Webcasting for public access TV station

May 16, 2007 2:30 PM

I'm a volunteer for a local cable access TV station and they're now considering building out a webcasting and VOD system. We're in the process now of seeking competitve bids but it's hard to know exactly which vendors to send the requests to.

If YOU were a community access television station with a decent budget (say, $15,000 - $50,000), which systems and vendors would you consider? Are there open source options?

posted by Pinwheel to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I find this question fascinating, because local cable access television exists as an adjunct to local public access -- it was something that the cable stations agreed to in return for what's effectively a monopoly on the cable system in a given area. You know, "hey, we'll have a monopoly, sure, but we'll give your citizens the ability to air their own shows, and we'll create local-interest programming with a dedicated staff."

So the idea of a cable company adding webcasting and VOD to this package doesn't really make sense to me, and I'm intrigued. I don't have an answer for you, but please provide more context: what's driving this?
posted by davejay at 3:36 PM on May 16, 2007

Response by poster: Our mission is to provide the community with access to the public consciousness on the widest scale possible. Some people have a connection to the internet but not to cable TV (such as myself.) Anyone can upload a video to YouTube but people still need training, equipment, and space to create good programming.
posted by Pinwheel at 3:52 PM on May 16, 2007

Try Savvis
posted by junkbox at 5:45 PM on May 16, 2007