Open for Perspective Prisms Show

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This is the new open for the Perspective Prisms Show, hosted by Roberto Canedo. The show airs on San Antonio Public Access TV on Sundays at 8:30am and 5:30pm. Roberto wants to focus on artists in San Antonio and tie that in with politics and culture.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv)

Tags: perspective_prisms, roberto_canedo, san_antonio_art, san_antonio_public_access

Our Next Meeting with City Councilwoman Cisneros

We will have a meeting on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 11:00 am with newly elected San Antonio City Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros in District 1. District 1 is in the central and downtown area of San Antonio. The meeting will be at the Mirador Restaurant on 722 S. St. Mary’s St. We will speak with her about our goal for a public media access center and provide information about public access.

Update: The meeting was held with the Chief of Staff Leticia Cantu and she was updated on history of has happened to Public Access over the last year and half and why we are pushing for a media center. She recommended that attend the summer budget meetings.

Our Next Meeting with City Councilman Justin Rodriguez

We will have a meeting on Wednesday, July 25th at 2:30pm with Judy Peterson, Chief of Staff for newly elected San Antonio City Council person Justin Rodriguez District 7. District 7 is in the northwest side of San Antonio. The meeting will be at the office at City Hall downtown. We will speak with him about our goal for a public media access center.

Update: we met today with Judy Peterson and gave her a history of what happened with the loss of public access over the past 2 years and our goal to re-establish facilities. We also showed her some video clips of shows.

Kitty Cabinets

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This cat likes to sleep in cabinets. Featuring Miss Kitty.

Produced by 411 Productions.

This was our practice video for the videoblogging class we had. We all took turns uploading the video to get practice and set up a videoblog for Roberto Canedo and his show Perspective Prisms.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv)

Tags: cats, kitty_cabinets, 411_show

Stakeholder Meeting with City of San Antonio

The City of San Antonio Department of Communications will hold a meeting with Public Access Producers on Tuesday evening 5:30pm, July 24, 2007. The purpose of the meeting is to provide an update on new equipment and services which the City has available to assist in the production of program content., including additional editing equipment, wireless microphones and tutorials. The city also wants feedback from the producers as to their needs.

The meeting will be held at the Development Business Services Center, 1901 S. Alamo Street (X-street: S. Flores) and will begin at 5:30.

You are urged to attend this meeting, whether you are currently active in Public Access programming or would like to get involved. This is an opportunity to learn more about the City's efforts and ask questions of City Staff. Tel for Frank Burns 207-4000.

Later on we will post some videos from this meeting.

Ministries Aren't Just for the Big Names Anymore

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By Deborah Potter
Religion News Service

LAS VEGAS -- Television ministry used to be the province of a few prominent preachers like Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell. But the business -- and it is a business -- has definitely come of age.

At this year's National Association of Broadcasters convention, the "technologies for worship" pavilion drew hundreds of religious broadcasters, and they are only part of the picture. Industry leaders say there are some 10,000 TV ministries around the country, both big and small.

"If you turn on basic cable, and a public access channel, in communities all over -- not only the United States -- you're going to find churches with a camcorder, a single camera shot, with an on-the-camera microphone, and a pastor who is sincere, who believes the word of God, and has a desire to teach that word and share it with other people," said Rod Payne, media director at First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls, Texas, who attended the NAB convention.

While many ministries start small, lots of others invest big money in television -- from high-definition cameras to digital transmitters, not to mention the airtime. Costs vary depending on distribution.

"If you're going to go ... to a network or something like that, you're going to be really sticker-shocked with the price that's out there," said Brent Kenyon of the Total Living Network.

Some churches, like Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala., keep their costs down by operating their own low-power stations and selling time to other TV ministries.

"It's a compact little operation but very effective," said John Rogers, director of Frazer's TV ministry, which reaches 100,000 homes 24 hours a day. "It's outreach we feel we can offer that enables folks to become familiar with what church is all about, serving Jesus Christ and to bring them in and be part of the family here."

Like many churches, Frazer relies heavily on volunteers for its TV production crew. It started its operation 24 years ago with donations from local businesses and money from the church budget. Now it offers training to churches that are just starting out.

The TV ministry business is getting so big that many churches have full-time media directors. Some hire consultants to help them develop new programs.

"Most Christian television that you see is very low quality, it's not very good, and a lot of people have issues with it," said Phil Cooke, a consultant who wrote the book "Successful Christian Television." "We want to bring the best of the production world and the best of the media world in with it, and help people do it more effectively and make more entertaining shows."

Many TV ministries get a significant portion of their income from product sales, such as CDs, as opposed to direct appeals for money. They say they have to raise cash to stay on the air, just as public television does.

But that hasn't always been the case. In the early days of religious broadcasting, stations would donate time for programs. One of the pioneers, Roman Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and his "Life Is Worth Living," eventually attracted a sponsor and drew 10 million viewers.

In the 1960s, under pressure from evangelicals who felt they didn't have equal access, the government ruled that stations could sell time to religious broadcasters. Evangelicals started buying, and now they are the dominant religious presence on television.

The biggest "faith network," Trinity Broadcasting, has more than 12,000 outlets worldwide and claims an audience of more than 100 million.

TV evangelist Joel Osteen's program draws more than 7 million viewers a week and his audio podcast made the Top 10 on iTunes earlier this year. "The Hour of Power," from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., estimates its worldwide audience at 20 million a week and its annual cost for airtime at more than $13 million.

"It's an expensive proposition to be on television on Sunday morning, and obviously requires a lot of fundraising, a lot of $20 gifts and $30 gifts from people all over the country, to support that and make that happen," said James Penner, producer of "The Hour of Power."

Some TV ministries are organized as churches, some as not-for-profit organizations. Either way, they pay no taxes.

Rusty Leonard, who founded the watchdog group Ministry Watch to track the finances of televangelists, rates ministries on financial efficiency and transparency. Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, for example, gets an A for transparency and four out of five stars for financial efficiency.

But some of the biggest names in the TV ministry business -- including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and Benny Hinn -- are on Leonard's watchlist.

"They won't tell you how they're spending the money they're asking you to give," he said. "Your hard-earned money, and they're not going to tell you where it's going. I just don't see why I should give to a ministry like that."

Mexican American Advancement Project

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Nick calzoncit talks to the staff of San Antonio’s Beto’s Comida Latina, the restaurant that was owned by San Antonio artist Alberto Mijangos, who passed away recently. The restaurant has some of his artwork on display. Nick held a celebration for his new baby granddaughter. Music by Alabina.

Nick’s show is Mexican American Advancement Project, which airs on Fridays at 12:30pm and 9:30pm on San Antonio Public Access TV. We recently set him up with a blog where he can show highlights from his show and can do short features.