What is O2E-TV?

While there are hundreds

of public access television
O2E-TV is a non-profit organization formed to studios all over the
build and operate a Public Access Television country, O2E-TV will be
Studio Facility. unique, standing upon the
We will provide low-cost training in television heritage of experimental
production, production assistance, and free use of video originating in
equipment for non-commercial, non-profit Binghamton, including
purposes, on a first-come, first-served, non- Larry Gottheim, and Ken
discriminatory basis, as a community service in Jacobs, who created Greater Binghamton
the public interest. Binghamton University’s Public Access TV
Cinema department, Ralph Hocking who created
O2E-TV will be a hybrid facility, with true first- the Experimental Television Center, and of
come, first served public access, and a funded course, Rod Serling, perhaps one of the greatest Community
block of quality local non-commercial pioneers in the (then) new medium of television. Self-Expression
programming, including news, arts, and public
affairs. …with a Focus on the Arts
O2E-TV’s unique programming will be
distributed to 72,000 homes regionally on cable,
and far beyond the Greater Binghamton area via www.O2ETV.org
streaming and on-demand video on the internet.
Digital broadcast partners are being sought...  O2E is Open to Everyone!
Get Involved!
While there is probably little anyone can do to O2E–TV needs YOU!
bring the factories back, O2E-TV will help
highlight the exciting and emergent arts …Your Creativity
community we have here right now! (But which …Your Ideas
we largely remain ignorant, because the …Your Energy
commercial media has failed to serve local …Your Vision
communities.) O2E-TV will build on our existing
intellectual and creative capital and help foster
cultural tourism to this area! Contact:
O2ETV.info@gmail.com
How will we pay for it?
A diversified funding stream will ensure
independence. Independence ensures unfettered
creativity, freedom, and autonomy.
Capital grants will be secured from various
foundations and other grant-makers to purchase a
building and equipment.
Obtaining ~$250,000/yr for our operational costs
(salaries, electricity/heat, consumables, and
equipment repairs) will be our biggest challenge.
Possible sources of sustaining / operational funds
• Cable TV Franchise fees typically are used
to fund these operations.
• Membership/Subscriptions/Co-Op Shares
creates community investment
• Fundraisers
• Special grants
• Corporate underwriters
• Hotel-Motel tax
We need the help of expert fundraisers to help us
solve this major challenge!
Who will O2E-TV serve?
This facility will truly serve underserved
constituencies. Local productions / Local focus
will benefit all citizens. Because the facility will
be open to anyone in the community, and because
the producers come from the community, the
program diversity will more naturally match the
broad and diverse classes of people who live in
our community
"First-Come, First-Served, Non-Discriminatory
Access" ensures that all people, without regard to
race, class, age, gender, political persuasion,
physical disability, religion, ethnicity will be able
to use these resources. No one is excluded.
Who will be on the governing board?
The board membership will reflect the diversity of
the community served in every way: race, class,
age, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion,
political persuasion, physical disability.
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Fig 1: A typical facility
O2E-TV will celebrate the best intellectual and
creative talent which is already here in our own
community, but which we largely remain ignorant,
because the commercial media has failed to serve
communities. WSKG has their own constraints
(regional focus, state funding cuts, network
agreements, a restrictive union contract)
preventing them from doing more.
Imagine university symposia and intellectual
round tables televised for all. Imagine live public
affairs and talk shows featuring call-ins. Imagine
the creative partnership with Binghamton
University’s BTV and Cinema Department,
BCC’s Communication Department, and theater,
bands, animators, and visual artists from BHS and
other local high schools!
While Public Access TV is “just a hobby” to
many people, it also can be a low-cost way for
people to enter the exciting video/film industry.
Many successful movie and video producers
actually started out in Public Access, including
Robert Gonzalez, Tom Green, and Alex Jones.