Stimulus and recovery on community access TV

June 8, 2009

Telling you about stimulus opportunities is a big part of our job at the Office of Economic Stimulus and Recovery. Community Access TV provides in depth coverage which lets us get into the details of the very complex American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA better known as the stimulus bill) and the three hundred or so separate programs it funds.

There are 25 community access centers which operate 43 local cable channels and serve 100,000 cable households in Vermont according to the about page of CCTV in Burlington. These channels are funded by a percentage of the gross revenue of cable companies and sometimes contributions as well. Each access center produces and hosts shows and broadcasts them on local cable channels. You can't get them over the air or on satellite or out of the region in which they're produced except when the access centers share shows with each other, which they sometimes do. And, very importantly, the access centers make some of their shows available on the Internet so you can get them anytime and anywhere you have a good enough broadband connection.