Seattle Community Access Network
Encyclopedia
Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN) is one of the Public, educational, and government access
(PEG) cable tv channels in Seattle, Washington. The station provides camera equipment, TV studios and training that allow residents of King County
to create and cablecast their own television shows for a small fee. The station is carried on Comcast
and Broadstripe cable systems in King County
and the greater Puget Sound region
except for 6 cities covered by Puget Sound Access. The station drew considerable attention from 1997 to 2006 for airing the Mike Hunt TV show, which ran uncensored pornography
.
In August 1999, Seattle Community Access Network was formed as a non-profit organization
in order to take over station operations from TCI. Part of the reason for creating the organization was to handle complaints about adult material being aired on the channel by local producers.
and the greater Puget Sound region
for use in creating TV shows and local programming.
SCAN's facility houses two television studios for producing TV programs. The facility also provides three editing booths, several television cameras and related equipment for local residents to use for producing TV shows. SCAN has 12 full-time and 3 part-time employees that run the facility and train residents on how to use the camera equipment and editing suites. The staff regularly hold classes to teach residents TV production and video editing.
Part of SCAN's operations include a Youth Media program to help teach local youth how to become filmmakers. The production facilities are also utilized by Reel grrls program run by 911 Media Arts Center
and the local YMCA.
s. These franchise fees are charged to cable subscribers each month and totalled $6,500,000 in 2009. The fees are passed by the cable company to the Seattle city government and placed in the Cable Television Franchise Subfund that pays for Public-access television
, Educational-access television and Government-access television (GATV). These are known as PEG channels for Public, educational, and government access
television.
Starting in 2006, the Cable Television Franchise Subfund is managed by the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) and is used fund things other than PEG channels. SCAN's receives about 10% of the fund or about $650,000 for its yearly budget. Additional funding for the station comes from grants and donations that SCAN actively seeks and a small amount comes from the fees charged to citizens that use SCAN to create programs.
From 1997, before SCAN was created, until 2006, the station aired TV shows with adult material that were produced by local residents. The most visible of these shows was Mike Hunt TV, which ran explicit pornography. The show drew considerable criticism as well as support. Several local residents objected and called in to question the station's operations.
In 2005, while the Seattle city government was renegotiating the franchise agreement with Comcast, there were concerns about the cable company trying to shut down the public access station. There were also concerns regarding how public, educational and government channels were handled and how many public access channels should be available.
In September 2010, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's proposed budget for the city has cut the funding for the station from $650,000 per year to $100,000 per year. The budget must still be approved by the Seattle City Council
before it takes effect. A controversial part of the budget is $400,000 of the Cable Television Franchise Subfund being used to upgrade email for the Seattle city government.
to cablecast local high school sporting events. The station also carries Free Speech TV
shows such as Democracy Now!
.
.
Goddess Kring is an arts and entertainment show that has run for over a decade. The show featured a lot of nudity early in its run.
Blues To Do is a music variety show that has been on the air for many years and deals with all aspects of the blues.
Psychic Speaks is a live call-in psychic show that has been on nearly a decade.
Shifterland is a variety show starring Cookin' Kitty that has run for several years.
BETA TV is a comedy variety show from the Seattle Neutrino Project/Beta Society improv
group. The group has also cablecast their movie Junkbucket on the station.
Mike Hunt TV was a pornography and political commentary TV show that caused a stir in Seattle. The show ran from 1997 until 2006 when it was taken off the air.
The Make Josh Famous Half-Hour of Garbage was a comedy variety show that ran for two years.
Now See It Person To Person: Kurt Cobain Was Murdered was a show that investigated the death of Kurt Cobain
starring Richard Lee
. The show ran for over a decade before it was taken off the air in 2008.
, Burien
, Kent
, Renton
, SeaTac
and Tukwila
. In March 2004, channel 77 stopped cablecasting SCAN and started cablecasting Puget Sound Access for the six cities in its cablecast area.
(PEG) channels. The 8 slots are on analog cable and the same 8 slots are on digital cable too, and so total 16 channels altogether.
Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...
(PEG) cable tv channels in Seattle, Washington. The station provides camera equipment, TV studios and training that allow residents of King County
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
to create and cablecast their own television shows for a small fee. The station is carried on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and Broadstripe cable systems in King County
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
and the greater Puget Sound region
Puget Sound region
The Puget Sound region is an inland area of the Pacific Northwest in Washington , including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains.- History :...
except for 6 cities covered by Puget Sound Access. The station drew considerable attention from 1997 to 2006 for airing the Mike Hunt TV show, which ran uncensored pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
.
History
Seattle first acquired a Public-access television station in 1983. Known simply as Channel 29, the station was often referred to as Seattle Public Access Network. The station was operated out of the Northwest Access and Production Center and was owned by the cable company.In August 1999, Seattle Community Access Network was formed as a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
in order to take over station operations from TCI. Part of the reason for creating the organization was to handle complaints about adult material being aired on the channel by local producers.
Overview
Seattle Community Access Network provides television productions resources to residents in King CountyKing County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
and the greater Puget Sound region
Puget Sound region
The Puget Sound region is an inland area of the Pacific Northwest in Washington , including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains.- History :...
for use in creating TV shows and local programming.
SCAN's facility houses two television studios for producing TV programs. The facility also provides three editing booths, several television cameras and related equipment for local residents to use for producing TV shows. SCAN has 12 full-time and 3 part-time employees that run the facility and train residents on how to use the camera equipment and editing suites. The staff regularly hold classes to teach residents TV production and video editing.
Part of SCAN's operations include a Youth Media program to help teach local youth how to become filmmakers. The production facilities are also utilized by Reel grrls program run by 911 Media Arts Center
911 Media Arts Center
911 Media Arts Center is a non-profit media arts and access center located in Seattle, Washington. 911 Media Arts Center was incorporated on August 14, 1984 to support the expressive use of media tools through training, equipment and access grants. The organization also provides a forum and venue...
and the local YMCA.
Funding
SCAN is funded by cable TV subscribers in the form of Cable television franchise feeCable television franchise fee
A cable television franchise fee in the United States, the stems from a community's basic right to charge for use of the property it owns. The cable television franchise fees represent part of the compensation a community receives in exchange for the cable operator's occupation and the right-of-way...
s. These franchise fees are charged to cable subscribers each month and totalled $6,500,000 in 2009. The fees are passed by the cable company to the Seattle city government and placed in the Cable Television Franchise Subfund that pays for Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
, Educational-access television and Government-access television (GATV). These are known as PEG channels for Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...
television.
Starting in 2006, the Cable Television Franchise Subfund is managed by the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) and is used fund things other than PEG channels. SCAN's receives about 10% of the fund or about $650,000 for its yearly budget. Additional funding for the station comes from grants and donations that SCAN actively seeks and a small amount comes from the fees charged to citizens that use SCAN to create programs.
Threats to operations
There have been several threats to the station's operations over the years.From 1997, before SCAN was created, until 2006, the station aired TV shows with adult material that were produced by local residents. The most visible of these shows was Mike Hunt TV, which ran explicit pornography. The show drew considerable criticism as well as support. Several local residents objected and called in to question the station's operations.
In 2005, while the Seattle city government was renegotiating the franchise agreement with Comcast, there were concerns about the cable company trying to shut down the public access station. There were also concerns regarding how public, educational and government channels were handled and how many public access channels should be available.
In September 2010, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's proposed budget for the city has cut the funding for the station from $650,000 per year to $100,000 per year. The budget must still be approved by the Seattle City Council
Seattle City Council
The Seattle City Council is committed to ensuring that Seattle, Washington, is safe, livable and sustainable. Nine Councilmembers are elected to four-year terms in nonpartisan elections and represent the entire city, elected by all Seattle voters....
before it takes effect. A controversial part of the budget is $400,000 of the Cable Television Franchise Subfund being used to upgrade email for the Seattle city government.
Programming
SCAN has produced a number of television shows that have become part of Seattle culture and has partnered with Seattle public schoolsSeattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...
to cablecast local high school sporting events. The station also carries Free Speech TV
Free Speech TV
-External links:...
shows such as Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
.
Current shows
Public Exposure is a long running local government-accountability show. It has featured guests such as former Seattle Police Chief Norm StamperNorm Stamper
Norm Stamper is a former Chief of the Seattle Police Department and an author. He is best known for his role in the Seattle's response to the protests of the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which eventually led to his resignation....
.
Goddess Kring is an arts and entertainment show that has run for over a decade. The show featured a lot of nudity early in its run.
Blues To Do is a music variety show that has been on the air for many years and deals with all aspects of the blues.
Psychic Speaks is a live call-in psychic show that has been on nearly a decade.
Shifterland is a variety show starring Cookin' Kitty that has run for several years.
BETA TV is a comedy variety show from the Seattle Neutrino Project/Beta Society improv
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
group. The group has also cablecast their movie Junkbucket on the station.
Past shows
Club Diversity was a live show that featured culture and diversity in the Seattle area.Mike Hunt TV was a pornography and political commentary TV show that caused a stir in Seattle. The show ran from 1997 until 2006 when it was taken off the air.
The Make Josh Famous Half-Hour of Garbage was a comedy variety show that ran for two years.
Now See It Person To Person: Kurt Cobain Was Murdered was a show that investigated the death of Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
starring Richard Lee
Richard Lee (journalist)
Richard Lee is an independent journalist from Seattle, Washington. Since 1994 he is only known for his investigations into the death of Kurt Cobain which he believes was a homicide. Lee was the first to make this claim...
. The show ran for over a decade before it was taken off the air in 2008.
Puget Sound Access
Puget Sound Access is the public access channel for six cities in South King County which are AuburnAuburn, Washington
-Parks:Auburn has an extensive system of parks, open space and urban trails comprising 29 developed parks, 5 undeveloped sites under planning, 2 skate parks, 2 water roatary parks, and over of trails , and almost of open space for passive and active recreation.-Environmental Park:The Auburn...
, Burien
Burien, Washington
Burien is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located south of Seattle. As of the 2010 Census, Burien's population is 33,313, which is a 2.9% increase since incorporation. Annexation in 2011 has increased the cities population to about 45,000....
, Kent
Kent, Washington
Kent is a city located in King County, Washington, United States, and is the third largest city in King County and the sixth largest in the state. An outlying suburb of Seattle, Kent is also the corporate home for companies such as REI and Oberto Sausage...
, Renton
Renton, Washington
Renton is an Eastside edge city in King County, Washington, United States. Situated 11 miles southeast of Seattle, Washington, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington. Founded in the 1860s, Renton became a supply town for the Newcastle coal fields...
, SeaTac
SeaTac, Washington
SeaTac is an American city in southern King County, Washington, and an outlying suburb of Seattle, Washington. Incorporated in February 1990, the City of SeaTac is ten square miles in area and has a population of 26,909 according to the 2010 census...
and Tukwila
Tukwila, Washington
Tukwila is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The northern edge of Tukwila borders the city of Seattle. The population was 19,107 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. In March 2004, channel 77 stopped cablecasting SCAN and started cablecasting Puget Sound Access for the six cities in its cablecast area.
PEG channels
Seattle's current franchise agreement requires cable companies to provide eight channel slots for Public, educational, and government accessPublic, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...
(PEG) channels. The 8 slots are on analog cable and the same 8 slots are on digital cable too, and so total 16 channels altogether.
One Public Access channel
- Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN). Cablecasts original shows produced by local citizens.
Five Educational channels
- Puget Sound Educational Television (PSETV). Cablecasts regionally produced educational programs and Annenberg Media programs.
- The College Channel (Bellevue College). Cablecasts educational programs and Annenberg Media programs.
- University of Washington TVUWTVUWTV is an educational television service from the University of Washington , originating from Seattle. Through on air, online and mobile distribution formats, UWTV serves as an ambassador to the scholarship, discoveries and breakthrough science of the nation’s top ranked public research...
(UWTV). Cablecasts science lectures by the University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University... - University of Washington TV 2 (UW2.TV). Cablecasts NASA TVNASA TVNASA TV is the television service of the United States government agency NASA. NASA TV is broadcast by satellite with a simulcast over the Internet. Local cable television systems across the U.S. and amateur television repeaters may carry NASA TV at their discretion, as NASA-created content is...
during the day (9 AM - 5 PM) and science lectures and the Research ChannelResearchChannelThe Research Channel was an educational television network based at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and operated by a consortium of leading research and academic institutions who contribute science-related programming to viewers in the United States and in other countries via...
in the evening and overnight (5 PM - 9 AM). - KCTS PlusKCTS-TVKCTS-TV is a public television station in Seattle, Washington, that is a member of the Public Broadcasting Service , that broadcasts on digital channel 9. Its offices and broadcasting center are located at the northeast corner of Seattle Center...
. Cablecasts Classic Arts ShowcaseClassic Arts ShowcaseClassic Arts Showcase is a television channel in the United States promoting the fine arts. The television program content includes prepared media and recorded live performances...
24 hours per day.
Two Government Channels
- The Seattle ChannelSeattle ChannelThe Seattle Channel, cable channel 21 in Seattle, Washington, USA, is a government-access television channel. It also operates an extensive web site....
. Cablecasts local government sessions and original programming produced by the station. - TV WashingtonTVW (Washington)TVW is Washington's public affairs network, providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of Washington State Legislature sessions and coverage of the Washington State Supreme Court and public affairs events. It is widely considered the model state level equivalent of C-SPAN. TVW was founded in 1993 by...
(TVW). Cablecasts Washington State LegislatureWashington State LegislatureThe Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bipartisan, bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, with 49 Senators.The State Legislature...
sessions, similar to C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
.
See also
- Media in SeattleMedia in SeattleSeattle, Washington, supports a multitude of media, from long-established newspapers, television and radio stations to a continually evolving panoply of smaller, local art, culture, neighborhood and political publications, filmmaking and, most recently, Internet media...
- List of television stations in Washington
- List of public-access TV stations in the United States