New Public Interest Channel

[mwgiii]

According to Echostar Knowledge Base http://ekb.dbstalk.com/

CCN (9405) ceased operations as of 3/15/03 due to "current and anticipated budget cuts for CCCSAT's funding.".  The channel now currently shows a slate "Public Interest Programming Coming Soon" (Joe C.)

Anyone know if any "good" or "interesting" Public Interest channels not on Dish that we could request?

[Scott Greczkowski]

How about Dr Gene Scott and his University Network. :)

If you have ever seen that guy he can keep you amused for hours. :)

[tampa8]

Dr. Gene Scott owned Hartford Channel 18 for a long time. He is great entertainment though he would probably not be happy that is how we see him! He is sort of a preacher with some Imus (In the Morning) thrown in. He is on shortwave thru out the day but I don't think seen much on TV outside California.

[Scott Greczkowski]

He is a satellite legend. I use to install C Band Dishes and find the arc by searching for the Doc.

According to his website drgenescott.org...

Dr. Scott has asked everyone to besiege
DirecTV and Dish Network
and tell them to carry The University Network.

Nothing like watch Doc Scott yell "Get on the telephone" hear "The Nurton Dance" and watch show horses and playboy models. :)

[tampa8]

I forgot about the showhorses and Playboy girls! I may just write Dish .....

[Scott Greczkowski]

Btw I remember when the Doc use to own WHCT-18 in Hartford.

In order to fill his educational requirements for Childrens programs he use to air "Bozo's Big Top" every night at 5pm. He did this because he said the FCC was a bunch of Bozo's.

Of course the FCC would then come after Dr Scott as he would not reveal how much money he was making on his station. I can remember the big fight, with Doc Scott with wind up monkeys making fun of the FCC.

WHCT was actually a very historic television station, it was americas first pay TV channel.

Hence, the first Pay-TV experiment. Not unlike HBO, WHCT would show movies that had recently completed their theatre runs, as well as sporting events from Madison Square Garden (such N.Y. Rangers hockey, and boxing). The station's signal would be scrambled, and subscribers would need a converter to unscramble.

Word has it that the converter device included some type of coin box that the subscriber had to feed change into to unscramble the signal. The experiment failed mainly because that it was too far ahead of its' time and also due to the fact that the scrambling system (Zenith's Phonevision) did not work in color.

Thus the experiment was abandoned in 1968.

RKO gave WHCT to the Doc as a gift in 1972.

[Mark Holtz]

I suspect Charlie is getting a call about a certain "Word" from the Reverand Al today.

[PeterB]

and now, its a Univison channel. woo hoo.

The Doc was on channel 61 a lot in its pre-fox days as well.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Actually I have caught the Doc on Channel 61 on Sundays at some really strange times. :)

My boss is the guy who started channel 61. :)

[JohnH]

AMC 3 - C 20 reruns and all. :)

[Steve Mehs]

At least E* puts the PI channels in the 94XX range, I never go up that high.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Any channel (besides Al Shartons WORD Network) would be better then the Good Samaritan Network. :)

[Richard King]

I remember setting up a bunch of C Band dishes and using Dr. Scott as my "guide to the skys". He is entertaining to watch. :lol: Speaking of on air preachers, I once spotted a Rev. Randy Morrison on C-band when I did a service call one time about a year ago. He was an old customer of mine in Minneapolis. I set him up with a recording studio package and sound reinforcement package for his church in suburban Minneapolis. Does anyone know if he is still on the air? He is a black fellow with a Caribbean accent (from Trinidad if I recall correctly).

[FTA Michael]

I'd love to see Dish pick up Classic Arts Showcase or C-Span 3.

[Mark Holtz]

Originally posted by carload
I'd love to see Dish pick up Classic Arts Showcase or C-Span 3.

C-SPAN 3, under the FCC rules, would NOT qualify as PI channel in order to fulfil FCC requirements. According to http://ekb.dbstalk.com/49, "Only 1 channel from an entity may be carried as PI unless all PI channels in the country have been given an oppurtunity to be carried (this will never occur as there are more PI channels than space." Thus, only C-SPAN qualifies, but C-SPAN 2 and 3 doesn't.

Of course, I wonder how "Good Samaritan Network" qualifies as PI channel...

[TNGTony]

You can forget about CSPAN 3 as a PI channel anyway. Only one per programmer counts towards the FCC mandate. I'd like to see CAS as a 24 hour channel too.

See ya
Tony

[Steve Mehs]

Of course, I wonder how "Good Samaritan Network" qualifies as PI channel...

Same here. I've had access to 61.5 since December, from Decemeber until now, when I do a complete 'flip through' I've never seen anything on that channel except for that slate. Also I've noticed EE simulcasts NASA and broadcasts The Church Channel program in the morning. The Church Channel would also not qualify as a PI channel since it's a spinoff owned by the folks at TBN.

[JBKing]

You mean Good Samaritan Network employees finally learned how to operate their 'new' phone system? ;)

And no more nursing home photos? :(

:D

[Uncle Peter]

How about a PUBLIC ACCESS TV Channel called "DEEP DISH TV". I believe it's out of NYC.

[Mark Holtz]

CCN is the PI channel for the California colleges, right? If so, the budget cuts are real. The UC and State College systems will only have a 2.5% increase in funding, while the community college system will endure a 10% cut. For all colleges, there will be a fee increase.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Originally posted by Uncle Peter
How about a PUBLIC ACCESS TV Channel called "DEEP DISH TV". I believe it's out of NYC.

Deep Dish TV is a program, not a channel. (We use to air it at the Public Access Station I use to work at)

I believe that Free Speech TV runs this program.

[music_beans]

I just checked the EPG, and CCN 9405 is no longer on the grid. I hope they get a new one soon. :)

[rych]

How about some PI radio?? We could get a numer of radio signals in that space...
-Rych

[TNGTony]

Radio doesn't count. :) It has to be a TV channel. The FCC mandate doesn't talk about audio channels

See ya
Tony

[Doug E]

Too bad. This is where I think government goes too far. Who watches these PI channels anyway? A total waste of bandwith as far as I am concerned. I have never subbed to cable, but I don't think they have to offer this useless garbage do they?

[Mark Holtz]

Usually, as part of the franchise agreement, several "public interest" channels are set aside. These include:

* Local government Channel
* Public Access (Sac Cable has two)
* Educational Channel (Sac Cable has two)
* A cable-PBS channel run by the local PBS station

[music_beans]

Well, i would not call PI channels garbage, but youre right on the bandwith. I like a few of the PI channels myself.

[TNGTony]

I watch PBS You, World Link, Colours and FamilyNet regularly. Not a waste of space for me! :)

As to cable, I work for a programming studio that uses 6 channels set aside by agreement with the cable company and three communities in northern Hamilton Co. One of the channels is reserved for government affairs. This is not a "government channel". It is a government affairs channel that is sometimes quite critical of public officials.

Another is an educational access channel. Any student can create their own program (and many do) using equipment from the studio for free. High School Sports are also covered here.

Public access. The most mis-understood and unused asset to a cable subscriber. At least in this area, ANYONE in the area can get free training, use equipment and facilities for free, and air THEIR OWN programming expressing whatever POV they want. As long as it conforms to the obsenity standards (not indecency, obsenity) it will air uncut, and unedited by the facility. NO other venue gives anyone this oportunity. It's amazing how underused this is.

See ya
Tony

[Steve Mehs]

I think I watched PBS-U once, that's the only time I ever watched a PI channel for longer then 30 secs. Most of the college channels are either PowerPoint presentations or some boring lecture that makes that plasma guy on the last Tech Chat seem semi interesting. Actually I did watch Daystar for about 5 minutes once. Some guy was preaching against the 'evil' internet. Usually I would be filled with rage, but it was so comical I was laughing. For me, public interest channels are useless, with exception of C-SPAN and NASA.

[music_beans]

I see TechTime on StarNet since it is based on computers.

[Mark Holtz]

PBS-U airs Destinitos on Thursday nights.