Announcements

channelAustin Board Thanks Supporters

The channelAustin Board of Directors would like to thank all of the producers, viewers, and staff who showed up and expressed their views and demonstrated wonderful support for trading affiliate programs channelAustin at the Telecommunications Commission meeting Wednesday night, March 12th at City Hall.

The meeting room filled to overflowing and more than half the attendees sat in the atrium and the pressroom to watch and listen on the monitors as the Public Forum on Public Access took place.

Viewers, Producers, and Staff – your support is much appreciated. Thank you.

channelAustin Board of Directors
March 13, 2008

KIDS MAKE TV CAMP

Sign up for our third annual KIDS MAKE TV CAMP where youth ages 10 and above make TV during week-long camps in June and July.

March 12 Public Forum on Public Access

All public access producers, viewers, and supporters are urged to attend a Public Forum on Public Access television.

To prepare, you can download this --> channelAustin Fact Sheet [PDF], three pages packed with important facts and information.

The Public Forum is at the Telecommunications Commission on Wednesday, March 12, at about 8:00 pm, located at Austin City Hall, 301 West Second Street - Room 1101. (The meeting starts at 7:30. Come then to sign up)

Please sign up to speak about why you believe Public Access is a vital community resource and why the City must continue to support it.

See details in a letter to producers from channelAustin (PACT) and the official public notice from the City.

POWER OUTAGE EAST AUSTIN

We lost power to the building at 2:57 pm on Wednesday, February 27. According to the Austin American Statesman, a man trying to steal copper from an Austin Energy substation near Airport Boulevard and Springdale Road caused the power outage that impacted 7,300 utility customers.

Our back-up battery system kept programs on the air for about 1.5 hours until around 4:30 pm. Staff was on hand to initiate an orderly shut down of the playback system prior to losing the battery supply of electricity. Our contract manager at the City was notified and asked to contact Time Warner Cable and Grande Communication. Time Warner was able to place a notice on channels 10, 11, and 16.

Power came back to the building at 5:45 pm and staff was able to resume full operation of the playback system by around 6:00 pm. There was no interruption of live programs. To the best of our knowledge, due to the orderly shut down and start-up, there are no technical issues with the playback system. We will be monitoring playback closely.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Eeyores Birthday Party

channelAustin recognizes the Friends of the Forest Foundation for their generous financial contribution.

For more information on the Friends of the Forest Foundation, www.sexton.com/eeyores
(The Host of Eeyores Birthday Party)