From cable to candidate

Alex Ben Block at Television Week profiles Bill Rosendahl, the longtime host of local public affairs cable shows who is running for the L.A. City Council. He hopes to replace Cindy Miscikowski on the Westside.

While he continued to run Century, which then had 1.2 million subscribers, for several more years Mr. Rosendahl threw himself into hosting public affairs shows. By 2003, there were seven, including "Week in Review," "Mideast Perspective," "God Squad" and "Personal Best," which aired locally. He also did "Beyond the Beltway," which aired on Century and later on Adelphia systems, nationwide. He did interviews with mayors, senators, supervisors, pundits, experts, journalists and others. "The opportunity was for people to learn something," he said. "Get more information. More facts. More understanding of the world they live in so they connect to the issues of the day."

After a dozen years Century was sold to Adelphia, and Mr. Rosendahl went to work for Chairman John Rigas, who was so conservative he wouldn't offer porn to his 6 million subscribers. But he got along with Mr. Rosendahl. "He found it very interesting to meet an openly gay guy who was happy and positive and having a great time and making a contribution to the community," Mr. Rosendahl said. "The normalness of who I am impressed John Rigas a lot. And he accepted me right out."

That election is not until 2005. (Update: But he's everywhere. Story in the Santa Monica Mirror.)