It's fair to say that community television has launched a thousand careers - and not just those of the boldface names who got their starts there.

As Rove McManus, a now world-famous graduate of community TV, pointed out in a statement on Thursday: "What I gained from my Channel 31 experience was collaborating with fellow creative people in a group environment that taught me how to be a host and them how to be producers, camera operators, lighting technicians, set builders and editors."

The federal government's decision to shunt Australia's free-to-air community channels on to the internet at the end of 2015 has come as a shock and disappointment to the TV industry, in particular those who launched their careers on community television, such as radio duo Hamish and Andy, Corinne Grant, Dave Thornton, Tommy Little and Waleed Aly.

McManus has urged the public to sign the petition, i.committocommunitytv.org.au, which attracted more than 8500 supporters within hours of going live.