BackTalk with Becca

 KTEH viewers made this an event to remember. The AR crew reports that the San Jose taping attracted the largest crowds ever! 12,000 items were appraised.  Several folks had treasures that were appraised at the “6-figure” level - you know who you are!

If you want to get a look at those valuable finds and 6,000 of your friends an neighbors, be watching in May. 

The three episodes we taped in San Jose will air as follows:   

May 10, 2010:   San Jose, Show 1


May 17, 2010:   San Jose, Show 2


May 24, 2010:   San Jose, Show 3

Last night KTEH viewers from as far away as Watsonville drove to KTEH to join the studio audience for Facing The Mortgage Crisis. They gave up their comfy armchairs to get their mortgage questions answered, in person,  by a panel of experts.

The 6 panelists from non-profit  agencies  provided answers to a wide range of  mortgage modification, foreclosure prevention, predatory loans and housing rights questions.

24 additional experts answered questions from the home audience at our phone bank. The show went live at 6:00pm and our phones started ringing at 6:01. The TV audience kept our experts busy the entire hour and beyond.

If you have questions, you can still get a personal answer by posting on our blog - www.kteh.org/mortgage.

If you missed the show, you can a see re-broadcast  on KTEH at 10pm September, 3 And 1pm September 12.

KQED will re-broadcast the program on Aug. 31 at 1pm, September 9 at 11pm and September 12 at 6pm.

 We just wrapped up Rehearsal for tomorrow’s live show,  Facing the Mortgage  Crisis.  Linda O’Bryon will host a panel of experts who will answer your questions  about  foreclosure prevention, loan modification, predatory loans and more. 

 You can watch at it at home at  6pm tomorrow (Sunday, Aug. 30) or you can join our  studio  audience. We have a few seats available. Call Lyn Johnson -  415-553-2288  or email ljohnson@KTEH.org  for free tickets.

If you are a renter, a home owner looking to refinance, the victim of a predatory loan or just have questions about current mortgage policies, join us at the KTEH Studios, Sunday August 30, at 6p.m. We have assembled a panel of the most qualified and best informed experts in Northern California to answer your mortgage questions.

The programs designed to help homeowners through this crisis continue to evolve. Get up to the minute information about your options and your rights at our live event.

To attend, email Ljohnson@KTEH.org or call Lyn Johnson at 415-553-2288.

We heard you loud and clear. Thanks to the many of you who wrote and asked that we keep Lawrence Welk on the air.  We appreciate you taking the time to express your opinion about KTEH.  

Because so many of you asked, we will continue to broadcast Lawrence Welk Saturday nights at 7p.m….. Ah-One an Ah-Two…..

I’m creating this post so that you viewers will have a spot where you can tell me what you are thinking about KTEH.

When my blog posts don’t reflect your current thinking about our station or our programming, come here and let me know what is on your mind!

I look forward to your comments.

Fire away,

B

Some of you may need to perform a rescan on your converter boxes.

If you had been  receiving the KTEH digital signal, but can’t see us now, try rescanning.

Last Thursday we moved our digital signal from digital 58 to our permanent home digital 25.

So if you live in the Salinas, Monterey, Watsonville, Gilroy or Santa Cruz areas, you will need to rescan.

Here’s how to rescan:

-Run the “scan” function on your converter box or digital television set. It’s usually on the remote control, labeled “set-up” or “menu”. Consult your owner’s manual for more details.

-Once the scan is complete, you should be get  all avaialble digital  channels through your existing antenna.

The FCC has a Web site set up so you can see which channels you should be receiving in your area.

On Memorial day the KTEH transmitter suffered a fluctuation in power.  Our analog transmitter was off for a bit. If you experienced this outage, you are not ready for the digital transition that will take place on June 12 - in just 17 days.

If you want to continue to receive KTEH via an antenna, you need a digital converter box. We are already broadcasting our digital signal so if you have the box now, go ahead and connect it. There’s no need to wait for June 12.

How Who are You?, our Doctor Who video contest is in full swing.

Would be Whos have submitted mini episodes of their own creation for your approval.

There are 6 very creative videos to choose from… great special effects, cool antagonists (including a bubble wrap robot gone berserk) and plenty of Who humor.

The current leader is  “Doctor Who: 45 Years and Beyond” by Bob Mitch.

“Doctor Who: The Running Man” by James Mah is a distant second.

The Winner will host A Doctor Who Marathon on KTEH.  Vote now for your favorite faux Who.

Thanks to all the chefs who uploaded their videos and the viewers who voted. KTEH has received the very first PBS Interactive Innovation Award for the online activities that were a part of  KTEH Cooks with Garlic!

The award recognizes “station teams who have demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit and creativity in the design, development and implementation of one or more innovative projects or processes in 2008.” The award was announced at the PBS Showcase, a national conference, in Baltimore.  Kudos to Colleen Wilson, Stacy Bond and Bud Gundy for making the online garlic experience a fun one!

Last night KTEH folks broke out their evening clothes and headed up to San Francisco for the 38th annual Emmys.

This is Us, our own local production was nominated for an award.  We were both thrilled and astonished that the first episode in our brand new series would be singled out for a nomination. It was really unexpected.

The documentary  Bolinao 52 , for which KTEH was the presenting station, was nominated in 2 categories.

Bolinao 52 had its world premier on KTEH. The powerful film was the center piece of our Vietnamese American Journey film series last April.

Bolinao 52 Producer/Director, Duk H. Nguyen,

Duc H. Nguyen, Producer/Director

carried away the Emmy for best Documentary. Famed local composer, Mark Izu brought home an Emmy for the Bolinao 52 score.

This is Us wasn’t as lucky but we were thrilled for our colleague Duc and honored to be associated with his documentary. You can see Bolinao 52 on KQED- World (digital channel) May 30 at 11pm and May 31 at 5am.