AT&T signs on to "air" Texas House proceedings

Postcards from the Lege blog - AAS 3/3/09
UPDATED: AT&T signs on to "air" Texas House proceedings, starting in April

Score a victory for state Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, who’s credited by AT&T for the company’s plans to put Texas House proceedings on its U-Verse video service for TV viewers around Texas. The service, which employs fiber-optic lines, is currently available in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, Austin and Lubbock, with Midland/Odessa lined up next, AT&T spokesman Kerry Hibbs said today.

Castro, as noted here last month, hopes to see both House and Senate floor debates cablecast statewide. He’s still hoping cable companies come around to picking up some of the costs of doing that — which were estimated by a Texas Cable Association representative at about $401,000 during testimony today.

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Castro said: "I wanted us to get our foot in the door. I don’t think we can wait for perfection. I am confident that we will make it work with the (other) cable companies."
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Some 28 states televise their legislative sessions. (Austin cable customers have had access to channels showing House and Texas Senate sessions for years.)