MISSION VIEJO : City’s Own Cable TV Show Debuts Today

Mission Viejo Television, the first cable program independently produced by a South County city, will premiere today at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 31 with a news magazine show.

Within months, Mission Viejo viewers will start seeing local programming that other cities with long experience in cable programming take for granted.

On the drawing board are a teen-agers’ talk program dealing with issues facing South County youth, a program of tips on house painting from a professional painter and a comedy game show called “Know Your Neighbor.”

“Some communities aren’t interested in dealing with cable,” said Danian Hopp, assistant to the city manager. “MVTV will tell stories and communicate ideas about people and events in Mission Viejo. I think it will help bring a real sense of cohesiveness to our community.”

Work on the project started 18 months ago when the City Council decided to invest cable franchise revenue into a TV studio at Mission Viejo High School. MVTV’s $52,000 annual budget is paid through the city’s franchise agreement with Dimension Cable.

The city’s partnership with the school was formed with two goals: to establish a local site for the studio and to offer instruction so that students could be trained to staff the city’s production crew at some point.

MVTV production manager Mark Curtis said the program is one of few in the county to teach hands-on production techniques to high school students.

Tonight’s debut edition of “MVTV News” will profile the city animal shelter and a recent changeover in the mayor’s seat.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, MVTV will air “Animal House,” a program sponsored by the animal shelter.

The two shows are being backed financially by Boston Market, Saddleback Outdoor Marketplace and Mission Viejo Co. Any future expansion of MVTV will depend heavily on recruitment of new sponsors, Hopp said.

“This is a building-block program,” he said. “You’ll definitely see us get bigger from here.”