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SacTV.com, a website aiming to showcase videos that give a “virtual tour of Sacramento” launched Monday, with local radio veteran Alex Cosper at the helm.
“Basically, it’s like the YouTube of Sacramento, minus all the garbage,” he said Thursday.
The 49-year-old founder of the site said that “garbage” consists of videos with bad audio and recording qualities as well as really shaky camerawork.
“It’s a chance for anyone in Sacramento to voice an opinion or post a review that’s relevant to other Sacramentans,” he said.
Videos currently on the site include clips of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s pitch to keep the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento, an aerial video of Folsom Lake and several musical performances.
All videos will actually be hosted on YouTube, but SacTV.com serves as a filter to ensure the videos shown add value to the site.
Topics can be on anything from the local music and arts scene to business and political issues or funny videos. Video reviews of restaurants and music events are some of the things he said he expects will be submitted the most.
Anyone can submit a video via a form on the website, and Cosper then determines if it’s a good fit. His long experience at the now-defunct radio station KWOD 106.5 allowed him to understand the types of things that appeal to locals, he said.
He started at KWOD in 1984 as an intern, then became assistant music director and music director before taking over as program director in 1991, a position he held until 1996 when he left the station.
“In that time, we went from one of the worst-rated stations to a top-five station,” Cosper said.
Cosper said he hopes to take the sense that helped him play a part in the radio station’s success to his current venture.
It’s an idea that’s been in the works for more than a decade, as he bought the domain name in 2000, but he only began building the site from scratch in mid-November.
The films currently on the site are his work, but he is partnering with local videographers and production companies to bring in more content.
One of those partners is the locally owned video production business The Studio Center, which primarily produces TV commercials and informational videos but also works with local creative filmmakers.
“I’ve known Alex from back in the days when he was in broadcast radio and I was in marketing and advertising,” said Frank Casanova, owner of The Studio Center. “He’s one of those creative people in town that’s always looking for where there’s a void that can be filled.”
Cosper approached Casanova earlier this week to talk about bringing some of the films The Studio Center worked with in relation to a cable access film festival called “A Place Like Sacramento.”
“We’ve produced about 30 short films and two feature films,” Casanova said. “He wants to put those films on the site, and it’s really a win-win for all of us, since the filmmakers get their work viewed by a wider audience.”
Casanova added that he thinks the site will be “a wonderful open venue” for Sacramentans to post videos that affect other local residents.
“Alex took KWOD from a nothing radio station to a powerhouse in its day,” Casanova said. “This is going to be something of value into the future. He really knows the Sacramento audience.”
Cosper said he wants the site to serve not only as a resource for locals, but as a place where others can learn about all the city has to offer before traveling to it or, possibly, before deciding to move to the city.
“I really want this site to be a virtual tour of Sacramento,” he said. “This is my hometown, and I know it better than any other city, and it’s a great place to be.”
Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.
It's all of the above. Alex Cosper made some of his own videos, some are user-submitted and others are preexisting ones such as the ones from the "A Place Called Sacramento" film festival that are going to be posted after permission is granted.