‘Ōlelo begins on-demand video of City Council

‘Ōlelo Community Television, the nonprofit community access provider, is opening doors to public meetings using video streaming technology and the Worldwide Web to give citizens the ability to locate information on issues of concern in seconds.

To increase civic participation, ‘Ōlelo has partnered with the City and County of Honolulu to provide on-demand streaming of City Council meetings. Click here to access the archived Council meetings. Under "Video Live and On Demand," click "City Council Meeting Videos." Then click the video link to view a specific meeting. With a click of the mouse you can instantly jump to any agenda item. Meetings are available for viewing about 48 hours after they adjourn.

For 17 years, ‘Ōlelo has been committed to facilitating open government through electronic media technology by telecasting City Council and Legislative hearings, gavel to gavel, on its cable channels. “This takes access to government meetings to a new level. It allows anyone anywhere with Internet access to reference City Council meetings for up to a year,” says ‘Ōlelo Chief Operating Officer Gerry Silva. “The ease of use will hopefully engage citizens to become more informed about decisions that affect them.” Civic participation is a key part of ‘Ōlelo’s mission.

‘Ōlelo is also expanding video-on-demand service to community producers in an effort to increase potential viewer accessibility and provide a larger audience for the programs that ‘Ōlelo clients produce. If the pilot is successful, ‘Ōlelo will expand the service to all producers of local, non-commercial content next year.

‘Ōlelo broadcasts Council proceedings frequently on Oceanic Cable Channel 54, but sometimes that’s not convenient for those who want to keep up with city government. With on-demand streaming from any computer with a broadband connection, now it is.