Montague Community Television

MCTV:

  • Is a project of MCCI (Montague Community Cable, Inc.)

  • Is a non-profit, non-commercial, PEG Access* station

  • Serves the towns of Montague, Gill and Erving (3500 cable subscribers of a population of about 8500 in Montague)

  • Is operated by part time staff and volunteers

  • Is supported both by cable access fees and local sponsors

MCTV provides vital community services:

  • Government access programs

  • Public service announcements

  • Select local news and event coverage

  • Training on and access to equipment

  • Airing member-produced shows

  • Community partnerships to help promote local services

MCTV controls two local channels:

  • Channel 17 - All Montague, all the time. MCTV runs either live or pre-taped meetings or shows. We have a Princeton Server with 400 hours of content at the ready, and a live studio to provide content.

  • Channel 15 - All Greenfield, all the time. MCTV has arranged to "pass-through" GCTV’s programming to Montague’s channel 15. This arrangement can change at any time, and we welcome the public’s input into how to best utilize Montague’s second public access channel.

* What is PEG Access?

"PEG" stands for Public, Educational and Government Access. The purpose of PEG Access cable TV is to give a slice of the broadcast airwaves back to the public so citizens can retain a voice in a media-conglomerate dominated America, as well as have easier access to the goings on of Town government (you can only fit so many people into the selectboard meeting room). According to Mass Access, "Today, public, educational and governmental access television stations across America, and around the world, annually produce more hours of original, non-repeated programming than ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox Network combined."

In addition to cablecasting local productions, MCTV downloads PEG programs produced by other stations around the world.