The word was used to represent that Imparja Television aims to service Arrernte people wherever they may live, from Mutitjulu to King's Canyon to Alice Springs to Tennant Creek and beyond.

[1] The then Australian Broadcasting Tribunal was asked by the Federal Minister for Communications in October 1984 to inquire into the allocation of commercial television licences for a number of remote areas.

[4] An extraordinary saga of political, legal and commercial intrigue then ensued during the protracted Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT) hearing process, pitching Federal, State and Territory Governments against one another with loan promises being substantially watered down or withdrawn as it became apparent the CAAMA application may prevail.

Windfall funding from the Australian Bicentennial Authority and the Aboriginal Development Commission ultimately underpinned the feasibility of the CAAMA bid and they were successfully allocated the licence.

However subsequent Federal Administrative Tribunal court proceedings brought about by the unsuccessful applicant, Darwin based Territory Television Ltd., attempting to overturn the ABT's decision delayed construction commencement of the new service until May 1987.

[5] By October 1987 the new station had begun to build rebroadcast sites and new studios and a main transmitter based in Alice Springs were completed.

[4] Two weeks later, on 15 January 1988, the station was officially inaugurated at Imparja Television's head office in Alice Springs by Minister for Communications Ralph Willis and Warren Snowdon, the Australian federal member of parliament for the Division of Lingiari in Northern Territory.

This in turn led to the increased allocation of government funding in 1994 to produce Yamba's Playtime, which was the station's first in-house televisual production.

Imparja faced criticism by a number of community groups in 2004, following the station's decision to introduce advertising for alcohol for the first time.

In the mid-2000s, it was widely expected that the Australian Communications and Media Authority would merge the "Darwin" and "Remote Eastern and Central Australia" commercial television licence areas.

Instead PBL Media and Southern Cross Broadcasting, the two existing Darwin commercial licence holders were invited to bid individually or together.

[8][9] On 19 May 2010, the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) approved a licence for a new remote area digital-only TV channel, a joint venture by Imparja Pty Ltd and Southern Cross Central.

In December 2010, Imparja Television began broadcasting on terrestrial digital TV and the new VAST satellite service.

[11] In May 2023 the Albanese government committed extra funding to the station in its budget to prevent deep cuts to the services it provides.

Imparja Television also regularly broadcasts films created by the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association, which is a shareholder of its parent company.

Prior to February 2008, scheduling was generally based on Central Standard Time, reflecting its Alice Springs-based heritage.

Regulations imposed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority relating to minimum levels of local news coverage led to the bulletin's revival in February 2006 with Ryan Liddle.

Following the expansion of Nine News to one hour, which caused the two bulletins to overlap, the Darwin edition (as of 2024) instead airs live on Imparja's feed of 9Gem.

[citation needed] Imparja was available in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea through the HiTRON subscription television service as of 2008.

[16] An updated version designed by Bruce Dunlop Associates debuted on 30 January 2006, adding a blue sphere behind the emblem.