IRVINE : City Council Postpones Decision on TV Channel

Don’t touch that dial. City Council members have delayed action on a request by Dimension Cable to switch the channel that carries local government meetings from Channel 3 to Channel 30.

If government programming is switched to Channel 30, it will put City Council meetings in “the graveyard of the Dimension Cable hit list,” Mayor Michael Ward said.

“As long as I’ve lived in Irvine, Channel 3 has always been the station for City Council and school board meetings,” Ward said. “I don’t see any reason for changing that.”

The reason is standardization, according to Dimension Cable public affairs manager Carol Starcevic. “Traditionally, Channel 30 is where our government access channel is,” Starcevic said.

Councilman Greg Smith said the switch might discourage residents from viewing local government meetings.

“It would be in the midst of all our interactive and bilingual channels, which I think have a generally low watchership here in the city,” Smith said.

Council members voted to pass the request on to the city’s Cable Television Task Force for review, to be reconsidered by the City Council at a future date.

Dimension Cable acquired Community Cablevision in September, 1992. Operations of the two companies were consolidated in May, 1994. The cable television company has since increased the number of available channels in Irvine from 35 to 60, which includes six channels available for public education and government.

Ward also suggested that the revamping of local cable television should include coverage of the County Board of Supervisors meetings, considering the heightened interest in county government since the Dec. 6 bankruptcy.