C31 Melbourne was the training ground for Rove McManus, Peter Helliar and Corrine Grant as well as Hamish & Andy, and is now asking for donations in their bid to switch to Digital broadcasting to secure their future and have claimed that the past stars of the channel aren’t helping them.

Channel 31 has been hit hard by the Federal Government’s mandated switch to digital television and the need to upgrade its studio facilities. Without an immediate cash injection the station could be forced to stick with its second-rate analogue signal, which is being switched off around Australia.

For years, Channel 31 has served as an incubator for talent that has then been poached by commercial networks keen to exploit the youth advertising market, with megastars Rove McManus, Corinne Grant and Peter Helliar all making the jump to the big league.

The question is should the past stars be expected to finanically help the station? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Also an interesting tid-bid from the Crikey story…

Speculation has been swirling for months that Rove will soon stitch up a lucrative Los Angeles-based chat show deal following high-profile appearances last year on the Jay Leno Show.