channelAustin operates as a non-profit with funds from the local government and fundraising within the community

The city of Austin owns and operates three public access stations, and channelAustin manages them all.

channelAustin is a 501 (c)(3) corporation, which means it functions as a non-profit organization. The media center includes a filming studio and all of the additional equipment. In order for the corporation to operate, channelAustin must receive the necessary funding.

channelAustin has a contract with the city of Austin that provides the media center with $450,000 per year, but that’s not all. channelAustin also receives approximately $100,000 from community activities. These activities include media services, which is when the media center puts on productions for non-profits, small businesses or other organizations that want to rent out the studio. Other funds come from annual memberships and administrative fees for classes or youth camps.

Under the contract with the city, approximately $500,000 of the funds is used to pay salaries and taxes. This money pays for the channelAustin employees, payroll taxes, employee insurance, janitors, utilities, worker's compensation liability insurance, and independent audits. The rest of the money, which totals to slightly over $50,000, pays channelAustin's administrative, legal, office, and Texas unemployment expenses.

The media center is responsible for meeting the requirements set forth in the contract with the city. These requirements include taking care of the employees, as well as payment for keeping the building in good condition. “Besides salaries and employee benefits, paying utilities for the city building is a lot of money,” Litowsky said. “Fortunately, the city has agreed, just this year, to help offset some of these costs.”

The city provides the majority of the money, but channelAustin still works hard to raise its own funds. The media center offers memberships that allow people to use the studio for public access programming. channelAustin also offers classes for people to learn how to use the studio equipment. “As a community media center we strive to represent what Austin is all about and to make content that is produced by the community, for the community and about the community available and accessible to everyone in Austin,” Linda Litowsky said. Litowsky is the executive producer at channelAustin. “We want to help folks learn to use professional equipment and technology to tell their stories and to have those stories heard and distributed. We also provide programs for nonprofits and youths.” This way, the media center can generate additional revenue for likely structural changes in the near future.

channelAustin promotes its classes to raise awareness around the community. “Upcoming classes are posted on 360.com, the chronicle's online calendar, the Austin film society and more,” Litowsky said. “We do not have a very strong social media presence nor is it consistent. We do use our own channels to promote us, our programs and our website.”

channelAustin’s contract with the city expires in October 2015. Litowsky and general manger of channelAustin Stefan Wray filed for the upcoming request for proposal to begin a new contract period. The Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission reviewed the response to the RFP and will make its recommendation to city council in about five months.

“We basically just want to make sure that the scope of work covers all of the responsibilities of the contract agreement,” Paul Lewis said. Lewis is the Assistant Manager of Telecom & Regulatory Affairs for the city of Austin. “This includes using the public access studio and equipment and providing the multimedia services for the community.”

channelAustin has been under contract with the city since 2005. Under the conditions of the new RFP, if granted, the media center would extend its contract period for a considerable amount of time still to be determined. If the contract is renewed, channelAustin hopes to find a way to generate enough revenue to reduce dependency on city funding. “We will request to find sustainable funding that will help the nonprofit ‘wean’ itself off of city funds,” Litowsky said. Hopefully, some structural changes to the main building will help channelAustin run more programming both on and off the air, and therefore raise enough funds to operate more independently from city council.

channelAustin’s request for proposal under consideration from the Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commissio

The Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission (ACT&TC) met April 9 for their monthly meeting with a crowded agenda. The first item for discussion was the upcoming request for proposal response submitted by channelAustin.

channelAustin is available to anyone in the community.

The ACT&TC held its meeting at the channelAustin building, instead of the usual location at City Hall, to listen to channelAustin general manager Stefan Wray plead his case for the upcoming RFP.

channelAustin is a 501(c)(3) corporation contracted by the city of Austin to manage the three public access channels in the area, as well as the media center and equipment that come with them. “As a community media center we strive to represent what Austin is all about and to make content that is produced by the community, for the community and about the community available and accessible to everyone in Austin,” Linda Litowsky said. Litowsky is the executive director of channelAustin and 78702 media. The channels air 24 hours, seven days a week.

channelAustin is a 501(c)(3) corporation contracted by the city of Austin to manage the three public access channels in the area, as well as the media center and equipment that come with them. “As a community media center we strive to represent what Austin is all about and to make content that is produced by the community, for the community and about the community available and accessible to everyone in Austin,” Linda Litowsky said. Litowsky is the executive director of channelAustin and 78702 media. The channels air 24 hours, seven days a week.

A cameraman for channelAustin filmed the entire commission meeting for the public access channel.

As a non-profit organization, $450,000 comes from the city of Austin as a management contract agreement. Over $100,000 is raised through memberships, classes, production services, studio rentals and youth related activities like summer camps and tours. channelAustin promotes these events through the Austin Chronicle and Austin Film Society, and they also self-promote on their three channels.

Before the RFP is published, the city council collects data to determine what the community looks for in its public access channels. The city’s purchasing department then publishes the RFP and there is a three-month waiting period for all interested parties to respond. “The response to the RFP took myself and Stefan Wray almost three months to write last time, and it was reviewed by our board of directors and an outside editor before being submitted,” Litowsky said.

Litowsky speaks to the ACT&TC about channelAustin for the upcoming RFP.

After this waiting period, the purchasing department holds a conference for all interested parties and the bidding war begins. After a series of interviews and reviews by a panel, the ACT&TC recommends to city council the non-profit entity that should be awarded. The ACT&TC essentially serves as the “middleman” in the negotiations process.

“The purpose of the ACT&TC is to advise the city council on community technology, telecommunications services, new sources of funding for access television projects and other various issues that pertain to technology in the community,” John Speirs said. Speirs is a commissioner of the ACT&TC as well as a representative for Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs for the city of Austin. “The commission receives reports and recommendations from other city boards and commissions and from city departments and then forwards these to the city council,” Speirs said.

Commissioner John Speirs (far left) and other members of the ACT&TC listen at the meeting.

“We’re looking to make sure that the network covers all of its responsibilities,” Paul Lewis said. Lewis is the assistant manager at the Telecom & Regulatory Affairs. “These responsibilities include using the public access studio and equipment and providing multimedia services to the community.”

The city of Austin has already awarded channelAustin with two previous contract agreements. The first contract period started back in October 2005 and lasted through 2011 until the city renewed it through a second RFP process. The current contract period expires in October 2015, and hopefully channelAustin will be getting started with its third session shortly thereafter.

For the past RFPs, channelAustin planned to use the funding in order to generate its own revenue, reduce costs and increase efficiency around the studio. For the upcoming RFP, channelAustin hopes to use the new funds for structural changes at the media center, but they also have an even bolder aspiration. “We will request to find sustainable funding that will help the nonprofit ‘wean’ itself off of city funds,” Litowsky said. “Also, we want to create an evolutionary way to look at community media and how to better involve the community.”

channelAustin has three channels running 24/7 on public access.

The new contract period is schedule to being in 18 months. However, the ACT&TC makes its recommendations to city council in just six months, which is why channelAustin presented its past successes and future plans to the commission. At the meeting, the commissioners seemed impressed with channelAustin’s framework for success and strategies for community involvement. However, as one commissioner pointed out, the station has no way of measuring viewership, which is a concern for the ACT&TC. For now, Litowsky, Wray and the rest of the channelAustin staff will have to wait and see which direction the city of Austin chooses to go with the 2015 RFP.