Classic Arts Showcase

Classic Arts Showcase
Launched	May 1994
Owned by	Lloyd E. Rigler - Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation
Country	United States
Headquarters	Burbank, California
Website	www.classicartsshowcase.org
Availability
Satellite
Dish Network	9406
Galaxy 17 at 91.0°W	Transponder 18C 4076V 3000
Cable
Available on many cable systems	Check CAS website for cable channels [1]

Classic Arts Showcase is a television channel in the United States promoting the fine arts. The television program content includes prepared media and recorded live performances. It is a 24-hour non-commercial satellite channel broadcasting a mix of various classic arts including animation, architectural art, ballet, chamber, choral music, dance, folk art, museum art, musical theater, opera, orchestral, recital, solo instrumental, solo vocal, and theatrical play, as well as classic film and archival documentaries.

Self-described on its own web site as "Classical MTV", the channel features renowned artists, both professional and amateur, as well as many rare and independent performances and videos. An 8-hour mix of video clips is prepared weekly and broadcast repeatedly three times daily. Text displayed on the screen provides details about the recording, and encourages viewers to gain inspiration and “...go out and feast from the buffet of arts available in your community.” The explanation for not providing a schedule is they feel that surprise is an effective tactic to encourage the public to see that which is not familiar to them.

CAS was founded in 1994 and is completely and totally funded by the Lloyd E. Rigler - Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation. It does not solicit any outside funding. Lloyd Rigler died in 2003, but left at least twenty years of funding to the channel. CAS is offered free to any broadcaster, or Public, educational, and government access (PEG) channel on a cable tv system that requests a feed. CAS is shown on more than 500 channels in the United States, as well as some in Canada. CAS does not publish information about channels in other countries.

Technical information

CAS is broadcast unencrypted from the Galaxy 17 satellite on Transponder 18C; Analog Frequency: 4060; Digital Frequency: 4076; Symbol Rate: 3.00 Msps; Polarity: Vertical Down; FEC ¾; Net ID 101; which is located at 91° West, which makes it visible to all of North America and South America.

Reception

Kansas City Star television critic Aaron Barnhart has commented that “many of the selections are beyond the familiar - Pavarotti singing the "Ave Maria," I Musici belting out a "Four Seasons" suite - ... but there are no annoying commercials or announcers to disrupt the relaxing ambiance on this TV channel.” He wrote further that “Classical-music lovers will find it hard not to get roped in by the mix of ballet, operatic singing and instrumental pieces, most of them culled from old film stock or European music videos.”^[2]

American Art critic Alan Klevit, in a chapter of his book The Art Beat, praises the programming available on Classic Arts Showcase, and, having the television channel in mind, explains that his "favorite show is not a show", but is, in fact, "a montage of videos spanning the arts". Klevit quips that CAS is "habit-forming", and confides that he is often "unwilling to turn the set off, for fear of missing a Buster Keaton vignette, or perhaps Lillian Gish, or Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Rudolph Valentino as The Sheik, or some other classic [he] will treasure."^[3]

See also

• Lloyd Rigler

Further reading

• David Finkle (2002-12-01). "TELEVISION/RADIO; A Video Variety You Won't See on MTV". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E4DF1738F932A35751C1A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2008-09-15. 

References

1. ^ Classic Arts Showcase channel locations
2. ^ Aaron Barnhart (1998-01-03). "Classic Arts Showcase provides a midwinter cable treat". TV Barn. http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/1998/01/classic_arts_sh.html. Retrieved 2007-10-10. 
3. ^ Alan Klevit (April 2003). "Classical MTV in Your Home Town". The Art Beat. Llumina Press. pp. 117–119. ISBN 978-1932303391. 

External links

• Official Site