PUBLIC ACCESS ON CABLE TV

Cape Girardeau city officials want more control and increased programming on the cable television access channel.

The city's cable TV committee offered to run the channel, but the city attorney suggested a third party be hired instead since the committee is not considered a legal entity. The council plans to seek bids for a producer-programmer to operate the channel at its Nov. 6 meeting.

But increased local programming carries a cost that may prove too high. It has been suggested these expenses be paid out of the local cable franchise tax, which generates some $154,613 a year. If more programming were sought, the city would also have to set out stricter rules about what shows would be allowed to run. And producing local shows can be an expensive proposition.

Ron Duff has done a good job running the station for the past eight years. He is contracted through TCI, which operates the cable system in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

He oversees broadcast of the city council and school board meetings. Other limited regular programming airs on the station, including shows sponsored by the local bar association and county medical society, three Lutheran churches and Southeast Missouri State University.

Only a few requests are received each year to broadcast special programming. A public outcry for increased programming on the access station seems to be lacking.

The public access channel is also shared with C-SPAN programming, which TCI has called a temporary situation until the system channel capabilities are expanded. It can be hoped this sharing will soon be eliminated, since C-SPAN is a popular channel.

There are, no doubt, many opportunities for increased programming, such as candidate forums, concerts, speakers and a community calendar. But past local demand may simply not warrant a big budget to beef up public access programming.