Push is on to move City Hall TV out of the ‘Flintstone’ era

A Philadelphia City Councilman wants city residents to be able to watch their city government at work, 24 hours a day.

Most if not all City Council and events with Mayor Michael Nutter are broadcast on the city’s cable channels, but currently they are shown in standard definition, and only according to a program schedule. Councilman Curtis Jones says it’s time to move the channels out of the stone age.

“Our public access channel operates with bubble gum and wires sometimes, so much so they have a square TV monitor that looks like Fred Flintstone’s first TV,” he said.

Jones says he wants residents to be able to replay video of hearings and council meetings on demand, in high definition.

“I think it would increase access to good information that the subscribers really want and flavor from local communities around the city,” he said.

The city’s tech guru Adel Ebeid, who is negotiating with Comcast about information technology infrastructure, says his staff is working on upgrades to the public access channels, including adding high-definition cameras.