The Oregon Channel, a public affairs television network

Television network

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, was intended to be operated by a consortium consisting of Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Broadcasting is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of Oregon as well as southern Washington. With its headquarters and television studios in Portland, OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over...

, Southern Oregon Public Television, the Oregon Legislative Assembly

Oregon Legislative Assembly

The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...

, the Oregon University System

Oregon University System

The Oregon University System consists of seven public, four-year universities in the State of Oregon administered by the Chancellor of the OUS, who is appointed by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education...

 and the Oregon Public Affairs Network (OPAN). It was carried on most cable television systems

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 throughout the Oregon either on a part-time or full-time basis as well as on the Internet. The station operates 24 hours a day.

When the state Legislature is in session, live gavel-to-gavel

Gavel

A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle and often struck against a sound block to enhance its sounding qualities. It is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the capacity of a chair or presiding officer. It is used to call...

 coverage of the Oregon State Senate

Oregon State Senate

The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...

 and the Oregon House of Representatives

Oregon House of Representatives

The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....

 is carried until Adjournment sine die

Adjournment sine die

Adjournment sine die means "without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing". To adjourn an assembly sine die is to adjourn it for an indefinite period...

.

When the legislature is not in session, other live gavel-to-gavel programming is carried, including the Oregon Supreme Court

Oregon Supreme Court

The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...

, and meetings of the Governor

Governor of Oregon

The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....

 and his or her cabinet. When there are no live gavel-to-gavel meetings, other local or statewide public affairs programming is carried.

Officials at the state capital have planned to discontinue the broadcast of the Oregon Channel after the 2011 session concluding that the viewership of the Oregon Channel has dropped too low to justify spending the money to keep it running. Both the lack of interest from local (Salem/Portland Area) Public, educational, and government access

Public, educational, and government access

Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...

 (PEG) cable television channels and the failure of public broadcast to produce a reasonable agreement for transmission to other Government-access television (GATV) channels across Oregon have inevitably forced this public service to discontinue at the end of the 2011 legislative session.