I’m Sorry, Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA, lost its public access channel.  People like me across the nation are sending condolences.  The station simply couldn’t stay alive for the producers and ultimately, the viewers.  So, the stories that make a community rich—the music, conversations, and art will fall away.  Perhaps someone will pick up the torch and find another way of making the station breathe life again. Until then, the nationwide listserve of directors and producers keep sending Pittsburgh email after email of “I’m sorry”.

Can you blame us. Those of us who run public, education and government access channels feel the creep. The largest part of our funding comes from franchise and PEG fees generated by the cable television operations. So, for every person who ditches traditional television funding goes away.  We can’t blame viewers.  The options are so vast that it makes sense for them to stream what they want.  In fact, they can stream ICTV live and on-demand.

Efforts are underway to attempt to find methods by which the same cable operators and/or streaming services could help fund stations and the governments that provide right-of-way access for the fibers in the ground.  The hope is, while the method of watching has switched to streaming, the means—mainly fiber to the home—hasn’t and there should be a way to recoup funds.  The efforts are underway on federal, state and local governing tables. So, while Pittsburgh, is 1,015 miles away (1,186 if you skip Chicago for Peoria) it feels a lot closer.  ICTV, too, is losing funds each quarter.  We are scrappy and looking to members, grants, service work to keep the public, educational and government programming available to you.  While people say every trend starts on the coasts, we are hanging onto t

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