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June 13, 2019

Here's how to watch 2019 Windham County graduations live (or later):

Leland & Gray Union High School - Saturday, June 15 at 10:00 AM

Brattleboro Union High School - Friday, June 21 at 6:15 PM

Thanks to our 2019 Graduation Sponsors for making BCTV's live coverage possible!

The Brattleboro Savings & Loan Association

Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition & West River Valley Thrives

FirstLight

McDonald's of Brattleboro

The Tuxedo Gallery at Vermont Artisan Designs

Winston Prouty Center for Child & Family Development

June 7, 2019

We will go live at 10 AM on June 8, 2019 on three platforms to bring you our multi-cam coverage of The Strolling of the Heifers Parade.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obZOwl8QhYM

Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/brattleborotv/videos/310746783188155/

Channel 8 on Comcast and Southern Vermont Cable

Please comment on Facebook to tell us you're watching!

 

April 23, 2019

We are thrilled to announce that the Alliance for Community Media has recognized BCTV staff and volunteers with three national awards for work done in 2018.

1 - Winner, 'Overall Excellence in P.E. or G. Access' for budgets under $300,000 -  Brattleboro Community TV. This is the third time the station has won this award.

The award submission included clips from 13 programs produced in 2018: Click here to watch the submission.

PUBLIC:
'Can Windham County Dance?' promo - BCTV/Ezlerh Oreste
Talking Nerdy Episode 4 - Alex Evans
Windham County's Got Talent 2018 - BCTV/Em Richards
Northern Roots Festival 2018 - Ray Sebold
WRAP Episode 2 When Things Are Breaking Down - Andrika Donovan/BCTV Staff
Strolling of the Heifers Parade 2018 - BCTV

Keep Talking with the Brattleboro Retreat: Your Teenager & The Importance of Staying Engaged - Gay Maxwell/BCTV

15th Annual Collegiate A Cappella Concert 2018 - BCTV/Em Richards

EDUCATION:
Landmark College Commencement Spring 2018 - BCTV
Dummerston School Board 10/9/18 - BCTV/Janis Chaillou, Em Richards
Landmark College presents: Peter Shumlin 'Climate Change and You' 10/2/18 - BCTV/Em Richards
GOVERNMENT:
Meet the Candidates with Christine Hallquist (with Marty Cohn as host) - BCTV/Brian Bashaw
Townshend Town Meeting Day 2018 - BCTV/Cor Trowbridge
Brattleboro Selectboard Candidates Forum 2018 - BCTV/Roland Boyden, Nolan Edgar

2 - Winner, Entertainment & Arts Series; Independent Producer - The World Fusion Show, produced by Derrik Jordan. Crew: Ezlerh Oreste, Al New, Alan Stockwell. Watch the Submission clip or Find the entire series here:https://www.brattleborotv.org/world-fusion-show

3 - Winner, Instructional/Training; Independent Producer. How to Identify and Manage Japanese Knotweed, produced by Jennifer Latham on behalf of the Brattleboro Conservation Commission. Watch the video.

March 21, 2019

How to watch Rep Town Meeting 2019 on BCTV: The meeting will be broadcast live starting at 8:30 AM until the meeting ends.

To prepare for Rep Town Meeting, watch the Pre-Meeting Info Sessions:

3/13/19 Town Info Session:

https://www.brattleborotv.org/brattleboro-representative-town-meeting/brattleboro-pre-rep-town-mtg-info-session-31319

3/20/19 Town School Info Session:

https://www.brattleborotv.org/brattleboro-town-school-board/brattleboro-town-school-board-info-session-32019

Brattleboro Town School Board highlights "Our Amazing Town Schools 2018-19"

https://www.brattleborotv.org/brattleboro-town-school-board/our-amazing-town-schools-2018-2019-town-rep-info-meeting

March 6, 2019
February 22, 2019

Happy Town Meeting season!

As your community media station, BCTV covers Town Meeting Day and Representative Town Meeting for the eight towns we serve in southern Windham County. Your past support means that your business values this democratic tradition and the transparency and coverage that our videos provide for those who can't attend in person. In renewing your sponsorship, your business will gain exposure and be associated with the civic engagement exemplified at these meetings. The meeting videos will be aired on cable for two weeks following the event, and will be online at brattleborotv.org for viewing any time.  

You may have read in The Brattleboro Reformer and The Commons  that BCTV's primary funding source, local cable subscriber fees, is threatened by a change proposed by the FCC. This year, we are simplifying our sponsorship rates slightly to reflect the loss in revenues. Your support of BCTV is critical to our services being available in the future. Read more about the FCC threat here.

2019 Sponsor Packages and Rates:

$150 - Town Meeting Day - Eight Town Package: Sponsor credits are displayed at the opening and closing of all of the Town Meetings that BCTV covers. Tuesday, March 5th: Dummerston, Guilford, Jamaica, Newfane, Putney, Townshend, and Vernon; Brattleboro Rep. Town Meeting on Saturday, March 23rd.

$100 - Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting 3/23/19 - Live on Facebook and Channel 10 - This is a unique opportunity to reach over 100 Town Meeting Reps, Selectboard members and Town staff watching on monitors in the room, as well as hundreds of live viewers on cable and thousands of viewers streaming live on Facebook throughout the 8-10 hour meeting day. Sponsor credits are displayed at the opening and closing of the meeting, and at breaks throughout the day.

$50 - Town Meeting Day 3/5/19 [Choose One Town]
Tuesday, March 5: Sponsor credits are displayed at the meeting opening and closing for your choice of: Dummerston, Guilford, Jamaica, Newfane, Putney, Townshend or Vernon Town Meetings.  The meetings will be broadcast on Channel 10 and available online within 2-3 days of the meeting.

To sponsor: Please email info@brattleborotv.org with your:
Sponsor Name and Contact Info
Package Preference (from above):
Business Name to be displayed
Logo to display (attach a high-res image) 
Optional: sponsor message to be displayed

Deadline: Thursday, Feb. 28 at 5 PM

Payment options:

1) Pay Online using Paypal
2) Send a check to BCTV at:  230 Main Street Suite 201, Brattleboro, VT 05301

Previous year's videos:

Please call me at 257-0888 or email me at cor@brattleborotv.org if you have any questions.

Thank you for being a BCTV supporter!

Sincerely,

Cor Trowbridge

Cor Trowbridge, Executive Director
Brattleboro Community Television

office: 802-257-0888
230 Main Street, Ste. 201
Brattleboro, VT 05301

social: @brattleborotv

be creative • be informed • be local

February 5, 2019

BCTV will team up with The Commons to present a Selectboard candidates forum on Wednesday, Feb. 13, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, at the Brattleboro Selectboard Room on the second floor of the Municipal Center, 230 Main Street. The program will be broadcast live on BCTV Channel 10, and streamed live at brattleborotv.org as well as on Brattleboro Community TV's Facebook page.

Randolph T. Holhut, news editor of The Commons, will moderate. Melanie Winters, news editor of the Brattleboro Reformer, will ask questions, along with Mel Motel, executive director of the Brattleboro Community Justice Center.

Two candidates for a three-year seat, Ben Coplan and incumbent Tim Wessel, will appear, along with four candidates for two one-year seats: Oscar Heller, Elizabeth McLoughlin, Daniel Quipp and Franz Reichsman.

Audience questions for the candidates may be submitted in person or on a 3x5 card during the forum, or as comments on Facebook Live.

November 27, 2018

On September 25, the FCC issued proposed rulemaking (Docket 05-311) that could have a catastrophic impact on BCTV and all Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) cable access channels and community media centers around the country. We are calling on supporters to take a moment to file comments with the FCC expressing your disapproval of their proposed actions. Instructions for filing comments are available on this page.

You can still make a difference by filing an "Ex Parte" letter.

What's at stake?

The new FCC rulemaking allows cable companies to assess the value for 'in kind' services related to providing PEG channels and deduct that amount from the Franchise Fees passed to municipalities and nonprofits like BCTV to run PEG stations and channels. These loosely defined 'in kind' costs can include the 'value' of the cable channels themselves as well as any other services provided. The FCC fails to set any guidelines or limitations to the values that cable companies can assess, and it's conceivable that station operating funds could be eliminated.

You can help!

Here's how to submit a letter that supports BCTV's filed comments in opposition to the proposed Rulemaking.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING FCC EX PARTE LETTER
1. Download and customize the letter template (BCTV_ExParteTemplate_LettertoFCC) and put it on your
letterhead if possible. Areas to customize are marked in Red. Make sure that you include your address. Save your letter as a
PDF file.
[Note: If you want us to file it for you, email it in any format to cor@brattleborotv.org]
To file the letter yourself:
2. Go to https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings and enter the following information:
  • Proceeding(s) 05-311 (hit ‘enter’ after to proceed)
  • Name(s) of Filer(s): Your Name or Organization (hit ‘enter’ after to proceed)
  • Law Firm(s):   leave blank
  • Attorney/Author Names:   leave blank
  • Primary Contact Email: Your Email Address
  • Type of Filing: choose “Letter”
  • File Number:   leave blank
  • Report Number:  leave blank
  • Bureau ID Number:  leave blank
  • Address of: choose “Filer” from menu
  • Address: Your Address
  • Address 2 - City - State – Zip
 
3. In the “Upload Documents” area, click to select your PDF file from your computer or drag and
drop the file into the box.
4. When the “Description” box appear, enter “Ex Parte Letter in support of the Comments of the
Cable Act Preservation Alliance (“CAPA,” File ID 1114050901562) and the Reply Comments of
the Vermont Access Network, Inc. (“VAN,” File ID 112798463855) and the Reply Comments of Brattleboro Community Television, Inc. (File ID 1113560010350).
5. Check “Email Confirmation.”
6. Click on “Continue to Review Screen.”
7.Click on “Submit.”
8. You should receive an email confirmation. Please forward this confirmation to cor@brattleborotv.org.

Thank you for supporting Commmunity Media in Vermont and across the nation!

Links

Read the FCC Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Second FNPRM),
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-18-131A1.pdf

Read Comments already filed for RM 05-311
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?limit=25&offset=0&proceedings_name=05-311&sort=date_disseminated

Press

Local public-access channels fear FCC proposal that threatens their future - Star Tribune (Twin Cities MN)

Cable access stations are facing a financial reckoning - The Boston Globe

A federal proposal to limit cable-TV fees has public-access channels scrambling for survival (Colorado Sun)

Our opinion: Loss of BCTV Would Affect More Than Just Viewers (Brattleboro Reformer)

Will the FCC pull the plug on public-access TV? (The Commons)

FCC Proposal Could Hurt BCTV's Bottom Line (Brattleboro Reformer)

BCTV: FCC Action Threatens Future (Vermont Business Journal)

FCC rule change could threaten PEG-TV funding (Rutland Herald)

FCC Threatens Governmental and Public Channels (Media Alliance)

A Proposed FCC Rule Change Could Put An End To Local Access TV Stations (WGBH)

FCC is at it again: Proposed changes to benefit big cable, harm local access channels

FCC Rule Change Could Limit Funding for Public Access Programs (NEPR)

Background


In the Cable Act legislation of 1984, Congress established Franchise Fees and PEG Fees as a condition for cable operators providing commercial cable TV services. Franchise fees are often described as 'rent' for the commercial access and use to the public right of ways within a municipality. These fees help cover the associated costs to cities from cable TV installations and also help fund other municipal public services. PEG fees can optionally be established by a municipality to provide for the capital equipment necessary to the operations of local PEG channels. Both Franchise and PEG fees are public interest obligations that ensure the commercial media being pumped into residents homes is balanced by meaningful non-commercial locally originated content. Non-commercial PEG channels are unique, they provide an important means of free speech via the public channel, government transparency and communication with residents via the government channel and an educational channel available for use by local schools and universities. It's important to note that Cable companies do not pay Franchise or PEG fees, these fees are paid by cable subscribers and merely pass through the cable companies to the cities and nonprofits. The new FCC rulemaking will not change the amount currently charged to cable subscribers, it merely allows cable companies to keep this money. The FCC explained that its proposals "are intended to place new entrants and incumbent cable operators on an equal regulatory footing and remove obstacles to the deployment of broadband."

The FCC's press release and supporting documents can be found here: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-seeks-comment-lfas-regulation-cable-operators

 

November 19, 2018
October 15, 2018

BCTV's producer award winners are selected by our staff, but this award is chosen by everyone! The nominees are the volunteer productions that received the top five online views. (These are videos created over the past fiscal year, and the views are tabulated between July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018.) The cash prize is provided by Vermont Films, a full-service video production company here in Brattleboro.

The nominees are:

  • Here We Are with guest David Blistein. Producer: Wendy O'Connell
  • Senior Town Meeting with Bernie Sanders 8/1/17. Producer: Maria Dominguez
  • Rock Voices Concert Brattleboro 7/27/17. Producer: Wyatt Andrews.
  • Windham World Affairs Council: Jim Freedman - Why China is Rebuilding the Silk Road 11/17/17. Producer: Roland Vollbehr
  • The World Fusion Show: Episode 16 with Massamba Diop. Producer: Derrik Jordan.

Here is the link to vote:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TVR567L

Note: Deadline to vote is 10/23/18 at 5 PM. Voting is open to anyone - feel free to forward the link. 

Find out who won by coming to the Producer Party - details here: https://www.brattleborotv.org/news/bctv-news/bctv-producer-party-2018

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