News and information for staff members and the Madison community
Vol. III No. 6 - June 2, 2008
MMSD-TV Cable Channels 10 and 19 will be difficult to find after August 2008.
Since cable TV first came to Madison in the late 1970's, television programs from the Madison Metropolitan School District, including Board of Education meetings, sports, school features, programs, classroom instructional television and events have been available to cable subscribers as part of the basic cable TV subscription.
That will change as a result of a law passed this year which allows Charter Cable to relocate the Madison Schools' cable channels to other channels in the cable system — a change that will require viewers with older TV's to purchase or rent digital converter boxes.
In August, Charter Cable will move MMSD-TV to two channels, in numbers somewhere between 980 and 994, to a "public affairs" block of offerings that includes services such as C-Span and Wisconsin EYE.
Currently MMSD-TV Channel 19 programming includes SCOLA International News and Classic Arts Showcase. Channel 19 programming has gained devoted audiences within the Madison community. This programming will be moved to a digital channel as well.
All public, educational and government access community channels in our state are affected by the legislation. See related story in the Wisconsin State Journal by clicking here.
MMSD-TV is a member of an association of community channels working to secure the public's access to local, non-commercial, community-minded media. For more information on the work of WAPC, the Wisconsin Association of Public, Educational and Government Access Channels, click here.
The move from local to statewide franchising for cable TV providers also means that consumer complaints will now be directed to the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.
During this transition period, MMSD-Media Production, which produces programs for MMSD-TV, will continue to develop its video services on the web. Look for an expansion of web-based video offerings as the district's new website gets underway.
And stay tuned --- as MMSD-TV goes digital on Charter Cable.
Last Updated: Wed Nov 26 07:34:14 2008
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