This is a struggle against all odds – a story of heroes, densely populated with strong characters, both for and against the Imparja’s existence and its survival. Wendy Bell tells the story with all its twists, reversals and passions.

When the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), based in Alice Springs, decided to apply for a remote television satellite licence, in 1998, success seemed a remote possibility.  Winning the licence would make Imparja the first indigenous-controlled commercial television station, not only in Australia but the world, with a transmission footprint larger than Western Europe.  Wendy Bell’s well-researched book explores CAAMA’s battle to satisfy remote communities, two governments, the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, and the media.  She follows the story with all its twists, reversals and passions through the challenges that continue to the present day, managing social and cultural integrity within one of the toughest commercial environments in Australia, along with the need to meet community expectations regarding language and cultural programming.