Offener Kanal Magdeburg e.V.

Offene Kanal Magdeburg e.V. is the sponsoring association of Magdeburg's citizen channel "Offener Kanal Magdeburg. The aim and purpose of the association is to promote the participation of the broadest possible social groups and individuals in the medium of television. Offene Kanal Magdeburg e.V. employs four permanent staff members, currently five young people in national and European voluntary service and various interns from media studies. The association has 70 members, including numerous other associations in Magdeburg, which is active in civil society. Offene Kanal Magdeburg e.V. also and above all sees itself as a mouthpiece for civil society. We offer the Open Channel as a platform to its numerous associations and individuals. To this end, the Open Channel supports individuals and groups in the use of production technology, lends cameras, light, sound and everything else needed for a TV production free of charge, and advises people in the planning and realization of their broadcasting projects. The Offene Kanal Magdeburg has 8 cameras, 8 editing suites and light and sound equipment, as well as a 50-square-meter TV studio that can be used by citizens for their own broadcasts. The purpose of the association is to provide public access to the Open Channel for all strata of the population, to enable a presentation of the concerns of individual citizens, initiatives, foreigners living in the broadcasting area and other associations of persons (groups), to promote awareness of one's own environment and surroundings. The association organizes educational, training, further education and other support measures for young people and adults in order to qualify them for work, handling and communication with electronic media and to enable them to create contributions with which the general public is promoted. e.g. in the fields of local communication, local media education and training, education, popular and vocational training, international understanding in the broadcasting area, youth and elderly welfare, gender equality, local art and culture and the idea of homeland, the promotion of animal, nature and landscape protection, consumer advice. The Open Channel can be received by cable in approximately 100,000 households in Magdeburg. In addition, the program can be received via livestream on the Internet. The Open Channel Magdeburg lends cameras, light, sound in short everything that is necessary for a film or television production to people who live and/or work in Magdeburg. The loan is free of charge. Approximately 10,000 people from Magdeburg have used the services of the Open Channel in the past 10 years to report on their concerns, to make their opinions public and to bring their issues to the public. They make reports about local events, interview politicians, report from and about their district. Every year, 1,000 people use the services of the Open Channel, including individuals, associations, students, schools and many more. The Open Channel is an excellent means of social communication in the local area and promotes cohesion in the city. A survey conducted by a research institute showed that the Open Channel program was watched by 35,000 people for 40 minutes a day over a 14-day period. Every day, the Open Channel has about 8000 viewers who watch the program for 35 minutes. The Open Channel is used by all strata of the population and all age groups. The youngest users are children around 8 years old, and the oldest users are over 90 years old. Every week, the users of the Open Channel produce about 10 hours of new programming about local politics, art and culture, music, interviews, but also feature films and animations. The Open Channel Magdeburg is financed, just like all other citizen broadcasters in Germany, for the most part by broadcasting fees.