Cities form partnerships to build top-notch TV studios

Tonight, the public will be offered its first peek at state-of-the-art television studios for community cable television, thanks to an innovative partnership between the city of Eagan and its biggest employer, Thomson Reuters.

Thomson spent less than $150,000 to renovate a studio at the global software and legal publishing firm's headquarters just off Dodd Road. The city is providing more than $300,000 in new equipment paid for largely with fees collected from cable subscribers. And the public, including high school students, will be able to get training and check out equipment for taping, editing and broadcasting in the fully digitalized new studio.

The arrangement, which is among the first of its kind in the nation, involves a city offering the expertise of its video technicians to a corporation, which in return will provide the studio facilities.

A newly branded channel, E-TV, has been airing since December in Eagan.

"We are excited about E-TV, its future and our new partner in Thomson Reuters," said Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire. "This is a true partnership where both E-TV and Thomson Reuters bring something to the table and enrich one another."

Meanwhile, Burnsville is to open its public studio on March 9 at Burnsville High.

For 23 years, the cities shared a studio. But Burnsville last year opted to partner with School District 191. The cities share four channels, and each has two channels airing in its city only.

"We still share a mobile production van for sports games and live productions," said Tom Garrison, spokesman for the city of Eagan and executive director of E-TV. "We allocate and manage the channels jointly."

No tax dollars are being used, he said. Money to pay for equipment comes from a small access fee on consumer cable bills.

Eagan, using part of its proceeds from a 5 percent franchise fee paid by cable companies, is paying salaries of a four-person staff for E-TV, Garrison said. The staff will help the public learn to film, edit and produce.

In Burnsville, the city council decided to use its $100,000 allocation for the franchise fee to pay for residents' tax relief this year, said city spokesman Jim Skelly.

Thomson's investment will soon pay for itself, said Rick King, executive vice president of Thomson Reuters Legal.

The company will save an estimated $100,000 annually because it's buying little startup equipment and will be able to tap the expertise of city technicians to help make videos for clients and internal communications for Thomson's 13,500 employees in 22 countries, King said. The technicians would be available to Thomson during non-peak hours for public access.

Though the deal makes sense financially for Thomson and the city, it's also a show of corporate citizenship. The effort aims to help young and old learn multimedia skills while providing public access.

"As a technology business, we see video as a powerful means of reaching all of our constituents," said Peter Warwick, president and CEO of Thomson Reuters Legal. "Working together, we can create something that will be of great value to the city, local high school and our business."

The Eagan and Burnsville studios have the latest features, including fluorescent studio lights, which consume less energy and are cooler than incandescents.

Burnsville's facility, on the second floor of Burnsville High, has three cameras, a 976 square-foot studio, an oversized control room, three editing stations, three set areas, set storage and an equipment check-out area. There's a Teleprompter and a lime green wall for backgrounds, as in Eagan's studio.

Terry Devine, one of Burnsville's two video employees, said local cable allows residents to see government at work, while giving them a voice, too.

"It's important," Devine said, "to give access to this type of facility in the community so a resident who has an idea for a television show, or who has something to say, has an outlet for that."

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017