 "Photo: Mary Kang/The Daily Texan")
The City Council decided Thursday to renew the Austin Convention Center’s contract with KLRU-TV for continued sponsorship of the Austin City Limits concert series through 2011.
The renewed contract is valued at $657,000 over the next three years and will not exceed $225,000 annually. The convention center generates its own funds and will not draw from the general taxpayer fund.
“We believe this allows the city to showcase music legends while stimulating interest in the city to people around the world,” said city spokesman Will Williams.
First aired in 1975, ACL is a weekly concert series recorded live on campus by Austin’s PBS affiliate, KLRU, and has featured artists such as Coldplay, Ray Charles and Lynryd Skynyrd during its 33-year history. The program is credited with promoting Austin as the “live music capital of the world.”
“The series is a way to get information about Austin into almost every market around the country,” said KLRU General Manager Bill Stotesbery. “It’s essentially a marketing tool delivering information about Austin to the rest of the country.”
Terell Hunter, a member of the Austin Music Commission, said he was happy to see the program continue to receive funding.
“Music is a huge financial asset to Austin,” Hunter said. “People not hip to Austin’s live music agenda can harm our economy.”
Hunter said he thinks the program excludes performances by many urban music acts.
“Austin isn’t just a bunch of twanging guitars all the time,” he said. “The show should be adapted to include more urban music and hip-hop.”
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