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.

Rove will be on the Chelsea Lately panel for the 2nd time (3rd appearance on the show) Wednesday, March 17th at 11pm on E! in the U.S. It will most likely air Friday at 10.30pm AEDST on E! Australia. Check your guides.

Updated with video:

Peter Helliar’s new AFL Show on Seven “The Bounce” will premiere 7.30pm Wednesday March 24th in the AFL states (VIC, S.A. and W.A.) and will air in NRL states 12.30am Thursday (Wednesday Night).

Join Peter Helliar, Matthew Richardson and Leigh Matthews in this fun, family footy show that will entertain AFL fans around the country. Each week, there’ll be a look at the full teams for the weekend’s matches as well as other hot footy news, guests, stunts and gags, plus live crosses to wherever the pre-round action is happening.

Hamish & Andy are set to appear more often on Ten after signing a new Television deal to produce various specials to fill the gap left by Rove.

HAMISH Blake and Andy Lee look set to become TV stars after signing a lucrative deal with Channel 10.

The hottest duo on radio signed during the week to produce a number of specials for Ten.

One insider said the Fox FM pair would fill the gap left by Rove McManus when he quit his decade-long show last year.

At this stage the deal is for Blake and Lee to produce specials for the network, but a weekly show is not out of the question.

Ten programming chief David Mott said the signing was a coup.

“It’s no secret Hamish and Andy are the most keenly sought after television talent around,” he said.

“It’s great news for us and we can’t wait to see what they have planned.”

The deal will make the pair one of Australia’s best paid acts.

Peter Helliar’s brand new film ‘I Love You Too‘ hits cinemas May 6th and there is now a preview online, posted below. The film stars Brendan Cowell, Peter Dinklage, Yvonne Strahovski, Megan Gale as well as Helliar himself.

Visit the official site for more information.

A peek at Rove’s panel appearance on E! comedy show ‘Chelsea Lately’.