the University of Western Sydney campus, at Penrith, will resign at the end of the month. Mr Patton joined TVS in 2004 shortly after it was awarded Australia's first permanent community television licence. Over the past six years he has supervised the construction of a fully automated broadcast centre, along with the acquisition of programming and most recently the successful launch of the TVS digital channel 44 service. Currently, around 40 percent of the programs shown on TVS is made in Sydney "Without someone of Laurie's calibre in charge TVS would probably not exist. His passion and his determination have been key ingredients in the creation of the channel," said TVS chairman, Geoffrey Roberson. Mr Patton will remain executive director of the Television Sydney Foundation.