West Bend Community Television's AT&T channels hacked over July 4th weekend

by John Ehlke, Production Manager, West Bend Community Television

For the second time on a Fourth of July weekend our encoder was hacked. This caused our channels to stop streaming across AT&T for a few weeks. We were able to work with Niagara (the encoder company) to have parts sent out our way to have it corrected. Mike with Niagara was amazing to work with. He was always available for a call and willing to get us back online.

It is a little scary having our encoder, not on our network but on AT&T’s, hacked the last two Julys. We were lucky we did not have any cost this time when replacing the equipment but I don’t think we will be as lucky if this happens again.

We have been advised to reach out to AT&T to see why our encoder keeps getting hit and what is wrong with their network. In my opinion, this is why it is hard for municipalities to keep up with cost of equipment replacement.

OCA Media summer projects range from theater performances to rugby

The Middleton Area Rugby Club takes on the DePere Red Dogs Rugby Football Club in the Division 2 High School State Rugby Championship on June 19, 2021

By Paul Zwicker, Executive Director, OCA Media

The crew at OCA (Oregon Community Access) Media spent some of our summer "down time" recording and editing 26 on-stage musical performances for a local theatre group.  By covering the performances live with a three-camera remote switching set-up, we avoided a huge amount of post-event editing.   The completed work is being delivered to the group in a single file after we add graphics, color correction and mixed audio tracks.  The theater group plans to make the videos available to the public on a pay-per-view basis. 

Because this is a special job, OCA Media will be charging the group for eight hours of recording time with  three staff and for the more than 25 hours of post production work.  The additional income will help our station continue to acquire professional grade production equipment plus offset staff costs.  

OCA Media also recently covered an event that is close to my heart - the Wisconsin High School Boys Rugby Championships.  I've produced this event for many years now, adding new elements to the live stream each year.  Set up was on Friday and we went live Saturday afternoon.   I don't mind all the pre-production and technical issues that occur when I can net over $2000 for OCA Media through underwriting sales. Take a look at our production on our YouTube channel. Our announcers were top notch and camera ops did a pretty good job on a sport not many people know how to cover. 

Soon, like many of our fellow community media centers, we will get back to live high school sports productions.  In the meantime, I am heading out to local businesses to find sponsorships to help cover the cost of streaming well over 100 events this coming school year.

DePere TV captures the dedication of Michael J. Walsh Plaza

In April 2020, as COVID-19 interrupted everyone’s lives, the City of De Pere said goodbye to its retiring longtime mayor, Mike Walsh. Mayor Walsh served the City of De Pere as mayor for 24 years, with 14 years before that sitting on the city’s Park Board. The City of De Pere decided to thank and honor Mayor Walsh with the Mayor Michael j. Walsh Plaza in downtown De Pere. It was formally dedicated on July 14, 2021 and De Pere TV (DPTV), the city’s government access media center, was there to capture the historic event. Current Mayor James Boyd said, “We feel the serene and beautiful rest area on James Street serves as a fitting place to remember and permanently honor Michael J. Walsh and his many contributions to De Pere.”

De Pere TV produced two pieces. One that covered the entire event in full to air on DPTV and one, a highlight video, produced for social media. You can view the short piece below with snippets from the speeches and a brief look at the walkway, destination waterfall, chime pergola and benches. This was the first major production by the City of De Pere’s new Video Production Specialist, Justine Braun.

Mayor Walsh thanked those who created the plaza saying they have “given people a peaceful area to be able to sit and relax in the heart of the city.” This video certainly captures the serene feel of the plaza.