Community Service Announcements (CSA's)
What is a CSA: A Community Service Announcement (CSA) is a short video announcement about upcoming events or other information. MCTV's CSA production service is only available to nonprofits and community groups.
The first Friday of the month is CSA day, where the studio is set up to produce CSAs between the hours of noon and 4pm. Call Troy at 961-1127 to sign up.
CSA's for upcoming events will play on channel 3 & 65 at least three times a day for up to six weeks or until the event has happened. A upcoming event CSA may also air on channel 64 depending on the content. These short term (up to 6 weeks) CSA can be produced on CSA Day.
Organizational Members can make up to 4 CSA's per years on CSA day for free, non members who have not made a MCTV CSA are elgible for one free CSA on CSA day).
Click here to see examples of MCTV produced CSAs
CSAs announcing on-going services or projects are produced by appointment only and are not produced on CSA Day. This is so we can spend more time on producing the CSA.
On CSA day we set up the studio for *Green Screen or chroma key video.
*What is a Green Screen?
A bright green (or blue) screen -sometimes called a chromakey background with careful lighting and camera settings make it possible to put any kind of background behind people in video. Chromkey is used for weather people on commercial tv, use a green or blue chromakey with digital pictures and/or video inserted in the background. Chromakeys in combination with digital graphics can be used to create the look of a TV studio, or city skyline and ocean or almost anything. It generally is shot with one camera and one person, but can be used with two or more people, generallly with some quality loss.
How to Make a CSA at our Studio
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How to Make a CSA at our Studio
- Call 961-1127 to make an appointment. If you are using our CSA services for the first time it is helpful to review previously made CSAs on our website here and to talk with our staff with any questions in advance of your appointment.
- Come prepared with script you have practiced speaking. A Short CSA – under a minute – usually work best.
- To use our teleprompter to read your announcement on air, email the script to mctv@mendocoasttv.org, or bring it in on a flash or hard drive for your appointment.
- If you have a background image you want to be used in your CSA, email it to us or bring the image as a JPEG file or a video on a flash or harddrive. There are a variety of specifications, if you are new to making a CSA with us, please call to discuss your background image specs before the appointment. You an also learn more about background image here.
- MCTV can also digitally create a simple colored background if preferred.
- The identifying graphics on the CSA needs the following information - email or bring information to your CSA appointment. Include some or all of the following
- the name of the event (class, meeting, etc.)
- the name of sponsoring organization
- the date(s), times
- where it is
- Plan on spending at least 30 minutes at the studio recording the CSA.
- Tips on what not wear for recording the CSA
- do not wear anything green or with green as part of the design
- do not wear clothing with stripes or small checks
- Jewelry can be a problem for the cameras, be prepared to remove.
CSA Production Rates
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CSA Production Rates:
Appointments for producing a CSA can be made for any day,
but the first Friday of every month is CSA day and our rates are
reduced or even free on CSA day.
First Friday CSA Day production for non members: First one is free,
additional CSA’s are $30.
CSA production by appointment (on other than CSA day) in our
studio starts at $60.
CSA Production done offsite is available. The production charges
for offsite CSAs start at $90. Once we know more about the site
and the script for the CSA we prepare an estimate for the
production charges.
Note: Organizational members special benefit: 4 CSAs (made
on CSA day) for no charge.
