City restores channel 36 funds amid plans for merger with 35.

Channel 36, one of L.A.'s two community cable stations, has narrowly avoided succumbing to the budget ax and emerged as a potential operator of its competitor.

Last week's move to consolidate operations of the two has received backing from some members of the City Council and left the staff of city's owned-and-operated station, Channel 35, crying foul.

Among the measures to address a $300 million deficit for the fiscal year starting July 1, Mayor James Hahn had proposed dropping the city's $527,250 annual funding of Channel 36, operated by the non-profit Los Angeles Cable Television Access Corp.

But an outcry from Stephen Grace, CTAC's president and general manager of LA36, and support from City Councilmembers Dennis Zine, Bernard Parks, Wendy Greuel and Jack Weiss led the council to restore funding last week.

Hahn's budget, introduced in April, called for $138,000 for Channel 36, enough to operate the station for three months. Programming on Channel 36, which includes college courses and other educational shows, would have been transferred to the University of California's UCTV network.

But the council's budget and finance committee last week voted to restore $416,000 to the LA36 budget. At the same time, it asked the office of the Legislative Analyst to assess the feasibility of combining the stations' operations as a cost-saving measure. That report is due June 10.

The move cheered Grace, whose efforts to save the station were backed by letters from professors and deans at several local universities, but was met harshly by the staff at Channel 35.

"This is a bad policy decision. But the study is not done. I am open to heating the facts on both sides of the argument," said Tony Ighani, station manager for LA CityView 35. "If consolidation is approved, then there would be civil service positions that would have to be addressed, and city jobs will be threatened."

With funding restored to Channel 36, Hahn now supports the consolidation, said Doane Liu, the mayor's spokesman on budget issues.

Since neither channel is on air 24-hours a day, seven days a week, he said, the merger makes sense.

"The city is really being inefficient," Liu said. "Mergers can't happen overnight. The mayor's budget was to fully fund Channel 36 for another three months, and then air the programming on Channel 35. But now this is a moot point because everyone's ox got gored."

Similarities, differences

Funding for both Channel 36 and Channel 35, operated by the city's Information Technology Agency, comes exclusively from the $24.2 million in franchise fees the ITA collects from local cable operators. Channel 35's annual budget exceeds $3 million. The balance of the fees goes to the city's general fund to pay for police and fire protection, among other city services.

Channel 35 airs everything from C-SPAN style coverage of L.A. City Council and committee meetings to special programming shows such as "L.A. in Focus," a half-hour talk show hosted by Phil Shuman spotlighting city departments and elected officials, and "Ask the Mayor," where viewers call in to ask Hahn questions. Other shows include "Touring L.A. with Tom LaBonge," the city councilman, and "Neighborhood Cafe," where informal talks take place with L.A.'s neighborhood councils and the issues that affect their communities.

Channel 36, defined more as an educational access channel, has its programming supplied by local colleges and universities. Los Angeles Community Colleges offers courses via Channel 36 so students can take classes and receive credit. Other programming includes "Community Cookin.," which tells viewers how to make meals.

While the staff of Channel 35 worries that the consolidation would cost jobs, others said the efficiencies should not affect programming.

Zine, one of the councilmembers backing the consolidation, said there was no desire to save money by cutting jobs. "That isn't the intention," he said. "The intention is to maintain broadcast quality and be cost efficient."

That could happen under the plan being explored, said Geoffrey Baum, director of public affairs for the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

"I think the city could easily outsource their programming and coverage of City Council meetings to a non-profit like Channel 36," he said. "To take away Channel 36 is a mistake, especially considering its source of funding is cable franchise fees. It isn't taking money from police or fire protection."

But Thera Bradshaw, the ITA's assistant general manager, said that permitting a nonprofit to broadcast governmental meetings takes away the city of L.A.'s decision-making powers in programming and operation.

"To me, that is not right. There's no say in how it is to run under a not-for-profit," she said. "If I was making the policy decision, it would not get my support. But my job is to lay out all of the facts in the study process and let council make the policy decisions."