CAP Act will help preserve Community Television

KOCT-Your Community Channel- has been providing programming for the Oceanside & North County community for over 31 years. There are PEG (Public Education & Government) channels in towns large and small all across this nation. Since 2005, PEG access channels have suffered severe setbacks as a result of statewide franchising laws.  The historic recession took an additional toll and as a result thousands of PEG channels have shut down over the past decade.

The good news is that U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin & Edward Markey have reintroduced the Community Access Preservation (CAP) Act legislation to ensure public access to local television programming.

The CAP Act amends the Cable Act to ensure that PEG fees can be used for any purpose not just for capital expenditures.  (Many  PEG channels  have funding for equipment but no funding for a  staff to operate them!)

Other important elements of the CAP Act are:

• Makes sure that cable operators transmit PEG channels without charge to the local government

• Makes sure that PEG channels are available on the Basic tier for service and available to all subscribers without the need for additional equipment.

• Allows communities to have the capabilities to transmit their programs in High Definition

• Allows communities to have the ability to submit programming guides just like all the other channels

We’ll keep you in the loop on this important legislation and seek your help in contacting your local Congressional and Senate representative in support of the CAP Act when it moves a little further down the legislative road….

John Rocco, President of the American Community Television said it best: “Now, more than ever, the CAP Act is desperately needed. Our local community media is critical to the communities as media continues to consolidate…the need for local Government transparency is at an all-time high. We must protect and preserve this precious community resource and make sure the local community is represented in the media landscape.”

 Random Pixels

• Have you ever wanted to see the ‘behind the scene’ action of our monthly KOCT program Oceanside Spectrum?

• If you come to the KOCT Open House on June 15^th from 2-5 pm you can watch a  ‘live-to-tape‘ talk show being recorded and take a self-guided tour of KOCT. This is great opportunity to meet KOCT’s staff, interns, volunteers and the KOCT Board of Directors too!

 Mark your calendars.

•    KOCT Station Manager has been out of the office and into the field to capture more scenic footage for an upcoming Oceanside & North County Tourism video. 

• Another production that has kept our crews hopping is our upcoming program Hopps Highway. Angela Wong and the KOCT crew have had the arduous task of filming interviews at Legacy brewery, Bagby Beer and Stone Brewing Company.

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  Watch this growing North County program in July.

•    Watch for the KOCT crew at this years Independence Day Parade on June 27^th—attend this patriotic event in person, cheer the parade participants and then watch the fun again on KOCT’s televised coverage.

Come and enjoy the Independence Parade of 2015 with KOCT!

• Congratulations to KOCT’s Miguel Blanco for winning the popular radio station’s 91X Poster contest!

•     Miguel is a talented KOCT Editor whose most recent KOCT project was the Adobes and Ranchos of North County. This award is just another example of KOCT’s award-winning staff!

KOCT and the Oceanside community are truly blessed.

Journalist Roundtable on KOCT

Tune into our next ‘live’ Journalist Roundtable  tonight, Thursday May 7th at 6 pm.  If you miss this ‘live’ show you can always watch Journalist Roundtable throughout the month of May on KOCT’s Channel 18 or as video on demand via KOCT.ORG

Our Guests will Include:

Matt Sanford with the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation to discuss Innovate 78.

Our second guest will be former Oceanside Council member Shari Mackin to discuss a Community Commentary she wrote in the local newspaper regarding the proposed Caltrans proposed Interstate 7/ state Route 78 project.

Our next guest is Louise Esola, former columnists for the North County Times and author of “The True Story of the Lost 74 of the Vietnam War”. 

Our final guest will be Mark Dice—local provocateur who has received millions of YouTube hits for his videos about Petitions that he get visitors to the Oceanside pier to sign no matter how outrageous the issues are.

Journalist Roundtable is hosted by veteran journalist Kent Davy. He is joined on set by KPBS's Alison St. John and columnist from the San Diego Union-Tribune, Logan Jenkins. 

The program can be viewed on Channel 18 Cox Cable in Oceanside, and AT&T U-Verse, county-wide channel 99.  You can also stream us live on www.koct.org on your smart phone or tablet.

Stay in tune with your community by tuning into KOCT – Your Community Channel!

Community Connection

On April 23^rd the KOCT crew put in a marathon day recording another for a series of Voice of Oceanside programs.

We interviewed Mayor Wood and Council member Chuck Lowery. Council member Esther Sanchez will be interviewed in May. 

Voice Host John Bonosoro interviewed Allen Kosup, the Caltrans I-5/SR 76 Corridor Director. You won’t want to miss this informative show that will discuss all the major roadwork planned and in development. This process includes Highway 76, the proposed I-5 & Highway 78 interchange and the suggested expansion of I-5.

Our guests were Ellen Schmeding, the director of Aging and Independence, and a volunteer Ombudsoman, Fred Gould. We also learn about senior scams and the County of San Diego’s Ombudsmen program. We also followed Frank Gould as he visits senior residents at a long-term car facility.  

We recorded the first KOCT interview with the ‘new’ Harbor Master of Oceanside, Paul Lawrence.

Thanks to the professional crew of audio, camera, director and other ‘behind-the-scenes’ personnel for producing another informative series of programs. Great Job!

  

Look for our new series of Voice programs in our May schedule or as Video On Demand via koct@koct.org.

Important Roles KOCT Plays

One of the important roles that KOCT plays in our North County community is to provide media exposure, real world experience and job opportunities for young people. There are many young people currently working in the commercial television and film world who got their start at KOCT.

El Camino High School Group with Sharon Stong

Oceanside High School Group with Frank Zimmerman

One of the services we provide for students, our community and the Oceanside Unified School District is our High School Spectrum series. KOCT staff work closely with the students at El Camino High and Oceanside High School to teach them how to use the cameras, switchers, audio and other tools to produce their own television programs. They provide the hosts and select their guests—such as the two new Principles for their high school’s. Frank Zimmerman, who teaches at Oceanside High and Sharon Strong, who teaches at El Camino High, enjoy the opportunity to have their students experience a professional television studio and learn the craft from KOCT’s professional staff. Many times these same students come back as college students or volunteers and help KOCT in our quest to produce programs for by and about our north county community.

Director Jade Yusi at the Controls

Floor Manager Jaycee Scheri and Summer Dominguez on Camera 1

Oceanside High School Student on Camera 2

Oceanside High School Spectrum Set

Oceanside High School Student on Wide Camera

If you know a college student seeking an internship with KOCT you can have them download this Internship Application.

Our High School Spectrum series is now being edited by the Oceanside and El Camino High School students and I’ll provide a link to the show, here in Community Connection when completed. I’m looking forward to finding out what’s happening at our two local high schools!

Host Robert Rasul and Guest Principal Pirayoff 

Guest Jade Yusi with Hosts Devin Settles and Amalia Neil

On Set with Principal Bennett

Community Connection

Up…Up and Away!

KOCT’S camera crew took to the air last week to capture Hi-Definition video footage of Oceanside and North County sites.

Jacob Rush, KOCT Station Manager

Station Manager Jacob Rush was joined by videographer's Angela Wong and Addison Wolf on a beautiful but windy Friday evening flight. The crew is gathering aerial footage for a tourism video that is being funded by a Community Enhancement Grant from the County of San Diego. Additional funding has come from underwriters AT&T, Scripp's Health and the Oceanside/California Welcome Center.

Angela Wong, KOCT Videographer

The footage will also be made available to the Welcome Center to help promote tourism in Oceanside and North County. Look for this new video in June!

KOCT visits the Oceanside Boys & Girls Club

Peter Bonscher and Addison Wolf interview Jodi Diamond, CEO of the Oceanside Boys & Girls Club.

KOCT Producer Peter Bonscher and Videographer Addison Wolf recorded the first program in our new 3-part Arts & Culture series.

Addison Wolf, KOCT Videographer

This is funded by the City of Oceanside’s Arts Commission. The KOCT crew traveled to the Oceanside Boys & Girls Club to document their “Art of the Masters” program premiering in June.

 

North County Economic Summit now available as VOD!

In March, KOCT joined over 450 businessmen and women, elected officials and economic experts gathered for the 2nd Annual North County Economic Summit. The audience heard from a number of speakers and panelists about our National, State and San Diego Economies. This new series is now available as Video On Demand.

Watch it now by clicking here.

NAB Reflections by KOCT’s Chief Engineer Bill Peters. Video geeks look forward to April each year, not for the spring flowers but because that’s when the National Association of Broadcasters convention (NAB) comes to Las Vegas and all the latest and greatest video gear are on display.

In the old days, you could tell an NAB visitor because their knuckles would drag on the ground from carrying bags of swags around—now they just swipe your card and send you all their promotional material via e-mail. Our renaissance man-who-knows-everything, Chief Engineer Bill Peters and his wife Beverly made the annual journey to the desert and he jotted down these quick reflections:

The Las Vegas Convention Center is huge! I'm tired!

Lots of shoots being done in 4K.

Cameras getting smaller and better even as image quality gets better.

Finding the camera body not always easy.

Know your formats: SD, HD, Ultra HD, 2K, 4K, 8K,???

Think also about the actual pixel sizes of the image when resizing.

Increases in image resolution leads to increases in distribution channel bandwidth (obviously)•

Will the internet really prevail as the ultimate distribution channel?

Thanks Bill for your research, day to day professionalism and your willingness to risk encounters with Vegas Showgirl in order to help KOCT!

Community Connection for Tuesday March 31st

Earlier this year the City Council approved the awarding of art project funds to KOCT and five (5) other non-profit organizations. The Oceanside Arts Commission, consisting of 11 volunteers, had reviewed many grant applications before passing on their recommendations to the Council.

The mission of the Arts Commission is to foster the development of the performing, visual and cultural arts. The goal of KOCT’s successful grant application was to produce three programs about other successful grantees and share with our north county community our rich art culture and heritage. KOCT is thankful for the support of the Arts Commission and the City Council. KOCT will provide matching funds for this project to our City Council.

In the coming months you’ll see the KOCT camera crew at the following events:

·         The Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside’s Art of the Masters program

·         The First Friday Art Walk (May 1^st)

·         Oceanside Theatre Company’s Radio Program Series

KOCT’s objective is to share with a greater audience these short television and web programs that capture the creativity, excitement and content of our vibrant Oceanside arts community. We live in a busy, fast-paced environment and not everyone can get away from family, business and other obligations to participate and enjoy the arts. KOCT hopes to share and preserve these ‘art moments’ with a larger community and for a period of time longer than the event itself!  Donald Stump with North County Lifeline wrote in a supportive letter on behalf of KOCT: “…these programs highlight the many positive projects that take place in Oceanside and KOCT’s coverage helps to insure a larger audience for our non-profits, artists and musicians.”



KOCT camera crew at North County Lifeline mural creation for a previous "Arts & Culture" production.

Jennifer Lacy, the Board Chair of the Oceanside Charitable Foundation wrote: "We are fortunate to have such a responsive television station in Oceanside....their commitment to promoting Arts and Culture has been evident by their innovation and willingness to work with the community".

KOCT has covered the Arts in Oceanside since its inception. Here the late poet, writer and ‘artist’ Robert Nanninga & KOCT Executive Director Tom Reeser create a promo for a KOCT program about the very first ‘Days of Art’ in the late 1980’s.