THOUSAND OAKS : City to Push for Public Access Station

As they negotiate a new franchise agreement with local cable companies, Thousand Oaks officials will push for a public access educational channel to offer televised teaching to residents of all ages.

The city is negotiating new contracts with Ventura County Cablevision and Falcon Cable, and council members said they will pressure the companies to donate air time for the proposed educational station.

They will also ask for cash donations to build a new public production studio equipped with state-of-the-art video cameras and editing tools.

Local teachers and television producers applauded the council’s decision to pursue educational programming, which would supplement the existing public-access station, Channel 8.

“I can’t tell you that 36% of high school seniors will get better scores on their college entrance exams, but I can tell you that, historically, where arts and education have flourished, so have residents and businesses,” said Al Miller, Moorpark College communications professor.

Run by Ventura County Cablevision, the existing public access station now logs about 145 hours of programming a month, ranging from Bible lessons to yoga classes to Navy news.

Although the channel covers several cities from Calabasas to Ojai, about half the locally produced programming comes from Thousand Oaks.

With such high interest, local producers say they feel sure that they could fill a second channel with educational shows, especially if teachers taped lectures or presented special self-help seminars.

“This would be a valuable public resource,” resident Harry Evry said. “It could clearly open new worlds of entertainment and communication.”