2 National Awards Go to City Cable Channel

The city’s cable-TV channel walked away with two first-place awards for locally produced programming at a national telecommunications association meeting.

“This Week in Garden Grove” won top honors in the news series category, and “Garden Grove Exposed” was cited as the best profile of a city or county by the National Assn. of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors at its annual convention last week.

Garden Grove’s two programs were among more than 600 entries from 90 cities and counties across the nation.

The city’s cable station, Channel 3A, operates on an annual budget of $175,000, said Kathy Moore, director of administrative services. The funds come directly from fees paid to the city by its cable provider, Time-Warner.

Moore said the city is especially proud of its awards because Channel 3A competed against local programs produced in such cities and counties as Los Angeles, Denver and Dade County, Fla., all of which have annual budgets two and three times larger than Garden Grove’s.