Technical Problems Plague LA36 Cable Channel: Content Control or Lack of Funding? Full Disclosure Network Report

Los Angeles, CA Due to technical difficulties on LA Cable Channel 36, Full Disclosure Network’s programs will be off the air tonight Sunday, December 7 and Monday, December 8th. Full Disclosure has been featured on LA36 since 1994 when it was the City’s designated “Public Access” inter-connected channel. Former Mayor Riordan changed the venue to “Educational”, objecting to the dominance of Religious programming on the channel while the City maintained a non-discriminatory policy, with a “first come first serve policy” for scheduling on all public access channels.

PROBLEM TRANSFERRING CONTENT:
LA36 has been rushing to transfer programming to their new server, due to the December 31, 2008 closing of Time Warner playback facilities. The 2007 DIVCA State Cable Franchise Legislation has prompted the City to consolidate public cable access operations under their control.

AUDIO-VIDEO DISTORTION OR CONTENT CONTROL?
However, LA36’s technical problems appear be limited to only the transfer of one independently produced program, the Full Disclosure Network, that was described by the L A Business Journal (12-1-08) as a “politically charged” program. Since August the LA36 channel has been cablecasting only the Full Disclosure program with distorted audio, video and sometimes unscheduled programs in their regular time-slot of Sundays 8-9 p.m. and Mondays 4-5 p.m.

CITYVIEW CHANNEL 35 = BROADCAST EXCELLENCE
LA36 is funded by the City with $600,000 while the government channel, LA Cityview Channel 35, has a multi-million dollar budget and was recently renovated and HD upgraded. Time Warner provides both channels free to the City as required under the cable franchise. City Council, Boards and Commission meetings are featured on LA Cityview 35 along with interviews and discussions with individual Councilmembers. The channel won dozens of Emmy Awards for favorable programs with political leaders, steering clear of unfavorable topics and guests.

PUBLIC ACCESS PRODUCERS NEED A CHANNEL:
The disparity between City Government and Public Access operations should be of particular concern to thousands of independent public access producers. Under the initial plan of the City, content produced by them would be relegated to LA36 next year when the City plans to consolidate all fourteen public channels and studios into four City Government controlled channels. Currently the proposal has been sent to the Budget Committee for re-evaluation.

Contact Information

Leslie Dutton

Producer/Host

Full Disclosure Network®

Contact via E-mail