Melburnians have a nickname for this channel: the fish station. For years a camera pointed at the studio aquarium filled the gaps in the schedule, backed by tracks from local bands, and viewers started tuning in on purpose. C31 Melbourne works exactly like that, a non-profit community broadcaster on air since 1994 that hands its airtime to independent producers instead of a commissioning department. Multicultural programs in dozens of languages, indie music, suburban sport, faith slots, kids blocks and neighbourhood news all share one channel.
The live stream of C31 Melbourne carries no geographic lock, which makes this page an oddity. We measured the feed from a European connection in 2026 and both the manifest and the individual video segments downloaded without a single restriction, on-demand episodes included. It runs through CTV+, the national platform of Australian community television, free and with no account, though the live feed does carry ad breaks. Only the aerial stays local: digital channel 44 for Melbourne and Geelong.
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
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C31 Melbourne streams through CTV+ with no geographic lock. Measured from a European address, both the live manifest and the video segments downloaded without restriction, so the stream opens outside Australia too. Below are the countries where we verified access.
C31 Melbourne works without a VPN in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada, in New Zealand, in Ireland and in Germany, plus in 19 more countries.
We do not track these countries yet, which is why the list keeps them separate. C31 Melbourne applies no geographic lock of its own, so the stream will most likely start there as well. Save a VPN for the services that really do lock Australia.
C31 Melbourne is a nonprofit, open-access community television station that has been on air since October 1994 and is run by volunteers from the Melbourne Community Television Consortium. It broadcasts free to air on digital channel 44 across Melbourne, Geelong and the surrounding region, and streams online through CTV+ with no sign-up required. Independent makers fill the schedule with multicultural shows in dozens of languages, indie music, sport and local news.
5 tips from our C31 Melbourne testing team · Updated August 4, 2026
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