New Cache Valley TV station up and running
A new television station is in Cache Valley, and KUTA8 is in full swing and broadcasting without cable and on campus on Channel 61.
“I just think that Logan hasn’t really had a voice,” said Courtney Western, station manager.
Western is a graduate of USU and said when he was in school, he always wanted to do his own programing but The Valley Channel would never let him.
He said he wants to open up the station, which has been running for about a year, for anyone to air their programing. Western said community members can use the studio, but individuals will have to supply their own equipment and editing software.
KUTA8 owner and owner of Airwaves Inc John Terrill said the station is small but is a real TV station for the members of Cache Valley.
“It’s really a community station,” he said. “It’s for everybody.”
Currently, Western and another employee produce a news show with local news, weather, sports and events. KUTA8 also offers other local programing, such as a Cache Chamber of Commerce broadcast and USU student-produced Aggie Television, which airs at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m
KUTA8 also airs local Aggie soccer games as well as volleyball, basketball and gymnastics highlights.
“We expect to be carrying quite a bit from Utah State,” Terrill said. “We think it’s a good place to go (for) all the stories on what’s happening up there on the hill.”
Beyond USU, the station also airs a local cooking show from the Macey’s kitchen in Providence as well as a women’s talk show.
In addition to six hours of local programing, the station also airs shows from the network America One.
“We carry it all,” Terrill said. “We carry a whole bunch of things.”
America One provides old-time movies and TV shows, Westerns, local sports, extreme sports, soccer from Brittan, Canadian football, and hunting and outdoors programing
“It’s a G-rated network, and so it’s different from the other English-language networks,” Terrill said. “It’s really kind of nice for a change.”
The station also carries national news from the Independent Network News, Terrill said, which airs at 5:30 p.m.
He said the people at the station hope to expand their services to the entire county.
“We love being a part of Cache Valley. We think it is underserved,” Terrill said.
The station, he said, is trying trying to serve all the people of the area and is interested in a wide variety of programs.
“We go to the city council meetings,” Terrill said. “We want to go to the county. We want to be the place for people to find out what is happening.”
The station’s next goal, Terrill said, is to broadcast on Comcast cable to reach more people. He said the only way more people will be reached is through viewer support and community members petitioning Comcast to put KUTA8 on its service.
“I hope everybody will help me get it on cable too,” Terrill said. “You’re a big city now. You’re 100,000 people; you deserve more respect.”
“Our station isn’t really news, it’s more like community happenings,” Western said.
He said the station is looking for student interns and other people to help produce shows.
The employees are planning on doing spotlights on different restaurants and offering to give away free lunches every day to individuals who e-mail them during Western’s local program.
“People haven’t had a voice here in Logan,” Western said. “They can’t get on the radio, but with our TV station, we’re giving people a chance, and hopefully we can do that with their input.”
KUTA8 is located at 3006 N. Main Street in the parking lot of Computer Wise. The station can be reached at 752-2888 or through its Web site, www.kuta8.com.
-ranae.bang@aggiemail.usu.edu