But then the city's public access channel came back on the air July 11, after the city reached an agreement that will let Cupertino producers use the Mountain View public access studio, KMVT.

The De Anza media center has been home to locally grown programs since the city's public access programming began airing on Channel 15 in 1983 in Cupertino and Los Altos.

Cupertino has paid $105,000 a year to De Anza to cover the expenses of one full-time employee, while De Anza paid for one part-time staff person and the center's operational costs.

But as Cupertino faces a budget cut of approximately $4 million, the city had no choice but to terminate its contract with De Anza.

"De Anza College and Cupertino reached a consensus that the level of services and costs were not sustainable to either organization," said Rick Kitson, public information officer for the city of Cupertino. "The business model depended exclusively on state and city funding, which is at risk."

After looking for a less expensive alternative, the city has concluded that partnering with KMVT seems to be the best option.

"The three criteria we have to continue public access services are: The agreement must be based on a sustainable and flexible business model; services must meet the production and technology needs of the producers; and programs must be to, from and for Cupertino residents," Kitson said. "KMVT met or exceeded our requirements."

The city of Cupertino agreed to pay about $45,000 to KMVT for the first year and will evaluate its services to decide whether to continue the contract.

Cupertino is not the first city that has contracted with KMVT.

"Los Altos was in the same position a few years ago," said Richard James, producer of Vision Unlimited. "The move has been good to all of us. The training is great, the staff offers a quick update of all the equipment and we also have better facility."

Still local producers feel bittersweet about the change.

"De Anza has been a convenient location and has provided good services to us," said Diane Benedetti, executive producer of The Better Part, a program created by members of the Cupertino Senior Center. "But after meeting with producers from KMVT, we were impressed by their presentation."

Hemma Kundargi, producer and host of the Indian Vegetarian Gourmet, said that although she is unhappy about the decision, she is glad that her program is back on the air.

"I like the closeness of De Anza College," said Kundargi, whose program has been on the air for five years. "Changes are always difficult. You just have to accept it and go with the flow."

Staff members from De Anza's Broadcast Media Center said they enjoyed working with Cupertino's public access producers. But the city's end of funding will not affect the center and its primary mission to serve the students.

"We have had a fruitful 20 years with the city and created one of the most successful public access programming in the nation," said Marty Kahn, production operation supervisor at the center. "We are sorry that they left. It simply came down to a matter of dollars and cents."

KMVT has embraced the consolidation with Cupertino.

"We have a state-of-the-art facility with digital equipment and full-time staff, working six days a week," said Douglas Broomfield, executive director of KMVT. "And since we are a nonprofit organization, we can raise funds to keep the station sustainable. Our goal is to turn our station into a regional media center, where public access producers from Cupertino, Milpitas, Los Altos, and Mountain View can produce their shows here."

Through KMVT, Cupertino will also have its own channel. In the past, Cupertino's public access programming had to share its channel with Los Altos.

Many local producers already started their training programs at KMVT's studio and expect to resume production in August.

"We still feet bittersweet about moving," said Ronald Moore, producer of The Better Part. "But KMVT's training is nicely conducted and the facility is good. We feel optimistic about the future."