1934 US Congress passes Communications Act setting out rules on radio and television.

1949 First cable TV installation is built, in Lansford, Pennsylvania.

1966 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issues its Second Report & Order, asserting its jurisdiction over cable TV. State of Massachusetts passes a cable law putting power over cable in the hands of mayors, not aldermen. Somerville's Board of Aldermen award 25-year automatically renewable franchise for a 12-channel cable system, with neither competitive bidding nor public hearings. No cable system is built.

1969 Lester Ralph is elected Mayor of Somerville.

1971 Somerville Cablevision Co., Inc. buys out Somerville’s cable franchise.

1972 The FCC codifies competition relationships between cable, broadcasters and TV program providers, including a rule that cable systems must provide free access channels for public, educational and government use. Somerville Cablevision Co., Inc. signs a contract with the City of Somerville.

Lois Levinsky and Bruce Petchek leave the Somerville Youth Program and found Somerville Media Action Project, a non-profit youth empowerment program, with classes and production in photography, film and video. Their first location is a back room of the Somerville Tenants Union in Union Square; later SMAP moves to Teele Square and finally to 175 Elm St. between Porter and Davis Squares.

Community activists from SMAP organize public meetings and press for public access to be included in the upcoming cable contract.

1973 The City of Somerville signs a new contract with Warner Communications. Warner wires the city and goes on line with 28 channels by year’s end. The contract mandates separate channels for Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) access and for Local Origination (LO). Warner will run public access and LO.

Warner hires Terry Signaigo as Public Access Coordinator; Terry has been involved with the community organizing that led to access provisions in the cable contract.

Community training starts at Warner’s facility in Davis Square.

1974 January: City finds Warner violating contract, scaling back on delivery of promised access facilities and other provisions.

First public access cablecast. Tapes made by local youth at SMAP show a dog peeing and a Marine enlistee swearing. SMAP publicly apologizes and beeps the swear-word off the tape. Cable Advisory Board (CAB) and Aldermen hold hearings. CAB issues voluntary guidelines suggesting that potentially offensive programs show later at night, with warnings.

May: CAB calls for rate reduction, charging that subscribers shouldn’t pay for less than full service...

SMAP calls meeting of access producers, forming the Channel 3 Producers Group.

Terry Signaigo refuses to let Warner copy an access producer’s tape of a CAB hearing without the producer’s permission. She takes the tape home, and Warner fires her.

1975 State regulations give Mass. Cable Commission power over local rate cases.
Warner strips access producer Charlie Kelley of membership privileges and bars him from premises after he returns equipment late. When Kelley appears on Dead Air Live access series to tell his story, Warner has him arrested for trespassing. Kelley gets a suspended sentence and appeals on First Amendment grounds. Federal District Court judge rules that Warner has interfered with free speech and issues Warner a restraining order. Warner settles, paying Kelley $2,000.

Mass. Cable Commission grants Warner a 50% rate hike.

1976 Feeling undermined by Warner and local politics, the entire CAB resigns.

1977 A new CAB named by Mayor Ralph organizes a coalition of educational institutions to manage the educational access channel and secures federal jobs funding for a 7-member staff.

1978 Mayor Tom August takes office... Mayor August stonewalls the CAB and blocks educational access plans.

1979 Midwest Video Corp., an Arkansas company, successfully argues that the FCC cannot mandate access. A federal court ruling prohibits the FCC from enforcing its access rules.

Warner merges with American Express, becoming known as Warner Amex.

Mass. Cable Commission is reduced from seven members to a single commissioner, who pushes through rate deregulation.

Mayor August fires the CAB, appoints a new but inactive one.

1980 Mayor Eugene Brune takes office, appoints a new CAB, and hires Howard Horton to head an Office of Cable Television (the state’s first municipal cable regulatory office) that will handle cable regulation and program the government access channel. He appoints the Somerville Educational Cable Council (SECC) to advise on educational access, and convinces the Board of Aldermen that the cable franchise fee should fund only cable-related activities. The new CAB begins work on a new cable contract, which includes plans to found a non-profit access center.

Warner wires Somerville’s schools and gives the City $70,000 for government and educational access equipment and $50,000 for equipment for public access.

Warner hires Irwin Hipsman to coordinate public access

1981 City Cable starts programming on channel 29.

Studio for educational access opens in the Audio-Visual Dept. of Somerville Library.

1982 City of Somerville signs a new 10-year contract with Warner, specifying a 52-channel system with an institutional network linking public buildings. The Office of Cable TV will receive 3% of Warner’s gross annual revenues in Somerville; Warner will give the new non-profit access center a one-time $200,000 equipment grant plus $85,000 per year in operating funds... In a separate, related agreement, Warner will pay the City $130,000 per year as rent on the Union Square firehouse; the City will use these funds to build the new Public Safety building for Fire and Police Departments.

SCAT is incorporated with a mandate to run public and educational access (educational access is defined as serving community, educational and cultural groups).

Warner continues to run LO, including live cablecasts of Aldermen’s and School Committee meetings.

SECC holds production classes for kids twice a week at Somerville Library.

Studio for government access opens at Winter Hill Community School.

1983 July: SCAT’s Board hires Irwin Hipsman as Executive Director.

November: City of Somerville fines Warner $100 a day for delays in contract compliance.

SCAT moves to 175 Elm St., sharing space with SMAP.

SECC cablecasts its first live educational access show from the library.

1984 Congress passes the Cable Communications Policy Act. This affirms municipalities’ right to require that cable companies provide access channels on subscriber and institutional networks.

Governor Dukakis names Howard Horton Executive Director of Mass. Cable Commission. Mayor Brune hires Peter Pratt as new director of Office of Cable TV.

Dead Air Live makes news by reading from transcripts of State Senator Vinnie Piro’s trial for attempted extortion the night before election. Write-in opponent Sal Albano wins.

Renovations begin at the Union Square firehouse, paid for with a combination of funds from Warner, the City and SCAT.

1985 SCAT begins the year with 2 full-time and 1 part-time staff, 150 members, and one night per week of programming on the public access channel.

Library studio closes. City Cable establishes stuido at Winter Hill Community School.

SCAT moves to Union Square firehouse; Warner opens its payment window in the lobby; the second floor remains vacant.

Awards: Mass. Cable Commission gives SCAT and City Cable its award for Best Election Coverage at its annual Mass. Community TV Contest... SCAT member Tanya Erlij wins a production award at the national Hometown USA contest.

1986 Warner's merger with American Express ends. The new company is called Warner Communications.

SCAT begins the year with 4 full-time staff, 350 members, and 12 hours of programming spread over 4 nights per week on the public access channel.

Grants: Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services awards SCAT a federal Title III-B grant to produce Generations series for seniors; the grant is renewed until 1990, when federal cutbacks take hold.

1987 Irwin Hipsman leaves to become Executive Director of the new Cambridge access center. SCAT hires Gerry Field as Executive Director.

SCAT starts to hang local artists’ work in lobby, changing exhibitions every 6 to 8 weeks.

SCAT producers are four of the six finalists for Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Awards... A documentary by staff member Carol Yourman wins Best International Program and Generations series wins Best Senior Programming award at Hometown USA contest.

Grants: Somerville Arts Council funds SCAT to produce A Day in the Life of Somerville, in which camcorder teams record life in Somerville for one day.

1988 SCAT begins the year with 4 full-time staff, 245 individual and 31 organizational members... and opens 7 days a week.

Somerville Portuguese American League (SPAL) moves into the second floor of the Union Square firehouse, above SCAT, paying rent to Warner as a subtenant.

February: Somerville Board of Aldermen holds hearing criticizing Warner’s poor cablecasts of Aldermen’s and School Committee meetings.

April: City of Somerville activates the first municipally operated fiber optic communications system in the northeastern US, transmitting digital voice and data between city locations.

July: SCAT signs contract to take over live cablecasts of Aldermen’s and School Committee meetings from Warner through July 1992; Warner pays SCAT $16,125 per year plus $30,000 to install equipment in the newly renovated Aldermen’s Chambers.

December: SECC conducts the first interactive conversation on the I-Net, between SCAT’s conference room and the Cummings School.

City Cable moves studio out of Winter Hill Community School and begins using studio in Somerville High School.

SCAT begins cablecasting a “loop tape” of announcements and shorts over the weekends.

Warner activates interconnect between SCAT and Cambridge Community TV, allowing for simultaneous cablecasts in the two communities.

Awards: Four SCAT productions are nominated in Mass. Community TV Contest; three win awards... Generations series is a finalist in Hometown USA contest.

Grants: Polaroid Foundation funds Generations production of two plays in collaboration with Elders Art Theater.

1989 Warner merges with Time-Life, becoming Time Warner.

SCAT begins the year with 4 full-time staff, 250 individual and 30 organizational members, and 30 hours of programming on 2 channels, four nights per week.

City of Somerville holds hearings, with SCAT on the dais, to ensure Warner will live up to existing license obligations after its merger with Time-Life.

SMAP runs out of funding and closes its doors.

Awards: National Federation of Local Cable Programmers gives SCAT its annual Community Communications Award, naming it the best access center in the country... Staff members Susan Kimball and Carol Yourman and two members of Dead Air Live win awards at Hometown USA contest.

Grants: LEF Foundation funds Bertrand Laurence for a video on homeless blues men, with SCAT as fiscal sponsor.

1990 Mayor Michael Capuano takes office. He adds press relations to the responsibilities of the Office of Communications and names his campaign manager, Paul Trane, its new director.

SCAT begins the year with 4 full-time staff, 250 individual and 37 organizational members, and 38 hours of programming on 2 channels spread over 4 nights per week.

SMAP officially dissolves, gives $5,000 remaining in its bank account to SCAT to archive its videotapes.

December: Gerry Field leaves SCAT. Abigail Norman is named Executive Director.

Awards: Six SCAT producers nominated in Mass. Community TV Contest; two win awards... Staff member Milton Gurin wins Best Educational Program award at Hometown USA contest... SCAT member Pierre Valette wins Honorable Mention in New England Film & Video Festival.

Grants: Somerville Arts Council funds SCAT to buy a new camcorder and paint a studio backdrop.

1991 SCAT begins the year with 260 individual and 38 organizational members, and 38 hours per week of programming on 2 channels, spread over 4 weekday nights and Saturday afternoons.

January: Due to level funding from Warner, IRS debts and a deficit, SCAT cuts back to 2 full-time and 1 part-time staff, and closes Sundays and Mondays during the day.

SECC stops meeting, fails to file the state papers that keep it current as an organization, closes its bank account and donates the remaining funds to SCAT.

In the first hearing of the relicensing process, the City charges Warner with underpaying franchise fees.

March: City announces it may attract a second cable company to overbuild and compete with Warner (this rumor persists but does not come to fruition).

May: Over 100 supporters at second relicensing hearing request increased funds for SCAT. A Warner-sponsored survey shows 91% of cable subscribers are aware of the public access channel; 58% have watched a public access program in the past week; two-thirds rate program quality at 3 or better on a scale of 1 to 5.

June: HaitiVision series host Dominique Constant is named Director of Information for the newly elected Haitian government under Jean-Bertrand Aristide; however, in September a coup overthrows the government.

July: City Cable installs MCET satellite dish on roof of Somerville High School and in Sept. starts cablecasting MCET programming to schools via the I-Net.

Awards: Staff member Abigail Norman wins award at Mass. Community TV Contest.

Grants: SCAT receives funds from Mass. Cultural Council and Somerville Arts Council to train immigrant women.

1992 Congress passes the Cable Consumer Protection Act. In one small portion, the Act provides for the FCC to promulgate rules for cable operators to prohibit the use of access channels for programs that contain obscenity, sexually explicit conduct or material that promotes unlawful conduct. It also makes cable companies legally liable when an access channel carries such material... In response, Time-Warner files suit seeking to eliminate PEG access; it argues that cable companies shouldn't be criminally liable for programs they are forced to let access channels carry.

SCAT starts the year with two full-time and one part-time staff, 300 individual and 38 organizational members, 50 hours per week of programming on 2 channels spread over 4 weekday nights plus Saturdays.

March: With federal funds, under subcontract to the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS), SCAT starts a Town Meeting series and starts The Mirror Project to teach video production to teenagers. This subcontract to a federal grant will last through August 1996.

SCAT collaborates with Tufts University Art Gallery on a visiting artists’ residency project with Paper Tiger TV... Two SCAT productions go on national satellite through Deep Dish TV.

June: SCAT and Office of Communications persuade Board of Aldermen to OK a 5% franchise fee for the new cable license.

August: City and Time-Warner sign new 10-year contract. The City will receive 5% of Time-Warner’s gross revenues at the end of each year. SCAT will run public access and the Office of Communications will run government and educational access. The City verbally agrees to pass on 1.57% of Time-Warner’s annual gross revenues to SCAT. SCAT is to remain rent-free in the Union Square firehouse. (SPAL, now renamed MAPS, stays in the second floor of the firehouse, stops paying rent.)... For equipment purchase, Time-Warner gives $300,000 to SCAT; the City receives $100,000 for government access equipment and $300,000 for educational access equipment... The new contract leaves SCAT without an operating check until the end of the first year of the new agreement in mid-1993; Warner agrees to pay SCAT $85,000, deducting this amount over two years from its franchise payment to the City; SCAT agrees verbally to let the City deduct this amount from its tenth year payment to SCAT in 2003.

September: City Cable takes over responsibility for live cablecasts of Aldermen’s and School Committee meetings.

Awards: Two SCAT producers win awards at the Mass. Community TV Contest... Staff member Carol Sibley and two SCAT producers win awards at Hometown USA contest.

Grants: Mass. Cultural Council and Somerville Arts Council give SCAT grants for immigrant women’s project.

1994 SCAT starts the years with 3 full-time and 1 part-time staff, 231 individual, 24 organizational and 100 contributing members, with over 50 hours per week of programming on the public access channel spread over 7 days a week.

January: Flyer campaign condemning SCAT's gay programming draws press attention.
March: Having received the first check from the City under the new cable contract ( a 33 percent increase, more than 6 months late), SCAT prepares to increase its staff. By May, the staff totals 3 full-time and 4 part-time workers.
Per terms in the 1992 cable contract, Time Warner adds Tufts University to the I-Net, and expands I-Net capacity to 18 up-stream and 18 down-stream channels. (Of these, only 5 are currently used, all by City Cable and new educational access channel; they feed signals from: Office of Communications in City Hall basement, Aldermen’s Chambers control booth, Somerville High School studio, MCET satellite dish, and a portable modulator.)
April : Monthly series “Cop Beat”, with the Community Policing Unit of the Somerville Police Department, and On Our Streets, focusing on grassroots efforts, begin production with funding through Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Somerville Community Partnership.
November: Abigail Norman resigns and Carl Kucharski is named as Executive Director.
Grants: SCAT receives grants from Boston Women’s Fund for Sabor Latino project to train immigrant teenage girls. SCAT receives grants from the Somerville Arts Council, Haymarket People’s Fund, LEF Foundation, Hyams Foundation and Boston Globe Foundation for the Mirror Project. SCAT receives YouthReach grant from Mass. Cultural Council to hold Mirror Project sessions over the next two years at Somerville’s two public housing projects, starting in June.
Awards: Somerville Interfaith Group gives SCAT its Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace & Justice Award for its work allowing diversity of city residents to speak in their own voices on TV.... 13-year old Mirror Project participant Anderson St. Louis is named one of 10 US delegates to the International Olympiade of Local Television Creation; he travels to Scandinavia to participate... Staff member Tom Miller and two SCAT producers are nominated for awards at the Mass. Community TV contest.

1995 SCAT starts the year with 5 full-time and 6 part-time staff

*The FCC upholds that video dial tone systems operators and programmers are not required to franchise with local governments
*February: FCC approves NYNEX application to provide video dial tone service in Somerville. SCAT urges the FCC to ensure that any services provided are consistent with public interest.
*October: SCAT hosts the first Somerville Film & Video Festival, held at Tufts University.
*December: Mimi Graney replaces Carl Kucharski as Executive Director.
*Grants: With a grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention through the *Somerville Community Partnership SCAT hires a full-time staff person to train youth in video production. For The Mirror Project: Somerville Housing Authority, Massachusetts Cultural Council, The Hyams Foundation, LEF Foundation. The Somerville Arts Council funds “On Our Streets” and The Mirror Project.
*Awards: At the Hometown Video Festival, four SCAT programs receive awards. Mirror Project videos screened at San Juan Cinemafest in Puerto Rico, International Women in the Directors Chair festival, satellite-cast on the 90s Channel in Colorado. Mirror Project is model and Mirror participant produces in three-channel program “With Our Own Eyes”, a collaboration of The Boston Globe.

1996 SCAT starts the year with 3 full-time and 5 part-time staff, over 65 hours per week of programming on the public access channel spread over 7 days a week.

*President Clinton signs the federal Telecommunications Act in February, deregulating the telecommunications industry.
* The Somerville Conversations Project is initiated. SCAT is hired to produce a documentary detailing one of the groups.
*April: The “Hot Set,” a host-operated studio, is installed.
*July: Somerville Community Partnership closes. SCAT concludes production of “On Our Streets”. “Cop Beat” continues through funding from the Somerville Police Department.
November: Second Annual Somerville Film and Video Festival held at Tufts.
December: Mimi Graney and Roberto Arévalo co-edit the December issue of Community Media Review with the theme of “Youth and Media.”
*Grants: “SOS News at Six” signs a distribution contract through Landmark. With a closing grant from the Somerville Community Partnership SCAT creates a series of PSAs with local teenagers. The Mirror Project receives funding from Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston Globe Foundation, Hyams Foundation
*Awards: “SOS News at Six” awarded a silver Apple and The Mirror Project wins a bronze by the National Educational Media Network. The Mirror Project wins the New England Film and Video Festival Access category. Two Hometown Awards, one for Mirror Project and one for member. Episode of “On Our Streets” wins national “Access Awards”. Mirror Project exhibits include New Museum in New York City, Do It Your Damn Self festival, Other American Film Festival, International Women in the Director’s Chair festival, Cine Estudiantil in San Diego and Latin American Cine Accion in San Francisco. One hour of Mirror Project videos are screened on Channel 31 in Melbourne, Australia.

1997 SCAT starts the year with 2 full-time and 5 part-time staff, and 70 hours per week of programming on the public access channel spread over 7 days a week.

*Paul Trane resigns as Communications Director for the City of Somerville and is replaced by Alison Mills.
* January: SCAT Handbook published and on sale to members.
*July: The Mirror Project celebrates its fifth anniversary with a special presentation at the Museum of Fine Arts.
*August: The City of Somerville and Residential Communications Network, RCN-Beco, a corporation made up of C-TEC and Boston Edison, sign a six month OVS agreement to provide telecommunications services.
*October: State bill to undermine local cable franchises is defeated.
*December: City of Somerville signs a cable franchise with RCN, setting aside the 5% franchise fee for PEG access. The City will receive up to $700,000 from RCN for community capital telecommunications needs through the franchise. The City received of this $252,700 upon signing the agreement allocated by the City as follows: $72,000 to forgive the debt of SCAT from the 1992 Time Warner franchise, $50,000 to SCAT for equipment, and $100,000 is set aside as a PEG Protection Fund to make up for losses of PEG revenue caused by anticipated lower cable rates. The additional funds are paid by RCN at $38.88 per subscriber towards the maximum $700,000.
*Grants: MAPPED, a collaborative training and production program to educate on domestic violence with RESPOND, Inc. receives funding from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Family and Children’s Services, and from the Boston Women’s Fund and Dunkin Donuts. The Mirror Project receives grants from The Hyams Foundation, Boston Globe Foundation, Fuller Foundation, Forté Foundation, A.C. Ratshesky Foundation. Massachusetts Cultural Council funds the Mirror Project and SCAT’s general operating. Funding received from the Somerville Arts Council for Mirror Project, and Day in the Life of Somerville event.
*Production Contracts: Somerville Police Department for 5 episodes of Cop Beat; Citybridge, an academic enrichment program for urban youth, to teach media literacy and assist teenagers in creating a video on the program and one to do a professional promotional video; Somerville Health Foundation, four educational videos to prevent congestive heart failure; Somerville Family Network for two story telling tapes for young children in collaboration with Somerville Public Library.
*Awards: Mirror Project producers win the “Access” category at the 1997 New England Film and Video Festival. Mirror Project videos screened at Coolidge Corner Theater. Mirror Project videos exhibitions include Women of Color Film Festival, Whitney Museum in New York City, and Women in the Director’s Chair festival. Mirror Project videos satellite cast by Free Speech TV.

1998 SCAT begins the year with 3 full-time and three part-time staff, 213 members and nearly 75 hours of programming each week.
*Productions: MAPPED video is completed; See Mike Run, by Sarah Fishman, is screens at Tufts University and receives extensive press coverage; Roberto Arévalo's Sin Maquillaja (Without Make-Up) wins the International Professional category of the national Hometown Video Festival; Two teams of students from the Kennedy School create videos of national History Day and one team makes it to the Northeast regional level; Haitian holiday event for high school students in the studio. Individual and organization members produced 745 hours of programming in 1998.
*Equipment/Facilities: Edit 1 and 2 are renovated; Playback area designed and reinstalled; new scanner allows for graphic backgrounds for Community Bulletin Board.
Personnel/Training: SCAT receives consulting and planning assistance through a grant from the Management Consulting Services.; Michele LaMura leaves and Eleanor Pye joins SCAT; Rich Howley leaves SCAT; Board and Staff hold a day-long retreat at Tufts; a new class structure is implemented; six-part media literacy course given by Mimi Graney and Jim Dunn.

1999 SCAT begins with four full-time and two part-time staff.
Productions: Lisa Smith’s Freedom Flew in Somerville is screened at the Somerville Museum and Sin Maquillaje is screened at the Coolidge Corner; Jan Forte and Jim Dunn accompany a Kids Video Club at the Winter Hill School; Mirror Project holds a screening at Mobius and during 1999 is awarded almost $50,000 in grants; two Hot Set programs generate discussion and anger from Somerville Journal Speak Out callers; News professionals discuss the media with access producers. Individual and organization members produced 999 hours of programming in 1999.
*Equipment/Facilities: Renovations of 90 Union Square during most of the summer and much of the fall; new and improved Hot Set is completed; SCAT member Logan organizes the donation of six Power Mac computers from MIT; RCN promises to install a cable modem to enable high speed Internet access for SCAT members; Macintosh-based non-linear editing set-up is purchased.
*Personnel/Training: Rich Howley returns, Linda Rothwell leaves, Diane Machado joins, and Mimi Graney announces her resignation effective in January, 2000; Mirror Project goes independent, and thus Roberto Arévalo leaves SCAT staff, effective Dec. 31, 1999.

2000 SCAT begins the year with three full-time and two part-time staff.
* Productions: SCAT intern and volunteer Lisa Smith oversaw the compilation of a four-part special series for Women's History Month. A host of new series bloomed, including "ThugTV," "Computer Commandos," "Art at SCAT," City News & Views" (the latter two staff-coordinated),- and "Mystic View Task Force" in the HOT Set, plus "Pedal Revolution." SCAT members, led by Donald Everett, did almost-live coverage of Union Square's first-ever Spice of Life festival. Three SCAT members-- Sharon Perpignani, Nora McGunnigle and John Terning-- garnered Runners Up awards at the Alliance of Community Video's Northeast Regional Video Festival. SCAT contract productions -- "Cop Beat," a round-table discussion on teen mental health and a PSA on the Census in four languages.
* Equipment/Facilities: SCAT began its own trip down the digital highway with a hand-me-down Macintosh G-3 computer loaded with Edit DV, a non-linear video-editing program, and a new iMac equipped with iMovie 2. New and repaired equipment for producers: microphones, revamped lights, headphones and more. RCN installed two donated cable modems for SCAT – one for staff and one for members and the community, at a public computer workstation. SCAT won a satellite dish from Deep Dish TV, enabling it to receive Free Speech TV and also a new special youth-curated and youth-produced series, "Access Orbit."
* Personnel/Training: Jane Regan replaces Mimi as the new Executive Director. Liz Cavano joined SCAT as the Americorps*VISTA member after SCAT and other computer and cable access centers won funding for 80 positions as part of a joint project with UMass College of Public and Community Service. SCAT staffers Eleanor Pye and Liz Cavano launched the Multicultural After School Video Club with bilingual students and two SCAT members who teach in the high school bilingual program.
* Cable Franchise renegotiations: The Board of Directors began to study questions relating to the City of Somerville's upcoming renegotiation of the AT&T cable franchise agreement.

2001 SCAT begins the year with three full-time and two part-time staff. By year's end,

* SCAT Boasts 278 members and 1053 hours of original SCAT-produced programming.
Productions: In honor of “Media Democracy Week,” SCAT was recognized by Governor A. Paul Cellucci and by the Board of Aldermen of the City of Somerville with beautiful citations. Also that week, SCAT and Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) collaborate on a live, two-city cablecast of Media and Democracy, a studio-based show with roll-ins hosted executive directors Susan Fleischmann and Jane Regan. In addition to supporting local community video producers, SCAT went national with the launch of the timeslot Free Speech TV – By Request, thanks to the Dish Network satellite it acquired through Paper Tiger TV and WHO. Now, anyone in the city can request SCAT to pick from among a world’s selection of alternative and independent documentaries and other videos.

* Commemorative Mondays, a series organized by SCAT member Lisa Smith, featured video shorts and interviews on issues such as the environment, workers and organized labor, and fathers. Spring brought some REAL local television: Real Mothers and Keeping it Real/Tou Pare made their homes in the HOT Set. Other new series for 2001 include Short Cuts, Café SCAT, F'N Card Night, and Who Owns America? SCAT and City Cable teamed up to produce a PSA about the three channels in Somerville.
At the national Alliance for Community Media conference in Washington, DC. Dead Air Live was honored with the Director's Choice Award, recognized as the longest-running access program in the country.
* SCAT and a number of community computing centers and community television stations, together with the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts, launch the Greater Boston Broadband Initiative, a collaborative effort which seeks to create a regional information and media sharing network.
* Equipment/Facilities: SCAT starts off down the “digital highway” with its first classes in non-linear computer-based editing. SCAT continued its digital migration with the acquisition of a third iMac and the non-linear editing program Adobe Premiere 6.0, which is a step up from iMovie2.
* Personnel: Member Ann Adelsberger, a former teacher and art instructor, joins the staff as the Youth Media Coordinator to oversee the YMCA video clubs and the SHS Multicultural After School Video Club. Executive Director Jane Regan passes the mantle to Programming & Publicity Coordinator Eleanor Pye who will serve as Interim Executive Director while the Board of Directors decides on a plan of action. Karl Nazir joins the staff as the new Programming Coordinator. Member Rachel Eisengart begins to work part-time with Adelsberger and SCAT Member Lisa Smith joins the staff to replace Diane Machado,
* Cable Franchise renegotiations: With the California-based Buske Group and help from Board and community members, SCAT organized five focus groups attended by over 120 people all over Somerville. The goal was to talk about the roles that PEG access, and especially SCAT, play in the city, and to consider the additional telecommunications needs that can be met in part with funding from the upcoming AT&T franchise renewal. Hundreds of SCAT supporters turned up and testified at a public hearing held at City Hall.

2002 SCAT begins the year with three full-time and three part-time staff. By year's end, SCAT Boasts 260 members and 1158 hours of original SCAT-produced programming.
* Productions: 9/11: A Panel Discussion on Media Coverage and Subsequent Military Attacks, a roundtable program features Media Studies professors from Emerson College, Northeastern University, and UMASS Boston. The SCAT Mobile Unit (a bicycle cart) helps videotape SCAT member Peggy Melanson's historic walk through Somerville as a 2002 Winter Olympic Torchbearer. The final video, Carrying a Torch for Somerville, wins second place in Documentary: Profile at the Alliance for Community Media’s (ACM) Northeast Region Video Festival. The SCAT Air Unit (a really awesome 5th floor window at the corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets in Boston) records the Super Bowl victory parade for the New England Patriots. The Unit team “flew” back to SCAT to get it on the air that day. SCAT producer Matthew Krister wins state honors in the 6th to 8th grade division of the 2002 History Day competition for his video Revolution in a Parking Lot, a video about Tent City in Boston’s South End and the area’s dispute over affordable housing in 1968.
SCAT staff member Eleanor Pye produces a video profile of four GLBT Somerville High School students for part of Safe Space Somerville’s Suicide and Violence Prevention Forum at Somerville High.
* Participants from the Community Action Agency of Somerville’s (CAAS) Latino Youth Leadership Program begin the first of a three-year collaboration with SCAT’s Youth Media program. The first project they produce is a game show for teens about tobacco issues.
The 1st Annual SCAT Golden Video Awards boasts 14 winners in 13 categories, including Best Certification Tape, Best HOT Set Show, Best Youth-Produced Program, and Best Comedy. The evening called for interpretive attire and celebrated the hard work of the SCAT membership.
* The 2001/02 SCAT Multicultural Video Club at Somerville High School chooses to produce a video on the school’s Transitional Bilingual Education Program. The video is heavily distributed to access stations and school departments across the state during the Fall to educate voters on this issue, whose fate was determined by Question Two on the November state ballot.
* SCAT wins Honorable Mention for “Overall Excellence in Public Access” from the nationally-based Alliance for Community Media’s Hometown Video Festival. SCAT member Lynn Weisman wins 1st place in “Documentary: Profile” for her video on the TecsChange facility in Roxbury.
* Personnel: Eleanor Pye is officially chosen as Executive Director. Ann Adelsberger leaves SCAT after a year as the Youth Media Coordinator. Part-time staffer Rachel Eisengart takes the reigns.
* The SCAT Art Gallery featured a two-month exhibit during August and September entitled, An Artist’s Response to September 11th, which includes an array of mixed media from more than a dozen local artists and their interpretations of the terrorist attacks on the US. The reception for the exhibit resulted in For Every Action, There is a Reaction, a live program on September 11, 2002 consisting of storytellers, artists, poets, performers, video producers, and community members who told how the attacks affected them. SCAT member Jim Cypher calls into the show from Pennsylvania to report on the day’s events from the crash site of one of the high-jacked planes.
* SCAT welcomed the Friends of Open House and the group of 17 Jewish-Arab (Christian and Muslim) Teen Peacemakers from Ramle, Israel to a very special presentation and taping. While spending three weeks in the US, the group visits SCAT’s 9.11 art exhibit. Artists and SCAT members were on hand to field questions. SCAT staff gave quick tutorials on how to operate the video cameras, and the teens interviewed the artists and each other. In addition, participants contributed to a videotaped discussion about the peace camp, led by SCAT Youth Media Coordinator Rachel Eisengart.
* Cable Franchise renegotiations: With the cable franchise contract with the City of Somerville expiring in August, AT&T offers the City a “slap-in-the-face” low-ball figure for its Equipment Fund Grant ($492,000 for ten years. In 1992, then-Time Warner gave the City $710,000) The City refuses the contract, and both parties file suit against the other. The Court threw out AT&T’s suit and told the two parties to get it settled before appearing back in court.
* SCAT receives a $60,000. grant from Fleet National Bank, Trustee of the Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation for the upstart of the After-school Multimedia Club. The club begins in October 2002 and includes content-based video production as well as digital photography, graphic design, media literacy, and web design. Club members also attend college preparation sessions. The Club was the featured Artist of the Month for December in the SCAT Art Gallery with their projects of self-reflection, and creates it own web site: www.access-youth.org.

2003 SCAT begins the year with four full-time staff members
* The Community Action Agency of Somerville’s (CAAS) Latino Youth Leadership Program begins producing a live, weekly HOT Set program. Jovenes Latinos covers issues relevant to the youth of Somerville and features both Spanish and English segments as well as welcomes calls from the community. The first project they produced in 2002, a game show for teens about tobacco issues, gets selected to screen in the Buckeye Ranch Film Festival in Grove City, Ohio.
* A contract is signed! Finally, after months of squabbles, the City of Somerville and Comcast reach an agreement for a new ten-year Cable Franchise. The City continues to receive 5% of the cable company’s gross revenues (the maximum allowed) and receives an equipment grant of $775,000. SCAT continues to receive about 31% of the total. The I-Net is set for upgrades as is the signal from the City Cable cablecast area on Highland Avenue to the main Head End located at SCAT.
* SCAT’s access to the Free Speech TV network via its satellite dish enables in-depth coverage on the impending war with Iraq. Regularly scheduled programming gets interrupted on a Saturday in mid-February to provide a live three-hour cablecast of the anti-war march in New York City.
* First Tuesday, a monthly program produced by the Commonwealth Broadband Collaborative (CBC), begins its pilot season and airs live via web stream that is then picked up and aired on access centers. The CBC is a collective of Boston-area public access television stations, community technology centers, alternative media outlets, and the College of Public and Community Service at Umass Boston.
* Seven members of SAY Media!, SCAT’s Youth Media Program, attend the Alliance for Community Media’s Northeast Regional Conference in Brooklyn, New York, thanks to a partial scholarship by the ACM Northeast Region Board.
* Nominated by the Somerville Arts Council, SAY Media! is selected by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as one of just 18 2003 Gold Star Projects, signifying “its unique blend of arts and community . . . [and its contribution] to the quality of life in cities and towns across the state” (Daniel Kertzner, MCC). In April, SAY Media! photo projects and videos are featured in the Boston CyberArts Festival.
* SCAT introduces a new level of membership: Community Partner.
* FCC decisions loosen regulations even more on the number of outlets media conglomerates can own nationwide as well within a single market, drastically limiting what people receive for information.
* SCAT receives a $5,000 grant from the Community Technology Centers Network (CTCNet) through their Service Learning and Civic Engagement Program. With the funding, SCAT implements a summer Youth Producers Group, training a team of 11-15 year-olds in media literacy, story-telling, and multimedia production. The group reported on the state of low- to no-cost services and activities available to the youth of Somerville. The program's budget included hiring two members of SAY Media!'s After-school Multimedia Club to act as mentors to the group.
* Adobe discontinues developing editing software to support the Macintosh platform. * SCAT replaces Premiere software with Final Cut Express in its Advanced Portable Production course.
* SCAT’s web site (www.access-scat.org) wins 3rd place in the Web Site: Professional category of the Alliance for Community Media’s Northeast Region’s 6th Annual Fall Video Festival.
* SCAT celebrates its 20th anniversary with a night of music, laughter, and fund-raising at Johnny D’s Music Club and Restaurant in Davis Square. A myriad of prizes donating by many local businesses were auctioned off, and attendees enjoyed entertainment by Danielle Miraglia, Sam Hooper, Jimmy Tingle, SinkCharmer, and The Operators
* SCAT’s playback system goes digital! Upgrades include new cablecast and electronic bulletin board software and converting the preferred playback format to DVD.

2004 SCAT begins the year with four full-time staff members
* SCAT began participation in the grant-funded after school program, the 21st Century Community Learning Center. SCAT staffer, Karl Nazir, traveled to the Winter Hill and Powerhouse Schools each week to teach video production and media literacy to middle school students. At the end of the 10-week sessions, the classes screened their videos to other students and teachers, and of course, they were cablecast on Channel 3.
* Ellie Pye, Executive Director of SCAT since 2002 and staff member since 1998, left SCAT to start up a new PEG Access center in North Andover. The Board of Directors asked former E.D., Mimi Graney, to serve as interim E.D. In August SCAT hired Wendy Blom as Executive Director. She had 8 years of experience in access television as a Director at Lowell Telecommunications Corp. and at Boston Neighborhood Network.
* A media lending library was established for members to explore the history of mass media and the impact of media on our society. SCAT member, Zina Costiner, and former member, Brett Rhyne, donated many of the materials to start the collection.
* Non-profit organizational members were invited to have SCAT produce a public service announcement for their organization for a $100 fee.
* SCAT and CCTV were the host sites for the Fall Conference of the Northeast Region of the Alliance for Community Media. Ellie Pye returned to Somerville to coordinate a “Two By You” screening of short tapes about access centers at the Somerville Theater and four workshops, drawing about 50 access center members and staff, took place at SCAT. SCAT member, Joanne La Riccia, won an award at the Conference Video Festival for her innovative children’s program, JoJo’s Dreamcart.
* The City of Somerville repaired the front of SCAT’s building and painted it in Victorian style red white and blue. The outside makeover was completed with colorful banners and a front door awning donated by Board Member Tony Lafuente, owner of Flagraphics.
Students from Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experience (SCALE) and their teacher, Sydney Story, came to SCAT for a special studio production class. They learned to use television to inform the immigrant community about healthcare options in the US.

2005 SCAT started the year with 4 full time employees.
* In the Winter, the SAYMedia! Program completed its classes at the East Somerville Community School. Teachers were Wendy Blom and Vanessa Vartabedian. In the Spring Vanessa Vartabedian brought the SAYMedia! Program to the 21st Century Community Learning Program of the Winter Hill School. In the Summer the SAYMedia! Program came back to SCAT with a group of 8 dedicated teens. They worked on various productions three mornings each week under the expert guidance of Vanessa Vartabedian and Christy Park. The program was made possible with generous donations from the Dreams for Youth Foundation and the Somerville Rotary Club. In the Fall the SAYMedia! Program continued at SCAT as an afterschool program on Wednesday afternoons. Instructor Christy Park had the assistance of a Tufts University student Rachel Greenspan. Tufts University also supported the program financially with a donation for supplies and equipment.
* The City of Somerville and SCAT negotiated a three-year contract for the allocation of franchise fees from Comcast and RCN.
* Talking About Somerville, a new monthly half hour program that focuses on the work of Somerville’s social service non-profit organizations, was begun. The first two shows were produced by Somerville Cares About Prevention and the Community Action Agency of Somerville. Sabis Pre-School became a Talking About Somerville sponsor.
* Karl Nazir left the position of Programming Coordinator and the position was filled by Brian Conley.
* Americorps*VISTA member, Christy Park came to SCAT to work full-time, assisting staff with outreach, on-call, teaching, and many other tasks.
* SCAT won the national award for Overall Excellencc from the Alliance for Community Media. Wendy Blom attended the conference in Monterey CA where she received the award plaque. In recognition of the award, the Somerville Board of Alderman presented SCAT with a plaque and the Massachusetts Senate sent SCAT an official citation. All of the awards are proudly displayed on SCAT’s walls.
* The Sports Broadcasting Camp took place at SCAT in July. The week-long camp is for teens who want to learn to become a sports broadcasters. The camp rented SCAT facilities and equipment, and SCAT staff helped the teens tape their reports in the studio and at Fenway Park. The camp and its activities at SCAT were featured in segments on NBC’s Today Show and National Public Radio.
* The studio control room underwent a major renovation. The old analog equipment was replaced with new digital equipment by video engineer Dennis Dutra. The project involved moving cablecast operations out of the control room space and into a space made by dismantling the analog edit suite #1. The renovation took one month during which the studio was closed for productions. Analog editing can still be done in the control room.
* The SCAT Board of Directors threw a party to celebrate the Hometown award and the control room upgrade. The celebration, called the “SCAT Hullabaloo,” was cablecast live and included refreshments, guitar music by Mike Meneses, and interviews with SCAT members and producers.
* Christy Park began production of a new show about art topics in Somerville called Somerville Art Matters. The show, hosted by Somerville resident Julia Fairclough, is shot in the studio and on-location in galleries and studios around Somerville.
Several staff changes occurred. Vanessa Vartabedian left to teach media in the Cambridge Public Schools, Rich Howely left, replaced by Kindred Elliott, and Brian Conley left, replaced by former intern, Christian Montenegro.

2006 SCAT started the year with three full time and 2 part-time employees
* For the second year in a row, SCAT won the national award for Overall Excellence from the Alliance for Community Media. SCAT also had awards for best children’s program, which was won by JoJo LaRiccia for JoJo’s Dreamcart, best access center promo, produced by Christian Montenegro when he was an intern at SCAT, and best youth-produced empowerment program, which was won by a SAYMedia! teen film on the gentrification of Somerville. Wendy, JoJo, and Christian attended the award ceremony at Fanueil Hall where they received the award plaques.
* Kindred Elliott left the position of Technology and Training Coordinator and the position was changed into two part time positions: Charlie Tesch became Technology Coordinator, and James Mayhew became Studio Manager. Christy Park, SCAT’s Membership and Arts Coordinator left SCAT. Dacia Kornechuk was hired for the newly named position of Membership and Community Projects Coordinator. Programming Coordinator Christian Montenegro left SCAT to go back to school, and his position was filled by Prince Charles.The basic production classes were taught by Alisa Brugnoli and Bill Barrell.
* SCAT contracted with a consultant to set up a server for all office computer operations, allowing staff to share files, including the SCAT database and website files.
* The Final Cut edit suite was upgraded with a new G5 iMac loaded with Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, and LiveType. The old G4 became the new SCAT server.
* SCAT held a “garage sale” of old, unused equipment that had been stored at SCAT for years. Mostly members participated in the sale, which raised over $1,200 for SCAT.
* The SAY Media! Program returned with “Studio SCAT,” a series of 14 workshops for Somerville teens. In the project-based workshop, the teens learned about scriptwriting, set design, lighting, camera techniques, on-air improvisation, and how to operate the control room. They created a dating game show called Modern Love which was cablecast on Channel 3. Teachers were Christy Park and Tufts student Rachel Greenspan.
* Tingle Television began a new collaboration with the City Channel. The City Channel staff tapes Jimmy Tingle’s monthly, hour-long program at the Jimmy Tingle Off Broadway Theater. SCAT serves as co-producer of the show that is edited by SCAT member Elissa Mintz.
* Union Square Main Streets Design committee commissioned a colorful mural for the firehouse’s back fence. The beautiful garden scene was created by Susan Charbonneau.
* SCAT had a booth at the annual ArtBeat event in Davis Square. The booth was created and manned by SCAT interns Wen Lee and Lauren Mills, who painted a big box for use as a SCAT portable studio.
* In the Spring, the SAY Media! Program returned with “Studio SCAT,” a series of 14 workshops for Somerville teens. In the project-based workshop, the teens learned about scriptwriting, set design, lighting, camera techniques, on-air improvisation, and how to operate the control room. They created a dating game show called Modern Love which was cablecast on Channel 3. Teachers were Christy Park and Tufts student Rachel Greenspan.The Summer SAYMedia! Program was taught by Jessica Schumann with assistance from Lauren Mills and Dacia Kornechuk. The teens created music videos, PSA’s, and documentaries during their six week workshop. In the Fall,the SAYMedia! Program continued at SCAT as a Monday evening program with the Somerville Boys and Girls Club on Washington Street. Six teens worked with Dacia and Prince to create music videos and documentaries.
* The National Alliance for Community Media conference was held in Boston. Many members and staff volunteered to help out at the conference, attend workshops, and network with access folks from all over the country.
* SCAT produced programs were posted on the web on BlipTV. Members were invited to learn to post their programs and link them to SCAT’s website. James Mayhew began teaching the process in his Vlogging class.
* Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services began producing a monthly half-hour show, Active Aging, that promotes the independence of older people and people with disabilities.
* Critical Focus: A Forum on Media Today began as a six-part series that is produced in collaboration with Cambridge Community Television. The show is cablecast live in both Somerville and Cambridge and streamed live from the CCTV website.
* The Cambridge/Somerville interconnect was reinstalled by Comcast using digital fiber.
* The Board of Directors held a strategic planning meeting to help plan for future directions for SCAT.
* A survey was sent to all members for feedback and suggestions about SCAT services and facilities. Results were posted on the website.

2007 We started the year with three full time and two part time staff.
* The Annual Meeting was held on January 25. Guest speakers included State Rep. Denise Provost and State Senator Pat Jehlen.
* We purchased two Sony HDR FX7 field cameras for our member producers.
* James Mayhew left SCAT for a job in New York, and Bill Barrell, who was the part-time production instructor, left his full-time job at WHDH and came to work at SCAT as Digital Media Coordinator.
* Member Jeanne Flanagan held a screening of her documentary on the Tabitha-Cambodia Project that she shot when she was a volunteer on the project in Cambodia.
* Documentary screening of I know I’m Not Alone by musician Michael Franti.
* We held a Hot Set Open House.
* The Somerville Arts Council contracted with SCAT to produce a monthly series called UnionTube about ArtsUnion happenings.
* The By and For Somerville Production Company is an initiative to bring in members on Thursday evenings to produce a variety of studio shows.
* SCAT received a grant from the Clowes Fund to purchase new cameras and edit computers for the youth media programs at SCAT. We purchased three cameras, two portable decks, three microphones, and five laptops.
* The Next Generation Producers held a Youth Film Festival at the Somerville Theatre to showcase projects completed by youth from the Boys and Girls Clubs, the Family Center and the West Somerville Neighborhood School.
* Somerville Adult Learning Experience (SCALE) recognized SCAT at its Community Appreciation Breakfast for its “efforts as a community partner and mentor in media skills development and production.”
* SCAT purchased a Princeton Server for cablecast operations.
* Hundreds of PEG access supporters and elected officials crowded into the Gardner Auditorium in the Massachusetts Statehouse to voice their opposition to the proposed “Verizon Bill” which would create a state-wide franchise for cable TV providers. Mayor Curtatone, Rep. Denise Provost, and Sen. Pat Jehlen all spoke eloquently about how the bill would hurt community communications, reduce the income and support that cities receive from the cable companies, and eliminate all local control over cable TV service.
* For? the? third ?year? in ?a? row, SCAT won the national award for Overall Excellence from the Alliance for Community Media in its category of mid-size public access center. Wendy, Dacia and Prince attended the award ceremony at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Dacia? Kornechuk? led? a? panel? workshop? on? teaching youth? documentary? production.
* SCAT had a booth at the annual ArtBeat event in Davis Square. The booth was created and manned by SCAT interns Allison Rodriguez, Daniel Marquez, and Karen Callwood, who painted a big box for use as a SCAT portable studio.
* The Summer Next Generation Producers program was taught by Dacia Kornechuk and Prince Charles with assistance from Tufts intern Allison Rodriguez. Eleven students worked on video projects two afternoons each week for six weeks.
* The SCAT Board of Directors threw a party for members at The Macchu Picchu Restaurant to celebrate the Hometown award.
* Critical Focus was broadcast as a Free Speech TV program on the Dish Satellite Network, reaching millions of viewers around the world.
* With a grant from the Local Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, SCAT hosted a documentary film screening series.
* SCAT staff and members created programs on community events such as MUM, the Fluff Festival, Honk Fest, and a lecture by Scott Ritter at the Jimmy Tingle Off Broadway Theatre.
* The back edit suite was converted into a computer classroom for edit classes and editing projects on laptops.
* With a grant from the Somerville Health Foundation, SCAT staff and member Candice Leonard began production on a monthly series called Welcome Wellness.
*The Next Generation Producers worked with teens from Centro Presente and the Healy School on many video projects. Centro Present teens started a HOT Set show called The 3:30.