WILTON — An average of 200 viewers tune in to watch Board of Selectpersons meetings, JP Fortier, executive director of Central Maine Media Alliance/Mt. Blue Community Access TV said Tuesday evening, Jan. 7.

In all, the meetings attracted 3,700 views in 2019.

Fortier attended the Select Board meeting to discuss the 2020 fiscal year operating budget of the public access television station.

The organization broadcasts municipal meetings, high school sporting events and community programing through social media, internet and television platforms.

“We are working on several new shows and continuing with others,” he said.

Ideas for programing include shows centered around oral history, real estate and Franklin County Animal Shelter.

The station plans to continue broadcasting popular shows such as “Telling Tales: Western Maine’s Storyplace”,  “Our Towns” with Senator Lisa Keim, and “Talkin’ Maine” with Tom Saviello of Wilton.

With 20,000 views over nine games, high school football was the biggest success, he said.

“The biggest thing for us is to provide people with content; to increase content outflow,” he said.

To do so, a station manager position has been reactivated.

Public access television is supported in part through franchise fees collected by cable providers in Farmington, Wilton, Jay and Livermore Falls. They are paid by cable customers, not the taxpayer.

Memberships and sponsorships round out the operating budget.

Selectpersons accepted the $143,809 budget. More than $23,000 in franchise fees were collected from Wilton cable customers in 2019.  The fees, along with $7,500 in Public, Educational and Government Access funds, make up Wilton’s portion of the budget.

Copy the Story Link