About CVTV

In November 1981 the City of Vancouver and Clark County, Washington, granted a joint franchise to Cox Cable to provide cable television services to 50,000 households in the City and the urban, unincorporated area of Clark County. In June 1986, Cox sold the Vancouver/Clark County system to Columbia Cable of Washington, and in November 1995 TCI of Southern Washington assumed control of the system from Columbia. AT&T Broadband, in late 1999, assumed control of TCI, and in June 2002 Comcast Corporation assumed control of AT&T.  As of December 31, 2006, there were 81,124 cable subscribers in Vancouver/Clark County. The cable system now passes 155,316 homes in Vancouver/Clark County.

Comcast is franchised to provide cable service in unincorporated Clark County and the cities of Vancouver, Battle Ground, Camas, Washougal, La Center and Ridgefield from the Vancouver/Clark County system headquartered at 40th and Andresen in Vancouver.

As a provision of the franchise agreement with Comcast, two channels are made available for exclusive use by the City of Vancouver and Clark County local governments. Such are the roots of Clark/Vancouver Television - CVTV Channel 23 and Channel 21. Both channels are programmed seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

CVTV was recognized for Overall Excellence in Government Programming with operating budgets between $250,000-500,000 by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors in September 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999 & 2000, and has received numerous other national programming awards; including eight first place NATOA programming awards since 1993.

Who Produces Programming For CVTV? 

All programming is produced and aired by the City/County Cable Television Office, which operates as a joint agency of City and County government. The Cable TV Office is also charged with responsibility for franchise regulation.

Programming is produced under the direction of the Media Services Director who serves as Executive Producer. The Production Department includes four full-time positions - the Cable Television Manager, Video Services Coordinator and two Video Producers, as well as 10-15 part-time Video Production Assistants.

All productions are the responsibility of the Cable TV Office, separate from Comcast Cable Services activities.

What Kind Of Programming Is Produced By CVTV? 

CVTV produces a variety of programming for the Vancouver/Clark County community.

Examples include:

Live Meetings - Regular gavel-to-gavel coverage of City Council; City Planning Commission; Telecommunications Commission meetings; Clark County Land Use and Animal Control Hearings; as well as special hearings and forums by Local, State, and Federal agencies. (All LIVE cablecasts are also videotaped and repeated several times on Channel 23 & 21.)

City Minutes - A bi-monthly, 1/2-hour discussion program about City and community issues and activities.

Clark County Focus - A monthly, 1/2-hour program which features a panel of local journalists interviewing County Commissioners on current topics.

Clark County Close Up - A monthly 1/2-hour magazine program about County issues, programs, activities, and personalities.

Capital Perspectives:  A View from the Other Washington - A 1/2-hour program featuring in-depth interviews with either our 3rd District U.S. Representative, one of our two U.S. Senators, the Governor, or other elected State officials, such as the Washington State Attorney General.

Forums and Hearings - CVTV provides complete, taped coverage of Chamber of Commerce and Columbia River Economic Development Council forums, as well as other special community meetings, hearings and forums.

Elections - In cooperation with the League of Women Voters and other community groups, CVTV provides complete coverage of candidates' debates and forums for every election cycle. CVTV also produces one-on-one primary and general election candidate interviews conducted by members of the local media.  CVTV also provides live television coverage of primary and general election results in Clark County.

Community Programming – Select concerts, children and special audience programming, parades and other events of special interest to the entire community.

Special Projects - Community event documentaries, local government/department promotional pieces, videos for local government lobbying efforts at the state level, and in-depth coverage of local government issues as they arise - including gavel-to-gavel meeting coverage and interview/discussion programs - is provided.

Text Messages - Character-generated printed messages about local government events and services appear on the channel whenever there is no video programming.

Staff Training - Staff orientation videos, lectures, simulations, discussions, and case studies are produced for City or County agencies to aid in staff development and specialized training. These are frequently replayed on a discrete City/County training channel provided by Comcast.

How Long Has CVTV Been Programming? 

CVTV has been producing regular programming for the community since July 1983. Live telecasts began in April 1984.

How Many Hours Of Programming Are Cablecast On CVTV A Week? 

From five hours of programming a week in July 1983. As of July 2000, CVTV cablecasts video programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Programs are produced almost exclusively by CVTV.

In 2006, 626 original programs were produced for a total of 885 hours of programming. Of this total, 545 were LIVE productions.

What Is The Annual Budget For CVTV? 

The 2007 budget for CVTV is approximately $608,623 ($277,861/City programming; $330,762/County programming).

Who Provides Equipment For CVTV? 

CVTV has purchased approximately $2,000,000 in video production equipment for City and County use over the past twenty three years. This includes portable production gear, post-production (editing) equipment, and fixed-site production equipment for City Council Chambers, the Clark County Public Service Center hearing room and the Northwest Regional Training Center (Fire District 5). Studio productions are taped in CVTV's own studio at 202 E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver.

How Is CVTV Programming Publicized? 

Complete CVTV program schedules are printed in the daily listings of the Sunday Columbian TV Times. Program schedules are also available on the City of Vancouver’s Internet site at www.cityofvancouver.us, on Clark County’s Internet site at www.co.clark.wa.us, and www.cvtv.org.

Is All Programming Produced By CVTV Staff For Cablecast? 

In addition to producing programming for cablecast on Channel 23 & 21, City/County Cable Staff provides training to City and County personnel on how to use 1/2" video equipment. Videotaped training sessions and in-house productions are other cost-effective internal uses of video resources.

Is CVTV Programming Only Available On The Vancouver/Clark County Cable TV System?

Since the fall of 2005, CVTV programming is also available on the Internet through video streaming as well as on the Vancouver/Clark County cable television system.  Programming on CVTV 23 is streamed live in “real time” and programs are available “on demand” through the Internet at any time.  All CVTV programs are available on-line, on-demand for viewing for approximately 6 months. Use of the Internet “on demand” service has steadily increased from approximately 3,000 programs viewed in September 2005 to over 7,500 programs viewed on-line in January 2007.  CVTV programming may be viewed from anywhere in the world by going to www.cvtv.org. (High speed internet connections are recommended over dial up.)

For More Information, Please Contact:

Donna M. Mason, Director
donna.mason@ci.vancouver.wa.us
Jim Demmon, Cable Television Manager
jim.demmon@ci.vancouver.wa.us
City of Vancouver
Department of Media Services/CVTV
P.O. Box 1995
Vancouver, WA 98668

Phone: (360) 487-8702 or (360) 487-8703
Fax: 360-487-8719