CUTTING PROGRAMMING

Brad Watson reports

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DALLAS - As the Dallas City Council starts making its final budget decisions Wednesday it looks like it's going to hit the off switch for the money it doles out for cable television public access.

Council members think the time has come for the non-profit that oversees public access to stand on its own.

Since the early '80s, the city subsidized cable access where citizens make programs shown over three channels. But, now the city money appears canceled.

"Not only will Dallas iMedia be devastated, the people of Dallas will have lost a tremendously valuable asset that when it goes away it won't come back," said Lisa Hembry, president and CEO of Dallas iMedia, which manages the cable access.

Dallas iMedia has a budget of $900,000. Most of that budget comes from membership and training fees, but $246,000 come from the city.

But in this bad budget year, the city could hire two and a half police officers with that kind of money, which meant iMedia lost support.

”If they need that money, they're going to have to tighten their belt a little bit just like all the other people in the city have," said Council member Ron Natinsky.

Some at city hall think in this age of Youtube.com and camcorders, some citizen-produced programs could air on the city-run channel.

But, some council members privately noted Hembry's $100,000 salary.

However, Hembry said no tax dollars support iMedia. The money comes from fees paid by Time Warner subscribers to the city, she said.

"This money is allocated for this purpose and we think that the city should honor that," she said.

But, Natinsky said the fees are for equipment.

“It does not talk about that we're supposed to collect this and then we're supposed to pass it on,” he said.

Dallas iMedia appealed to supporters to let council members know that funding shouldn't be cut.

The council Wednesday starts going over budget amendments to consider what might be restored and iMedia is not among them.

E-mail bwatson@wfaa.com