Supply Demand 2: Cable Access, Dead or Alive

Panelists:

Jaime Davidovich (artist, The Live! Show)
Nancy Cain (Videofreex)
Jamie Mohr (Vermont Cable Access, Bunnybrains)
Chuck Stern (Manhattan Neighborhood Network)
Ashby Lee Collinson (artist, Princess Dies)

*Panels will be broadcast on both Harvestworks website (http://www.harvestworks.org/) and Free103.9 web radio (http://free103point9.org/).

Panel series in collaboration with ((audience)) (http://au.dience.org/)

This second panel in the Supply Demand series considers the history of public/cable access broadcast networks, the issues with cable access television both historically and today, its morphing identity (ies), and towards new opportunities found with repurposing broadcast airwaves.

The 21st century is a time of information dissemination and virtual social networks. Known and run by its users are countless blogs and tumblrs, vlogs and Vimeo, Youtube, etc. There are countless ways to distribute video and sound media through the internet, though many of these channels are maintained by private interests. So what about broadcasts not generated for the internet? There is an entirely different platform operated and managed by the public, but who is watching? And further, who are the people who operate these broadcast networks?

Public-access media has adapted new technologies in order to continue to provide free access for locally produced community media. Station access continues to be forced into smaller reaches by the conglomerates who operate television airwaves. In order to survive, outreach is necessary-as well as action.

Some of the questions of the panel will highlight are how has public-access programmers adapted to these new technologies into current broadcast practice? How have artists used public/cable access in the past and present to reach the public outside of increasingly stale art-world conventions? And what are the potentials and challenges of repurposing the analog television bandwidth for local, independent broadcasts (i.e. Pirate TV)?