Seattle Community Access Network

Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN) is one of the Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable television channels in Seattle, Washington. The station provides camera equipment, television studios and training that allow residents of King County to create and cablecast their own television shows for a small fee. The station is carried on Comcast and Broadstripe cable systems in King County and the greater Puget Sound region except for six cities covered by Puget Sound Access.

Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN)
CountryUSA
Broadcast areaKing County and the Puget Sound region
Headquarters1125 N. 98th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
United States
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
OwnerSCAN
History
LaunchedAugust 6, 1999
Closed2010
Links
Websitewww.seattle.gov/cable/publicaccesstv.htm
Availability
Cable
Comcast77
Broadstripe23

History

Seattle first acquired a Public-access television station in 1983. Known simply as Channel 29, the station was often referred to as Seattle Public Access Network. The station was operated out of the Northwest Access and Production Center and was owned by the cable company.

In August 1999, Seattle Community Access Network was formed as a non-profit organization in order to take over station operations from TCI.[1] Part of the reason for creating the organization was to handle complaints about adult material being aired on the channel by local producers.

Overview

Seattle Community Access Network provides television productions resources to residents in King County and the greater Puget Sound region for use in creating TV shows and local programming.

SCAN's facility houses two television studios for producing TV programs. The facility also provides three editing booths, several television cameras and related equipment for local residents to use for producing TV shows. SCAN has 12 full-time and 3 part-time employees that run the facility and train residents on how to use the camera equipment and editing suites.[2] The staff regularly hold classes to teach residents TV production and video editing.[3]

Part of SCAN's operations include a Youth Media program to help teach local youth how to become filmmakers. The production facilities are also utilized by Reel grrls program run by 911 Media Arts Center and the local YMCA.[4]

Funding

SCAN is funded by cable TV subscribers in the form of Cable television franchise fees.[5] These franchise fees are charged to cable subscribers each month and totalled $6,500,000 in 2009.[6][7] The fees are passed by the cable company to the Seattle city government and placed in the Cable Television Franchise Subfund that pays for Public-access television, Educational-access television and Government-access television (GATV).[1][6] These are known as PEG channels for Public, educational, and government access television.

Starting in 2006, the Cable Television Franchise Subfund is managed by the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) and is used fund things other than PEG channels.[8] SCAN's receives about 10% of the fund or about $650,000 for its yearly budget. Additional funding for the station comes from grants and donations that SCAN actively seeks and a small amount comes from the fees charged to citizens that use SCAN to create programs.

Threats to operations

There have been several threats to the station's operations over the years.

From 1997, before SCAN was created, until 2006, the station aired TV shows with adult material that were produced by local residents.[9] The most visible of these shows was Mike Hunt TV, which ran explicit pornography. The show drew considerable criticism as well as support.[10] Several local residents objected and called into question the station's operations.[11]

In 2005, while the Seattle city government was renegotiating the franchise agreement with Comcast, there were concerns about the cable company trying to shut down the public access station.[1] There were also concerns regarding how public, educational and government channels were handled and how many public access channels should be available.[12]

In September 2010, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's proposed budget for the city has cut the funding for the station from $650,000 per year to $100,000 per year.[7][13] The budget must still be approved by the Seattle City Council before it takes effect.[2][6] A controversial part of the budget is $400,000 of the Cable Television Franchise Subfund being used to upgrade email for the Seattle city government.[8][14]

SCAN's last day of broadcasting was June 30, 2011. Seattle Community Media began as operators of public access television in Seattle July 1, 2011.

Programming

SCAN has produced a number of television shows that have become part of Seattle culture and has partnered with Seattle public schools to cablecast local high school sporting events.[15] The station also carries Free Speech TV shows such as Democracy Now!.[16][17]

Current shows

Public Exposure: is a long running local government-accountability show. It has featured guests such as former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper.[1]

Goddess Kring: is an arts and entertainment show that has run for over a decade. The show featured a lot of nudity early in its run.[3][18]

Blues To Do: is a music variety show that has been on the air for many years and deals with all aspects of the blues.[19]

Psychic Speaks: is a live call-in psychic show that has been on nearly a decade.[6]

Shifterland: is a variety show starring Cookin' Kitty that has run for several years.[20][21]

BETA TV: is a comedy variety show from the Seattle Neutrino Project/Beta Society improv group. The group has also cablecast their movie Junkbucket on the station.[22]

Past shows

Club Diversity: was a live show that featured culture and diversity in the Seattle area.[1]

Mike Hunt TV: was a pornography and political commentary TV show that caused a stir in Seattle.[9] The show ran from 1997 until 2006 when it was taken off the air.[11]

The Make Josh Famous Half-Hour of Garbage: was a comedy variety show that ran for two years.[3][23]

Now See It Person To Person: Kurt Cobain Was Murdered: was a show that investigated the death of Kurt Cobain starring Richard Lee.[24] The show ran for over a decade before it was taken off the air in 2008.[25][26]

The Vintage Vehicle Show: was a show about vintage cars and car shows hosted by Lance Lambert. The show is now syndicated and broadcast on 74 stations across the US and on TV networks in 27 foreign countries.

Go-Kustom TV: aired from 2001 to 2004 on SCAN and featured kustom kulture artists, pin-ups, car builders and bands from around the Greater Seattle Area. The Show was created by D.A. Sebasstian and was recently re-booted with Season 5.

Jerkbeast show: was a 2001 to 2002 live comedy tv show which featured a paper mache monster called the Jerkbeast. The show would have viewers call in and the Jerkbeast along with other crew members would insult and swear at the caller.

Puget Sound Access

Puget Sound Access is the public access channel for six cities in South King County which are Auburn, Burien, Kent, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila. In March 2004, channel 77 stopped cablecasting SCAN and started cablecasting Puget Sound Access for the six cities in its cablecast area.

PEG channels

Seattle's current franchise agreement requires cable companies to provide eight channel slots for Public, educational, and government access (PEG) channels. The 8 slots are on analog cable and the same 8 slots are on digital cable too, and so total 16 channels altogether.[27]

One Public Access channel
  • Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN). Cablecasts original shows produced by local citizens.

Five Educational channels

Two Government Channels

See also

References
  1. Jenniges, Amy (July 28, 2005). "Access Denied, Comcast Talks Threaten Homegrown TV". The Stranger. Seattle, Washington: Tim Keck. ISSN 1935-9004. OCLC 27341179. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  2. KING 5 News (October 8, 2010). "Seattle public access TV faces big cuts". Northwest Cable News. Seattle, Washington: Belo Corporation. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  3. Brodeur, Nicole (September 15, 2002). "Josh has access, and so can you". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  4. Dizon, Kristin (April 13, 2004). "Reel grrls: Program teaches young women the art of filmmaking". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle, Washington: Roger Oglesby. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  5. Heffter, Emily (March 30, 2006). "City Council considering raising price for cable TV". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  6. Joyce, Kirsten (October 12, 2010). "Seattle's City-wide Budget Cuts Jeopardize Public Access TV Shows". Q13 FOX News. Seattle, Washington: KCPQ. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  7. Bishop, Todd (October 8, 2010). "Public-access TV in YouTube era? City budget crunch forces debate". Puget Sound Business Journal TechFlash. Seattle, Washington: American City Business Journals. ISSN 8750-7757. OCLC 11683053. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  8. Lloyd, Sarah Anne (October 13, 2010). "Public Access TV Funds May Be Used For City Email Instead". Seattle Weekly. Seattle, Washington: Ken Stocker. ISSN 0898-0845. OCLC 61312429. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  9. Lindblom, Mike (January 18, 2006). "TV porn show likely doomed by rules". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  10. Sullivan, Jennifer (January 19, 2006). "TV sex show loses battle to stay on air". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  11. Whyte, Murray (August 2, 1997). "Sexually Explicit Show Moved To Later Time Slot". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  12. Skolnik, Sam (April 29, 2004). "Better public-access TV in Seattle urged at Comcast hearing". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle, Washington: Roger Oglesby. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  13. Krishnan, Sonia (October 10, 2010). "Seattle's public-access TV channel could lose funding". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  14. Swenson, Ty (October 14, 2010). "West Seattle Speaks Out Against Budget Cuts". West Seattle Herald. Seattle, Washington: Robinson Newspapers. OCLC 17293408. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  15. Graham, Jeff (January 16, 2007). "Notebook: Select hoop games to be rebroadcast". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle, Washington: Roger Oglesby. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  16. Virgin, Bill (May 6, 2004). "Radio Beat: Goodmans to talk of democracy". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle, Washington: Roger Oglesby. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  17. Goodman, Amy (May 7, 2004). "Rep McDermott On White House Secrecy, Kerry's Lean to the Right and Why Rumsfeld Should Resign". Democracy Now!. New York City, New York: Pacifica Radio. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  18. Mcfarland, Melanie (March 20, 1998). "The Goddess Kring Grins And Bares It". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  19. Dickie, Lance (December 19, 2006). "Keeping the blues alive in our corner of the world". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  20. Estep, Neil (March 5, 2009). "Shifterland Is Beyond Reproach Because It's Beyond Comprehension". Seattle Weekly. Seattle, Washington: Ken Stocker. ISSN 0898-0845. OCLC 61312429. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  21. Levin, Rick (2007). "Worlds atilt with Nick Shiflet's 'Shifterland': Artist brings his off-kilter vision to public TV". Capitol Hill Times. Seattle, Washington: Pacific Publishing Company. OCLC 11458216. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  22. West, Lindy (July 14, 2009). "The Mansion Family, Inside the Beta Society's Creative Fraternity (and Hot Tub)". The Stranger. Seattle, Washington: Tim Keck. ISSN 1935-9004. OCLC 27341179. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  23. Brodeur, Nicole (August 26, 2005). "Singer, author team up for over-the-top adventures with Captain Underpants". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  24. Forgrave, Reid (September 8, 2001). "Enthusiasm meets obscurity: Colorful supporting cast fills out ballot in mayor's race". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  25. Brunner, Jim; Bob Young (September 6, 2005). "Six little-known opponents facing Nickels in primary". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  26. Campbell, Phil (November 21, 2002). "Insane Determination, Richard Lee's Wild Ride Through Nirvana Fictions". The Stranger. Seattle, Washington: Tim Keck. ISSN 1935-9004. OCLC 61312429. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  27. City of Seattle (May 1, 2006). "Comcast Franchise Agreement (2006)". Seattle, Washington: City of Seattle. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13.
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