Contact Information
Address:
1143 Northwestern Ave
Austin, TX 78702
Why is your organization interested in increased broadband usage among your members and community:
Increased bandwidth capacity will allow people to send large video files to channelAustin to be cablecast on the community television channels. We will be able expand other services to Austin residents that require increased bandwidth. Austin is being considered by Google as a site for a large bandwidth project because of the potential here for creative uses of greater bandwidth power.
Demographic Information
Service Area Congressional Districts:
Does your organization serve a federally recognized tribal entities? If yes, please identify:
Does your organization serve vulnerable population groups? If so, please identify:
Hispanic
Black/African-American
Asian
English as Second Language (ESL)
Disabled
Low Income
Unemployed
Senior Citizen (55 and over)
Youth
Estimated population size of your service area:
Please provide demogrphic information for the population you serve:
channelAustin serves Hispanic, African-American, Asian, English as a Second Language, Disabled, Low-Income, Unemployed, Senior Citizen, Youth
channelAustin serves a balanced mix of primarily Hispanic, African-American, and White (Non-Hispanic) users throughout Austin that range from school age to seniors. channelAustin is physically located in 78702 which in the last U.S. Census was 67% Hispanic, 23% African-American, and 8% White (Non-Hispanic).
Note that Austin proper has about 200,000 households with cable.
Supporting Vulnerable Populations
Please describe the specific affirmative steps that your program will take to engage and serve the groups identified:
Our low cost training for television and film production meets the needs of many groups identified. The iYouth Media Institute specifically meets the needs of Austin's under-served youth. We offer scholarships to anyone who can demonstrate a need. We are one of the sites that workforce centers use to send unemployed people to continued training.
Please describe the ways your center will be accessible to people with disabilities and technologies will be used:
We operate out of a city building that meets the standards for accessibility. We have existing producers with disabilities who are successfully using our resources. We are in the process of having some of the classes available on video with open captioning for those who are hearing impaired.
Do you offer, or plan to offer, multilingual training and outreach? If so, please describe and identify languages it will be in:
Several staff members are bilingual in Spanish and English, but we don't have the capacity for multilingual training. Right now this is cost prohibitive.
Local Drupal Development Commitement In addition to what the OMF will provide through this grant, we
estimate that a successful implementation will require a minimum of 80
hours of local drupal support (through trained staff, contractors, or
volunteers).
How many hours of professional drupal development support can you commit to securing between Oct 2010 and Oct 2012:
What is the estimated Cost (or value, if volunteer) of this commitment:
Current Capitial Equipment Commitment If your organization already has some or all of the equipment
required to implement the Open Media Project, or the capital budget
necessary to acquire it, that value will be included as part of your
match. If not, grant funds will be used to acquire the equipment you
require.
Current Digital Broadcast Server(s):
Current Dedicated RAID Storage:
Other Current Equipment Value:
If other, please explain:
Includes Synergy master control, transmission, quality control, file conversion for three 24/7 channels.
Future Capital Equipment Commitment If your organization already has some or all of the equipment
required to implement the Open Media Project, or the capital budget
necessary to acquire it, that value will be included as part of your
match. If not, grant funds will be used to acquire the equipment you
require.
How much Capital Equipment budget could you devote towards the
acquisition of the following equipment:
Future Dedicated RAID Server:
Future Digital Broadcast Server(s):
Other Future Equipment Value:
If other, please explain:
Please note that channelAustin's contract with the City of Austin to manage the community television resources expires in September 2011 and the City's municipal franchise with Time Warner Cable expires in August 2011. The City will issue an RFP for the operation of the community channels and resources after 2011 under a different model. If channelAustin is awarded a new contract, after 2011 there will be a dramatic increase in available funds that could be used for capital equipment purposes.
Technical and Administrative Support We estimate that a successful implementation of the OMP will require a minimum of 80 hours of technical and administrative support
(through involvement of your ED, bookkeeper, engineer and other staff). Any time contributed will count towards your in-kind match.
How many hours can you commit to securing between Oct 2010 and Oct 2012:
List each staff member, position, number of hours committed, and hourly wage (or equivalent, if salary):
ED 52 hours @ $40/hr
IT Dir 208 hours @ $20/hr
Engineer 208 hours @ $20/hr
Communication Dir 416 @ $20/hr
Video Content Commitment Partners will be supporting Sustainable Broadband Adoption by
addressing the primary hurdle identified by non-adopters: a perception
that broadband is not relevant to life, especially in low-income and
minority communities.
What is the value of the staff time and resources you are willing to
devote to supporting the production of video content that will address
'broadband relevance' from the perspective of members from
disconnected communities"?
Broadband Training Program
If you intend to provide training or education, how many people in total will your program(s) reach:
How many hours of training do you expect to provide per person on average for your program(s), through completion of training:
How many Full Time Employee (FTEs) will you employ for broadband and digital literacy training purposes:
Describe the qualifications and training of full time employee instructors of broadband and digital literacy training:
Job Creation
How many indirect jobs will be created from this project:
How many direct jobs will be created from this project:
