MISSION VIEJO : City to Consider Running TV Channel

The City Council tonight will consider creating the city’s first locally run cable television channel.

The council is scheduled to vote on a five-year operating agreement that would let city staff and local volunteers take over operation of Mission Viejo’s community access channel, currently run by Dimension Cable.

Tentatively called Mission Viejo Television, the program would operate out of a studio at Mission Viejo High School. The city would work with the high school media instruction program and the Coastline Regional Occupation Program, a job training program operated on the campus, to run the cable channel.

Start-up costs for the cable television channel would come from a onetime, $157,000 payment from Dimension Cable.

The cable company also would install equipment that would allow the city to broadcast live on Channel 31.

About $52,000 in funding for the community access channel’s budget would come from a portion of the franchise fee that Dimension currently pays the city for the exclusive right to provide cable television programming here.

City staff invited other South County cities to help develop a regional cable access program but were turned down by other communities. Most expressed interest in forming a multi-city program at a later date, according to a city staff report.

Under a joint operating agreement with Mission Viejo High School, the school would set aside 4,000 square feet of building space for a studio. The public would have access to the facility for 20 hours each week.

The school would also provide the studio with about $300,000 in video equipment acquired recently through a state grant.