Orange TV provides transparent government

Orange County is a leader in transparency by providing live and taped-delayed meetings via Orange TV.

By Orange County Commissioner Bryan Nelson

Orange County Commissioner Bryan Nelson

Orange TV

Orange TV televises programming about government services, activities, and issues. As your County information channel, their mission is to ensure government transparency is as accessible and convenient to citizens as possible. For over 20 years they have up kept the delivery of their mission by evolving side-by-side with our ever changing digital world. Just three years ago Orange TV launched an outreach program to expand and synchronize their news delivery outlets. Since its launch, Orange TV has undergone a digital media transformation that Harvard recently recognized as the 2017 Ash Center Bright Idea in Government. Through Orange TV’s revitalized TV programs, website, YouTube channel, and Facebook outlet, the opportunity to watch and respond to your government in action is more accessible than ever!

Programs

Thanks to Orange TV you can stay up to date with what the Orange County Government is doing for you. The county meetings Orange TV covers include, but are not limited to, the Board of Commissioners’ Meetings, Board of Zoning and Planning Meetings, Orlando City Council Meetings, Orange County Public School Board Meetings, and Central Florida Expressway Authority Meetings. The benefit of tuning into one (or all) of these is that you can watch your government in action as they discuss topics like what local building projects are getting approved and appealed, what issues will affect the quality of OC education, and what upcoming public transportation changes will be made.

Additionally Orange TV televises weekly, monthly, quarterly, foreign language, and specialty programs. The specialty programs feature middle school athletic competitions, puppet shows, music, call-in advice services, and exercise fitness videos. Whereas, Orange TV’s routine programs cover subjects like our army, law enforcement, local (government-related) events, fire life and medical emergency services, and elections. As for foreign language programs, there are two shows offered in Español- “Los Hispanos y La Prevención del Crimen” and “Los Hispanos y Salud.”

Orange TV is available on Spectrum (formerly Bright House) Channel 488, Comcast Channel9, AT&T U-Verse Channel99, CenturyLink Prism TV Channel1081, 29.2 Digital Over the Air, or live-stream on the Orange TV website.

Website and Youtube Channel

Supplemental to live steam, Orange TV keeps a video archive of county meetings on their website. So if you miss a meeting, need to watch one on the go, or look up a past one, all you have to do is visit http://www.orangecountyfl.net/OpenGovernment/OrangeTVVisionTV.aspx

On the flipside, if you want to stay up to date but don’t have the time to watch full meetings or lengthy programs, you can check out Orange TV’s YouTube channel. As a part of their outreach program Orange TV started publishing two minute videos summarizing what Orange County has in store for the week. To view Orange TV’s “This Week” video series visit https://www.youtube.com/user/orangetvfl

Brief descriptions of county meetings and Orange TV’s other televised programs, can respectively be found under the Gavel-to-Gavel Meeting tab, and the Weekly Monthly Quarterly and Specialty Programs tabs. A full program schedule can be found by visiting http://titantvguide.titantv.com/apg/daily.aspx?siteid=57678

“Since 1995, Orange TV has been a valuable communication tool for Orange County Government,” said County Communications Manager, Ann Marie Varga. To this day, the channel secures the longevity of its value by innovating and implementing new ideas to improve how information is being relayed to you. To provide Orange TV with your feedback and program suggestions, receive additional information about their channel, and request duplicate videos email otvmail@ocfl.net or call (407) 685-9000.

Bryan Nelson serves as the County Commissioner for Orange County District 2 which includes Apopka, Ocoee, Eatonville, and Northwest Orange County.