call now and you'll receive this but wait wait it wait a minute don't change that channel you tackle me yes larry i'm talking to you how the heck do you know my name well i said it settle on any particular cable channel or show to watch yeah i mean i have sometimes a few like there's nothing on all these channels but nothing i can relate to you know believe me i know how it is i mean there's some degree programs on cable v but sometimes you just really want to connect to something that really matters zack lee i mean how many of these stupid reality shows you have to sit through when you know what i think some of them are staged i don't think that's reality at all larry i'm glad you mention reality shows i want to tell you a real story if you want to hear it the best thing on t v right now also hit me well back in the late seventy's and early eighty's when cable television was first introduced here in minnesota the cable company came to the northeast  three live and worked out a deal with twelve minutes hell he's the deals what's called a franchise agreement what this agreement did was allow the cable company to lay their cables in the ground and our power poles and bring cable television to you to make sure the cable company was following through on the agreement and providing good service to cable customers the twelve municipalities formed what's called a joint powers through this group still exists today and it's comprised of representatives from each of the twelve minutes else these people appointed by their city council or town boards to be on the cable commission let me see if i can name the towns for you larry see there's virtually village del would grant lake alamo mother meet i may call would i've seen some of those cable commission meetings on one of those cable channels yes i'm sure you have actually but you see many different public meetings on the access channels access channel what's next is channel again i'm glad you asked larry as part of the franchise agreement the cable company had to set aside a group of cable channels for the twelve member towns to use these channels or call access channels for that reason the communities have access to them i'm with you i'm following ok well often these channels are referred to as pay channels big stands for public educational and government access interesting so that started to ring a bell way back there deep in the brain and i think i saw my city council meeting on florida most of all reality shows they're from dana sure that's right larry and i'm glad you brought me back to reality shows did you know that some of the first televised reality shows took place on public access television t fifteen the one right next to a channel sixteen absolutely correct to me and actually public access through suburban community shells and the ramsey washington cable commission has been operating here in the northeast suburbs since  eighty four jeez and that's older than me women so you tell me public access television has been on my t v for over twenty five years the up pretty incredible well you also but what's this thing about reality shows again well that someone like me larry capella can do is show well even though he doesn't have a video camera or any kind of history of creating shows and content didn't you know exciting viewing experience that larry is the beauty of public access right here in the northeast suburbs just minutes from your television set is a place that has everything you need to make your own show it's the suburban community channels media center and its site not only we find all kinds of state of the art video clip in that you can check out just like you would if you checked out books from the library you also find a multi camera television studio with sets and props and everything you need to make a t v show ok you can even go live if you want oh my that is totally cool and how much does it cost to make a shop there is no cost to use the studio or equator it's all available on a first come first know must cost a lot of money to make a show right actually there is no cost to use the studio or equipment it's all available on a first come first serve basis you just have to get certified to use it so that's all that something like the degree you know for that no not that big of a deal it just means you have to take a class to learn how to properly operate the gear and don't worry the staff at the media center really knows their stuff and they can work with you to make sure you understand how to get your program created they really are great people and so friendly to you and i found the catch i bet it cost big bucks to get a  it's just ten dollars per class and that he hasn't changed all these years ten bucks crimea and i'm not a real freight ninety five yesterday you're telling me what the next year bucket a nickel i can get a class that's right you see larry the folks at the f c c media center want to make it as easy as possible for folks like you to use the equipment and make shows for the access channels and i should also mention that along with channel fifteen as you see also operates channel seems to be the best kept secret in town well you can count on me i'm going to tell everyone i know about it that's for damn sure that's great larry but there's even more to tell g t n channel sixteen is also the channel where you can find a local police and fire department carrie and where the whole a severe police are part of community programs like nursing home notes up to the northeast journal we hope this show will keep you up to date on the nose and events that are of interest to the residents of north st paul welcome doorbell update this is the city of oak deals news and information program about your community every month on ne journal we give you an inside look at the people in places that make up the northeast section of the twin cities and of course that's the challenge you want to turn to if you want to see local and informed on election coverage steve sponsored forms to provide voters an opportunity to hear candidates views about issues of interest in the upcoming election to live local election coverage i'm telling good larry that's exactly why the axis channels are there so you can stay informed about what's going on in your community there's another part of paying that you want to know about it's called local origination programming local or which local origination programs are made locally but they're made by professional staff that are paid to do productions and these programs usually appear on what we call the on location t v nineteen zero always way gosh darn minute now i know i see the big truck around town production studio on wheels and it goes to all kinds of places in our communities to cover different events the staff of on location t v one thousand make almost all the programs on a channel night but they can't do them alone most of the time they rely on volunteers and in not mistaken i think you saw my cousin's high school graduation on channel nineteen and i went to the ceremony and i saw the truck outside and so that's their doing their cover graduation ah that's right and did you see the people operating the operate one of those cameras well larry this staff on the train volunteers like you to help them do the shoes it's really a lot of fun and having that hands on experience looks great on a resume too many high school and college kids have learned the ropes  replay three step drop bears it out but he put it to the outside sure of vender and just a beautiful catch these are programs that you just won't find anywhere else on t v now i get it it's all local stuff all the time and that reminds me of another show i saw on channel nineteen the local image show that is one of my favorite shows to hello everyone i'm judy and i'm glad you can join me for this july edition of local image it is what we're here and why for late the second annual barely open golf tournaments don't just work here you live this you love stories on shows like local image really showcase all of the unique people and places here in the northeast unity these are real stories about real people in their real life situation now that's reality t v see what i'm getting there yes yes because it's all made in sense now there are local access channels on my cable system better dedicated to new events information about my local communities and that programming produced by access staff or by the public i free but how can it be everything cost money nothing is free these days another good point that you bring up larry because that's the cable franchise agreement that the twelve member towns have with the cable company you see every cable customer pays for their cable services and a little portion of what they pay to the cable company is set aside to keep the access channels operating funds are used pay staff to operate the media center and cover events teach classes take care of approaching here and do sure that your get to the government channel so you can keep up with what's going on in your local government so our local cable here's just a small percentage towards local programming so we can bring the public all this really good content between g t and channel sixteen and on location t v ninety and it's referred to as our view t v team besides nasa programming channel eighteen also has a wide variety of other programs and like all programs on the access larry that's how it works for the networks and commercial cable but not for the access channels suburban community channels even has an annual grant offer to pay you to produce your show you can find out about it and just about anything you'd like to know about community television on the r w cable dot com website well that is good because i was starting to think that i should be writing all this good information down so that i don't forget you know is stuff about this you see as you did on location on the web know just click the link on each of the channels and it will take you to that website something good to know too is that on the sci the web site you'll get access to class of cheerios the latest crew caught newsletter and a variety of forms that are very helpful i feel like i won the lottery with all this great information it really is something great for everyone but what if they don't have what the program idea or really think i'm ready to produce my own show can i still stop in for a tour yes larry absolutely and just so you know there are many people who participate in making community telling without producing their own shows they volunteer to help other producers that's the best part about this whole thing community television actually brings the community together there are so many shows on the access channels that one exist if not for volunteers to offer to lend someone else a hand in making the show yes i made a mental note to check in with the local production truck stuff that sounds really fun and interesting that's great larry you can be part of community t v suite well when you're wondering what to watch on a cable t v now you know you have options i hope you found this true story about the first real reality t v and it was well i can't believe all this awesome community television stuff has been going on in my own backyard for all these years how many years it's been going on again it's hard to believe larry but it's true in two thousand and nine community access television turned twenty five years old here in the northeast suburbs and the best part is it just keeps getting better now you know the whole story so what do you think i think i'm going to stop at the s c c office in white bear lake and see about a tour about volunteering and i sign up for class but first i need to ask a favor sure larry what is a well access educational and government television suburban community channels of power in the community with tools knowledge of access to media t t n t v the government television network or source for local government information celebrating twenty five