WYOU community television station goes worldwide via Web

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: WYOU community television station goes worldwide via Web : Jane Burns � TCT 3/06/2009 9:59 am : ----------------------------------------------- : No matter how much money is raised during this week�s WYOU fund drive, executive director Barbara Bolan sees this as a start of something new for the community television station. : For as much as the news has been bleak since it became official that the station would lose its local funding, a non-financial boost came this week when WYOU�s programming went worldwide. Viewers can now see the channel�s unique programming well beyond Madison as it is streamed at wyou.org. So yes, that means the iconic "Cooking With Bob" is about to have a worldwide audience. : "There�s nothing that the online world loves better than unusual, some would say eclectic, some would say incendiary, type programming," said Barb Bolan, WYOU�s executive director. "Bob could become a phenomenon and bust way farther than Madison and Dane County." : The world will get its first chance to see Bob Swokowski whip something -- anything -- up on his grill on Saturday at 1 p.m.. As part of the pledge drive, "Cooking With Bob" will be broadcast live from the WYOU parking lot at 609 E. Washington Ave. It�s not just Bob doing the cooking, however, fans are encouraged to bring their own food and cook with him. : The pledge drive began on Sunday. As of Thursday morning, the station had raised $3,200, Bolan said. : "That�s modest, but it�s the first time ever for this station," she said. "Success is measured in more than just dollars. It�s also about profile. We�re certainly raising the profile." : The fund-raising became necessary when a change in state law affected the cable fees WYOU had gotten. Now, all financing for public, education and government channels will end by 2011. : This pledge drive is one of four fund-raisers Bolan plans for this year. Not all will be pledge drives. Another might be a video installation to tie in with Gallery Night, and hopes for having a bigger "Cooking With Bob" event in the summer when people are thinking more about cooking out. : So far, Bolan said, country musician Jesse Walker has been the "MVP" of this pledge drive. For two hours on Tuesday, he took requests for songs in exchange for a pledge. Most of the programming all week long is live, which has created a buzz at the station, Bolan said. : "It�s as if the station is breathing and the heart is pumping," she said. "You can feel a pulse here, which is great." : As important as the fund drive is, Bolan said the live streaming is "huge." The station was able to do so because of services and products provided by 5 Nines Data, Supranet and ResTechServices. : "The switch actually got turned on on Monday, and then they�ve been working with us to keep tweaking it," Bolan said. "It�s a new opportunity. We�ve had pledges from California, New York, further out in Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area." : Bolan truly got a sense of the reach the streaming provides via her own e-mail. : "I got an e-mail from my mom in Prescott, Ariz., who is 84, saying, �Wow, could I have a WYOU cup? I tuned in on my laptop,�" Bolan said. "It was so awesome."

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