Excellent new Access TV meeting

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The 2nd meeting of the Community Access TV Committee was positive, enlightening, and continued the successful pattern initiated last week when the Feb 3 first meeting got the issues front and center.
http://medford.patch.com/groups/joe-vigliones-blog/p/next-cable-tv-panel-meeting-february-10-2014

In attendance tonight were Chair Father Chip Hines, Fred Laskey and Allison Goldsberry along with their intern, Danielle Bryant.  In the meeting were City Councilor Adam Knight, City Councilor Robert M. Penta, former TV3 member Joseph Fortunato, WinCAM member and former council candidate Jeanne Martin, former WinCAM board member Don Daniel, Andrew Castignetti, John Costas of the Chevalier and this writer along with two former vice presidents of the old Medford Community Cablevision, Inc.

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Councilor Penta urged the panel to seek out individuals from the surrounding communities and read off a number of respected names in the world of local (Massachusetts) access.  The panel has already lined up Ron Cox, Executive Director of MATV, to attend a future meeting and speak to the Community Access TV  Committee and those in attendance.

I put two ideas out there: purchasing our own building if the Chevalier Theater is not feasible, and considering a "for profit" television station as outlined in Bob Hilliard's excellent book, The Hidden Screen.

Joseph Fortunato noted that the cable TV providers might not like funding a station that goes into competition with them for advertising dollars, along with other key ideas on moving access into the future. His participation after many years away from Medford public access television was refreshing and important.  Hopefully, lots of old faces looking for a different kind of access in Medford will also start appearing now that we have a fresh start.

John Costas - a former board member of MCC TV3 (one of the good guys) and currently on the Chevalier Commission felt that the second floor of the Chevalier might not be large enough.  However, commentary from Winchester's Don Daniel about the possibility of clustering makes the idea of the Chevalier more appealing.

If the space at the Chevalier, which Costas noted was wired to cablecast on Comcast, is limited, by "clustering" with stations contiguous to Medford - Malden, Somerville, Arlington, Winchester, Stoneham - would allow members to edit at those stations while borrowing equipment from Medford and taping live from Medford.  It's a unique opportunity as clustering is one of the ideas that is being floated as the wave of the future of access television.

Jeanne Martin made it clear that the mistakes of the past have to be addressed if we are going to move forward, and the ideas of transparency and term limits were echoed by the panel and others in attendance.  We had an informal discussion about some of the distasteful broadcasts of the past after the meeting and the need to police such things from happening in the future. 

It was a positive, uptempo hour of discussion on access television issues.  Councilor Penta noted that Attorney Peter Epstein has interacted with the city of Medford for years now and is a person the committee should meet with.    The panel handed out a printed agenda, there was a sign-in sheet, and the promise of access television in Medford looks like it is finally becoming a reality.

Some great thoughts and ideas were discussed in a professional setting.  Everyone seemed happy with the event and the expectations that we will have a station sooner than later are high.


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On March 22, 2011 I wrote a piece for the Globe North online section about putting the access TV station at the Chevalier
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/medford/2011/03/opinion_make_room_for_medford.html

This was a major part of the discussion tonight and is worth re-reading.

Here is some of that article again:

The Chevalier has been a hot topic of late with the magnificent room on Forest Street not having as many high-profile shows as the Lynn Auditorium, Regent Theater in Arlington, or Stoneham Theatre in Stoneham.  This writer suggested to the City Council - and anyone listening to the broadcast - that there is a natural synergy between the Chevalier Theater and a new public access television station that could benefit this city in a variety of ways.

I have told the City Council of Medford that making room for a TV station at the Chevalier would save Medford residents money and benefit both entities.  The current nonprofit pays tens of thousands of dollars in rent while a neighboring town pays $1 a year for space in a public building while Winthrop and Stoneham both own their own buildings. 

Which brings us to the issue of Public, Educational and Governmental access TV.  In 2005, the Mayor signed a 10-year agreement with Comcast and an additional 10-year agreement with a nonprofit to operate a studio for broadcasts on Channel 3.

(Connect to the link above to read more.)
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There was also talk of having the new station built along with the new DPW or the next public safety building.  All good ideas, something this city has needed for decades - new ideas when it comes to public access television.


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NOTES
CABLE TELEVISION IN MASSACHUSETTS
http://archive.org/stream/cabletelevisioni00padr/cabletelevisioni00padr_djvu.txt