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.