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Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee

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GRAFTON CABLE TELEVISION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
2006 ANNUAL TOWN REPORT

The Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee provides general oversight of all cable access operations in the Town. In addition, the Committee monitors the overall performance of Charter Communications with respect to its Grafton operations.

The Committee is pleased to report expanded utilization of the cable access studio, increased use of production equipment, increased coverage of government meetings and expanded broadcasts for the school department. The Committee continues to upgrade production equipment to a digital-based format, including the addition of a video server playback system to serve all three access channels. The newly purchased video server replaced the aging analog playback automation system. Also, during 2006, a local area computer network had been constructed within the studio to facilitate the transfers of files between the computers and the server.

Listed below is a summary of Access Activities:

Public Access Usage:

In the year 2006, portable equipment was provided for producers 61 times, with Linear Editing equipment being requested 8 times. Non Linear Editing equipment was requested 151 times. 140 studio shoots were produced in the year 2006. There were 247 bulletins posted on the GCTV Bulletin Board in the year 2006.

Public Access Production Course:

A production course was offered in the Spring of 2006 and 5 producers were certified. A second production course was offered in the Fall of 2006 and 4 producers were certified. Also this year, Dan and Nick Mantelli, 16 year old twins who moved to Grafton and had been Access Producers in Shrewsbury were approved as Under 18 Access Producers in Grafton. The Cable Oversight Committee amended the Under 18 Access Policy to allow minors aged 12 -- 15 to take our production course, in addition to the existing policy which already provided eligibility for the minors who are 16 -- 17 years old. All candidates under the age of 18 are required to get 2 letters of recommendation and appear before the Cable Oversight Committee for approval before they are allowed to enroll in the course.

Programming Summary for Public & Government Access Channels:

Sports programming on GCTV-11 in 2006 included GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Valley Tech, GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Bartlett, GHS Athletic Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony, Grafton Men's Indoor Soccer, GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Oxford, Grafton Lions Club Wrestling Promo, Grafton Flag Football Highlights, GHS Hockey, GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Nashoba, GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Uxbridge, Forge works Farm Ride With Pride Therapeutic Riding Program, GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Algonquin, GHS Boys Summer Basketball vs. Quabbin, GHS Boys Summer Basketball vs. Oxford, Grafton Update: Special Olympics Softball, and a promo for the Harlem Wizards vs. Grafton Basketball game. In addition GCTV continued airing "Go Fish with Dan Kenney" a fishing series from Leicester Cable Access during the year 2006 and began airing East Coast Championship Wrestling, a wrestling series from Milford Access. The 60 minute ECCW program features highlights of matches and interviews with wrestlers and airs Tuesdays at 7 pm, Wednesdays at 10 pm and Fridays at 5 pm. Also, Tasha Halpert began producing "Senior Fitness with Brenda Armstrong" for GCTV- Brenda works for the Grafton Recreation Department and teaches the Senior Exercise classes at the Grafton Senior Center. "Senior Fitness" is a 30 minute programs and airs Mondays at 9:30 am, Wednesdays at 3:30 pm and Fridays at 11:30 am.

Interview, news, and politically oriented programs broadcast on GCTV-11 in the year 2006 included "Who Slew the Dreamer?"- a look at the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., several episodes of Senate Forum hosted by Sen. Ed Augustus, several episodes of Capitol Perspective hosted by Sen. Edward Kennedy, several forums from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, the 2006 League of Women Voter's Candidate's Night, Town Administrator Russ Connor's Retirement Party, A program entitled "Better Storm Water Management" which was a lecture meant to increase awareness about preventing floods in the area after heavy rainstorms, Deval Patrick For Governor, a report from the Health Foundation of Central Mass., and Interview with Candidate for Governor Deval Patrick, Physician Focus: Special Edition which included interviews with the candidates for Governor on health issues, and The 9th Dimension: Special Edition which focused on Ed Augustus and his bid for re-election to the state Senate. Production continued on the series "What's Happenin', Grafton" a news magazine show focusing on people and events in Grafton. In addition, Board of Selectmen meetings were broadcast live and replayed on the Grafton Government Channel, GGTV-12, and School Committee meetings were taped for rebroadcast. All regularly scheduled and special Town Meetings were broadcast live and replayed on channel 12 and several other committees requested that certain important meetings of theirs be broadcast, including: Affordable Housing Commission 1/25/06, South Grafton Mill Villages Master Plan Public Forum 3/9/06, Grafton Open Space & Recreation Forum 5/3/06, Planning Board Workshop 6/19/06, Fisherville Mill Community Information Meeting 10/24/06, and the Planning Board Public Hearing on Fisherville Mill 10/30/06.

Many School and Children's events were broadcast on GCTV in the year 2006. These programs were: GMS Winter Concert, GES 3rd Grade Holiday Show, SGES Holiday Show/GES 5th Grade Band Concert, SGES Halloween 2005, GMS' Annie Jr., 2005 NGES Holiday Concert, The Castaways, GHS Jazz Night, Boy Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet, GEA Spelling Bee, GHS presents...; Crazy For You, 2006 NGES Memorial Day, Voyage to the Sea: Documentaries & Stories from the Touchstone Community School, GHS Costume Concert, 2006 NGES Halloween Parades, a special all about Destination Imagination, and GHS Presents...; Rock For Relief II. In addition, GCTV continued to play the news and information series from the GHS TV Production Class, called "GHS on A Roll" during the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 school year.

Music Programming on GCTV-11 in 2006 included the 2006 Kris Graham Piano & Flute Recital and the 2006 Apple Tree Arts 3rd Annual Community Holiday Concert. GCTV's longest running show, "Music Reminiscence with Roger Isabelle", resumed regular production this year and brought us several exciting new episodes. As always, the Grafton School system provided many musical productions that were taped and broadcast over the year- those productions are listed above under School and Children's Events. Also this year 2 new music series were added to the GCTV line up. Local Rock comes to us from Millbury Public Access and showcases rock bands performing live at the Millbury studio. Local Rock is a 60 minute show and plays Wednesdays at 9 pm, Thursdays at 3 pm and Sundays at 6 pm on GCTV. Our other new series, Instant Coffeehouse, is a ½ hour show that comes to us from Vermont and features local folk musicians playing acoustic music, and plays Tuesdays at 10:30 pm, Fridays at 11 am, and Saturdays at 6 pm on GCTV-11.

General Interest programs that were not part of a regular GCTV series that aired in 2006 were: LCIF Auction & Humanitarian of the Year Award 2005, St. Mary's Caregiver Lecture Series #4, Caregiver Information Series #1, #2 & #3, 2005 Early American Trades Fair, A PSA about W.I.S.E.- Worcester Institute for Senior Education, Grafton Community Day 2006, The Divided- a short film, Tintack Book Connection Episode #1, Ovarian Cancer: The Facts That Could Save Your Life, Methodist Craft Fair PSA, On Rising Air- a special about Gliding, The Healing Space: Acupuncture, Witnesses- a short film, and Soapbox: Estate Planning.

Several new general interest series began airing on GCTV in the year 2006. Already mentioned were: Senior Fitness with Brenda Armstrong, East Coast Championship Wrestling, Local Rock and Instant Coffeehouse. GCTV added several locally produced series: "The Grafton Oral History Project", produced by Linda Casey, lets Grafton Seniors reminisce about life in town when they were young and how it has changed over the years. GOHP airs Mondays at 10 am, Wednesdays at 4 pm and Fridays at 7 pm. Tasha Halpert added a children's show "Heartwings Place" to her stable of series on GCTV-11. The show features songs, stories, crafts and more and airs Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 am and Wednesdays at 3 pm. Roger Isabelle has added an interview program called "That's A Good Question" to his other popular product, "Music Reminiscence." The show is an hour long interview series and features topics ranging from Immigration to the History of Karaoke, and airs Tuesdays at 11 am, Wednesdays at 6 pm and Thursdays at 4 pm. Linda Forand has started a series entitled "Animal Adventures" which takes us to various locations around New England to learn about animals. Linda has taken her viewers to Southwick Zoo, Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, and The New England Aquarium; this 30 minute show airs Tuesdays at 3:30 pm, Thursdays at 9 am and Saturdays at 4 pm. "From The GCTV Vaults" plays on Thursday nights at 9 pm and showcases Access programming from GCTV's past. Programming can come from as far back as 1984, and is broadcast for up to 2 hours. Access Series' produced in other towns that were added to the GCTV line up were: "Mechanical Innovations with Rollie Gaucher" from Spencer Access, an hour long program exploring the engineering of mechanical technology that changed the world. MI airs Wednesdays at 11 pm, Thursdays at 10 am and Saturdays at 5 pm. "Mass Talk" is a half hour series from MassAccess, the Massachusetts chapter of the Alliance for Community Media, and teaches us all about PEG Access Television, it's regulations and opportunities. Mass Talk airs Tuesdays at 10 am, Fridays at 4 pm and Saturdays at 11:30 pm on GCTV. Finally, Grafton Bible Church began dropping off its ½ hour weekly Bible Lessons, which air Sundays at 11 am.

Returning General and Public interest series originating from GCTV included Good Neighbors, Cooking with Tasha, History in the Making, Blazis Safaris, Be My Guest, 2 Guys Who Like To Talk, The Gary Murray Show, Bits n' Bytes, Music Reminiscence, JR Presents...; The Holy Blabbermouth, and Edge TV. In addition, the bicycled series returning to the GCTV line up were the Diocesan Special from the Catholic Diocese of Worcester, Music & The Spoken Word, Bloomin' with the Bemis', Thyme in the Kitchen, Physician Focus, Open For Business, 1st Congregational Church of Hopkinton, Along the Blackstone, and The Dungeon of Dr. Dreck.

One of the most important things that happened at GCTV this year was the addition of a video playback server. The server is a 1.6 TB computer which plays and stores mpeg videos. Switching from playback on tapes to the server allowed GCTV to expand to having different programming 7 days a week instead of 5, and has allowed us to start using PSA's, crawls and jpegs to enhance the programming on Channel 11. It has 4 output channels so that channels 12 and 13 can be added in the future.

The biggest event of the year, as always, was the annual Live New Year's Eve Extravaganza at GCTV, which has continued to please audiences for the past 9 years. The shows featured all new skits and roll ins, as well as live call-ins from the audience. There were psychic predictions for the new year by Stephen and Tasha Halpert, live musical performances, and over $300 in prize giveaways donated by local businesses. The show was hosted, of course, by Rick Schultze and Bill Robidoux and was broadcast live on Dec. 31st starting at 9 PM and ended at approx. 12:30 am on Jan. 1,

New Equipment Purchases in 2006 -- In addition to the new video server and network at the studio, the Committee authorized the following major equipment expenditures: a Canon GL2 digital camcorder, a router, an uninterruptible power supply, an additional Sony robotic camera for the Municipal Center Conference Room and Final Cut studio editing software.

Public Input -- This topic is a staple on the Cable TV Oversight Committee Agenda and we welcome input from the public and access producers -- all are invited to attend our monthly meetings or to contact us. The Committee meets monthly (usually the third Saturday) and meetings are always posted at the Municipal Center. The Committee can be reached by writing to:

Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee
30 Providence Road
Grafton, MA 01519

Danielle DeLucia, Grafton's Public Access Coordinator and Mark Durfee, Vice Chairman of the CATV Oversight Committee contributed the information included in this report.

GRAFTON CABLE TELEVISION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE VENDOR PAYMENTS IN EXCESS OF $500.00

The Camera Company	$28,033.17
Princeton Server Group	$12,499.00
Univisions Crimson	$1,728.42
Staples, Inc.	$1,500.77

Respectfully submitted,

Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee

Bob Hassinger, Chairman
Mark Durfee, Vice Chairman/Treasurer
Peter Carlson, Member
Richard Schultze, Member
Corson Wyman, Member
Bill Robidoux, Ex-officio (non-voting)

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Efforts of the Cable Television Oversight Committee, Town Administrator, Board of Selectmen and Charter Communications have resulted in the following activity in the Town of Grafton in 2005:

Government & Educational Access Channels – The CATV Committee and the Board of Selectmen have facilitated operations on Grafton’s Government & Educational Access Channels (Channel 12 & 13). The result of these efforts are Access Assistants that contribute to the management of both these channels that will be devoted to governmental & educational business – including bulletin board announcements for meetings/agendas and live/taped coverage of meetings.

Selectmen’s Request to Explorer Alternative Cable Service Providers – The BOS requested that the CATV Committee explore potential options for alternative cable service providers. Chairman Bob Hassinger, along with John LaPointe of the EDC met with the manager of Shrewsbury’s Municipal Electric System, which turned out not to be a viable option due to Shrewsbury’s inability to possess assets outside of their town. Verizon was also contacted but it appeared that there were no existing cable companies interested in providing alternative cable service to the town as the costs to construct a town-wide cable system (approximately $10 million) and subscriber connection fees, including converter boxes and connection to utility poles (approximately $700/subscriber) were prohibitive. This topic is an open item, to be further pursued should a viable cost-effective solution become an option.

Public Access Usage - In the year 2005, portable equipment was provided for producers 51 times, with Linear Editing equipment being requested 13 times. Non Linear Editing equipment was requested 105 times. 104 studio shoots were produced in the year 2005. There were 234 bulletins posted on the GCTV Bulletin Board in the year 2005.

Production Course - A production course was offered in the Fall of 2005 and 4 new producers were certified. In addition, 14 year old Lenell Wyman took an independent study class at the GCTV Studio to supplement her video education. She is not a certified producer, however, she is available to us should we need studio crew help.

These statistics represent a trend of significant increases over the previous year’s Total Yearly Use Statistics – programming and editing time slots are in great demand, GCTV-11 has never been more active!

Programming Summary - Sports programming in 2005 included Grafton Soccer, Grafton Indoor Soccer, GHS JV Boys Basketball vs. Auburn, GHS Varsity Boys Basketball vs. Millbury, GHS JV Boys Basketball vs. Oxford, GHS Varsity Girls Basketball vs. Oxford, GHS Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Uxbridge, GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Oxford, GHS Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Northbridge, 2004 Grafton Chiefs pop Warner Football Highlights, A Senate Forum with Ed Augustus featuring the Beanpot Bicycle Race, Valley Forge vs. FUMA Football, and VFMA vs. Malvern Prep. Football. In addition GCTV continued airing Go Fish with Dan Kenney a fishing series from Leicester Cable Access during the year 2005. Interview, news, and politically oriented programs broadcast on GCTV-11 in the year 2005 included a Massachusetts Army National Guard 26th Infantry Brigade PSA, Take Charge- Medicare Part B, A 3 part series entitled It’s Your Town Meeting was brought to the town by Selectman Sue Mills, the League of Women Voter’s Candidate’s Night 2005, Jame Roosevelt on Social Security, Grafton Water District Annual Meeting, Deval Patrick for Governor and 2 episodes of Senate Forum with Ed Augustus. Open For Business, a series from the Corridor Nine Chamber of Commerce began airing as a regular weekly series on GCTV in 2005. Capitol Perspective, the series produced by Sen. Kennedy’s office and signed for by Mark Durfee continues to run non-continuously as we get them. The Naked Truth from Shrewsbury Access continued to run for much of 2005 as a regular series on GCTV. Many School and Children's events were taped in the year 2005 and GCTV continued to try to bring these events to the public. These programs were: NGES 2nd Grade Cookie Commercials & 2004 Holiday Concert, GHS play The Night of January 16th, GES Star Search, GHS Presents... Mr. GHS 2005, GHS Presents.. A Night of Jazz, NGES Kindergarten Spring Bonnet show, GES play The Secret Garden, GHS presents... Bye Bye Birdie, Welcome to Montachusett Girl Scouts, GHS Presents... Rockstock 2005, GHS Spring Concert, GHS Class Night, Blackstone Valley Tech Graduation 2005, 2005 SGES Octoberfest, GHS Presents... You Can’t Take It With You, GHS presents... Rock for Relief, and the 2005 NGES Book Parade & Halloween Parade. For much of 2005, GCTV continued airing JoJo’s Dream Cart a program from Somerville Public Access, produced and Hosted by Joanne JoJo LaRiccia that teaches kids not to give up on their dreams using original music and interviews, and discussions between guests and kids. In addition, GCTV continued to play the GHS news and information series from the GHS TV Production Class, called GHS on A Roll during the 2004/2005 school year and so far in the 2005/2006 school year. Music Programming included 50 Years in Music, an interview by Roger Isabelle of Paul Lamoureux, Sr. aka The Music Man who has been in the music business for over 50 years, and 2 episodes of our longest running musical show, "Music Reminiscence with Roger Isabelle", which is no longer in regular production. As always, The Grafton School system provided many musical productions that were taped and broadcast over the year. Also broadcast this year: Kris Graham Piano & Flute Recital 2005. General Interest programs that aired in 2005 were: Best of Asia: Sushi, Part 1, The Grafton Poker Tour brought to us by Gary Murray, The Early American Trades Fair, St. Mary’s, St.James & St. Philips Cluster Mass on the Grafton Common, Alzheimer’s Disease Lecture Series, Parts 1, 2 & 3, and a low impact development technique program called Reining In the Storm, Caregiver Lecture Series Parts 1 - 4, the Friends of the Worcester Senior Center’s 10th Annual Meeting, A Walk About Ireland, Parts 1 & 2, and A Tribute to Kristen Corey, a Grafton High School student who died in a car crash. Several new general interest series began airing on GCTV in the year 2005. Physician Focus comes to us from the Massachusetts Medical Society and Hopkinton Publuc Access, and is hosted by Dr. Bruce Karlin, bringing us the latest news from the medical world. It airs Tuesdays at 3:30 pm, Wednesdays at 9:30 pm and Fridays at 6;30 pm. The Dungeon of Dr. Dreck comes to us from Bellingham Public Access and features horror movie host Dr. Dreck and his zombie cheerleader sidekick Moaner. They bring viewers sci-fi, thriller and horror movies from the 40’s thorught the 60’s and it airs on Mondays at 10 pm and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 11pm. Also new this year is Edge TV from GCTV producer Pat O’Connell. Pat brings his viewers hard rock music, fast cars, and beautiful women in this fast paced show. Edge TV airs Tuesdays at 10 pm and Fridays, Saturday and Sundays at 1 am. Dale and Linda Bent, 2 producers from the Fall 2004 class teamed up with Grafton Resident Don Cargill to bring us Bits n Bytes, a computer related call in show. Viewers can call Don for answers to their questions or watch to learn something new about computers every other week. Bits n Bytes airs live every other Thursday at 8 pm, and replays Tuesdays at 7 pm and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 6 pm. The GCTV Staff started producing a 1/2 hour local news program called What’s Happenin’, Grafton? that brings Grafton stories about events and happenings around town. WHG airs Thursdays at 7 pm and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8:30 pm. Jan Ronfeld revived JR Presents... the Holy Blabbermouth, which now airs Mondays at 3:30 pm, Tuesdays at 10:30 pm, and Thursdays at 5:30 pm. Returning General and Public interest series included Good Neighbors, Cooking with Tasha, Along the Blackstone, History in the Making, Blazis Nature Specials, and Be My Guest. In addition, returning to the line up were the Diocesan Special from the Catholic Diocese of Worcester, Music & The Spoken Word, Bloomin’ with the Bemis’ & Thyme in the Kitchen from Spencer Access, and of course Two Guys Who Like to Talk, GCTV’s bi-weekly live call-in talk show. Also, tapes were received from the 1st Congregational Church of Hopkinton. Shows that ceased production this year were: Reinventing Yourself and Backpacker’s Journal. The biggest event of the year was the annual Live New Year's Eve Extravaganza at GCTV, which has continued to please audiences for the past 8 years. The show featured all new skits and montages, as well as live call-ins from the audience. There were psychic predictions for the new year by Stephen and Tasha Halpert, Random Acts of Karaoke, and over $600 in prize giveaways donated by local businesses. The show was hosted, of course, by Rick Schultze and directed by Bill Robidoux. The event was broadcast live on Dec. 31st starting at 9 PM and ended at approx. 12:30 am on Jan. 1, 2006. New Equipment Purchases in 2005 – Remote cameras for meeting rooms, Fostex audio monitor, Bogen Manfrotto camera tripod/dolly, Echo Lab Shift 3 & 356 Switcher option for the Chromakey switcher, audio upgrade components for the Government Channel meeting room, a new G4 Mac Computer for use with the Media 100 Editing System, updated equipment to improve lighting system, various studio set supplies.

Public Input – This topic is a staple on the Cable TV Oversight Committee Agenda and we welcome input from Grafton’s Charter Communications subscribers and public access producers – all are invited to attend our monthly meetings or to contact us. The Committee meets monthly (usually the third Saturday) and meetings are always posted at the town hall. The Committee can be reached by writing to:

Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee
30 Providence Road
Grafton, MA 01519

Current issues - with the Cable TV Oversight Committee involve plans to continue to update equipment, modernize studio operations and continue to migrate to digital technologies. Discussed at every meeting are possible equipment purchases and review of the latest and best technology that would be appropriate for the Town of Grafton to utilize in public access programming and broadcast.

Danielle DeLucia, Grafton’s Public Access Coordinator, Bob Hassinger, Chairman for the CATV Oversight Committee, Mark Durfee, Vice Chairman for the CATV Oversight Committee and Audrey Egan, former CATV Oversight Committee member, contributed the information included in this report.

GRAFTON CABLE TELEVISION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
EXPENSES IN EXCESS OF $500 OR OVER

Univisions Crimson $11,981.98
The Camera Company $6,474.70
Cambridge Electronics $3,997.60

Respectfully submitted,

Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee
Bob Hassinger, Chairman
Mark Durfee, Vice Chairman/Treasurer
Richard Schultze, Member
Corson Wyman, Member
Bill Robidoux, Ex-officio (non-voting)

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Efforts of the Cable Television Oversight Committee, Town Administrator, Board of Selectmen and Charter Communications have resulted in the following activity in the Town of Grafton in 2004:

Government Access Channel – The CATV Committee and the Board of Selectmen have facilitated operations on Grafton’s Government Access Channel (Channel 12). The result of these efforts is a newly hired Access Assistant to contribute to the management of the channel that is devoted to governmental business – including a bulletin board announcing meetings/agendas and live/taped coverage of board of selectmen meetings. This channel is also available for playback of taped meetings and allows for greater flexibility for programming on Channel 11.

Access Assistant – As stated, Chairman Bob Hassinger and Russ Connor, Town Administrator interviewed applicants for a part time position to assist in the management of Channel 12 and tape/broadcast government meetings. The newly hired assistant is available 14-18 hours during the week to facilitate these duties and the result has been live broadcasts of Board of Selectmen meetings and regularly scheduled playbacks of those meetings in addition to workshops or special events that are taped on the BOS behalf. The Access Assistant, in addition to the government channel duties of Channel 12, also assists Grafton producers on Channel 11 with live broadcasts and playback schedules as well. The access assistant is also required to attend all CATV meetings and work with the CATV Committee to facilitate smooth operations at both the Government and Public Access levels.

The level of activity on both the Government and Public Access programming has increased substantially and all efforts are being made to accommodate and encourage growth in these programming areas.

Massachusetts Cable Division CTV Docket – The Committee worked closely with Attorney Bill August, of Epstein & August, LLP and several other municipalities concerned about legislation proposed by cable companies to terminate municipal Issuing Authority ascertainment of community cable needs 18 months prior to license expiration. Grafton joined and contributed to the joint Reply Comments of fourteen Issuing Authorities, thirteen Access Centers, and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Alliance for Community Media, for entry into the record in CTV 03-3, Investigation by the Cable Television Division of the Department of Telecommunications and Energy on its Own Motion to Review the Form 100. The CATV Committee remains dedicated contributing to a strong coalition in support for protecting municipal franchising in Massachusetts and are watching any and all proposed legislation very closely.

Public Access Usage - In the year 2004, portable equipment was provided for producers 58 times, with Linear Editing equipment being requested 48 times. Non Linear Editing equipment was requested 172 times. 92 studio shoots were produced in the year 2004. There were 219 bulletins posted on the GCTV Bulletin Board in the year 2004.

Production Course - A production course was offered in the Spring of 2004 and 11 new producers were certified. A production course was offered in the Fall of 2004 and 10 new producers were certified.

These statistics represent a trend of significant increases over the previous year’s Total Yearly Use Statistics – programming and editing time slots are in great demand, GCTV-11 has never been more active!

Programming Summary - Sports programming in 2004 included GHS Boys JV Basketball vs. Quabog, GHS Boys JV Basketball vs. Auburn, GHS Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Auburn, Grafton Chiefs Football- Junior Midget Highlights, Grafton Chiefs Football - Junior PeeWee Highlights, GHS Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Northbridge, GHS Boys JV Basketball vs. David Prouty, GHS Girls JV Basketball vs. Auburn, St. Peter Marian vs. St. John Hockey, Central MA Baseball Final- Grafton vs. Nipmuc, GHS Varsity Football vs. Leicester, GHS Varsity Football vs. Northbridge, GHS Varsity Football vs. Nipmuc, and a Grafton Girls U-10 Soccer game. In addition in November 2004, GCTV began airing “Go Fish with Dan Kenney” a fishing series from Leicester Cable Access, which airs on Mondays at 7 pm, Wednesdays at 3 pm and Thursdays at 12 pm.

Interview, news, and politically oriented programs broadcast on GCTV-11 in the year 2004 included Grafton Celebrates the Holidays 2003, 2 Political PSA’s sponsored by Marsha Platt- “Packing the Courts” and “March for Freedom of Choice”, a special entitled “Maple Sugaring”, a PSA entitled “Glodis for Sheriff” produced by GCTV’s Ninos Hanna, Grafton Update’s Candidates Night 2004 produced by Audrey Egan, the 2004 League of Women Voter’s Candidate’s Night videotaped by Steve Rybicki, “New Bishop Installation” from the Catholic Diocese of Worcester, an episode of “Public Safety Network” from Worcester Access that featured an interview with Guy Glodis, a PSA about the location of the new Fire Station in Grafton Center, CenTech Park Dedication, “The Greatest Gift” which was a PSA about organ Donation from the Lions Club, Lake Quinsigamond Commission Meeting 6/23/04, “Meet Ed Augustus” which was a PSA signed for by Tasha Halpert, A PSA entitled “We Are Apple Tree Arts” which was self- produced by the non-profit organization, “Grafton Update: A Distant Memory” which was a special hour program dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease produced by Audrey Egan, Lake Quinsigamond Commission Meeting 7/28/04, 2 Worcester Country Foodbank PSA’s, “New Police Chief Swearing-in” of Normand Crepeau, BOS/Planning Board Summit Meeting of 8/24/04, “Faith Videos” signed for by Roger Isabelle, League of Women Voter’s Candidates’ Night (State Races) videotaped by Steve Rybicki, and an episode of “Black and Right” from Athol/Orange TV featuring an interview with Frank Beshai, candidate for Worcester County Sheriff. “Open For Business”, a series from the Corridor Nine Chamber of Commerce began airing semi-regularly on GCTV in 2004, as did “Capitol Perspective”, the series produced by Senator Kennedy’s office and signed for by Mark Durfee. “The Naked Truth” is a program from Shrewsbury Access that is hosted and produced by Sunil Lala, aimed at the Indian population of Central MA in an adult themed late night talk show format, and began airing Tuesdays at 10 pm and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at Midnight in December 2004 on GCTV-11. In addition, Grafton Government meetings that were broadcast live on Channel 12 were re-broadcast on Channel 11 on Mondays at 1 and 7 PM and again on Thursdays at 7 PM through October 31st, 2004. Starting November 1st, 2004, all Government programming, both playback and live broadcasts, switched to Channel 12, including BOS meetings, Town Meetings, and any other event that the Town Government chooses to cover. Town Meeting in May 2004 was broadcast live by Steve Rybicki and then replayed periodically over the next few weeks on Channel 11, and the October Town Meeting was broadcast on Channel 12 by Mike Lobo, Grafton Government Access Assistant, with help from Steve Rybicki.

Many School and Children's events were taped in the year 2004 and GCTV continued to try to bring these events to the public. Some of these programs were: NGES Holiday Concerts 2003, The Grafton Education Alliance Spelling Bee, The NGES Spring Bonnet Show, Blackstone Valley Tech - “Looking Toward Tomorrow”, GHS Presents... “Guys & Dolls”, GES Presents... “A Salute to Broadway”, The SGES/GES Memorial Day Programs, NGES Memorial Day Program, Blackstone Valley Tech Graduation 2004, NGES Halloween Parade 2004, SGES Halloween Parade 2004, Worcester Art Museum Christmas Concert 2004, and the Apple Tree Arts Holiday Concert 2004. In April 2004, GCTV began airing “JoJo’s Dream Cart” a program from Somerville Public Access, produced and Hosted by Joanne ‘JoJo’ LaRiccia that teaches kids not to give up on their dreams using original music and interviews, and discussions between guests and kids. “JoJo’s Dream Cart” airs on GCTV on Mondays at 5:30 pm, Tuesdays at 3:30 pm, and Thursdays at 1:30 pm. In addition, starting in October 2004, GCTV once again began airing the GHS news and information series from the GHS TV Production Class, called “GHS on A Roll.” This program is now produced weekly and airs Tuesdays at 6:30 pm, Wednesdays at 9 pm, and Fridays at 1:30 pm.

Music Programming included one episode of our longest running musical show, "Music Reminiscence with Roger Isabelle", which is no longer in regular production, and episodes of another GCTV show “Local Folk”, also no longer in regular production. As always, The Grafton School system provided many musical productions that were taped and broadcast over the year. Also broadcast this year: The Westboro Community Chorus Christmas Show 2003, The Kris Graham School’s Piano and Flute Recital videotaped by Joanne L’Esperance, The Westboro Community Chorus Spring Show 2004, and “Les Petits Chanteurs”, a performance by a French Boys Choir videotaped by Joanne L’Esperance.

Several new general interest programs began airing on GCTV in the year 2004. Gary Murray, a Grafton resident, took the GCTV production class this year and began airing a live talk show “The Gary Murray Show” every other Tuesday night at 8 pm. The hour-long program replays on GCTV on Tuesday nights at 8 pm and Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11 pm, and combines live and phone interviews, Political and Sports commentary, and live music in the vein of Conan O’Brien, David Letterman and Jay Leno. Also, as mentioned earlier in this report, “The Naked Truth”, “Go Fish with Dan Kenney”, and “JoJo’s Dream Cart” all started airing regularly, and “Capitol Perspective” and “Open For Business” aired semi-regularly.

Returning General and Public interest shows included Good Neighbors, Cooking with Tasha, Along the Blackstone, History in the Making, and Reinventing Yourself. In addition, returning to the line up were the Diocesan Special from the Catholic Diocese of Worcester, Music & The Spoken Word, Backpacker’s Journal, Be My Guest, Bloomin’ with the Bemis’ & Thyme in the Kitchen from Spencer Access, and of course Two Guys Who Like to Talk, GCTV’s bi-weekly live call-in talk show, which hit a milestone this year- 100 episodes, and still going strong. Also, tapes were received from the 1st Congregational Church of Hopkinton and Fishing Central MA was brought to us by Sutton Public Access, though it ceased airing as of March 2004. Jan Ronfeld tried a 2 episode revival of JR Presents... The Holy Blabbermouth, which consequently ceased production once again. Helen Blazis continued to air her hour long wildlife, nature and sociology specials, bringing us “Amazon Adventure” and “Hunting Safari in Namibia”, and this year she finally decided to bring all her programs together under one name so that they could begin airing regularly on GCTV. Starting in November 2004, “Blazis Nature Specials” began airing on Mondays at 8 pm, Tuesdays at 5 pm and Thursdays at 2 pm. In addition, starting in November 2004, Jan Lewis switched the format of her show “Be My Guest” from a pre-taped 1/2 hour program to an hour long live call in program. The show airs live every other Thursday night at 8 pm, and replays on Thursdays at 8 pm, and Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays at 7 pm. Shows that ceased production this year were: Yoga with Dyan, The Not So Late Show with Dave Rivers, Paintball Frenzy, The 9th Dimension, Swaggart Ministry, and as mentioned above, Local Folk.

The 2 biggest events of the year were the 2 Guys 100th Episode, which was 2 hours long and delved back through the past 3 1/2 years for the best and worst of 2 Guys; and as always, the annual Live New Year's Eve Extravaganza at GCTV, which has continued to please audiences for the past 7 years. The show featured all new skits and montages, as well as live call-ins from the audience. There were psychic predictions for the new year by Stephen and Tasha Halpert, Random Acts of Karaoke, a “Laugh-In Wall” and over $600 in prize giveaways donated by local businesses. The show was hosted, of course, by everyone’s favorite Guys Who Like to Talk, Rick Schultze & Bill Robidoux. The event was broadcast live on December 31st starting at 9 PM and ended at approx. 12:30 am on January 1, 2005.

New Equipment Purchases in 2004 – 2 DV recorders/players, additional equipment for playback automation, additional non-linear digital editing system with a new computer, Infochannel bulletin board system, 2 digital camcorders, character generator, digital record/edit deck and camera tripod

Public Input – This topic is a staple on the Cable TV Oversight Committee Agenda and we welcome input from Grafton’s Charter Communications subscribers and public access producers – all are invited to attend our monthly meetings or to contact us. The Committee meets monthly (usually the third Saturday) and meetings are always posted at the town hall. The Committee can be reached by writing to:

Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee
30 Providence Road
Grafton, MA 01519

Current issues - with the Cable TV Oversight Committee involve plans to continue to update equipment, modernize studio operations and continue to migrate to digital technologies. Also, the Committee expects to add additional government meeting programming. Discussed at every meeting are possible equipment purchases and review of the latest and best technology that would be appropriate for the Town of Grafton to utilize in public access programming and broadcast.

Danielle DeLucia, Grafton’s Public Access Coordinator, Bob Hassinger, Chairman for the CATV Oversight Committee, Mark Durfee, Vice Chairman for the CATV Oversight Committee and Audrey Egan, former CATV Oversight Committee member, contributed the information included in this report.

GRAFTON CABLE TELEVISION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
EXPENSES IN EXCESS OF $500 OR OVER

The Camera Company $ 23,950.28
Media 100, Inc. $ 2,544.95

Respectfully submitted,

Grafton Cable Television Oversight Committee
Bob Hassinger, Chairman
Mark Durfee, Vice Chairman/Treasurer
Richard Schultze, Member
Barry Dennis, Member
Audrey Egan, Contributor

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