Los Gatos community access station KCAT (cable Channel 6) is going classical in the afternoons.
The station recently replaced its message board with "Classical Arts Showcase," which it now runs from noon to 6 p.m. every day.
The show, which started running May 7, plays classical music accompanied by short videos of orchestras, ballet, nature scenes and animation. "It's MTV for classical music," says station manager George Sampson. "It's not the standard TV fare."
Classical Arts Showcase is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that makes its satellite signal free to public access, university, and PBS stations. KCAT picks up the show from a dish near its studio behind Los Gatos High School.
There aren't any commercials, but the feed does include messages encouraging viewers to support the arts in their community--which is one thing that Sampson hopes will rub off on local residents. "We're hoping the community responds well to this. It seems like a good fit for Los Gatos, which has a long history of supporting the arts."
Sampson says the programming change was a response to requests from classical music fans who lost a cable-based relay of San Francisco classical music station KDFC (102.1 FM) two years ago. "This is an audience that's underserved by local media," he says.
Since he started running "Classical Arts Showcase," Sampson says, he's had several calls from the station's grateful viewers.
One of the most grateful viewers is Monte Sereno resident Don McCleve, a retired doctor who has been pushing for classical programming since cable carrier TCI dumped KDFC.
McCleve had the classical bee in his bonnet ever since he lost KDFC, which he says he doesn't receive very well without the cable connection. McCleve saw "Classical Arts Showcase" for the first time in a hotel room in Loreto, Mexico, and wrote to the address on the screen for more information. After he saw it again in Ashland, Ore., he took his case to TCI, but despite several petitions to the cable company, he never heard anything back.
Finally, after AT&T's $32 billion takeover of TCI last June, McCleve went straight to the AT&T corporate office, but only received a letter from TCI's local office telling him that classical music was still available, albeit only to digital service subscribers.
Cable customers in some mountain areas--Redwood Estates, Chemeketa Park, Aldercroft Heights--who are served by Matrix Cablevision already get "Classical Arts Showcase."
After that, McCleve went to Sampson, who brought a proposal to the KCAT board of directors. The board authorized the change. "It's a step in the right direction," McCleve says over the phone, with Gershwin audible in the background. "It gives people exposure to classical music, and it's fun.
"It's refined, too, but not so refined it's only for highbrow people. I certainly don't begrudge MTV or the wrestling channel. People should be able to see what they want to watch."
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
