We are very pleased to announce that ‘Olelo Community Television has been awarded a sixth cable channel by the State’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA). This is great news for everyone who has an interest in community programming, and we thank all of you who have worked so hard to make this happen. The additional channel will provide the added capacity that we need to meet the increasing demand for prime time local programming on our channels.
Beginning on February 10, 2006, ‘Olelo will be programming FOCUS 49, the newest addition to our family of access channels. They currently include channels 52 through 56. FOCUS 49’s programming information will be available on ‘Olelo’s website, www.olelo.org, alongside our other channels starting early February.
Channel 49 was assigned to us by Oceanic Cable. The channel currently features programming from C-SPAN 2 and the Game Show Network. It is our understanding that Oceanic will be moving C-SPAN2 to analog channel 78. Although we would have preferred to have channel 57 or 51, Oceanic has the sole discretion to determine the channel assignments.
The DCCA has awarded us this new PEG access channel, for a one-year trial period. At the nine-month mark, `*lelo will be required to demonstrate the benefit and impact the channel has had to community producers and cable viewers.
FOCUS 49 will make it easier for ‘Olelo to provide adequate, equitable time for each access program. We will initially devote a portion of time to sessions of the State Legislature and neighborhood boards, as well as other local non-series community based programs. Related programming such as Vote! 2006 and community produced election-oriented programs will also be placed there. The new channel now allows us to schedule programs without the threat of having to ‘bump’ one program for another in the concentrated months during election season.
I strongly encourage you to take full advantage of this opportunity by creating more programming; videotaping and airing community events, covering issues, and sharing your stories. As Oahu’s “electronic soapbox”, ‘Olelo is committed to providing the public, Hawaii’s educational institutions, and government at all levels with the ability to bring their messages to Oahu’s cable viewers. Our efforts to obtain the sixth channel, FOCUS 49, reflect that commitment.
”’Keali`i Lopez is the President and CEO of Olelo.”’
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