Latest / Austin Signal / Austin reaches labor contract deal with city’s firefighters

Transcript

Austin reaches labor contract deal with city’s firefighters · Austin Signal

• 0:10
  Austin has reached a four-year,
• 0:12
  $63 million deal with
• 0:14
  the city's firefighters, ending
• 0:15
  months of negotiation with Austin
• 0:17
  Firefighters Association.
• 0:19
  We're talking with KUT's Andrew
• 0:21
  Weber to find out what that means
• 0:23
  for Austin.
• 0:24
  And for bird enthusiasts, Texas
• 0:26
  Standard's Raul Alonzo
• 0:28
  explains what a bird count is,
• 0:30
  why it matters, and how you can take
• 0:32
  part in one next Saturday.
• 0:35
  Also Confucius Jones, KUTXer,
• 0:37
  and one half of the hip hop podcast,
• 0:39
  The Breaks, shares his favorite song
• 0:41
  of the year with us.
• 0:43
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:45
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:47
  Miles Bloxson.
• 0:49
  Plus, if you're looking for holiday
• 0:51
  TV episodes to go along with the
• 0:52
  holidays, ATX TV Festival's
• 0:55
  head of programming, Jennifer Morgan
• 0:57
  joins us with some pics.
• 0:59
  That and more coming up on Austin
• 1:01
  Signal.
• 1:13
  Hi there, Austin.
• 1:14
  It's Friday, December 19th and
• 1:16
  I'm Miles Bloxson.
• 1:17
  We're getting closer and closer to
• 1:19
  Christmas. And while there are some
• 1:20
  amazing songs to listen to and
• 1:22
  movies to watch, there are also some
• 1:24
  epic TV shows that highlight
• 1:26
  the holiday.
• 1:27
  We'll have some of our favorites
• 1:29
  coming up later in the show.
• 1:31
  This is the Austin Signal.
• 1:34
  A quick headline before we start the
• 1:35
  show, police say they've arrested a
• 1:37
  man who was responsible for multiple
• 1:39
  overnight explosions in South
• 1:41
  Austin. APD said that today
• 1:43
  they've arrested Derek Gillespie
• 1:45
  at his house near
• 1:47
  St. Edward's for possessing
• 1:49
  explosive devices.
• 1:50
  Police say neighbors complained for
• 1:52
  months about overnight explosions,
• 1:54
  which led to an investigation
• 1:56
  involving federal authorities.
• 1:58
  Gillespy was arrested at his home
• 2:00
  on Tuesday and charged with
• 2:02
  a third degree felony.
• 2:03
  We have more on this story at
• 2:05
  KUT.org.
• 2:08
  The City of Austin has agreed
• 2:09
  to the four-year labor contract.
• 2:12
  Put forth by the Austin Firefighters
• 2:14
  Association.
• 2:15
  This is after months of
• 2:17
  back and forth between the two.
• 2:19
  So what's in the contract and
• 2:21
  what does this mean for Austin
• 2:23
  and its firefighters?
• 2:24
  Joining us now is KUT's
• 2:26
  government and accountability
• 2:27
  reporter, Andrew Weber.
• 2:29
  Andrew, thanks so much for joining
• 2:31
  us today on Austin Signal.
• 2:33
  Of course.
• 2:34
  So take us back to the beginning.
• 2:36
  Why does there need to be a contract
• 2:38
  like this in the first place?
• 2:39
  That's a good question.
• 2:41
  It's a labor contract.
• 2:43
  So if you get hired, obviously
• 2:45
  there's gonna be some protections,
• 2:47
  some guarantees, how much you're
• 2:48
  gonna get paid, stuff like that.
• 2:50
  And that applies to firefighters as
• 2:52
  well.
• 2:53
  Texas is a very, I
• 2:56
  think you could argue, union-averse
• 2:57
  state. So you don't necessarily, as
• 2:59
  a city, have to have a
• 3:01
  big, long drawn-out contract
• 3:04
  with your first
• 3:05
  responders, like police and fire and
• 3:07
  EMS and stuff like.
• 3:08
  Uh, but cities like Austin do
• 3:10
  these so they can sort of
• 3:12
  retain and recruit folk,
• 3:14
  recruit folks, excuse me.
• 3:15
  Um, that's the sort of a big,
• 3:17
  you know, it's a big thing,
• 3:19
  especially at a time when, when the
• 3:20
  Austin fire department, uh, is kind
• 3:22
  of short staffed.
• 3:23
  So they went into this agreement,
• 3:25
  this negotiation that took months
• 3:27
  and months and months, and they
• 3:28
  reached a deal ultimately with the
• 3:30
  firefighters union.
• 3:31
  And so the city and the Austin
• 3:33
  Firefighters Association negotiated
• 3:35
  contracts.
• 3:36
  What was the Firefighter Association
• 3:38
  hoping to get funded and
• 3:40
  why?
• 3:40
  Yeah, they just wanted to get a
• 3:42
  raise.
• 3:43
  You know, over the last couple of
• 3:44
  years, EMS and police have both
• 3:46
  got new contracts and
• 3:48
  they got pretty substantial raises.
• 3:50
  Austin firefighters basically said,
• 3:52
  okay, well, our contract's up.
• 3:53
  We want to get it raised too.
• 3:55
  That only seems fair, especially
• 3:57
  at a time, like I said, that they're
• 3:58
  kind of short staffed.
• 4:00
  So that was a big, you know,
• 4:01
  probably the top line goal for
• 4:03
  the firefighter team.
• 4:04
  That totally makes sense, and did
• 4:06
  Prop Q and its failure to pass
• 4:08
  affect anything here?
• 4:10
  Did yes ma'am it very much did
• 4:12
  yeah if for folks who you know
• 4:14
  Maybe don't remember don't want to
• 4:15
  remember that was a measure to
• 4:17
  raise 110 million dollars in
• 4:19
  property taxes With the goal
• 4:21
  of funding a lot of things one of
• 4:22
  those things was overtime for the
• 4:24
  Austin Fire Department and that
• 4:26
  did not pass So the city basically,
• 4:28
  you know said okay well, we
• 4:30
  were gonna we were kind of banking
• 4:32
  literally banking on on this
• 4:34
  passing to pay for this this
• 4:36
  overtime and They
• 4:38
  couldn't because voters said we
• 4:40
  don't want to pass this.
• 4:41
  Right, Prop Q seemed like it
• 4:43
  affected a lot of things that
• 4:44
  we're seeing right now in the news.
• 4:46
  What was the city saying and why the
• 4:48
  back and forth?
• 4:49
  Yeah, the city said, okay, well, we
• 4:51
  don't have this $8 million.
• 4:52
  We can't fund you over time.
• 4:54
  So their solution was, and they kind
• 4:56
  of floated this over the summer as
• 4:57
  well.
• 4:58
  What if we changed the required
• 5:00
  number of people on a fire truck
• 5:02
  at any given time?
• 5:03
  It used to, it's always historically
• 5:04
  been four people.
• 5:06
  They said, Okay, well what if we
• 5:07
  scale that back to three?
• 5:08
  The firefighters union was
• 5:10
  not, not happy at all with
• 5:12
  that. So they basically walked away
• 5:14
  from the bargaining table and it was
• 5:16
  kind of up in the air until this,
• 5:18
  this past week.
• 5:19
  Oh, wow. So they just agreed
• 5:21
  on a deal.
• 5:22
  What's in the deal?
• 5:23
  The deal is for four years,
• 5:25
  it's $63 million over that
• 5:27
  time, and
• 5:29
  it basically gives, you know,
• 5:31
  it achieves the goal of the
• 5:33
  Firefighters Union.
• 5:34
  A lot of folks are gonna get raises.
• 5:36
  Newer, like recruits and cadets
• 5:38
  will get a pretty substantial raise.
• 5:40
  They'll get 6.5% more
• 5:42
  next year than they would in this
• 5:43
  year.
• 5:44
  And all firefighters, like
• 5:46
  across the board, are gonna to get a
• 5:48
  bonus.
• 5:49
  Just for sticking around and,
• 5:51
  you know, at a time when they're
• 5:52
  kind of short staffed, they'll get
• 5:54
  1,100 bucks on
• 5:56
  January 7th, I believe.
• 5:58
  Okay. And you said that this is all
• 6:00
  about, you know, part of it is about
• 6:02
  getting a raise. So what does that
• 6:04
  mean for the city's firefighters
• 6:05
  other than just getting a race?
• 6:07
  They got a raise, so that's good.
• 6:08
  I think that'll probably boost
• 6:10
  morale, at least from folks I've
• 6:12
  talked to. They're also going to get
• 6:13
  a new schedule, which this is where
• 6:15
  it gets kind of wonky.
• 6:16
  Normally firefighters are on for
• 6:18
  24 hours, then off for 48
• 6:20
  hours. Actually, it's the other way
• 6:21
  around. Austin has changed that,
• 6:23
  so they're going to have more
• 6:25
  consecutive days off.
• 6:27
  Portland did this back in 2022,
• 6:29
  and they argued it was
• 6:31
  successful and it sort of reduced
• 6:33
  a lot of burnout amid.
• 6:36
  You know, a department that was
• 6:38
  understaffed.
• 6:39
  We've been speaking with KET's
• 6:40
  government and accountability
• 6:41
  reporter, Andrew Weber.
• 6:43
  Andrew, thanks so much for talking
• 6:45
  with us.
• 6:45
  Yes ma'am, thank you.
• 7:00
  This is the Austin Signal, I'm Miles
• 7:02
  Bloxson.
• 7:03
  Birders here in Austin will have
• 7:05
  a chance to participate in what
• 7:06
  could be compared to as a bird
• 7:08
  census.
• 7:09
  It's called the Christmas Bird
• 7:11
  Count. For more, we're talking
• 7:13
  with Texas Standard Bird enthusiast
• 7:15
  Raul Alonzo.
• 7:16
  Raul, great to have you here today
• 7:18
  on the Austin signal.
• 7:19
  Hello Miles, good to be here.
• 7:21
  Yeah, so what is the Christmas
• 7:23
  bird count? I called it a bird
• 7:24
  senses.
• 7:25
  Is that even a good comparison?
• 7:27
  Yeah, you know, bird census is
• 7:28
  actually perfect.
• 7:29
  That's kind of what it is,
• 7:30
  essentially.
• 7:31
  What happens is birders gather in
• 7:33
  what is called a circle, which is
• 7:35
  about 15 miles in diameter in a
• 7:37
  particular region, and they're
• 7:39
  organized into smaller groups within
• 7:40
  that region, and they
• 7:42
  cover a small
• 7:44
  area, and in that
• 7:46
  area they're led by one experienced
• 7:48
  birder, and they essentially count
• 7:50
  all the different bird species that
• 7:52
  they can find and they log it.
• 7:54
  So yeah, I think census is actually
• 7:55
  a really good way of putting that.
• 7:57
  Oh wow, and these are done all
• 7:59
  over the state, right?
• 8:00
  Yeah, all over the country,
• 8:01
  actually.
• 8:02
  And there's several here in the
• 8:04
  central Texas region.
• 8:07
  And it's one of the oldest,
• 8:08
  they call it citizen science
• 8:10
  projects in the world.
• 8:12
  I think this year is 126
• 8:13
  years that it's been going on here
• 8:15
  in the US.
• 8:17
  And yeah, lots of folks get
• 8:18
  involved.
• 8:19
  126 years?
• 8:21
  Why do we do these?
• 8:22
  So there is, and it's
• 8:24
  such an unusual time of year for it
• 8:25
  to happen, right? But like the thing
• 8:27
  is, uh, the story
• 8:29
  I heard is that way, way
• 8:31
  back when, when, you know, hunters
• 8:32
  will go out in the winter to do
• 8:34
  hunting and kill a lot of birds,
• 8:36
  essentially, uh some guys once said
• 8:38
  like, why don't we count them
• 8:39
  instead? And so that practice began,
• 8:41
  you know?
• 8:41
  Uh, you know, way back when and
• 8:43
  it kind of continued every year
• 8:45
  since. And so that
• 8:47
  data that they have been compiling
• 8:49
  over the years has kind of helped
• 8:50
  show how a bird population in
• 8:52
  a particular region has changed,
• 8:54
  especially, and this has
• 8:56
  been the story here in central Texas
• 8:57
  in the most recent years especially,
• 9:00
  is the growth in population
• 9:01
  urbanization and what that's
• 9:03
  effect that's had on the
• 9:04
  environment, on habitat loss and
• 9:06
  the effect it's had on the regional
• 9:09
  bird population.
• 9:10
  And so the census
• 9:12
  in a way kind of shows how the
• 9:14
  human impact, what the human impact
• 9:16
  is having on the bird population.
• 9:18
  And Travis Autobahn is coordinating
• 9:20
  like a local outing or something
• 9:22
  like that.
• 9:23
  Yeah, and there's actually several,
• 9:24
  if you go to travisautobahn.org,
• 9:27
  you can see several of the events
• 9:29
  going on. There's one this weekend
• 9:31
  on Saturday out there
• 9:33
  around McKinney Falls that
• 9:34
  the group is leading, and it's open
• 9:36
  to anyone.
• 9:38
  But yeah, folks can just go to
• 9:40
  Travisautobon.org for a complete
• 9:41
  list and kind of find out how
• 9:43
  they can get involved or how they
• 9:45
  participate.
• 9:46
  Again, it's opened to anybody.
• 9:48
  And you went to one in San Marcos
• 9:49
  recently. How was your experience
• 9:51
  there?
• 9:52
  So that was kind of a bit
• 9:54
  of an outlier.
• 9:55
  I, you know, I met up with the
• 9:58
  person leading it.
• 9:59
  She was Rebecca Rylander.
• 10:00
  She was a really great experienced
• 10:02
  birder. She was telling me this was
• 10:04
  the 10th year that San
• 10:06
  Marcos had their Christmas bird
• 10:08
  count. And it was also one of the
• 10:09
  coldest. It was this past Sunday
• 10:11
  when that cold front was blowing in.
• 10:12
  And this was early in the morning,
• 10:13
  like 7 a.m.
• 10:14
  So we actually did not see
• 10:16
  too many birds out there.
• 10:18
  They were hunkering down.
• 10:20
  But otherwise it was kind of a nice
• 10:22
  outing. It was just a nice time to
• 10:23
  get away from the screen.
• 10:25
  So birds do get cold.
• 10:26
  That's what I'm hearing.
• 10:27
  They get very cold and if you see
• 10:28
  them out on the power lines and
• 10:29
  they're all hunched over looking all
• 10:30
  cute and plump, it's them trying to
• 10:32
  keep warm in the cold.
• 10:33
  Oh anything else people
• 10:35
  should know if they want to go to
• 10:37
  the Austin Christmas bird count
• 10:39
  Uh, definitely, you know, approach
• 10:41
  it like you're doing any outdoor
• 10:43
  activity, where, uh,
• 10:45
  sturdy, uh clothes, toes, shoes,
• 10:47
  um, you know, something that maybe
• 10:49
  you, especially where I was at
• 10:51
  in San Marcos, we went on a trail
• 10:52
  that potentially could have been
• 10:53
  muddy. So, you, know, kind of wear
• 10:55
  stuff thinking that, you know,
• 10:56
  you're not going to get incredibly
• 10:57
  dirty, but, you know, it's kind of a
• 10:58
  hike essentially.
• 11:00
  So dress for the elements.
• 11:01
  Um, if you have binoculars, bring
• 11:03
  them cause that definitely helps, uh
• 11:04
  spot the birds.
• 11:05
  And also apps that help.
• 11:07
  EBird is what they log the
• 11:09
  bird sightings that they find.
• 11:11
  And Merlin is a great app to kind
• 11:13
  of help you identify birds.
• 11:14
  But some people also like doing it
• 11:15
  the old-fashioned way.
• 11:16
  So bring along your Sibley's
• 11:18
  Journal or bird identification
• 11:20
  manual if you have one.
• 11:22
  I love it all.
• 11:23
  We've been speaking with Texas
• 11:25
  Standard's Raul Alonzo.
• 11:27
  We'll have a link to his reporting
• 11:28
  in today's podcast.
• 11:29
  Show notes.
• 11:30
  Raul, thanks so much for being here
• 11:32
  today on the Austin Signal.
• 11:33
  Thank you, Miles.
• 11:39
  Coming up KTX is Confucius
• 11:42
  Jones tells us what he loves about
• 11:44
  his song of the year slow dreams And
• 11:46
  we'll hear from head of programming
• 11:47
  Jennifer Morgan with
• 11:49
  her top TV Christmas picks
• 11:51
  You're listening to the Austin
• 11:53
  signal on KUT news at
• 11:55
  90.5 and on the KUT
• 11:57
  app and online of course at KUT org
• 11:59
  That's where you can find past
• 12:01
  episodes of our show and all
• 12:03
  the podcasts from KUT and
• 12:05
  KUTX studios in addition
• 12:07
  to the latest reporting from the
• 12:09
  KUT Newsroom on Austin
• 12:10
  and Central Texas and beyond.
• 12:13
  We've got more coming up right here
• 12:15
  on Austin Signal.
• 12:36
  Well, well.
• 12:37
  You're listening to the Austin
• 12:39
  Signal.
• 12:39
  I'm Confucius Jones, one half of the
• 12:41
  Breaks here at KUTX.
• 12:43
  One of my favorite songs out of
• 12:45
  Austin this year is Slow Dreams by
• 12:47
  Lynn.
• 12:47
  Only like my chicken greener off the
• 12:49
  bone asking what God wrote for me.
• 12:51
  They can't name a single song
• 12:53
  a rapper here in the city coming
• 12:55
  from Alabama.
• 12:56
  My favorite part of the song is the
• 12:57
  soul sample.
• 12:59
  And my first impression of it was
• 13:00
  this was something unique and
• 13:01
  different that I'm used to
• 13:03
  when it comes to Austin hip hop.
• 13:04
  I may wrap it up in
• 13:06
  bed like it's a holiday I like
• 13:08
  rap sometimes, he want me to ackee
• 13:10
  way I like to rap sometimes but
• 13:12
  that's just not my role to play
• 13:14
  Anyway, I'm focused on which rap
• 13:15
  I wanna eat today
• 13:16
  The vibe of it is something that
• 13:18
  reminds me of slow listening in your
• 13:20
  car and helps you get to your
• 13:22
  destination.
• 13:23
  Gotta know I keep it flush, know
• 13:24
  that money on the way Say
• 13:27
  it's on with me, she goin' under
• 13:29
  These rappers ain't seein' me
• 13:30
  Once again my name is Confucius
• 13:32
  Jones.
• 13:32
  One half of the breaks here at KUTX.
• 13:35
  You can find more of our favorite
• 13:36
  songs at kutx.org.
• 13:39
  This is Austin Signal.
• 13:41
  I got that dawg, give me no DMX,
• 13:43
  I'm Tommy Smooth You won't catch me
• 13:45
  in no pickle, I make that Tommy move
• 13:47
  You won't catch me chasing a n***a,
• 13:49
  I don't even tie my shoes
• 13:56
  You won't catch me in no pickle, I
• 13:58
  make that tummy move You won't
• 14:00
  catch me chasing this, I don't even
• 14:01
  tell I'm just on my head
• 14:03
  I know Lambo,
• 14:05
  I know it's a Nelly, that don't
• 14:07
  make me
• 14:09
  This is Austin Signal, I'm Miles
• 14:11
  Bloxson.
• 14:11
  It's the most wonderful time of the
• 14:13
  year, as some would say.
• 14:15
  There are some great songs written
• 14:16
  about it in awesome movies as well,
• 14:18
  but there are also some exceptional
• 14:20
  moments in television that depict
• 14:22
  the holidays.
• 14:23
  That's why we've got ATX TV Fest
• 14:25
  in the studio today.
• 14:27
  We're talking with Jennifer Morgan,
• 14:28
  head of programming.
• 14:30
  She's gonna share some of the best
• 14:32
  holiday TV episodes on their
• 14:34
  list. Jennifer, welcome to Austin
• 14:36
  Signal. Hi, thanks for having me.
• 14:37
  Of course.
• 14:38
  So before we get started, I
• 14:40
  have a favorite TV episode and I
• 14:41
  know that you have a favorite TV
• 14:43
  episode, so I have to know
• 14:45
  yours.
• 14:45
  I think my probably all-time
• 14:47
  favorite Christmas episode is the
• 14:49
  office Christmas party.
• 14:51
  They have a string of Christmas
• 14:53
  episodes that they did, but it's the
• 14:54
  very first one.
• 14:55
  It's really focused on an
• 14:57
  in-office Secret Santa Yankee
• 14:59
  swap. And to me, it's just the
• 15:01
  perfect calibration of
• 15:03
  cringe and awkwardness mixed with
• 15:05
  like sweetness and
• 15:07
  a little bit of just like
• 15:09
  holiday earnestness.
• 15:10
  But yeah, I think it
• 15:12
  still is getting quoted at our
• 15:14
  family.
• 15:15
  Secret Santa, so yeah,
• 15:17
  that's a classic one.
• 15:18
  I absolutely love The Office.
• 15:20
  Mine would have to be Martin, a 90s
• 15:23
  classic, featuring the comedian
• 15:24
  Martin Lawrence.
• 15:25
  You might know him from, you know,
• 15:26
  Will Smith's co-star in Bad Boys.
• 15:28
  But this episode is called I Saw
• 15:30
  Gina Kissing Santa Claus.
• 15:31
  And in the episode, he is
• 15:33
  pretending to be Martin for a group
• 15:35
  of kids, and they confront him
• 15:37
  because they're like, Santa, you
• 15:38
  didn't get us gifts from the
• 15:39
  previous year, so we're not
• 15:41
  expecting anything from you this
• 15:42
  year. They get really upset with
• 15:44
  him, and to calm them down, He
• 15:46
  tells him this ridiculous.
• 15:47
  Christmas story that he clearly made
• 15:49
  up, so, in true Martin
• 15:51
  fashion, right?
• 15:52
  So now that we've shared our
• 15:54
  favorites, let's go ahead and jump
• 15:55
  into the list that y'all have
• 15:56
  created over at ATX TV Fest.
• 15:59
  Yeah, so our team put together a
• 16:00
  couple of our favorites, starting
• 16:02
  with Ted Lasso's Christmas special,
• 16:04
  The Carol of the Bells, which is a
• 16:06
  season two episode that kind of
• 16:08
  splits characters up into pairs and
• 16:10
  sends them on like little journeys
• 16:11
  across town.
• 16:12
  You have Ted and Rebecca paired up
• 16:14
  enlisted for this secret
• 16:16
  mission.
• 16:17
  You have Roy and Keely with
• 16:19
  Roy's niece
• 16:22
  sort of going around town trying to
• 16:23
  find a dentist that's open on
• 16:25
  Christmas.
• 16:26
  That's not happening.
• 16:27
  I know, yeah.
• 16:28
  That's...
• 16:29
  And then you have this sort of
• 16:31
  like found family thread where
• 16:33
  Higgins has some of the players over
• 16:35
  to his home with his wife that
• 16:38
  don't have other places to go.
• 16:40
  So it's sort of, you know, showing
• 16:42
  you a couple different versions of
• 16:43
  Christmas that all feel very
• 16:45
  relatable but have that like
• 16:46
  signature Ted Lasso comedy.
• 16:48
  And then we have Schitt's Creek,
• 16:50
  Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose, which
• 16:52
  has a really fun sort of flashback
• 16:54
  to before the family
• 16:56
  sort of loses everything.
• 16:58
  With like some really great, I
• 17:00
  mean they always have great hair wig
• 17:02
  situations going on, but the
• 17:05
  flashbacks are particularly good.
• 17:07
  And then you really have Johnny
• 17:09
  sort of missing the feeling of
• 17:11
  their old family Christmas parties
• 17:12
  and wanting to recreate that within
• 17:15
  the motel.
• 17:16
  So again, it's a little bit of like,
• 17:18
  everybody has to come together to
• 17:20
  create their own version of
• 17:22
  Christmas, but that's a really fun
• 17:23
  one as well.
• 17:24
  That's hilarious.
• 17:25
  I mean, Schitt's Creek is a classic,
• 17:26
  right?
• 17:27
  It's so good.
• 17:28
  And sort of the weird
• 17:30
  Christmas, you have Gilmore Girls,
• 17:32
  the Brace Bridge Dinner, which is a
• 17:34
  season two episode where
• 17:35
  Lorelai works, gets booked
• 17:37
  for this holiday convention.
• 17:40
  The people who are supposed to come
• 17:41
  to the inn get stranded in Boston
• 17:43
  by snow and they can't make it.
• 17:45
  And so everyone sort of gets
• 17:47
  to have their own version of
• 17:49
  what this convention was going to
• 17:50
  be, but it's bringing together the
• 17:52
  Gilmores and the sort of
• 17:54
  weirdness that is Stars
• 17:56
  Hollow.
• 17:57
  Throwing them all together for
• 17:59
  this very strange seven
• 18:01
  course like old English dinner
• 18:03
  and like sleigh rides through town.
• 18:05
  So it is kind of like
• 18:07
  peak Gilmore Girls weirdness
• 18:09
  but really charming.
• 18:11
  And then I have another personal
• 18:12
  favorite which is the OC,
• 18:14
  the best chrysmaca ever.
• 18:16
  We'll see. We've got more.
• 18:18
  I know,
• 18:20
  um, coined Christmas, of course, and
• 18:22
  then is really the OC
• 18:24
  at its best, um
• 18:26
  which is, you know, Seth trying
• 18:27
  to figure out what he's doing
• 18:29
  romantically, which is always a
• 18:30
  mess.
• 18:31
  Um, you have Ryan getting introduced
• 18:33
  to the idea of Christmas, um
• 18:35
  with this new family that he's
• 18:36
  really starting to sort of open up
• 18:38
  to. And then you have
• 18:40
  relationship drama, family drama,
• 18:43
  you have shoplifting, people are
• 18:45
  drunk at a family Christmas party.
• 18:47
  I mean, it's got all of the OC
• 18:48
  hallmarks.
• 18:49
  What more can you ask for?
• 18:50
  You got everything in that episode.
• 18:52
  Adding that to my list as well.
• 18:54
  That does sound like Christmas.
• 18:56
  Those are the top ones that we have.
• 18:58
  And then obviously the office, you
• 19:00
  know, has a lot of good ones in
• 19:02
  addition to Christmas party.
• 19:03
  So you could have basically a mini
• 19:05
  marathon of just office episodes
• 19:06
  if you wanted to.
• 19:07
  Yeah, so people have plenty of
• 19:09
  things to watch and ATX
• 19:11
  TV just announced the lineup for the
• 19:13
  2026 festival.
• 19:14
  What programming are y'all most
• 19:15
  excited about?
• 19:17
  Yeah, so the big
• 19:19
  thing that we just announced is that
• 19:20
  we're doing, celebrating the 20th
• 19:22
  anniversary of Friday Night Lights,
• 19:24
  which is an Austin favorite.
• 19:26
  It's a favorite of ours.
• 19:27
  It's been part of the festival since
• 19:28
  year one.
• 19:29
  So we're getting the whole
• 19:31
  gang back together for a 20th
• 19:33
  Anniversary reunion, and we're
• 19:35
  giving them our Texas Made Award,
• 19:37
  which is gonna be presented with
• 19:38
  Media for Texas. So really
• 19:39
  celebrating opportunities that it
• 19:41
  brought to the state in terms of
• 19:42
  filming, hiring local crew,
• 19:44
  hiring local actors.
• 19:46
  It really has been such a
• 19:48
  part of the Austin community and
• 19:50
  Texas for the last two decades.
• 19:51
  So we really wanted to honor that.
• 19:53
  That show is pivotal, and especially
• 19:55
  it exposed the high
• 19:57
  school football scene, which is
• 19:59
  major here in Texas.
• 20:00
  And if other people didn't know,
• 20:01
  they found out when they watched
• 20:03
  that show.
• 20:04
  And then we also announced
• 20:06
  a Homicide Life on the Street
• 20:07
  retrospective, which will
• 20:09
  focus on one of their Emmy-winning
• 20:11
  episodes, Three Men and Adina.
• 20:13
  And that will be with showrunner
• 20:15
  Tom Fontana, executive producer
• 20:17
  David Simon, and Kelsey Korr,
• 20:19
  who is the star.
• 20:20
  And then, we have a sweet, vicious,
• 20:22
  10-year anniversary reunion.
• 20:24
  We have a non-writing producers
• 20:26
  panel with some top producers from
• 20:28
  House of the Dragon, Miss America,
• 20:31
  industry.
• 20:32
  Lanterns, which is an upcoming HBO
• 20:33
  show. So that should be a great
• 20:35
  conversation. And then we'll have a
• 20:37
  late night show with Greg Owensky,
• 20:39
  which is a totally original late
• 20:40
  night show that we started last
• 20:42
  year.
• 20:43
  And Greg is an Emmy winning
• 20:45
  writer for Cold Bear Show.
• 20:47
  And he's also worked on John
• 20:48
  Oliver's Last Week Tonight.
• 20:50
  And so that's like a totally
• 20:51
  originally episode that people
• 20:53
  will get to sort of have a live
• 20:54
  studio experience for.
• 20:56
  And then, we launched our brand new
• 20:58
  Indie TV pilot competition and
• 21:00
  showcase.
• 21:01
  So I was just gonna ask you about
• 21:03
  that. Can you tell us more about it?
• 21:05
  Yeah, of course.
• 21:06
  So this was the first time that
• 21:07
  we're accepting open submissions for
• 21:10
  independently produced
• 21:12
  pilot episodes to be
• 21:14
  featured at the festival as official
• 21:15
  selections. So we'll have three
• 21:18
  that are selected to screen at the
• 21:20
  Festival, and then we'll have a
• 21:22
  panel of showrunners and executives
• 21:23
  that choose one
• 21:25
  of those three to be crowned
• 21:27
  the best indie TV pilot of ATX TV
• 21:29
  Festival.
• 21:30
  So yeah, it's a really exciting
• 21:32
  opportunity and submissions for that
• 21:33
  are open now.
• 21:34
  All right, that sounds amazing.
• 21:36
  We'll have a link to that and more
• 21:38
  in today's podcast show notes at
• 21:40
  kut.org slash signal
• 21:42
  the ATX TV festival season
• 21:44
  15 runs May 28th
• 21:46
  through the 31st in the new
• 21:48
  year. We've been speaking with
• 21:50
  Jennifer Morgan, head of programming
• 21:52
  for ATX TV festival,
• 21:54
  Jennifer, thanks so much for talking
• 21:56
  with us on Austin signal.
• 21:58
  Thanks.
• 22:02
  That's it for us on Austin
• 22:04
  Signal. Thanks so much for hanging
• 22:06
  out with us on this beautiful
• 22:07
  Friday.
• 22:08
  A special thanks to KUT's
• 22:10
  Andrew Weber, Texas Standards' Raul
• 22:13
  Alonzo, and KUTX's
• 22:15
  Confucius Jones.
• 22:16
  Also, special thank you to Jennifer
• 22:18
  Morgan from ATX
• 22:20
  TV Fest.
• 22:21
  Rayna Sevilla is our technical
• 22:23
  director. Thank you for everything
• 22:24
  that you do.
• 22:25
  Kristen Cabrera is our managing
• 22:27
  producer. She brings it all
• 22:29
  together. We're so lucky
• 22:31
  to have you We've got more
• 22:33
  about the show in our podcast,
• 22:35
  show notes at kut.org
• 22:37
  slash signal.
• 22:38
  I'm Miles Bloxson and for my buddy,
• 22:41
  Jerry Quijano.
• 22:42
  I hope that you have a wonderful
• 22:44
  weekend and be safe out there
• 22:46
  and be kind.
• 22:47
  That's it for today's show.
• 22:49
  This is the Austin Signal.