The Ohio Channel

The Ohio Channel is a service of Ohio's public broadcasting stations. A new concept in public affairs programming, the Ohio Channel combines Statehouse coverage with locally produced PBS programs to give a statewide perspective on issues that affect the lives of all Ohioans.

Using live Statehouse programming supplied by Ohio Government Telecommunications and distributed by eTech, and packaging this programming with Ohio PBS station public affairs programming and documentaries, the Ohio Channel provides the most comprehensive coverage of state government issues.

Coverage of Statehouse activities is unedited and is commentary-free to give you an unbiased and open perspective on government activities. The Ohio House of Representatives, the Ohio Senate, and the Supreme Court of Ohio are all covered gavel to gavel. In addition, news conferences and meetings are broadcast across the state.

Many components come into play in order to achieve the statewide distribution of Ohio Channel programming.

The signal initiates from a video source such as the embedded cameras within the House and Senate chambers at the Statehouse or from remote systems located at the Supreme Court of Ohio as well as state agencies such as the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).

From the Statehouse Media Center, the signal is recorded and delivered digitally to eTech, the central hub for the Ohio Channel's underlying infrastucture. eTech's fiber optic backbone distributes the Ohio Channel broadcast signal to local public television stations throughout the state which then, in turn, broadcast the signal over the airwaves from broadcast towers.

Additionally, all legislative and Supreme Court sessions are streamed live over the Internet as well as archived digitally providing every resident of the state of Ohio the opportunity to witness, first hand, our government in action.