LUDLOW, Vt. – At their Feb. 15 meeting, the Ludlow Rotary Club heard from Okemo Valley TV’s Executive Director Patrick Cody. He provided a report on the station’s activities of late, it various challenges and its opportunities. He reported that the biggest challenge for the station has been keeping up with the rapid technological changes. Keeping up with technological shifts is an expensive but essential practice due to the ways people have changed their viewing habits over the years. Okemo Valley TV keeps a video on demand archive on its website, has a YouTube channel, and is also available on the free “Cablecast Screenwave” app on Roku and Apple TV.
When the station began in 2001 as LPCTV, viewers were cable TV subscribers who received the channels with their subscription. Cable TV was by far the largest source of revenue for the not-for-profit entity, as Comcast is required to pay a small percentage of every customer’s fees to support community access (PEG) TV in return for the exclusive cable rights to this market area. However, this applies only to cable television, not to internet service.
In response to declining cable subscriptions, Cody and the Board have looked to sponsorships from local businesses and individuals as well as town appropriations to keep the station operating and up to date with equipment needs. One critical equipment need has been outfitting towns with remote meeting and broadcasting capacity as a result of Covid. Cody is working with several towns in their broadcast area to establish remote meeting capabilities for each of them. Cody spoke to the increase in participation in government meetings because residents and non-residents can Zoom into a meeting from the comfort of their home even if they are out of town.
Also important to the station’s operation is public participation in producing and airing local public interest content. Residents who wish to produce videos or host a show are encouraged to contact the station for more details. Patrick can be reached at 802-228-8808, or by email at manager@okemovalley.tv.
Anyone interested in learning more about joining Rotary is invited to contact Kevin Barnes, Membership Chairman at 802-228-8877, to receive an invitation to a meeting.