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It's
Your Channel
Public access gives you and your neighbors the opportunity to inform, entertain, and speak out for yourselves, in your own works. Unlike broadcast television and commercial cable services that deliver programs to you, public access is programming by and for you. You pick the topic, you write the script, you run the camera, and you call the shots!
In 1972, the organizing efforts of a few motivated Somerville residents paid off. A provision for access channels was included in the cable license granted by the city to Warner Cable. Somerville became one of the first communities in the nation to have public access channels. City Hall ran the government access channel, the library ran educational access, and Warner managed the public access channel.
During this first 10 year license, public access in Somerville had many successes and many failures. The programs varied; local sports teams watched themselves play on television for the first time, residents could see their aldermen in action, and kids were given a chance to make their own programs. Some shows offended some residents, but many inspired more people to get involved.
When the license came up for renewal in 1982, it was decided that the day-to-day operations of the city's public and educational access channels should be managed by a new non-profit, community-based organization. SCAT was created in 1983 for that purpose and became one of the first non-profit access management organizations in the country.
See Also:
About Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville Community
Access Television
90 Union Square,
Somerville, MA 02143
Phone: 617-628-8826 | Fax: 617-628-1811
Email: info@access-scat.org
(Need Directions? Click HERE.)