From: roberts@triton.unm.edu (Robert Smathers)
Subject: some notes about SATTV and ... THE NIGHT FOR "NIGHT OWLS"...
Date: Wed, 06 Jan 93 03:04:02 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Distribution: na

 Sky High TV will re-appear sometime in Jan or Feb on ASC1/12 according
 to an item on Fred's Pro Show on LTRN.
 
 I saw THE CABLE DOCTOR last night on SATTV.  He said it was his first
 show via satellite.  All the other shows were on Northeastern US
 Cable systems.  He is a guy who gets phone calls and answers questions/
 problems about VCR's and other home entertainment equipment.  I am
 not sure what his expertise is about satellite receivers... it would
 be interesting if someone called him asking about a problem with a
 sat receiver.
 
 RADIO AAHS (yes, that is how it is!) has got some good exposure as of
 late.  I think it was yesterday morning that they were profiled on the
 TODAY show.  Just a few minutes ago, I saw a story about them on
 Entertainment Tonight.  They spelled out the radio station as well
 as showed the studio and external view of the building in the pieces.
 [Rush Limbaugh mode on]  I was right all along on the spelling... [Rush
 Limbaugh mode off]  8^)
 
 ET profiled a college network where college students write/produce
 their own college soap operas and other college programming.  Is
 there still a college channel on at night or during the day on SATTV?
 I don't know of one, but somebody else might.  The last one of these
 I remember was called NC-TV and was on Westar 5 on weekends in the
 middle of the night for 6 hours or so each night.
 
 Now....
 
 Last night was quite a night for the "night owl".  I found feeds
 over the place (a few on T1, one on T2, one on SBS6, a few on GSTAR-1
 and a few on GSTAR-4).  What was the big event?  The hanging of
 Wesley Allen Dodd.  I guess it was a big national event because
 the execution was hanging, and that had not been done in 20-30
 years.
 
 There were two local Seattle stations on SATTV.  KIRO (CBS) had
 their coverage on T2/7 and GSTAR-4/11.  KOMO (ABC) had theirs
 on T1/4.
 
 Out of the two stations, I found KIRO to have the best coverage.
 They rolled a few pkgs about Dodd and had a good discussion on
 the death penalty and related issues (such as: Is hanging cruel
 punishment)...KIRO also ran a graphic every few minutes telling
 what was supposed to be going on.  For example, at 11:45 PT they
 had a graphic saying that Dodd was supposed to be walking to the
 gallow and at 11:58 PT or so they said he was supposed to be
 saying his last words and having a noose and hood put on him.
 
 Around midnight, some people gathered outside the prison lit
 fireworks and cheered (thinking Dodd had been hung).

After the people cheered and before the news conference began,
I found a comfy spot on GSTAR-4 where I could switch back and
forth between the news conference feed and the feed from
outside the prison where pro and anti death penalty people
were.  I got excited when I heard from a reporter at the 
pro-death penalty area tell his station feed monitors that
the anti-death penalty people got into a fight with police
outside the prison, but I didn't see it on the video feed.
I guess the reporter camped out at the pro death-penalty 
area didn't know what he was seeing.
 
 The news conference started about 12:25 or so PT and ended
an hour later.  It was a weird feeling to watch and listen to
the observers and Dodd's lawyer explain what they saw. 

I can compare this to the (darn, I can't remember his name right now)
the guy who was executed in the gas chamber in CA a few months ago.
It was exciting to find and watch the feeds, but when it came down
to the news conference, it was moving as the observers described
how they felt seeing a life taken away right before their eyes. It
gets emotional when one can form a picture as the observer tells what
he/she saw.  

If you haven't seen a full press-conference following an execution,
that is something for you to do so you can get an idea how emotional
they can be.   I felt sorry for one of the observers in the DODD
execution -- she was so shaken up she almost cried as she was
telling what she saw.

As a final thought -- Seattle coverage was excellent!  Much
better than what you get on your network news show or just by
watching a field feed.

Robert
roberts@triton.unm.edu
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU