envision_DATV
- 1. 6 A Ay an l In 1978, Americans were going to the movies to see John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in “Grease.” A peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia named Jimmy Carter was the President. And future NBA star Kobe Bryant was born. Another significant day that year was March 1st, 1978, when DATV, then Access- 30-Dayton, began cablecasting on Viacom cable in the City of Dayton. Then, cable television was in its infancy and many different types of programming ideas were beginning to form. It wasn’t even until the next year on September 7th, 1979, another network with the then crazy idea of 24 hour sports programming named ESPN was born. Access television would be unique, not meant to compete directly with commercial television, but to serve as a community forum and public gathering place on TV where views could be expressed, ideas exchanged and local information communicated to viewers. The idea of “Access” television in Dayton began in 1977. Roxie Cole, DATV’s founder and first Executive Director, had the foresight and a grant from the Ohio Board of Regent to help create DATV (Dayton Access Television). The staff consisted of one, Cole, and a budget of $39,000 and $50,000 worth of television equipment. Compared to commercial television the funding was small, but it was a start. And on March 1, 1978, operating from one room in the basement of Roberts Hall at the United Theological Seminary, DATV, went live into cable TV homes around Dayton. From there Cole set out to build on her dream of community television in Dayton. She developed a Board of Trustees representing a cross section of the Dayton community and then on April 4, 1979, Dayton Public Access Television, Inc., was incorporated as a nonprofit, 501© (3) organization in the State of Ohio. “Serving the Dayton community for 35 years could have never taken place if not for the hard work and dedication of our volunteers and producers,” said Steve Ross, DATV Executive Director. “From the vision of founder, Roxie Cole and past city leaders, an avenue for citizen commentary and 1st Amendment expression was created and Dayton has greatly benefited from that legacy.” For the next 13 years Cole would help to promote DATV and encourage its use by Dayton area residents. For approximately five of those years DATV was located in the building known as the “White House” on the grounds of the United Theological Seminary. Then in 1983 DATV moved into the rear of the Viacom Cable building at 275 Leo Street. After the first of a series of channel number relocations Access-30-Dayton was rebranded as DATV on March 1st, 1992. The name change coincided with its move from channel 30 to 20. Another milestone for DATV came on September 14th, 1992 when it began cablecasting from its newly renovated studio located at 280 Leo St. in Dayton. On that Monday at 3:00 pm DATV volunteer Clarence Hogan aired the first show from the new control room “Dayton Black Unity Performers.” The white building, with blue lettering, is a renovated 10,000 square foot building. It has a 40X50 studio, 7 editing stations, volunteer lounge, conference room, administration offices and a training room. The total price tag for this state of the art television facility geared toward the Dayton community was nearly $700,000. But when it was completed, it gave the citizens of Dayton the “Freedom to Communicate” by empowering local citizens to create their own non-commercial television programs. The inventory has grown from black and white cameras to top of the line digital cameras. Producers now have the capability to edit their programs on computers loaded with the latest nonlinear editing software. DATV saw a flurry of activity during the early 90s including; the opening of its Community Media Center, being named a finalist for the Community Communications Awards for Public Access, launching its web site in 1995, and being named recipient of the Alliance For Community Media’s highest programming honor which is the Hometown Award for Overall Excellence in Public Access Programming. DATV has also been quick to embrace new technology and experiment with ways to help the public tell their unique and compelling stories. As early as 1995 DATV created its web presence at www.datv.org, and now that presence has grown even more with live streaming of both DATV and Dayton Spiritual Television, as well as having hundreds of archived programs available for on-demand viewing. With the popularity of DATV growing even more and an ever expanding interest in spiritual programming by area churches DATV launched its second channel on August 2, 1998, when Dayton Spiritual Television, debuted airing local religious programming produced by area churches. “Today we have over 75 churches of many denominations that have expanded their ministries to television by creating weekly programs on Dayton Spiritual Television,” said Melissa Constantine, DATV Program Director. “These programs provide the opportunity for viewers who are unable to attend church services to be inspired by messages of faith, hope and love.” Dayton Spiritual Television can be seen on channel 992 regionally on Time Warner cable. In 2003 DATV celebrated its 25th Anniversary of giving Dayton “The Freedom To Communicate.” And as a part of this celebration DATV buried a time capsule in front of the building that is set to be opened on March 1st, 2078 in honor of DATV’s 100th Anniversary. Today DATV has transitioned to a digital studio with up to six cameras including remote controlled robotics, and a Tricaster video switching system. DATV holds free orientations the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6pm for anyone who is interested in becoming a member of DATV. For only $50 a year members can partake in a variety of video production workshops and use DATV’s portable and studio cameras to create their own non-commercial TV programs. “We encourage everyone to participate in their community by becoming a DATV member and learning how they can create their own local media,” said Dale Grow, DATV Volunteer Coordinator. “Our training program is geared toward making it easy for the average person to quickly start producing programming.” DATV can be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 5 in the City of Dayton, Riverside and Butler Twp. and is streaming live at www.datv.org. In January of 2013, the City of Dayton awarded DATV a new 10 year contract to continue to provide Community Media in Dayton. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT