88R27545 BPG-D
 
  By: Hinojosa H.R. No. 1677
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         WHEREAS, Austin Public, the city's public access television
  station, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding in
  June 2023; and
         WHEREAS, Now the longest continually operating public access
  television station in the country, Austin Public launched on
  Capital Cable channel 10 in June 1973 as Austin Community
  Television; community media activists, members of the Texas
  Commission on the Arts, and radio-TV-film majors joined forces to
  learn about access television, then available in only two cities,
  and obtain channel space and a corporate charter; in the early days,
  with no cable lines or satellite dishes in the heart of the city,
  broadcasting required a trip up Mount Larson to wire a playback
  device into the cable system; the first live music cablecast
  involved a musician performing at the site with the city in the
  background; and
         WHEREAS, The channel reflected the community with its wide
  variety of programming, including city council meetings, sermons,
  live music, offbeat call-ins, reports on civil strife, and shows
  with such unlikely titles as The Pun Zone and Face Your Pets; famed
  film directors Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez availed
  themselves of the resource, and a number of producers, activists,
  and board members from the station have gone on to serve as
  executive directors of access television in other cities; and
         WHEREAS, Since 2015, the Austin Film Society has administered
  Austin Public, carrying on its tradition as an independent,
  noncommercial free-speech forum that is open to all Austinites; it
  has expanded its platforms, broadcasting over cable channels 10,
  11, and 16, and streaming simultaneously on the Internet;
  empowering individuals and nonprofit organizations, it offers low
  and no-cost training, equipment, facilities, and content
  distribution to facilitate communication, community building, and
  diversification of the media landscape; and
         WHEREAS, For a half century, Austin Public has amplified the
  voices of area residents, helping them to entertain, inform, and
  maintain the city's proud reputation for weirdness, and the
  community is indeed fortunate in the continuing existence of this
  notable incubator for creativity and civic engagement; now,
  therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas
  Legislature hereby congratulate Austin Public access television on
  its 50th anniversary and extend to all those associated with the
  organization sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it
  further
         RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
  prepared for the organization as an expression of high regard by the
  Texas House of Representatives.