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Channel to air Seminole City Council

The channel, on Bright House cable, will take a year to gear up. Aired live or taped? The council will decide soon.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published January 25, 2006

SEMINOLE - Within the next four to six weeks, residents will get a new television channel - all about Seminole government and happenings.

The channel will be the first step in an almost yearlong process that will end with televised council meetings.

The council will decide in the next month or so whether the meetings will be broadcast live or taped and shown later on Bright House Channel 15.

Right now, subscribers who have Knology will not get the show, but City Manager Frank Edmunds said he hopes that will change after upcoming negotiations with that company.

Both live and taped government meetings have occurred elsewhere in Pinellas. Nearby Pinellas Park and the Pinellas County Commission run live broadcasts. Pinellas Park then repeats a tape of the meetings several times. The County Commission also replays its meetings and has a Web site with a connection so the tapes can be replayed any time on the viewer's computer.

Tarpon Springs, however, tapes its meetings and shows them later.

Seminole council member Pat Hartstein favors live television.

"If we want people to get hooked on watching the meetings, I think they should be done live," she said.

If council members have done their homework, there should be no problems, she said. And going live avoids any suspicion that tapes were edited or otherwise censored to show the council at its best.

"You show it live, there's no doubt," Hartstein said.

Having a live show could have an extra advantage, she said. If something controversial or interesting is going on, people can see it and run over to the meeting to contribute their views.

Some area residents can expect more than a new television channel in March. That's when some cable rates will go up a bit. Basic will go up 50 cents a month. Standard will increase $2 a month. Prices for viewers with digital or combination packages will remain the same.

The increase in rates has nothing to do with the city's new station. The rate increase applies to all of Pinellas County, said Dan Ballister, vice president of communications for Bright House. It's caused by an increase in the cost of cable programming and the hiring of more employees at Bright House.

"These are the lowest increases we've done in over 10 years," Ballister said.

That's because the company's telephone and Internet service are doing well, he said.

Seminole's City Council will take steps to keep residents informed through a new cable channel. By next year, meetings will be broadcast live.

February or March - The City Council expects to vote on whether to broadcast live or tape its meetings for later viewing.

March - Activate the channel to run public information bulletins, videos and similar shows.

April-September - Resolve any problems while technicians become familiar with the system and how it runs.

October - Buy one or two more cameras and other equipment.

November-December - Hire a consultant to help prepare council members and others for the cablecasts. Begin taping meetings for practice and to use as instruction and for experience.

[Last modified January 25, 2006, 00:55:16]