Launched May 16, 2007 Time Warner Spectrum 363 Founded 2007 | Slogan Watch Who We Are Website WisEye.org Charter Spectrum 995 Motto Watch Who We Are | |
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Other systems throughout Wisconsin Check local channel listings Owned by WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network Profiles | ||
Inside wisconsineye cable internet political network
WisconsinEye is a non-profit, private public affairs cable network in the state of Wisconsin, United States. The network airs gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Wisconsin Legislature, including floor sessions of the Wisconsin State Assembly and Wisconsin State Senate, plus committee meetings and other programs of state interest such as panels, town halls, and programs about state history. The coverage is available live both on the cable network as well as through the WisconsinEye website.
The channel has partnered with Charter's Spectrum systems (made up of the legacy Time Warner and Charter systems) in order to reach over 60 percent of the state's population, and is available on the lifeline tier of both systems for those with a digital cable receiver. The channel began operations in May 2007, and although the network's signal is 480i SDTV, all programming is acquired in 1080p with high-definition television (HD) cameras and equipment and presented in letterbox format, suggesting a simple transition to an HD signal should the opportunity arise; the air feed on the network's website broadcasts in 1080p.
Like most state public affairs networks and C-SPAN, WisconsinEye has a strict license regarding use of state legislature and other network footage in any way other than for reference purposes and disallows it from being used in political advertising, an issue which came to the forefront with a Green Bay-targeted ad by a Planned Parenthood political action committee using the network's footage in September 2013.
The channel was removed from Time Warner at the end of the original carriage agreement in early 2009 due to the network wanting payment for carriage, but eventually returned to that provider's systems in late March 2012. Time Warner and Charter merged in May 2016, making Charter's merged "Spectrum" service the dominant carrier of the network through the state.
The non-profit is being financed by private donors including the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation, the Argosy Foundation, Evjue Foundation, Phil Hendrickson, Terry and Mary Kohler, Madison Gas and Electric, Kwik Trip, Acuity Insurance, the Helen Bader Foundation, 5Nines Technology, Yahara Software, and Wisconsin billionaires Ken and Diane Hendricks, who have contributed more than US$1 million.