City Gets Into the News Biz

Channel 6, your one-stop cable destination for City Council meetings, boards and commissions ephemera, and the best in PowerPoint programming, is stepping up their broadcast game. On the second and fourth Friday of each month, they'll begin airing "CityView," a news digest recapping developments at City Hall.

The first episode aired January 8, so set your DVRs. At ten minutes a pop, they won't take up much hard drive space, but the city hopes to expand "CityView" into a 30 minute format later in the year.

The city's press release, and the first installment, below:

For immediate release

Jan. 11, 2010

City begins original news programming with launch of ‘CityView’

Austinites have a new source for City news as City of Austin Channel 6 launches “CityView,” an original news program dedicated to Austin events, programs and services.

Produced by Channel 6, “CityView” will provide updates on recent Council actions and recaps from City news conferences, as well as in-depth feature stories that offer a more comprehensive look into City programs and services.

“One of my priorities as we strive to make Austin the best-managed City in America has been to take the mystery out of local government,” City Manager Marc Ott said. "This new programming will provide the public an easy, entertaining way to learn more about current City of Austin news and how the City operates.”

“CityView” marks a major shift for Channel 6 into programming original productions to communicate with residents.

“I’m excited to be able to offer this new initiative, which we will be developing, producing and implementing entirely in house,” Channel 6 Manager Keith Reeves said. “This program marks a major shift in how we provide information to our residents.”

A new “CityView” episode will premiere the second and fourth Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. and replay daily at 8 a.m., noon, 5:30 and 11 p.m. Initial “CityView” episodes will be approximately 10 minutes in length, with plans to extend programs to 30 minutes later in 2010 as the station continues to develop its capacity to produce new programming.

“CityView” episodes and other Channel 6-produced features will also be available on the City of Austin’s official YouTube channel or on demand.