As any of the thousands of you have witnessed the camera that I’ve used to produce the pictures and video for this little ol’ blog is a tiny thing. Boy wouldn’t I love to use those $10,000 hi def cameras they use at Cape Ann TV to produce some stunning video.
You can take a short two session class and learn how to use all the incredible equipment they have at your disposal up at the Cape Ann TV studio including the world class video editing software Final Cut Pro. The cost is negligible (something like $25 or $35 dollars) and once you take the class you can take the super sweet cameras out and film shows for Cape Ann TV. They even have students that will show up and work the cameras if you want to produce a TV show on local access cable and people who will edit that footage for you.
Now this all sounds fantastic right? Well it is BUT I think that GMG could make it all that much more worth while and exciting to get involved with Cape Ann TV.
Here’s how-
Rich Sagall and Heidi Dallin recently invited to come in as guests on their respective shows. In the studio there was Andrew Love the Producer, The Hosts,Two Camerapeople, two interns and the other guests for each show. I’m not sure how many man hours that represents to get a 22 minute show on air but I can assure you that these people all really care and produce some fantastic shows with a whole lot of time and energy which goes into each production.
As an example of how these programs are aired I present you the scheduled for The Cape Ann Report- Heidi Dallin’s show that I was a guest on last week-
Thursday, May 5, 6:00 PM
Friday, May 6, 1:00 PM
Sunday, May 8: 3:00 PM
Once these programs air, they are shelved…forever….with out an on demand way to access them. Now I ask you, how many people are watching or looking out for, at those specific times those shows? Your chances of stumbling upon these shows at those specific times out and contained to only being shown in the geographic limitations of Cape Ann TV’s airing audience is what, .005% of Cape Ann’s population? Who pray tell is checking out channel 12 at 1PM on a Friday????
This is not to discourage folks from getting involved at Cape ANN TV but to offer GMG’s already built in audience of 15-22,000 people a day, every day to show these programs for all the people who are already putting in the time and energy to create this fantastic programming. The shows are edited in Final Cut Pro which means they could also be uploaded to YouTube. Here is my proposal- A GMG/Cape Ann TV partnership
These shows get aired roughly 4 times and then put on a shelf the way it works now at Cape Ann TV. There is no way to search any of the shows for the general public once the shows have aired and view them at their own convenience. In the age of competing with over 200 cable channels the chances that anyone is watching at the very specific times they air is slim but if these shows are uploaded to YouTube after they air on Cape Ann TV and labeled with the content of the show, they would be forever available to the community and the people who produce them. Imagine covering the Greasy Pole year after year with those fantastic cameras and editing equipment available to you at Cape Ann TV and being able to do a simple YouTube search ten years from now for “Greasy Pole 2011” “Cape Ann TV” and being able to pull it right up? This vs the current system where you would lug all the equipment around capture the fantastic footage, spend time editing it and the show only airing 4 times never to see the light of day ever again?
So in my proposal the people who create the shows take ownership of them (after all they put the time in to create them) they air on Cape Ann TV first and once they run through the four times they would air on Cape Ann TV, upload them to their own free YouTube accounts, and send us the links to their shows.
We could air the shows on which an incredible amount of time and energy was spent producing, to our already built in audience on GMG. We will tag it (which means it would be fully searchable by the subject matter in each piece forever), give full credit to the people who produced it and in this way the Cape Ann Community entire internet connected universe could enjoy the programs.
This in my opinion is one of those win/win/win situations for which I love to make happen especially when it’s right there and all we have to do is connect the pieces.
We’ve already built up the GMG audience, so here is how it helps everyone-
It helps Cape Ann TV because if people know that their programs in which they pour all that time and energy into will actually be viewed by the entire community and would be accessible forever instead of put on a shelf I just know we could get a whole lot more people involved at Cape Ann TV.
It helps the people who produce the programs because they get rewarded for all the work they put in because their shows actually see the light of day after they air 4 times at random times(many of which are during working hours).
It helps GMG to bring more great content to the community and the world. Do you know how many people check out GMG from around the country and the world? I can’t tell you how many times I wish I would have liked to have seen some of the programs produced at Cape ANN TV but it just didn’t fit into my schedule or I didn’t know when it was going to air. With our searchable database and reach those programs could be easily searchable and On-Demand forever.
I’m just saying….Let’s Make It Happen!
Good Morning Gloucester 
You got me sold. I wanted to see your interview but I missed the last showing by three hours. Gone forever? Say it ain’t so!
Upload to Youtube and they can see exactly how many people view each segment. Viewers can then see when their favorite segments are going to be done. They would build a viewership in no time. Both on Youtube and by getting people to tune into favorite series they have seen on the Cape Ann Youtube.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Who cares, both are pretty tasty.
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Checked the schedule after I missed the 6pm showing. The other 2 showings were during work time before 4pm. What? Cape Ann TV Better get with the times or lose. Future tourist searching for Cape Ann info. They will never see it. But they will see my Joey sitting on the toilet posts. So it’s a WIN for Me! Thanks CATV!
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Sounds like an excellent idea. You’ve got my vote!
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The upcoming merger if the internet and television is a positive development for building strong communities! I just joined the Cape Ann Television Board last year to represent Essex and I have discovered that there is so much possibility here! We are going to have an interesting presentation at the CATV Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 24 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Sawyer Free Library Friend Room. I did a lot of research on the history of the hard fight for public access television, and I will present how we got to where we are and what will happen when television soon becomes another asset of the internet. In the presentation, I outline the long battle for access for community programming and recognize the amazing contribution of Good Morning Gloucester today.
The next step is to investigate how the talented bloggers of GMG could leverage and advance the capabilities of CATV. As has been said by Paul Morrison, this is very much Win/Win/Win. If you are at all interested in building the strength of your community through social media, please consider attending the CATV annual meeting. We’ll have tasty refreshments, and enthusiastically welcome your ideas. We’d love to hear your ideas!
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Fantastic idea and a great opportunity, Joey. Go for it.
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Wow, fabulous idea!
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Joey:
You and I talked about this last year. Like you, I continue to be disappointed that CATV does not embrace video on demand nor broaden its mission to include ALL aspects of Community Video, including training videographers, editors, and producers for ALL non-commercial productions – not just those aired briefly on CATV.
As volunteer Chief Engineer, then President of a Community Cable Channel in Herndon VA for over ten years, I understand the difficulties in a transition from a paid-staff operation (with Adelphia) to a non-profit (with Comcast) – there are real differences in the cultures, funding, and incentives. I do not believe CATV has yet fully grasped that it will never have enough money to depend on its paid staff for production, nor how to motivate volunteers who want to have fun and see their work publicized – including on the Internet.
My only disagreement with your post is that CATV should have its own YouTube account and have ALL of its material on-line.
Good luck in your campaign.
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Excellent opportunity to spotlight local interests, talent, ideas, and take it to the world. You have my support!
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Hey Joey, I think you are right on target. As a person who is in the process of learning how to edit and produce a show that is primarily about the beauty and importance of understanding regional wildlife habitats, my goal is to reach the widest audience possible. Because of the time that it takes to write the script, film, photograph, create sound tracks, and edit the programs, it is imperative that shows be searchable and easily accessed.
In speaking with Donna Gacek, the director at CATV, I understand that there is a terrible tug of war between public access and whether or not the cable companies will continue to honor their commitment to the communities; that the cable companies are always looking for a legal loophole as to why they should not. Perhaps that is why CATV has not been able to take full advantage of social media?
I am really looking forward to Barry O’Brien’s presentation at the CATV annual meeting and learning more about the history and future direction of CATV.
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CATV is an independent, non-profit organization that receives funding via Comcast based on the PEG (Public Educational Government) fee that is part of the Comcast payment for each subscriber. How CATV fulfills its mission is up to CATV – not Comcast.
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GREAT idea, Joey! I have often searched the CATV schedule online to see if I can record what they have on there so I can watch it when I have a chance…but I get lost and it never happens. I would be watching the shows every day if I could access them as you have proposed, and I know I am not alone. A simple solution and a win/win/win for all…especially me! 🙂
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