WTCI is asking the Chattanooga City Council for $250,000 to develop a multicast channel with 24/7 local programming, “Voyager.”
Station President Paul Grove told Current that the station will use the sum as seed money to attract additional foundation and corporate support. He expects a council vote on the funding later this summer.
On its 45.2 channel, WTCI currently runs Create, state legislature coverage and regional high-school and college sports. Grove wants to expand that to offer live coverage of city councils in the region and their committee work, host issue-oriented town-hall meetings at the station for broadcast, launch a half-hour weekly arts and culture show and run local documentaries — all in addition to the five ongoing weekly series the station already produces.
Grove sees the channel as an important community engagement service for the region, as the 16-county area that includes Chattanooga crafts its first-ever 40-year growth plan. “That’s a big thing for this community and this region,” Grove said, “and we think we can play a vital role in that.”
In researching the project, the station didn’t see anything similar to Voyager within the PBS system. The channel will go beyond the typical public-access fare of live city-council meetings. Content also will be accessible across multiple platforms and via social media.
WTCI is open to outside content for Voyager, Grove said, but will maintain final editorial control.
No comments:
Post a Comment