2002 Annual Report

Plymouth Community Channel 3
2002 Annual Report

Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access channel for Adelphia Communications' cable TV subscribers in Plymouth and 9 other area towns. PCC3's Cablecasting Center is located in Pease Public Library. In FY'02, the channel had no operating budget from the Town, but for FY'03 the Town did raise and appropriate $1,730.00 for the purchase of a replacement video camcorder for the channel. PCC3 depends totally on community volunteers to create and transmit the community's programming. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with Adelphia, PCC3 is non-commercial.

Bulletin Board
During the year ending on November 30, 2002, 325 new messages were run on PCC3's bulletin board. Hundreds more announcements were received from the community, but no volunteer hours were available to enter them into PCC3's venerable Amiga computer. See how the 2002 total compares with those in the past five years.

Video Programming
Over the same period, prerecorded video cablecasts totaled 209 separate shows. Thanks to submissions by seven local "Public Access Users," PCC3 ran 94 public programs. Students in PSC's meteorology program submitted 114 educational programs. The lone governmental program came in from the office of the Plymouth Board of Selectmen. See how the totals in 2002 compare with totals cablecast in previous years:

In addition to prerecorded programming, the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced two consecutive evenings of live programming. These shows in December 2001 were the Chamber's 8th Annual TV/Radio auction, their major annual fundraiser.

Future Development
2002 marked the 10th year of the channel's operations. It was a year of taking stock and searching for the future place and role in the community for PEG access media. For me personally, PCC3 has been and continues to be a challenge. While I want to spend less of my time working on PCC3, to do so would mean service reductions or channel closure. Day-to-day operations of PCC3 are entirely dependent on my faithful presence at the cablecasting center. Regrettably, I have not been able to attract and keep a significant cadre of volunteers to lighten my load or to meet the constant demand for services. In addition, outside forces of rapid technology change, corporate meltdowns and restructuring, and federal regulatory shifts have threatened PCC3. Local attention and action are required to protect PCC3 from these forces and move ahead with confidence. More and more people are relizing that the current, underdeveloped organization at PCC3 cannot continue.

On the positive side, in spring 2002 the Plymouth Board of Selectmen appointed a committee to develop a strategic plan for the future of PCC3. The committee has met most every month since and is making headway drafting such a plan. PCC3 Planning Committee members are Ken Bergstrom, John B. Bowen, Jr., Peter Cofran, Eric Hoffman, Tim Korade, Claire Moorhead, George Morrill, Martha Morrill, Wallace Stuart and Barry Walker. Our Town Administrator, Elizabeth Corrow, has gone way beyond the call of duty to assist PCC3 and deserves a huge thank you.

PCC3 volunteers who deserve many thanks are Matthew Perloff, George Morrill, John B. Bowen, Jr., and students in Professor Eric Hoffman's meteorology class. The trustees, staff, and volunteers of Pease Public Library deserve special praise for all time and resources they contributed to Channel 3. Plymouth Selectmen's Office staff and Adelphia Cable's technical crew were most helpful. 

Submitted by,
Wallace Stuart
Access Manager