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CLEAR Temp: 77 °F Wind: SW at 4 mph Sunday, September 28, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 19, 2003 Network could bring Salem to region C-SPAN-like OPAN televises legislative proceedings, courts By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Jackson County residents could get first-hand looks at legislative sessions from their living rooms under a plan to make a C-SPAN-like network available in Southern Oregon. Oregon Public Affairs Network, which serves 400,000 households in the Portland area, Willamette Valley and Bend, hopes to broadcast a signal in Southern Oregon within the next year. Rick Hanson, OPAN’s executive director, said there are 110,000 cable subscribers in Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties who could avail themselves of the service. Hanson said OPAN viewers receive raw footage of the Oregon Legislature, debates in the higher courts and other political and public events. Advertisement OPAN, which started in April 2002 with once-a-week programming, now broadcasts five days a week, with two-hour summaries in the evening of the day’s top stories. Pete Belcastro, director of the Ashland-based public access network RVTV, said legislative sessions that are now broadcast on Channel 30 are days old when they’re aired. "They are shipped by mail," he said. "We wish we had them now." Belcastro said one of the main stumbling blocks to getting an OPAN signal into the Rogue Valley is the lack of a microwave link for a signal from the Willamette Valley. Satellite transmissions, he said, are too expensive. If the technical hurdles can be ironed out, Belcastro said, it would provide an opportunity not only to receive live signals from Salem but to broadcast events in the Rogue Valley to the rest of the state. Mark Stanislawski, chief executive officer of Southern Oregon Public Television , said many questions need to be resolved to transmit the signal from Salem to the Rogue Valley. "What is the best way do to this and how do we find the money for this?" he said. While RVTV might make use of the raw footage, Stanislawski said his station would use the feed as a resource for its news coverage. Hanson said it might be possible to tap into fiber optic lines that have been strung the length of the state. That would cost up to $1,500 a month, depending on the bandwidth. There would be additional expense for equipment to get the signal here. Hanson said Bend recently plugged into OPAN after community members donated $27,000 in equipment to make the system operational. "Any planned expansion is based on community interest," he said. Hanson and OPAN’s board president, former Secretary of State Phil Keisling, met in Medford last week with a number of broadcasters and community activists to give them an idea of what the network could provide. OPAN has an operating budget of $160,000 a year, which comes through gifts and donations. Hopes of receiving some funding from the Legislature have faded along with the state’s economy. "We’re really doing it with bailing wire," said Hanson, who estimated an annual budget of $380,000 would be needed to run a more complete network. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times