WisconsinEye, the state's public affairs network that began television broadcasts in July, is looking to expand both the content it provides and the citizens it reaches.
Network CEO Chris Long said in an Assembly committee hearing Wednesday WisconsinEye has begun broadcasting on the state's two biggest digital cable providers, Time Warner and Charter.
Additionally, Charter broadcasts the station in Duluth, Minn., making WisconsinEye a bi-state network.
Long said WisconsinEye is looking to expand the network's coverage even further.
"The network is committed to statewide access to our program by all residents," Long said.
BadgerNet, run by the Wisconsin Department of Administration, provides cable access to about 2,000 schools, colleges, state agencies and municipalities across the state. Long hopes WisconsinEye can make a deal with BadgerNet because it would allow the network to be used as an educational tool in the classroom.
Long has also personally made multiple calls over the past few months to the two major satellite companies, Dish Network and DirectTV, but has yet to hear back from either. He asked for the committee's assistance in getting in touch with these providers.
"We have been diligent in trying to engage satellite," Long said. "We are doing everything we can to initiate those discussions, but frankly, because they have no on-the-ground presence in Wisconsin — it's very difficult to penetrate those organizations."
Programming currently includes live coverage of every floor session of the Senate and Assembly, gavel to gavel. This month, WisconsinEye began both live and taped broadcasts of Supreme Court oral arguments, which it plans to continue until the end of the session in May.
Long also said WisconsinEye is looking to begin broadcasts of the Executive Branch. The network has installed camera outlets in both the Governor's conference room and the attorney general's conference room.
"We're really just waiting for events and opportunities to arise for us to provide coverage from those rooms," Long said. "But we expect to be active in all three branches this fall."
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Executive Director Mike McCabe is optimistic about the network's future, but he worries that it is only available on digital cable.
“I think it has the ability to … show people how the Legislature [is] doing the public’s business,” McCabe said. “That can have a very beneficial effect — it can help suppress some of the rankest forms of partisanship (and) can help maintain civility and make lawmakers self-conscious, and that’s a good thing.”
The network has worked to wire the Capitol building for television coverage since November 2006 and is nearly finished. It is also working to update its audio systems in the Capitol to get broadcast-quality audio.
WisconsinEye can currently broadcast three live feeds, one on television and two on the Internet. In the coming months, Long hopes the network will be able to have up to four live Internet feeds.
All archived WisconsinEye broadcasts are currently available as streaming video on its website. Part of the network's contract with the state stipulates that WisconsinEye can sell its archives on DVD, which may be a possibility in the future.
