18/11/2025
🎉 2025 ANTENNA AWARDS 🎉 Was your fave community TV show a winner? 🧐 Community TV producers, volunteers and supporters from across Australia gathered at Cathedral Hall in Fitzroy on Saturday night for the 2025 Antenna Awards — a night that highlighted the community TV’s renewed national presence and diversity.
Hosted by comedian Nath Valvo, the ceremony recognised the producers of more than 90 programs who travelled from around the country to celebrate excellence across 20 peer-judged awards, selected from over 350 entries by an independent panel of more than 70 industry judges.
It was a very successful night for Channel 44 with Adelaide producers taking out the big two awards: Program of the Year and Personality of the Year.
Program of the Year
Program of the Year went to youth culture program Couch 44 for its third series, adding to wins in 2023 for Best Youth Show and Outstanding Direction in a Program for series two. Led by Flinders University and Channel 44 alum Maddie Siegertsz, the Couch 44 team have produced three series, exploring youth culture across film, music, activism, sport and more. Local creatives join roundtables on topical issues in their industries, emerging local artists and bands perform live, and field reports explore events around Adelaide.
Couch 44 series three is a co-production of Channel 44, clarice would like a word. and Flinders University, supported again by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Since its humble beginnings on a couch in the Channel 44 office, Maddie Siegertsz has grown the Couch 44 concept to a fully fledged variety TV format. She has started production company clarice would like a word. with collaborators Tully Templeman and Jasmin Watkins along the way, and with this series the team has engaged over 150 crew members, made up of new, student and emerging Adelaide screen creatives.
“Couch 44 is what community TV does best,” said Lauren Ann Hillman, General Manager of Channel 44. “It’s a local show, sharing Adelaide’s unique arts and culture scenes with audiences around Australia on community TV and CTV+. And it’s giving aspiring local screen creatives opportunities to kick-start their careers on a real TV production. Maddie and her team have created a great new series and we’re very grateful to the Community Broadcasting Foundation and Flinders University for their vital and ongoing support for this program.”
“Making a television series is a massive undertaking. From development to delivery, this team has nurtured Couch 44 to life with limited resources and pure determination,” said Dr Tom Young, Associate Professor and Discipline Lead in Screen, Film and TV at Flinders University. “It’s fantastic to see so many Flinders University alumni and local emerging creatives coming together to produce an entertaining and engaging TV show. Congratulations to everyone involved in the creation of Couch 44 – a TV show that is inspiring, fun, and brilliant!”
Personality of the Year
Personality of the Year went to Jessica McCall, producer and presenter of BTS with Jess. Following a hugely positive response to series one, Jess McCall returned in series two with eight more half-hour episodes jammed with young people finding connections and community through creative arts, from circus companies to a film festival, a masterclass with Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn — even an interview with Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia!
Jess McCall is a Bachelor of Creative Industries, majoring in Film & TV and Journalism, student at the University of South Australia (UniSA), and she is already forging a pathway into a media career through the opportunities available through her studies and UniSA’s partnership with Channel 44.
“Creating these eight new episodes of BTS with Jess has been a huge step forward for me personally and professionally,” said Jess McCall. “Through the support of Channel 44 and UniSA, I’ve gained invaluable experience in the broadcast sector while having the opportunity to tell stories that matter to me and to the community. Youth arts are often overlooked, and I’m deeply grateful to Channel 44 for backing this project and empowering young artists to share their stories on my show.”
“Channel 44 is excited to support Jess with series two of BTS with Jess,” said Channel 44 General Manager Lauren Hillman. “Her passion and dedication have been instrumental in creating a platform where young people can build confidence and develop real world creative skills, as highlighted through the series. In collaboration with UniSA, this series continues to offer meaningful opportunities for emerging talent to gain experience and grow within the industry."
Through the partnership between Channel 44 and UniSA, students gain invaluable opportunities to develop their ideas into real programs and see them broadcast on Channel 44 and on community TV streaming platform CTV+. The popularity of series one of BTS with Jess has also found it new audiences on C31 Melbourne and Geelong, Face TV in New Zealand, and now BronxNet community TV in New York.
“We’re proud of the long-standing Channel 44 and UniSA partnership, which we look forward to continuing from 2026 through the new Adelaide University. A major highlight as a result of this collaboration is the impact that creative and passionate storytelling by graduates like Jess have on screens through community television,” said Channel 44 board member and General Manager, UniSA Creative, Sam Goodred.
CTV Plus Program of the Year
OurTimeTV has been a Channel 44 favourite for over 15 years and, since the launch of CTV+, it has reached a whole new audience, consistently ranking as one of the platform’s most-watched shows. Host Malcolm Harslett has helmed over 650 episodes, interviewing interesting South Australians from every walk of life imaginable to share their stories with viewers.
Our Time is a co-production of Channel 44 and the University of South Australia, recorded every fortnight at UniSA’s Magill campus studio, crewed by UniSA Creative students under the supervision of senior lecturer Andrei Gostin.
Best Studio and/or Panel Program
The Film Maker Studio won Best Studio and/or Panel Program for its second series, which again took screen buffs and aspiring screen makers behind the camera in a four-part series produced by the University of South Australia (UniSA) and Channel 44 at the university’s Magill campus. In each episode, host and UniSA Creative Industries student Tahla Murray interviewed Australian screen professionals, including writers and directors of Le***an Space Princess Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs; artist, producer and filmmaker Lilla Berry; art director and director Gareth Wilkes; and producer Julie Byrne.
Under the guidance of UniSA Creative and Channel 44 staff, a student team produced the series from concept to broadcast, developing the concept of the series, designing an original set, conducting and recording the interviews, through post-production of four episodes that provide rare insights into the careers of Australian screen creatives in very different roles.
“Series two again demonstrates the importance of the Channel 44 and UniSA partnership,” said Channel 44 General Manager Lauren Hillman. “It provides students with hands-on television industry experience, creating original content for broadcast. It also fosters local talent while promoting South Australia’s key creatives.”
“Series two will inform and entertain audiences as it showcases filmmakers who are demanding attention across the globe in cinemas and on festival stages,” said UniSA Creative lecturer and Supervising Producer of the series Caroline Man. “Celebrating diversity and new stories, the UniSA Film and Television students and staff have merged their skills to bring behind the scenes of current and past screen productions to light.”
Best Special or Documentary Feature
Produced by Channel 44, this short documentary captures the joy and creativity of Every Body Dance, an inclusive dance project and creative collaboration between Australian Dance Theatre, Mount Barker District Council, Community Living Australia, and members of the disability community.
Over five weeks of workshops, Every Body Dance followed participants as they explored creative expression through dance, under the expert guidance of ADT’s Adrianne Semmens and Tanya Voges, culminating in a performance at the stunning UKARIA Cultural Centre.
2025 Antenna Awards winners
Program of the Year – Couch 44
Personality of the Year – Jessica McCall from BTS with Jess
Outstanding Creative Achievement in a Program – First Run
Best Studio and/or Panel Program – The Film Maker Studio
Best Special or Documentary Feature – Every Body Dance
Outstanding Emerging Personality – Sabrina Tan (Wasteland Wonders)
Best Comedy Program – The Beer Pioneer
Best New Program – All In
Outstanding New Producer – Toby McGee (The Struggle)
Best Local Arts Program – Foreign Influence
Best Interview Program – The New Joneses
Best Lifestyle Program – Bush TV Australia
Best Outdoor, Sports or Recreational Program – FishingMad
Outstanding Technical Achievement in a Program – RMIT Newsline
Best Local News, Journalism or Current Affairs Program – MOJO News Federal Election 2025: Australia Decides
Best Special Interest Program – Chronicles X: Ghosts of Castlemaine Gaol
Outstanding Digital Engagement by a Program – The Feel Good Family
Outstanding Contribution to a Community by a Program – AbiliTV
Best Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Program – Buda House (Melbourne Hungarian TV)
CTV+ Program of the Year – Our Time
The Stella Young Contribution to Community TV Award – Gregory & Anna Vaisman (Sputnik TV)
The Peter Lane/John Worcester Award – Megan Velo
📸 Mark Gambino
