CABLE
ACCESS
It’s a tired refrain: a million channels and nothing to watch. Tired, but true. Charles Grodin is only on a couple of times a night, after all.
Let’s go back 25 years to when the exciting prospect of cable TV was new. Most people could only get a few network stations, plus public television. Cable promised a revolution: Lots of channels. Consistently good reception. Local control.
Even then a hardcore group of activist types was preaching the gospel of “local access.” They saw cable as a way to democratize the previously exclusive domain of commercial broadcasting. This new technology, they reasoned, should allow ordinary people to use TV to talk to each other. Local people, they said, would know best how to address local concerns. TV would change. It would become more interesting, more vital, more real.
It was a good idea.
Public access channels have now proliferated across the country, including the Triangle. They provide an opportunity to spotlight people and things you’ll never, ever, ever see on regular TV. And because the point of view of most access shows is so personal, it affords a rarely-seen glimpse into the psyches of plain old folks (or plain old kooks). Of course, the flip side to that coin is that it sometimes lets you in way too far, but that’s another matter.
Time-Warner Cable runs the public access centers in Chapel Hill and Durham, while the City of Raleigh operates its own facility with funds provided by Time-Warner. All these entities offer essentially the same thing: access to cameras, a studio, and a channel with which you can do as you please, within the limits of “community standards of good taste,” whatever that means. Each facility offers classes (for free or a nominal fee) to the general public. They assume no prior experience with the medium; they’ll teach anyone willing to show up how to use a camcorder, microphones, and editing equipment.
Access centers exist to provide a DIY alternative to mainstream (and “indie”) news and entertainment outlets. The irony, of course, is that access centers are funded by The Man, in our case the Man’s Man, Time-Warner. Is this a humanitarian gesture on their part? A thank-you to the communities from which they suck inordinate amounts of cash every month? Hardly. Cable companies fund access because they are required to by the franchises cities grant them to conduct business in their boundaries. So it’s no surprise that while their local staff is helpful, nationally the cable barons aren’t actively pushing the benefits of access—if more people use the equipment, they just have to replace it that much faster—and aren’t going out of their way to publicize its existence. This is where the ‘D’ in ‘DIY’ comes in: those who take the time to find it can do it. Like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play.
Curiously enough, the most regular and organized users of local cable access are religious groups. I guess they’re the only ones disciplined enough to pick up the cameras every week, schlep them to their services, and edit on opening and closing credits. This is a gross generalization, of course, but a glance at any of the Triangle’s access channel listings will reveal a severe weighting toward things churchish.
While this is all to the good, it doesn’t tell the whole story of what public access could be. “Wayne’s World” not withstanding, good public access can be as simple as a person with a microphone talking about something they’re concerned about: How people drive too fast on their street. What is lost when an area grows so fast. The real reason Heaven’s Gaters wore Nikes. Want to make a video for your band without investing thousands of dollars in equipment and film-school classes? Need an excuse to take a behind the scenes tour of Krispy Kreme, a bowling alley, or the city morgue? Video cameras open up whole new realms to those bold enough to take the plunge. Think of access as a video zine, and the possibilities are endless.
Hmmm. Prep-X: The Series.
I’ve seen worse, on every channel.
Jim Haverkamp
Triangle Public Access Centers
RALEIGH—Channel
10
Community
Television
310 W. Martin
Street
831-6278
Portable equipment:
Super-VHS camcorders, tripods, microphones, lighting
Editing format(s):
Super-VHS
Classes:
Monthly; Studio,Videography/Editing; $60 each
DURHAM—Channel
8
Time-Warner/Community
Television
708
E. Club Boulevard
220-4145
Portable equipment:
Super-VHS camcorders, tripods, microphones, lighting
Editing
format(s): Super-VHS
Classes:
Monthly; Camcorders, Editing, Studio Training, Studio Control
Room,
Advanced Editing; Free.
CHAPEL HILL
Channel 4
Time-Warner/Community
TV
1129
Weaver Dairy Road (Timberlyne Shopping Center)
932-8369
Portable equipment:
Hi-8 camcorders, tripods, microphones, lighting
Editing
format(s): Hi-8, 3/4" U-Matic
Classes:
Monthly; Camcorders, Editing, Studio Training, Studio Control
Room,
Advanced Editing; Free.