The FiOS Story
As part of its recent revitalization, the Plainfield Cable Television Advisory Board has set up its own blog.
Click here to read about the newest developments.
After poking along for several years, the PCTVAB got a new chairman, added members and pretty much got in gear to address lingering issues. No offense to those who went before, as they were all dedicated citizens who did their best.
Part of the impetus to see this board functioning in a more vital way must be credited to City Council liaisons, including Council President Annie McWilliams, who comes across as analytical and action-oriented when it comes to city issues. A lot more boards and commissions could use the catch-up approach that got the PCTVAB up and running toward concrete goals.
Now that the city has two local channels, the next challenge will be to come up with appropriate and interesting content. The current videographer is targeted for layoff. Will there be some way to produce engaging and topical content in coming months?
Some people have suggested that if the local channels cannot fulfill their roles, the Comcast and FiOS revenues should just be put into general revenues. What do you think?
--Bernice Paglia
Click here to read about the newest developments.
After poking along for several years, the PCTVAB got a new chairman, added members and pretty much got in gear to address lingering issues. No offense to those who went before, as they were all dedicated citizens who did their best.
Part of the impetus to see this board functioning in a more vital way must be credited to City Council liaisons, including Council President Annie McWilliams, who comes across as analytical and action-oriented when it comes to city issues. A lot more boards and commissions could use the catch-up approach that got the PCTVAB up and running toward concrete goals.
Now that the city has two local channels, the next challenge will be to come up with appropriate and interesting content. The current videographer is targeted for layoff. Will there be some way to produce engaging and topical content in coming months?
Some people have suggested that if the local channels cannot fulfill their roles, the Comcast and FiOS revenues should just be put into general revenues. What do you think?
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 6:50 PM
3 Comments:
Bernice,
The channel needs to be rededicated to its original mission: to provide the public access to the channel. Those of us who have Verizon FIOS have an opportunity to see the content from numerous surrounding municipalities. We can have a real community station if the community spirit is willing and empowered to have one. Lamar is doing a great job.
Rebecca
Bernice,
With all the talk about the local TV channels I still don't know if we will be able to watch any of them them since we have Direct TV. I tried to view them last night and all I got was some PPV message. I wonder what the subscription percentage is for all TV viewing options, would you know? I see so many Satellite Dishes that now I wonder what the advantages of one or the other are, specially for Latinos that like to keep in touch with their roots by watching, no, not only soap operas like "Perro Amor", but the Latin American news, something that apparently my husband hasn't found anywhere else but Direct TV. Maybe the local channels can entice locals by providing a bit of everything for everyone that lives here, but forget soap operas, we have enough with real life around here. Thanks!
One need only to look at the TV schedule posted on the City's website (for October 2009) to realize that, like so much else, we have a foot-dragging administration that does its best to wait and wait for nothing much to be done. PCTV96 is a great community asset, but sadly it is very much a wasting asset as it stands today.
What we need is more community involvement. The more people who make the station tick, the more people who will watch. For this reason I advocate that the channel become part of a media and business program run through the high school, where students will be responsible for the management, programming, and generation of content.
It is really high-time to unleash our creativity. With today's tech-savvy youth this should be a fairly straightforward task, and content could run the gamut from public service and community access, to sports, performing arts, general education, interviews, and news, etc.
We would not be inventing the wheel here; there is a reason so many TV executives are young. They are more attuned to changing tastes and methods. They've got unrivaled energy. And they are less bitten by 'failure' or staleness, which lets the creativity shine through.
Additionally, a station run through the schools might generate a reasonable amount of grant support.
But let's not count our chickens before they hatch. Having FIOS and Comcast is great. Putting out something worth watching is greater still. This will require getting the TV station out of City Hall and into the greater Plainfield community where it belongs. Both from an operational point of view, and for viewers at home, the schools are the best route.
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