Community members and officials fill City Council Chambers on Wednesday to testify before the Cable Advisory Commission on behalf of PCTV.

Mayor Peter Marchetti describes Pittsfield Community Television as a 'critical communication piece' in the city. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City officials and community members showed love to Pittsfield Community Television ahead of negotiations for the cable contract.

Council chambers were filled to the brim during a public hearing held by the Cable Advisory Commission on Wednesday. People gushed for more than 90 minutes, highlighting the importance of Pittsfield's local television station and its overwhelmingly positive impact.

Mayor Peter Marchetti, former president of its board, said PCTV is a "critical communication piece" for the public, broadcasting more than 20,000 hours of video programming annually across three channels. This includes live coverage of municipal meetings, nonpartisan election content, sports, and community events such as the famed Fourth of July Parade.

"They played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing vital communication between local officials, city departments school departments, and Pittsfield residents," Marchetti said.

"As you can see, PCTV plays a vital role in this community by providing direct access to a variety of resources for our residents."

The city's 10-year contract with Charter Spectrum ends in September and the committee is anticipating an informal "friendly" process.  

"We negotiate a license with them for a number of reasons but one of the main reasons is that we have in Pittsfield an extraordinary PEG provider, public educational and government cable television," Chair Sara Hathaway said.

"And I think everybody in this room will agree with me that our PEG provider is extraordinary, that we love our PEG provider and we to have the best possible contract to support our PEG provider for the next ten years."

City Clerk Michele Benjamin explained that clerks use PCTV to complete their minutes of meetings and ensure accuracy. This is one of the many ways that the broadcasting is used.

"PCTV also provides my office with CDs of all recorded meetings throughout the city that are kept in the clerk's office as a permanent record. Often, these CDs are used for public records requests, and in some cases, they are provided for subpoenas," Benjamin said.

"PCTV also provides informational segments where they broadcast information on upcoming elections and very important voting deadlines to inform all residents of the city. PCTV also provides Election Day coverage for immediate election results and they also cover election dates. It is so important that we continue to have this vital resource for all residents of our community."

Council President Peter White requested that all PCTV channels be broadcasted in high definition through Spectrum, explaining that the programming has allowed him to stay connected with the community even further than being in local politics.

Marchetti also expressed "deep concern" about maintaining the quality of service on PEG (public, educational, and governmental) access channels and demanded that there is a 5 percent franchise fee in the contract.

"I want to in addition advocate for capital expenditures for PCTV," he said.

Community members outlined the many ways that PCTV has impacted them. This includes the senior population who cannot always get to meetings, religious organizations that broadcast services, nonprofit organizations that have programming, and other city entities.

It was said that without the community television organization, many would not be able to see their children's graduations, concerts, and sporting events.

Berkshire NAACP President Dennis Powell explained now PCTV came to the rescue in 2021 to produce and air its annual Freedom Fund gala, which is the organization's annual fundraiser that assists Black and immigrant high school graduates with furthering their education.

"We raised over $60,000 from this virtual presentation in 2021. We could not have done that without the expertise that PCTV provided us. They assisted us again in 2023 and just this January, they produced a live stream of our Freedom Fund gala for a total success, which was held at the Proprietor's Lodge and attended by over 300 guests," he said.

"Because it was live-streamed, we are still receiving donations from residents that were able to view the event from the comfort of their house. PCTV has produced all of the NAACP live debates, local residents running for office, allowing individuals that couldn't attend in person to know what issues the candidates are promising to address if elected. A valuable service to our community."

Council on Aging Executive Director James Clark said it was important that residents older and younger not be disenfranchised because they cannot attend a meeting or event in person whether it is from disability, lack of transportation, or another issue.

"Public community television is what closes this gap," he said. "It provides our most vulnerable and our mobility limited citizens access to coverage of city meetings, news coverage, church services, entertainment, and many other events that without such coverage uses would be alienated from."

Board member Andrew McKeever said PCTV is what keeps Pittsfield connected. He asked that in contract negotiations the commission advocate for capital funds needed to continue to invest in technology and support the community.

"But none of this is really possible without PCTV's dedicated and highly skilled staff. They handle the logistics, they handle meetings, the events, they maintain the equipment, they produce the programs, and they provide much-needed mentorship and guidance to people learning the system," he said.

"And it's not possible without the ability to keep up with evolving technology and the equipment that we have."

Several department heads also spoke in support of the services PCTV provides including Director of Community Development Justine Dodds, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi, and Fire Chief Thomas Sammons.

Berkshire Athenaeum Director Alex Reczkowski said there is a local and national reckoning in terms of digital equity and access and that PCTV is vital to this equitable access in our community.

"The Berkshire Athenaeum has been in partnership with PCTV to address digital equity, including developing classes together and building a learn-to-own device program," he said. "PCTV has inspired us to do better work and they do work as partners for success for all."

A hearing over Zoom was held Friday morning and an online survey is being conducted to gain more insight into residents' experience with Spectrum Cable and their viewing habits of PEG access television provided by PCTV.

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