Announcements

channelAustin ANNOUNCES NEW HOURS OF OPERATIONS

Starting July 5th the operating hours for channelAustin will change. After a close look at the patterns of use, we found that the new operating hours reflect the best solution for reduced hours while most effectively serving the greatest number of producers.

Some of the benefits include the following.

1. To offer better services to producers, staff will be more available for technical support during times of most use.
2. More training will be offered at more convenient times in the evenings and on weekends.
3. The new hours will allow more efficient use of resources to better serve producers.
4. We must look to the future and the changes we will have to make over the next several years to better prepare for survival. The new hours are a necessary first step as we face the increased cost of doing business.

While these changes in hours make us more comparable to other access centers nationwide, we still remain the access center with the most number of hours open for producers to use the resources and facilities.

To offset the reduced hours of the facility, we plan to phase in the ability for producers to conduct more business on our web site. In addition, with the new Equipment Purchase planned for Winter 2008, new portable edit packages will be available for checkout so producers can work from home. We also are exploring the ability for producers to submit their program files via the Internet, instead of driving to the facility. We all need to cut down on car trips.

Since we first came on board, we’ve known that state and national laws have changed the landscape for access television. Specifically, these laws threaten our historical funding model and guaranteed operating monies. In Texas, the new cable franchise law passed in 2005 has negatively impacted access television, like we saw in San Antonio.

In Austin, we know for sure that in 2011 we lose our earmarked operating funds. However, because of possible court action, this could happen even sooner, as early as 2009.

Since we remain on a fixed, static budget, adjusting the hours is one way to reduce costs and yet maintain the same level of services producers in the Austin community have come to expect.

We are going to phase in the new hours of operation July 5, 2008, with the schedule becoming final October 1, 2008.

Effective Saturday, July 5, 2008, channelAustin’s new operating hours for the public are:

Monday 5:00 PM to 12:00 Midnight
Tuesday 12:00 Noon to 12:00 Midnight
Wednesday 12:00 Noon to 12:00 Midnight
Thursday 12:00 Noon to 12:00 Midnight
Friday 12:00 Noon to 4:00 AM Saturday morning
Saturday 8:00 AM to 4:00 AM Sunday morning
Sunday 8:00 AM to 12 Midnight

Thank you for your time and attention to these matters.

Producer Services New Hours

Contact Producer Services at 512-478-8600, Ext 10 to renew your Producer ID, sign up for classes, or make equipment reservations. Producer Services is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm. No longer open on Saturdays.

channelAustin Scholarships

Scholarships for training classes are available to channelAustin producers. For more information, please see the training section of our web site.