Franchise Agreement and PCC36
On October 31, 1990, the Town of Plymouth entered into a franchise agreement with State Cable TV Corporation to operate a cable television system in the Town. This was done under authority of New Hampshire RSA 53-C.
Pursuant to the franchise agreement, State Cable established Channel 36 as a community channel for Plymouth government, schools, residents, businesses and organizations to cablecast pre-recorded and live non-commercial programming of local interest over the cable television system.
Plymouth Community Channel 3
Plymouth Community Channel was moved from channel 36 to channel 3 in September of 1993. Because of this, the name of the channel operation and committee were changed from PCC36 to PCC3. PCC3 began cablecasting the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce's Annual TV/Radio Auction, their major fundraising event, in 1994. In 1996 the Plymouth State College (now Plymouth State University) Meteorology students began taping and submitting regular weekday evening weather forecasts.
FrontierVision replaced State Cable as the cable operator in 1998 and in cooperation with the Plymouth Board of Selectmen funded the pruchase of replacement equipment and new items for PCC3. In 1999, Adelphia Cable replaced FrontierVision as the cable operator.
Year 2000 marked the 10th year of the channel's operations and was the last year covered by the cable franchise that brought PCC3 into existence. A committee from Ashland and Plymouth appointed by the two boards of selectmen began drafting a new franchise to be adopted by the respective towns and Adelphia. This new agreement had not been signed by the end of 2001 although the town of Holderness had joined the process. This new agreement was eventually signed in 2002.
The Plymouth Board of Selectmen were able to raise and appropriate $1730 in 2002 for the purpose of purchasing a new video camcorder for PCC3. This camera is still in use for taping of town meetings and loaning to Public Access Users. 2002 also marked the forming of a strategic planning committee that assessed the future goals of PCC3 and drafted an appropriate plan. This plan reviewed the need for funding and a staff director among other needs. 2003 brought about the realization of funding in PCC3's first ever operating budget funded by a 2% franchise fee voted into action by and assessed on the cable bills of the residents of Plymouth.
2003 also brought the long-needed replacement of the antiquated bulletin board system. The bulletin board now runs on a more modern PC with Microsoft PowerPoint instead of the legend Amiga 500 system that made it difficult for volunteers to update notices. PowerPoint has made it easier for volunteers to get involved and create notices for the channel, also allowing for people to volunteer from home or school.
Executive Director and Two Channels
On October 13, 2004, the Plymouth Board of Selectmen appointed Jamie Cadorette to the part-time position of Executive Director of PCC3. The Board of Selectmen also appointed a seven-person Advisory Board chaired by Joanne Koermer to oversee operations. The Executive Director and Advisory Board are now charged with continuing the current operations and developing more plans for the future of PCC3, including new equipment and facilities that will make public access television more accessible to members of all ten communities that view PCC3.
On September 12, 2005, PCC3 became the new home of the government access channel cablecasting from Town Hall in Plymouth. With this new government access channel came the ability to cablecast live from Town Hall (now used by the Selectboard, Planning Board and Zoning Board) and to cablecast Plymouth parades live, as well. Cablecasts from Pease Public Library moved to PCC20, serving as the new home for all public and educational access programming.
PCC3 began cablecasting Plymouth parades live with the Veterans' Day parade on November 11, 2005. PCC3/20 also experienced their first ever simultaneous production of two live programs on November 17, 2005, with the Planning Board meeting on PCC3 and the second night of the 12th Annual TV-Radio-Internet Auction on PCC20.
Branding the Channels with a New Name
With all the progress, the Executive Director and Advisory Board recognized the need for a new identity that recognized the growth of and regional participation in the local community access channels. After months of discussion the Advisory Board recommended a set of names and acronyms for use as the new identity for the local community access channels.
On April 17, 2006, the Plymouth Selectboard officially approved the name Pemi-Baker Community Access Media (pbCAM) as the overall organizational identity, Pemi-Baker Government Access Television (pbGOV) as the identity for channel 3 and Pemi-Baker Public and Educational Access Television (pbACT) as the identity for channel 20. The Advisory Board became the pbCAM Advisory Board.
During the fall semester of 2008, Graphic Design students in Jong-Yoon Kim's class worked on several prototype designs for a new set of logos for pbCAM, pbGOV and pbACT. All of the designs were great and the choice was difficult, but in the end the Advisory Board and Executive Director chose a set designed by Katie Dexter at the last meeting of the Advisory Board on October 28, 2008.
Dissolution of the Advisory Board
Since its inception, the Advisory Board helped direct the Town of Plymouth's use and development of its community access channels. Individually, each member of the Advisory Board brought expertise that repeatedly provided the specialized guidance that was needed to bring pbCAM to where it was in late 2008. Perhaps most importantly, the Advisory Board helped develop the Executive Director to the point of readiness to fulfill the role of Department Head alongside other town management staff.
The Selectboard voted to dissolve the pbCAM Advisory Board on November 3, 2008, with its greatest appreciation for members' respective years of dedication.
This information has been compiled from various Annual Reports, correspondence, and the pbCAM Manual of Policies and Procedures.
Plymouth Community Channel 3 Committee
1993 Annual Report
Calendar year 1993 was the first year that continuous programming was created and sent out over State Cable TV's community access channel to cable subscribers in Plymouth and several adjoining towns. This was a very exciting year for the 9 member town committee which provides direction for and oversees operation of the channel for Plymouth public television.
The year started with implementation of a Community Bulletin Board on Channel 36. The bulletin board is a continuous display of announcements which have been submitted by the public and are entered in a microcomputer by local volunteers. By years end, 248 different announcements had been run. These announcements came in from 96 diffeent people or organizations. In April, thanks to underwriting from WPNH radio, we added radio programming to the Bulletin Board.
In February, the Plymouth Community Channel 36 (PCC36) Committee began accepting tapes for cablecast from Plymouth governmental agencies, the first being from the Plymouth Police Department (tape of WNDS-TV Channel 50 newsmagazine story on the 1991 murder of Theresa Reed). This was followed by 22 tapes from Plymouth State College Athletic Department and one from Plymouth Regional High School Music Department. Many of the tapes had repeat cablecasts. Total cablecasts of government submitted tapes was 34.
In March, PCC36 Committee members began video taping local governmental hearings and meetings. Five meetings were taped and were subsequently shown over the Community Channel 24 times.
In late April, the PCC36 Committee began accepting video tapes for cablecast from members of the Plymouth general public. By the end of the year, only one tape had been submitted. It was cablecast 3 times.
On September 1st, the Community Channel was moved from cable channel 36 to cable channel 3. Because of this, the name of channel operation and committee were changed from 36 to 3.
The PCC3 Committee has many people to thank for the success that the Community Channel enjoys. First, the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator, and her staff members have been supportive with staff time and some money. The Pease Public Library Trustees and Director have gladly provided a temporary space for the cablecasting center and generously extended staff assistance. Seven volunteers from Plymouth and Ashland are indispensible to the channel operation. Many more of you can help. If you are interested in helping, drop us a note at the Pease Public Library circulation desk or attend a committee meeting on evening of the 4th Tuesday of most every month.
The 1990 franchise between the Town of Plymouth and State Cable TV Corporation requires that State Cable TV only provide channel space and some very elementary video equipment for the town to use for governmental and public access programming. Other than for maintenance of the cable lines and termination equipment, State Cable has no further obligation to Plymouth to pay for operation of the Community Channel. This leaves the PCC3 Committee with no budget with which to operate and develop, save for things contributed by the Selectmen's office, the library, underwriters, committee members, volunteers, and others. Under the franchise, the Selectmen could also require that the cable company collect a franchise fee from cable subscribers to financially support PCC3. To better provide for the channel's future financial and organizational needs, in 1994 the PCC3 Committee will work to create a non-profit corporation to assume the channel's operations.
Plymouth Community Channel 3 Committee
1996 Annual Report
Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational, and governmental access channel for State Cable TV's subscribers in Plymouth and several adjoining towns. PCC3's Cablecasting Center is located at Pease Public Library. The Center has equipment for generating a continuously repeating, electronic bulletin board with accompanying radio. There is equipment for automated airing of prerecorded video programs submitted by members of the Plymouth public, schools/college, and government. The Center also has an S-VHS video camcorder and mike for taping governmental and other programming for cablecast on Channel 3. The channel has no set budget and depends on volunteers to accomplish all tasks of channel operation. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with State Cable TV, PCC3 is non-commercial. The PCC3 Committee, inactive in 1996, reports to the Plymouth Board of Selectmen.
In calendar 1996, 570 new announcements were run on PCC3's bulletin board. Here is the breakdown... number run by special interest area: Governments/their agencies - 99, Schools/public education organizations - 24, College - 144, Senior citizens organizations - 73, Arts organizations/artists - 56, Churches - 55, Health/welfare organizations - 43, Business/service/political organizations - 39, Outdoors/sports organizations - 14, Historical/cultural organizations - 13, Garden/nature organizations - 10. Hundreds of additional announcements were received but weren't run due to a shortage of volunteers to enter them in the computer.
In calendar 1996, prerecorded video programming totaled 115 shows. The number of program contributions from each of the 3 access user categories are: Public - 30, Educational - 80 and Governmental - 5. The access user which submitted the greatest number of taped programs is PSC's Meteorology Dept. Their 5 minute PSC PM Weather local forecasts ran on 73 evenings. Two evenings of live programming were produced by the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. These shows were the Chamber's TV/radio auction, their major fundraiser.
Volunteers who deserve many thanks are Jim Mitchell, John B. Bowen, Jr., David Hoyt, Richard Pratt, Bruce Ritchie, Ken Bergstrom, Jennifer Richardson and Kali Neville. The staffs of Pease Public Library, Plymouth Selectmen's Office and State Cable were always most helpful.
Submitted by,Plymouth Community Channel 3 Committee
1997 Annual Report
Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational, and governmental access channel for State Cable TV's subscribers in Plymouth and several adjoining towns. PCC3's Cablecasting Center is located at Pease Public Library. The Center has an Amiga computer for generating a continuously repeating, electronic bulletin board with accompanying radio. There is equipment for automated airing of prerecorded video programs submitted by members for the Plymouth public, schools/college, and government. The Center also has an S-VHS video camcorder and mike for taping governmental and other programming for cablecast on Channel 3. The channel has no set operating budget. It depends totally on volunteers to create and run its programming. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with State Cable TV, PCC3 is non-commercial. The PCC3 Committee, inactive for several years, reports to the Plymouth Board of Selectmen.
In calendar 1997, 339 new announcements were run on PCC3's bulletin board. This is down 40% from the 570 run in 1996. The drop can be attributed to a significant decrease in volunteers to enter messages into the computer. Over 260 more announcements were received, but were not run.
Of the 339 announcements run, here is a break down by special interest area:
In calendar 1997, prerecorded video programming totaled 107 shows. This is only 8 shows less than 1996's total of 115. The numbers of program contributions from each of the 3 categories of access users are: Public -- 40, Educational -- 61, and Governmental -- 6. For the second year in a row, the access user submitting the greatest number of taped programs was PSC's Meteorology Department. Their 6-minute, PSC PM WEATHER local forecasts ran on 56 evenings. Two consecutive evenings of live programming were produced by the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. These shows were the Chamber's TV/Radio auction, their major annual fund raiser.
PCC3 volunteers who deserve many thanks are Richard Pratt, David Hoyt, and John B. Bowen, Jr. The staffs of Pease Public Library, Plymouth Selectmen's Office, and State Cable were always most helpful.
Submitted by
Wallace Stuart
Access Manager
Plymouth Community Channel 3 Committee
1998 Annual Report
Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational, and governmental access channel for FrontierVision Partners' subscribers in Plymouth and several adjoining towns. The PCC3 Committee, inactive for a number of years, reports to the Plymouth Board of Selectmen. PCC3's Cablecasting Center is located at Pease Public Library. The Center has an Amiga computer for generating a continuously repeating, electronic bulletin board with accompanying radio. There is equipment for automated airing of prerecorded video programs submitted by members for the Plymouth public, schools/college, and government. The Center also has an S-VHS video camcorder and mike for taping governmental and other programming for cablecast on Channel 3. The channel has no set operating budget. However, the Plymouth Board of Selectmen and FrontierVision Partners did cover the cost of purchasing some replacement hardware and other miscellaneous items needed by the Channel in 1998. PCC3 depends totally on volunteers to create and run its programming. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with State Cable TV, PCC3 is non-commercial.
In calendar 1998 through December 15th, 265 new messages were run on PCC3's bulletin board. This is down 22% from the 339 run in 1997. The drop can be attributed to the decrease in volunteers to a single person to enter messages into the computer. Over 450 more messages were received, but were not run.
In calendar 1998 through December 15th, prerecorded video programming totaled 169 shows. This is a 63% increase over 1997's total of 107. The numbers of program contributions from each of the 3 categories of access users are: Public -- 42, Educational -- 118, and Governmental -- 9. For the third year in a row, the access user submitting the greatest number of taped programs was PSC's Meteorology Department. Their 6-minute, PSC PM WEATHER local forecasts ran on 115 evenings. The second most prolific producer programming was Public Access User Jerry Larson who contributed 37 Sunday services of the Plymouth Congregational Church. Two consecutive evenings of live programming were produced by the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. These shows were the Chamber's TV/Radio auction, their major annual fund raiser.
PCC3 volunteers who deserve many thanks are John B. Bowen, Jr. and Ken MacDonald. The staffs of Pease Public Library, Plymouth Selectmen's Office, and FrontierVision Partners were always most helpful.
Submitted by
Wallace Stuart
Access Manager
Plymouth Community Channel 3
1999 Annual Report
Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational, and governmental access channel for Adelphia Cable's subscribers in Plymouth and several adjoining towns. The PCC3 Committee, inactive for a number of years, reports to the Plymouth Board of Selectmen. PCC3's Cablecasting Center is located at Pease Public Library. The Center has an Amiga computer for generating a continuously repeating, electronic bulletin board with accompanying radio programming. There is equipment for automated airing of prerecorded video programs submitted by members of the Plymouth public, schools/college, and governments. The Center also has an S-VHS video camcorder and mic for taping governmental and other programming for cablecast on Channel 3. The channel has no set operating budget. However, the Plymouth Board of Selectmen did cover the cost of purchasing some replacement hardware and other miscellaneous items needed by the Channel in 1999. PCC3 depends totally on volunteers to create and run its programming. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with FrontierVision Partners, PCC3 is non-commercial.
In the past year, December 1, 1998 - November 30, 1999, 231 new messages were run on PCC3's bulletin board. This is down 13% from the 265 run in 1998. While this is a drop, the decrease is less than last year's. This year's 231 messages is down 32% from the 339 run in 1997. This year's moderation in the rate of decrease can be attributed to the increase in the number of volunteers entering messages on the PCC3 computer. However, the channel needs even more volunteers. 373 additional messages were received in 1999, but were never run.
Over the same twelve months, prerecorded video programming totaled 143 shows. While this is a decrease from 1998's 169 programs (15% drop), 1999's figure is significantly more than 1997's 107 programs. The numbers of program contributions from each of the three categories of access users were: Public -- 43, Educational -- 96, and Governmental -- 4. For the third year in a row, the access user submitting the greatest number of taped programs was PSC's Meteorology Department. Their six-minute PSC PM Weather local forecasts ran on 95 evenings. The program producer who submitted the second largest number of programs was Public Access User Jerry Larson. Jerry contributed 39 Sunday services of the Plymouth Congregational Church UCC. The Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced two consecutive evenings of live programming in December. These shows were the Chamber's TV/Radio auction, their major annual fundraiser. Other video program contributors were Speare Memorial Hospital, NH Electric Cooperative, Plymouth Assembly of God Church, Pemi Baker Regional School District, Town of Plymouth, NH General Court, and NH Department of Transportation.
PCC3 Volunteers who deserve many thanks are John B. Bowen, Jr., Jamie Cadorette, Corie Collier, Lou Alice Irving, Glory Kidger, James Mitchell, and Matthew Perloff. The staffs of Pease Public Library, Plymouth Selectmen's Office and Adelphia Cable were always most helpful.
Submitted by,
Wallace Stuart
Access Manager
Plymouth Community Channel 3
2000 Annual Report
Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access channel for Adelphia Cable Communications' subscribers in Plymouth and several adjoining towns. PCC3's Cablecasting Center is located at Pease Public Library. In 2000, the channel had no operating budget from the Town, nor regrettably received any funding from cable TV subscribers. However, thanks to the Plymouth Board of Selectmen the cost of some equipment repairs and an annual membership were covered. PCC3 depends totally on community volunteers to create and run its programming. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with Adelphia, PCC3 is non-commercial.
Bulletin Board
In the year ending on November 30, 2000, 292 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 computer. See how 2000 compares with the past 3 years.
Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
Announcements Run | 339 | 265 | 231 | 292 |
Video Programming
Over the same period, prerecorded video submissions totaled 178 shows. The number of program contributions from each of the 3 categories of access users were: Public - 54, Educational - 120, and Governmental - 4. See how that compares to shows cablecast in previous years:
Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
Public | 40 | 42 | 43 | 54 |
Educational | 61 | 118 | 96 | 120 |
Governmental | 6 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
Totals | 107 | 169 | 143 | 178 |
The Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced two consecutive evenings of live programming. These shows were the Chamber's TV/Radio auction, their major annual fundraiser.
Future Development
2000 marked the 8th year of the channel's operations. 2000 was the last year covered by the cable franchise that brought PCC3 into existence. A committee from Ashland and Plymouth appointed by the two boards of selectmen has been busy this year drafting a new franchise to be adopted by respective towns and Adelphia. The committee's vision for cable access calls for: 1.) A revamped video production facility, 2. ) Many origination sites for live programming that are located out in the community, and 3.) Ample financial support provided by all cable subscribers. These improvements in conjunction with establishment of a regional nonprofit corporation should lead to greatly increased community participation and quality of access programming. Look for news of this access initiative during year 2001. Your ideas and support for this are welcome and important.
PCC3 volunteers who deserve many thanks are Matthew Perloff, Glory Kidger, George Morrill, Martha Morrill, John B. Bowen, Jr., and students in Dr. Jim Koermer's meteorology class. A number of other people volunteered to help, but a time deficit prevented me from training them on our antiquated computer systems. I apologize to these generous people whose offers to help fell on deaf ears. The trustees, staff, and volunteers of Pease Public Library deserve special praise for all time and resources they contributed to Channel 3. The folks at Plymouth Selectmen's Office and Adelphia Cable were always most helpful.
Submitted by,
Wallace Stuart
Access Manager
Plymouth Community Channel 3
2001 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 parts of 9 other towns. PCC3's Cablecasting Center is located in Pease Public Library. In 2001, the channel had no operating budget from the Town, nor regrettably received any funding from cable TV subscribers. However, thanks to the Plymouth Board of Selectmen, the cost of some equipment repairs, a video, and an annual membership were covered. PCC3 depends totally on volunteers to create and transmit the community's programming. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with Adelphia, PCC3 is non-commercial.
Bulletin Board
In the year ending on November 30, 2001, 205 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 the PCC3's Amiga computer. See how 2001 compares with the past 4 years.
Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
Announcements Run | 339 | 265 | 231 | 292 | 205 |
Video Programming
Over the same period, prerecorded video cablecasts totaled 240 shows. The number of program contributions from each of the 3 categories of access users were as follows: Public - 111, Educational - 126, and Governmental - 3. See how that compares with shows cablecast in previous years:
Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
Public | 40 | 42 | 43 | 54 | 111 |
Educational | 61 | 118 | 96 | 120 | 126 |
Governmental | 6 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
Totals | 107 | 169 | 143 | 178 | 240 |
The Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced two consecutive evenings of live programming. These shows were the Chamber's TV/Radio auction, their major annual fundraiser.
Future Development
2001 marked the 9th year of the channel's operations. Throughout 2001, a Cable Consortium appointed by the boards of selectmen of Plymouth, Ashland, and Holderness negotiated with Adelphia on a new franchise agreement. While the new agreement has not been signed, the main provisions have been settled. Concerning PEG access, none of Consortium's vision and few of its goals for PEG access will appear in the new franchise document. In their corporate wisdom, Adelphia declined to allow franchise language concerning PEG access that deviated significantly from obligations mandated by law. Following this approach, Adelphia was unable to grant to Plymouth funding for capital equipment or facilities for PEG. While this is disappointing, the new agreement will likely permit Plymouth to continue and develop PEG access services. If asked, Adelphia will implement a franchise fee that would be added to and itemized on monthly cable bills. Any franchise fee revenue would be returned to and appropriated by the Town to fund development and maintenance of PEG access operations. Quite probably, a regional non-profit corporation would be formed to oversee development and operation of PEG access for participating towns. Plymouth Regional High School is looking at how PEG access might fit into their curriculum and school building. PSC ITS Department would welcome future discussions about PEG access relative to the community's interest and the mission of the college. Jim Puglisi is the very able chair of the Cable Consortium. Other Plymouth members of the Consortium are Ken Bergstrom, Steve Burrell, and Wally Stuart.
PCC3 volunteers who deserve many thanks are Matthew Perloff, Karen Stark, 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. The folks at Plymouth Selectmen's Office staff and Adelphia Cable were always most helpful.
Submitted by,
Wallace Stuart
Access Manager
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.
Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
Announcements Run | 339 | 265 | 231 | 292 | 205 | 325 |
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:
Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
Public | 40 | 42 | 43 | 54 | 111 | 94 |
Educational | 61 | 118 | 96 | 120 | 126 | 114 |
Governmental | 6 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Total | 107 | 169 | 143 | 178 | 240 | 209 |
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
Plymouth Community Channel 3
2003 Annual Report
Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational and government (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. PCC3 began cablecasting to the community in November 1992. Under the direction of the Plymouth Board of Selectmen, 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. In FY’03, the Town raised and appropriated $1,730 for the purchase of a replacement video camcorder and accompanying VCR for the channel.
Bulletin Board
The past 12 months has seen extraordinary change and improvement in the content and appearance of this slide-show facet of PCC3. Volunteers began the year (beginning with December 2002) using our ten-year-old Amiga 500 computer to produce text only slides for the Bulletin Board. In February, the Amiga 500 was retired from regular service. Volunteers then began using a MagicBox Alphagen character generator that had been given to PCC3 in December 2001 by Adelphia Communications. The character generator came with a CD filled with photos and textures that could be inserted onto slides with text information typed around or over the graphics. Despite this improvement, the Alphagen CG's 1990s style technology proved difficult for volunteers to get excited about and learn. Without buying an expensive accessory for the Alphagen, there was no way to insert graphics that would come from local sources. In early summer, Jim and Joanne Koermer approached me about replacing the character generator with a PC running Windows XP and Microsoft PowerPoint and outputting NTSC video. Jim would loan a PC from his place of work, Plymouth State University's meteorology department, and Joanne would volunteer to work on the bulletin board. In early August, the Alphagen was taken out of service and replaced by a PSU PC, PowerPoint, and access to the Internet via cable modem. The Koermer duo has been dynamite. The new bulletin board contains locally scanned graphics, photography of local places, animated graphics from the Internet, and extensive use of announcements submitted from the community.
Video Programming
Over the same period, prerecorded video cablecasts have more than kept pace with previous years. Here are several highlights. Students in PSU's meteorology program produced weekday weather forecasts during spring and fall semesters. Public Access Users submitted programming produced by 4 area churches of their Sunday worship services. A Public Access User submitted Pemi-Baker Home Health and Hospice's locally produced Your Health Matters, a monthly series. In addition to prerecorded programming, a Public Access User from the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced two consecutive evenings of live programming. These shows in December 2002 were the Chamber's 9th Annual TV/Radio auction, their major annual fundraiser. Volunteers produced videos of budget hearings, annual meetings, special hearigs, and informational meetings for the Plymouth Board of Selectmen, Plymouth School Board, and Pemi-Baker Regional School Board.
Future Development
2003 marked the 11th year of the channel's operations. In the spring, the PCC3 Planning Committee submitted an interim report to the Board of Selectmen. In the report, the key recommendation was for the Board to implement the provision in the recently signed franchise agreement with Adelphia to raise a franchise fee. The purpose for implementing the fee was compensation for a part-time employee to manage PCC3 and develop it into a regional media service. After several meetings with the Committee and a public hearing, the Board approved a 2% franchise fee to fund the channel. Adelphia began collecting the franchise fee from cable subscribers in November. In 2004 for the first time, the town will have their community media outlet managed and led by a paid staff member.
Volunteers who deserve many thanks are Joanne Koermer, James Koermer, Josef Drexel, John B. Bowen, Jr., Bruce Jorgenson, George Morrill, Peter Adams, students in Professor Eric Hoffman’s meteorology class, members of the PCC3 Planning Committee, and citizens who spoke up for PCC3 at Selectmen's meetings & the public hearing. 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 headed by Elizabeth Corrow were extraordinarily helpful. Efforts of Adelphia Communications’ technical crew were very much appreciated.
Submitted by,
Wallace Stuart
Volunteer Access Manager
Plymouth Community Channel 3 Planning Committee
Interim Report
May 13, 2003
The mission of the Committee has been to research and write a strategic plan for the future of Plymouth Community Channel 3. The hoped-for-result of this process continues to be the recreation of the Plymouth Community Cable TV Channel into a regional media entity with a regional institutional home, such as Plymouth Regional High School's Technical Center, Plymouth Regional Senior Center, Pemi Youth Center, Plymouth State College, or the like. The entity's governance would likely be a non-profit corporation.
While the Committee has met most every month over the past year, no strategic plan is in hand. Research by Barry Walker continues on community support for the concept, with no set date for completion of a plan. This process may take several more months of information gathering and writing to reach a conclusion, but the process could take much longer. Indeed, it may never reach a conclusion.
During the time that the strategic planning process continues, we believe some tactical changes are in order for Plymouth Community Channel 3 operations. For over eleven years PCC3's Access Manager, Wally Stuart, has conducted the day-to-day work of the channel almost single handedly. He has requested changes in his responsibilities as volunteer Access Manager for PCC3 and wants the freedom to WORK FEWER HOURS per week for PCC3, both at Pease Public Library and at home. There appear to be two main changes at PCC3 that would give the Acces Manager the personal time he is seeking. The first is to rework -- reduce -- the PEG (Public, Educational, and Governmental) access mission of PCC3, while the second would keep PCC3's mission undiminished through paid staffing. Ideally, PCC3 would hire a staff member in the near term, the Access Manager would rduce his responsibilities and hours, and PCC3 would progress with a mission and services at least as strong as currently offered. Franchise Fee funding of the staff position will not happen in the next month or so, but could be possible within a year's time. While waiting for funding for a paid position to materialize, PCC3 could reduce its mission now to free the Access Manager of some responsibility, which would permit him to take off much of the time which he has requested.
What sort of mission reduction now would be least damaging to the future of the channel? What mission reduction would most readily reduce the time the Access Manager spends working on PCC3 tasks?
At the present time, the Access Manager does about 98% of the work of maintaining of the Community Bulletin Board. PROPOSED REDUCTION: Have the Access Manager stop adding, updating, and removing Community Bulletin Board announcements submitted by community members and institutions. New volunteers would be welcome to receive training and keep the Community Bulletin Board up to date. If volunteers do not come, learn, and work, then as a consequence announcements will not get on the air, period. The easy part of this change has already taken place. Since January, the Access Manager has all but quit adding announcements received from members of the public, schools/college, and governments. More of a concern are announcements of video programming. As it now stands, submitters of the video programs don't think that they should have to come in and learn a computer just to get announcements run on TV. The Access Manager (and perhaps others) will immediately conduct a series of training sessions for people who want their Community Bulletin Board announcements to run. Even though this training will be a time consuming process initially for everyone (and later for other volunteers), by mid-summer most of the training should have ended... we can hope. This change of responsibility should be announced publicly so that the community can more fully appreciate the access center's foundation on grass roots participation and can assume some burden of obligation and ownership for its future successes and failures. We request help from the Selectmen's office in communicating this change to parties most affected.
We propose the Board of Selectmen implement the section of the franchise agreement with Adelphia Communications, which provides for the collection of a monthly franchise fee from the 1,500 or so cable TV subscribers in the Town. At the end of the year, Adelphia would turn over accumulated fees to the Board of Selectmen, who, in turn, would hire a part-time employee to manage and conduct the cable access program operations. If a requested 1.5% franchise fee were to be implemented by Adelphia, income to the Town from this source could approach $15,000, which would fund the employee's part-time pay. Once the employee is hired, besides providing the channel leadership and management, this person would help the cadre of volunteers who maintain the Community Bulletin Board by filling in at the computer when there are gaps in the volunteer coverage.
We are available to discuss this report. Please let us know whether we can be of further assistance to the Board.
Kenneth Bergstrom
John B. Bowen, Jr.
Peter Cofran
Eric Hoffman
Tim Korade
Claire E. Moorhead
George Morrill
Martha Morrill
Wallace Stuart
Barry W. Walker
Plymouth Community Channel 3
2004 Annual Report
Plymouth Community Channel 3 (PCC3) is the public, educational and government access channel for Adelphia Communications’ cable TV subscribers in Plymouth and nine other area towns. PCC3’s Cablecasting Center is located in Pease Public Library. PCC3 began cablecasting to the community in November 1992. By stipulation of the franchise agreement with Adelphia, PCC3 is non-commercial. In FY’04, the Town of Plymouth raised and appropriated $18,000 from a 2% franchise fee collected from Plymouth cable subscribers.
On October 13, 2004, the Board of Selectmen appointed Jamie Cadorette to the part-time position of Executive Director of PCC3, as well as appointing Kenneth Bergstrom, John B. Bowen, Jr., Brendon Hoch, Joanne Koermer, Claire Moorhead, Wallace Stuart and Barry Walker to the PCC3 Advisory Board. The Executive Director, supported by a crew of volunteers, is charged with the daily operations of PCC3.
Bulletin Board
Content increased dramatically and thanks to the hard work of our volunteers we are now able to post every notice submitted that meets our guidelines. Aesthetics continue to improve and we have received plenty of positive feedback. PCC3 now brings a draft agenda of Board of Selectmen meetings to viewers.
See below how the 2004 total compares to six previous years. The 2004 total is not complete as some information, such as some notices submitted by email prior to October, was not available. It is estimated the total number of announcements cablecast in 2004 is in excess of 1,000. Information for 2003 was not available.
| Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2004 |
| Notices Run | 339 | 265 | 231 | 292 | 205 | 325 | 700 |
Video Programming
Prerecorded programming cablecast on PCC3 includes:
Volunteers produced videos of budget hearings, annual meetings, special hearings and informational meetings for the Plymouth Board of Selectmen, Plymouth School Board and Pemi-Baker Regional School Board.
In addition to prerecorded programming, the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced two consecutive evenings of live programming. These shows in December 2003 were the Chamber’s 10th Annual TV/Radio/Internet Auction, their major annual fundraiser.
The amount of video programming has also increased significantly. See below how the 2004 total compares to six previous years. Information on the number of videos cablecast in 2003 was not available. The figures for educational are estimated based on 2002 as an exact number of videos produced by the PSU Weather students was not available.
| Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2004 | |
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| Unique | Total |
| Public | 40 | 42 | 43 | 54 | 111 | 94 | 204 | 363 |
| Edu | 61 | 118 | 96 | 120 | 126 | 114 | 118 | 361 |
| Gov't | 6 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 37 |
| Totals | 107 | 169 | 143 | 178 | 240 | 209 | 330 | 761 |
Future Development
Many plans are in the works for the near and far future. One immediate concern to be addressed is the expansion of our video programming capacity. We plan to purchase in December 2004 or the beginning of 2005 a new S-VHS deck and a DVD deck.
Another immediate area of concern is funding. While PCC3 has its largest budget in history to work with, additional funds are still needed to improve services and quality of services. Audio-visual equipment is quite expensive and even with our current budget we are limited to making only small improvements or one large improvement. Some research has been done on the Alliance for Community Media Northeast Region Development Grant and it is expected the application process will begin once a suitable project has been identified. Outreach efforts will be made to surrounding communities in the viewing area to collect franchise fees from their cable subscribers toward the operations of PCC3.
This year an intern from the PSU Communication Studies program helped us research a computer for use as a non-linear post-production workstation. Research has also been done on purchasing a portable “studio-in-a-box” unit that would include all the necessary tools to operate three video cameras and produce a finished program on location.
Thanks
Volunteers who deserve many thanks include Wallace Stuart, Joanne Koermer, James Koermer, Brendon Hoch, John B. Bowen, Jr., Andy Kniskern, Beth Harrington, Greg Degraeve, Jim Bleyle, Josef Drexel, Peter Adams, students in Professor Eric Hoffman’s meteorology class and members of the PCC3 Advisory Board. The trustees, staff and volunteers of Pease Public Library deserve special praise for all time and resources they contributed to PCC3. The Plymouth Office of the Board of Selectmen staff, headed by Elizabeth Corrow, were extraordinarily helpful. Efforts of Adelphia Communications’ technical crew were very much appreciated.
Submitted by,
Jamie Cadorette
Executive Director
Plymouth Community Channel 3
Plymouth Community Channels 3 & 20
2005 Annual Report
In FY’05, the Town of Plymouth raised and appropriated $15,000.00 from a 2% franchise fee collected from Plymouth cable subscribers. For the first time in the history of PCC3 and now PCC20, revenue was also generated from video duplications in the sum of $305.00 From December 2004 through November 2005.
On September 12, 2005, Plymouth Community Channel 3 began cablecasting from Plymouth Town Hall as a government access channel. Operations at Pease Public Library were reassigned to Plymouth Community Channel 20 as the public and educational access channel. Plymouth Selectboard, Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings are now all cablecast live. Additionally the Veterans’ Day Parade on November 11, 2005 became the first live parade cablecast in Plymouth.
Bulletin Board
PCC3 and PCC20 continue to use PowerPoint-driven bulletin boards making it easy for volunteers to work from home. Bulletin board use continues to increase and more volunteers have come forward to keep up with the demand. PCC3 continues to bring draft agendas of Board of Selectmen meetings, as well as agendas for both the Planning Board and Zoning Board.
See below how the 2005 total of notices run compares to seven previous years. Please consider that the 2004 total is not complete as some information, such as notices submitted by email prior to October, was not available. It is estimated the total number of announcements cablecast in 2004 is in excess of 1,000. Information on the number of notices cablecast in 2003 was not available.
| Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Notices Run | 339 | 265 | 231 | 292 | 205 | 325 | 700 | 1772 |
Video Programming
Students in PSU’s meteorology program produced weekday weather forecasts during spring and fall semesters. Public Access Users submitted programming produced by five area churches. A Public Access User also submitted videotapes of the N.H. Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors meetings. Volunteers produced videos and live cablecasts of budget hearings, annual meetings, special hearings and informational meetings for the Selectboard, Planning Board, Zoning Board, Plymouth School Board and Pemi-Baker Regional School Board.
In addition to prerecorded programming, a Public Access User for the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced four evenings of live programming. These shows were the Chamber’s 11th Annual TV/Radio/Internet Auction in December 2004 and their 12th Annual TV/Radio/Internet Auction in November 2005. Another Public Access User produced and submitted a weekly live talk show titled “Plymouth Live.”
The amount of video programming has also increased sharply. See below how the 2005 total compares to six previous years. The figures for educational access in 2004 are estimated as an exact number of PSU Weather forecasts was not available.
| Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |||
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| Unique | Total | Unique | Total | Unique | Total |
| Public | 43 | 54 | 111 | 94 | 119 | 254 | 204 | 363 | 215 | 1266 |
| Edu. | 96 | 120 | 126 | 114 | 56 | 186 | 118 | 361 | 118 | 364 |
| Gov’t. | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 71 | 8 | 37 | 57 | 530 |
| Totals | 143 | 178 | 240 | 209 | 207 | 511 | 330 | 761 | 390 | 2160 |
Future Development
Many plans are in the works for the near and far future. One immediate concern to be addressed is the expansion of our video programming capacity. Once again we have reached playback deck capacity on PCC20. Research is being done to investigate purchasing a larger automation system that includes digital playback capabilities. This will not only solve playback capacity issues but also bring us up-to-date on video production technologies as more and more production is done digitally.
We continue to make outreach efforts to surrounding communities in the viewing area to collect franchise fees from their cable subscribers toward the operations of PCC3 and PCC20. Dialogue has occurred and continues with the Towns of Ashland and Holderness.
New cameras are our greatest need at the moment. We currently have two cameras available for productions, one of which is very old and only partially functional. These two cameras allow us only one production at a time and limit our ability to readily facilitate public involvement in production. It is expected that grants will be applied for to purchase new cameras and a set of studio production equipment for public access purposes, leaving the current equipment to be dedicated to Plymouth Town Hall.
Thanks
Volunteers who deserve many thanks include Peter Adams, Jim Bleyle, Ben Conte, Kyle DaRosa, Greg Degraeve, Beth Harrington, Brendon Hoch, Andy Kniskern, Joanne Koermer, James Moriarty, Bob Shirey, Wallace Stuart, Calista Weichel, Dylan Weichel, students in Professor Eric Hoffman’s meteorology class and members of the PCC3 Advisory Board. The trustees, staff and volunteers of Pease Public Library deserve special praise for all time and resources they contributed to PCC3. The Selectboard and office staff, headed by Elizabeth Corrow, were extraordinarily supportive. Efforts of Adelphia Communications’ technical crew were very much appreciated in establishing two channels in Plymouth.
Submitted by,
Jamie Cadorette
Executive Director
Plymouth Community Channels 3 & 20
Pemi-Baker Community Access Media
2006 Annual Report
In FY’06/’07, the Town of Plymouth raised and appropriated $15,000.00 from a 2% franchise fee collected from Plymouth cable subscribers. Over $1,000 in additional revenue was generated from duplications and memberships from December 2005 through November 2006; more than triple the previous year.
On April 17, 2006, the Plymouth Selectboard approved the name Pemi-Baker Community Access Media (pbCAM) as our overall identity, Pemi-Baker Government Access Television (pbGOV) as the name for channel 3 and Pemi-Baker Public and Educational Access Television (pbACT) as the name for channel 20. The PCC3 Advisory Board became the pbCAM Advisory Board.
Bulletin Board
Bulletin board use continues to increase though only a couple more volunteers have come forward to assist with the bulletin board maintenance. Templates have been designed for some pbGOV slides making it easier to copy and paste government notices onto the pbGOV bulletin board.
See below how the 2006 total of notices run compares to seven previous years. Please consider that the 2004 total is not complete as some information, such as notices submitted by email prior to October, was not available. It is estimated the total number of announcements cablecast in 2004 is in excess of 1,000. Information on the number of notices in 2003 was not available.
| Year | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Notices Run | 265 | 231 | 292 | 205 | 325 | 700 | 1772 | (pbACT) 1516 |
| (pbGOV) 893 | ||||||||
| Total: 2409 |
Video Programming
PSU meteorology students produced weekday weather forecasts during spring and fall semesters. Public Access Users submitted programming produced by four area churches. Volunteers and staff produced videos and live cablecasts of regular meetings of the Selectboard, Planning Board and Zoning Board, as well as various other budget hearings, annual meetings, special hearings and informational meetings.
In addition to prerecorded programming, a Public Access User for the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce produced two evenings of live programming. These shows were the Chamber’s 13th Annual Broadcast Auction in November 2006. Another Public Access User produced and submitted a weekly live talk show titled “Plymouth Today.”
See below how the 2006 total compares to four previous years. The figures for educational access in 2004 are estimated as an exact number of PSU Weather forecasts was not available.
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