By Cathy Spaulding
After months of an erratic signal, Muskogee Public Schools public access channel is back on the air for good.
However, it may be a while before image quality can be improved and at least another year before the signal goes digital.
The access channel, which is Channel 15 on Suddenlink, broadcasts Muskogee school announcements, Muskogee Board of Education meetings and programs produced by Muskogee High School and Pershing Elementary School’s KQLT. It is not available without cable and is not available on satellite TV, said Muskogee Public Schools Chief Financial Officer John Little.
“I’m so happy we got it up,” said Pershing Elementary video production specialist Debbie Young. “It really builds the kids’ self-esteem to see themselves. Kids would go to the mall and others would say ‘oh I see you on TV. If I go to a class with my video camera, they do better.”
Young said she had no idea how the Channel 15 signal was lost, or for how long.
“The technical people at the BEST Center had been working on it,” she said, referring to technicians at the district’s Board of Education Service and Technology Center.
Pershing has a television studio, KQLT, which can feature a live feed to CNN. Students produce newscasts. Young videos events at various schools or presented by the district, including the Regional Spelling Bee, held last Thursday.
Pershing programs are broadcast from the top to the bottom of each hour, for example, from 1 to 1:30 p.m.
Programs produced by Muskogee High School video students are presented at the bottom of each hour, for example, from 1:30 to 2 p.m.
Young said that while the MPS channel was having signal problems, Pershing programs were aired within the school after morning assemblies.
She said the school also is working to get video feeds on the Pershing Web site.
At Muskogee High School, video production teacher Penny McGill said the studio had to reshuffle after the high school was renovated last summer.
“We had to move equipment,” she said. “We’re still trying to get the bugs out.”
She said Greg Mashburn of Mashburn Media has been helping students with production.
Little said district technicians worked with Suddenlink to get the signal back on the air.
Technicians are working to improve signal quality, but the channel will not switch from analog to digital until July 2010, Little said. He said the switch to digital was included in a $32.1 million district bond issue passed in 2007. The bond issue included about $8.3 million for technology, with the first half of that money allocated for classrooms. The second half of the allocation includes improvements to the district’s television system, he said.
Reach Cathy Spaulding at 918-684-2928 or Click Here to Send Email
