SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
| reply to B
Re: Abalone
said by B  :My point is that for people who wish to have their say and produce content for audiences, it's ridiculous to play in a little pool of local TV when they can publish to the country or the world. That's the point of calling it something similar to a town square. It's not meant to attract boatloads of viewers. It's a place where locals can go and get on the camera and do whatever (rant, entertain, inform, etc). The fact it's all local and amateur is what makes public access endearing to people in the community.
Keep in mind not all people who do cable access shows have the knowledge or resources to put together a web site. You would be surprised at the amount of people still afraid of HTML. Public access can be a simple as walking into the studio, sitting down on a chair and talking to the camera. Also keep in mind many people who are public access personalities do have websites. Public access is still the easiest way to get the locals to see you though.
Which is easier? Surfing channels and coming up on a PA show or Googling for local "town square" stuff? With channel surfing it's always there and you'll never miss it. Online there's no telling what a search result will come up with and sometimes if you don't put in keywords that are specific enough you miss quite a few things. Also there is no guarantee it's really local.
Also, as you said, podcasting is still in its early stages and can't really hold up to the video/audio feed of a cable channel in overall quality. Not only that streaming data instantly adds bandwidth to your website, which can cost a lot of money if a lot of people are watching. Public access is cheap or free to the one hosting the show no matter how many people tune in. |
