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Public access ponders future

Live stream, equipment upgrades in works

By Scott Bellile


Cord cutting is rattling the cable TV industry, but the city of New London still sees value in investing in and expanding its public access television channel.

The New London Parks and Recreation Committee discussed such proposals last month as Dick Johnson, producer for New London Access, presented on plans for the channel and future needs.

One project in the works, Johnson said, is starting an online 24/7 live stream on YouTube.

Currently the city has a YouTube channel called New London Access that carries a few on-demand videos each month, but people cannot stream the live television channel.

New London Public Services Director Chad Hoerth said the city discontinued hosting a live stream of New London Access on the city’s web server. The city will revive the livestream via YouTube because the app is simple to access on TVs with internet connections and smartphones.

“Your TVs can get YouTube; your phone can get YouTube,” Hoerth said, “whereas our platform that we had before, whether your phone could read it or not it was a different story. So uploading it to YouTube is like a no-brainer because everybody can access YouTube on whatever platform or device that you have.”

Established in 1983, New London Access is a PEG channel, short for public, educational and government access channel. The channel’s annual $78,500 budget is generated through a cable TV franchise fee charged to Charter Communications, which rents public land to carry subscribers’ cable lines.

Johnson recommended several new purchases that could improve the cable channel’s operations.

“I have only a budget of $5,000 a year [allocated specifically for equipment purchases] which I usually don’t spend. I’m very tight with my money,” Johnson said. “But we should get a new media server. They have all different kinds of features that we can utilize.”

The media server, which is a decade old, is where Johnson uploads his TV programs and schedules the week’s programming. The software automatically airs the shows for him.

He recommended the city also replace his video editing deck because his current equipment sometimes erases his projects before he finishes them, he said.

Johnson also recommended new high definition cameras and a green screen. The green screen would allow him to film subjects in front of backgrounds that are not physically present in his studio, such as a rolling river.

Finally, he said the channel currently broadcasts in standard definition, so the city could transition to high definition by investing in HD equipment.

Hoerth said such a transition would be gradual through equipment purchases over time, “but not just, ‘all right, we need to do everything [at once] just to be in HD.’”

The committee did not vote on any equipment purchases.

Johnson’s suggested purchases would be paid for by years of unspent cable TV franchise fee revenue that has accumulated, Hoerth said.

Headquartered in the New London Parks and Recreation building, New London Access airs local programming such as city council and school board meetings, high school sporting events, concerts and city news announcements. The channel also offers syndicated programming such as “Discover Wisconsin,” “Into the Outdoors” and classic TV sitcoms and dramas.

Charter customers can find New London Access on channel 990.

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