Columbia Access Television unveils new location

Columbia Missourian

COLUMBIA — Columbia Access Television, the city-funded community channel known as CATV, christened its new location at 20 N. Second St. with a Thursday evening open house.

"People are filing in and out and checking out the facilities, and I'm really excited about the turnout for this," CATV Board President Shelly Silvey said. 

The channel studio was formerly located at 23 N. Tenth St. The new location on Second Street is cheaper, which was one of the reasons for the move, CATV Board Member Amy Bruer said.

"I work at the university, so right now the university is going through a time of budget cuts and trying to find ways to cut cost and be more efficient, and this was a similar situation," Bruer said. 

Bruer is an academic adviser in the Missouri School of Journalism. 

Although the new building is still downtown, the rent is not quite as expensive as on Tenth Street. Before, the media center and the studio were split between the Tenth Street location and Stephens College. Now, CATV rents two adjacent spaces in the same building for the media center and the studio.

"It made it really difficult for us to service people at both locations," Managing Director Sean Brown said. "Being consolidated really increases the access and the hours that all these facilities are available." 

Members of CATV can freely use the station's equipment, including cameras, lights and editing software. Membership dues are per year, and anyone can become a member. Individual memberships are $65, discounted rates are available for groups, students and veterans, Silvey said.

"With that membership comes one free class of how to use the equipment that you borrow, and then you can borrow that equipment," Silvey said. "You can also sign up and pay for additional classes on editing and things of that nature. Everything that you produce will be put on our channel as your creative work, but also as a voice of Columbia." 

The new location also has a free parking lot. The previous space only had paid street parking.

The convenience of the location and the consolidation of the studios will allow CATV to serve Columbia's residents more efficiently, Brown said. 

"We're here to meet all of those needs and to fill in the gap that existed prior to the access to these facilities," Brown said. 

In addition to being funded by the city, money for CATV also comes from grants, the membership dues and private donations. 

"I encourage people, if they weren't able to come to the open house, to check out columbiaaccess.tv on the Internet or come by during our business hours," Silvey said. "And become a member."

CATV is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m.