Board of supervisors joining the video-on-demand crowd.

TELEVISION'S video-on-demand services, in which viewers are charged for specific grams they choose to view, are for the most part dominated by ultimate fighting bouts and movies such as "Bikini Chain Gangs."

Now, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors wants to get in on that action. To keep constituents from suffering endless rebroadcasts of "bored meetings," Time Warner Cable Inc. has proposed delivering the new county cable channel through a video-on-demand system. Unlike most systems, viewers won't be charged to view the meetings.

With VOD, the channel would consist of a library of available programs rather than a schedule. Cable subscribers could choose what and when to watch. The VOD delivery "is new for any county jurisdiction in the country," said Martin Zimmerman, the county officer in charge of the startup channel. He said Time Warner offered the system as part of its negotiation to acquire new cable franchises within the county.

Programming would consist of Board of Supervisor meetings (currently taped by an outside vendor and broadcast on educational channel KLCS-TV, Channel 58), as well as video presentations already produced or in development by other county departments. They include emergency bulletins, health advisories, videos on how to access to government services, and information about cultural and educational resources such as Hollywood Bowl, Music Center, Disney Hall, county museums, parks and holiday events.

Startup costs for the TV venture total $3.6 million, of which $1.7 million is existing expenses and $1.85 million is new. Going forward, the channel will cost $4.2 million per year to operate, consisting of $2 million in new costs and $2.1 million in existing expenses.

The existing costs come from the regulatory office that manages local cable franchises, which would fold into the new channel, and from contract services to broadcast the current board meetings. Zimmerman said the county is already bearing more than half the budget of the proposed channel.

Final approval for the VOD plan is scheduled for a supervisors meeting on Aug. 15. Assuming a thumbs-up and later approval of funding from the board, Zimmerman expects the cable subscribers to start downloading government video before the end of 2006.