You may or may not know this about me, but I'm a big fan of the "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" series. Recently, my friend Laurie stumbled into watching it for the very first time, recording her thoughts and (often hilarious) reactions to it via her Twitter feed, using the hashtag #firstbuffy.
She's been watching several episodes at a time for the last couple of week, but tonight invited yours truly and a handful of others to join together for a supremely geeky evening of liveblogging the show en masse. So we're all headed over to a friend's house, laptops in hand, to make it happen TONIGHT at about 8:00 p.m. CST.
Since I'm trying to keep my Twitter account more strictly dedicated to following news and politics, I've decided to dump my Buffy commentary into a proper liveblog - but the stream will also include tweets from all participants. If you're feeling bored/nostalgic/curious/whatever, please do tune it via the module below tonight at around 8 - or come back later to read the full archive.
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Public access to public access matters
I'm not renewing my subscription to Charter's cable services when I move into my new apartment this week. After years of rate hikes, deceptive sign-on specials, and their push for the terrible so-called "Video Competition Act", I've decided to just give up. I don't want to deal with them anymore.
Still, it really pissed me off when I read about Charter's plans to move public access channels up into their digital tier of service.
The act was supposed to allow for greater competition and lower prices, but a new study released shows that that's not really the case. In fact, the opposite is often true, and people are having to pay more for a service that, more and more, doesn't include their public access channels.
This is ridiculous. The airwaves were established as belonging to the public, with cable companies and stations leasing them out with the understanding that they must devote part of their programming and service to the public well-being. Public access channels bring valuable coverage of local politics, news, and culture--things that are otherwise poorly represented on other stations. Like good local newspapers, local stations are part of the essential framework of an open and informed society, providing a non-corporate, cheap/free means of dispensing information to citizens.
Speak up and let Charter know that this move, and its various other offenses, will not be tolerated: contact the state's Consumer Protection at 1-800-422-7128 or online.
h/t: Caffeinated Politics.
Still, it really pissed me off when I read about Charter's plans to move public access channels up into their digital tier of service.
Without a contract between Charter and Madison, the cable company was no longer required to keep the City Channel on channel 12 and chose to move it into a new "Public Affairs Neighborhood" that would include Wisconsin Eye and C-SPAN. As part of Charter's digital service, the City Channel will still be available to basic and expanded cable customers, but a cable digital converter box from Charter is required. Charter will provide the device for free for six months, after which a $2 monthly charge might apply.Great, so now in addition to stripping PEG funding, they're going to move all those pesky public channels up into the deep, dark recesses of their digital access tier.
The act was supposed to allow for greater competition and lower prices, but a new study released shows that that's not really the case. In fact, the opposite is often true, and people are having to pay more for a service that, more and more, doesn't include their public access channels.
This is ridiculous. The airwaves were established as belonging to the public, with cable companies and stations leasing them out with the understanding that they must devote part of their programming and service to the public well-being. Public access channels bring valuable coverage of local politics, news, and culture--things that are otherwise poorly represented on other stations. Like good local newspapers, local stations are part of the essential framework of an open and informed society, providing a non-corporate, cheap/free means of dispensing information to citizens.
Speak up and let Charter know that this move, and its various other offenses, will not be tolerated: contact the state's Consumer Protection at 1-800-422-7128 or online.
h/t: Caffeinated Politics.
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