Medford Community Cablevision, Inc.
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TV3, owned and operated by Medford Community Cablevision, Inc., is a public-access television channel serving Medford, Massachusetts. It was created by mandate of the
1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (codified at ) was an act of Congress passed on October 30, 1984 to promote competition and deregulate the cable television industry. The act established a national policy for the regulation of cable tel ...
. The channel's current facilities are located at 5 High Street, under then-U.S. Representative (and present-day United States Senator) Ed Markey's office in Medford Square. Medford Community Cablevision oversees the community's public access television on
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
channel 3. It functions as both a production facility as well as a telecast station. In 2010 the station unveiled new services to the community including video on demand and 24/7
streaming video Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
services on its website. Medford Community Cablevision has been recognized by the
Alliance for Community Media The Alliance for Community Media (ACM), is an educational, advocacy and lobbying organization in the United States which represents Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV organizations and community media centers throughout the co ...
in 2008 and 2011 for "Overall Excellence in Public Television". In June 2011, the station announced
Medford Cable News __NOTOC__ Medford may refer to: * Medford (surname) Places Canada * Medford, Nova Scotia England * Medford Hall, Staffordshire United States * Medford, Indiana * Medford, Maine *Medford, Massachusetts * Medford, Minnesota * Medford, Miss ...
, the city's first non-profit broadcast news station.


History

TV3 is an independent corporation contracted by the city to provide public cable access. It is funded with 1% of Comcast's Medford revenue. Community Cablevision, Inc. is run by a thirteen seat Board of Directors of whom four are elected by the station's paid membership, one is appointed by the Mayor, and the other seven are appointed by existing board members. Some board members serve for many years. The station was founded in 1984. In the 2000s, critics accused the station of being controlled by a small cabal of insiders. In 2008, the station's General Manager Dawn Natalia resigned. In 2009, an investigating commission found that the station had produced 13 films starring board members while neglecting to broadcast a popular local parade, and recommended that the chairman of the station's board be replaced and that the station reform its finances and management; however, the commission, presided over by a retired judge, was not empowered to make legally binding rulings.


Programming

Over the decades, TV3 Medford has had programming including game shows, movie review, talk radio, entertainment, music, religion, finance, and politics. In 2010, the station added multi-language programming in Spanish, Portuguese,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and Russian. From 2009 to 2011, TV3 Medford featured a children's television block that ran weekdays and weekends from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. The 2007 program ''Energy Smackdown'' was a reality game show in which three Medford families competed to reduce home energy use. The station also airs syndicated programs such as ''Hot & Cold'', ''Saturday Fright Special'', and syndicated programs created by
Robert Greenwald Robert Greenwald (born August 28, 1945) is an American filmmaker, and the founder of Brave New Films, a nonprofit film and advocacy organization whose work is distributed for free in concert with nonprofit partners and movements in order to educ ...
.


Notable guests

In 2010, the original program ''Inside the Music'', produced by saxophonist Deric Dyer, featured musician and former ''
SNL ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' singer
Christine Ohlman Christine Ohlman (born November 25, in the Bronx, New York City) is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, recording artist, music scholar. Her nickname "The Beehive Queen" refers to her distinctive platinum beehive. She leads the band ''Christine Oh ...
. Deric Dyer has been associated with Tina Turner and
Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...
for more than two decades. Long-running controversial late-night show ''Zapp TV'' was first broadcast live on 40 Canal Street in Medford. Since then, the show has tackled many local and mainstream topics. Other notable guests included politician
Joseph L. Kennedy The 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was a special election held on January 19, 2010, in order to fill the Massachusetts Class I United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013. It was ...
. The third sports program to air on TV3, ''Real Grass Real Heroes'', hosted by sports writer and television announcer Jim Tuberosa, features sports figures and sports writers from many generations. In 2010, the program welcomed WBZ-TV sportscaster
Bob Lobel Robert "Bob" Lobel (born December 24, 1943) is a former sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. He anchored the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday, and hosted the weekly programs ''Sports Final'' and ' ...
, long-time sports announcer and former 1960s
Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
executive, Upton Bell, pro ice hockey player
Rick Middleton Richard David "Nifty" Middleton (born December 4, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. Playing career As a youth, Middleton played in the 1966 Quebec ...
, and world welterweight boxing champion Tony DeMarco.


Controversial program

On April 8, 2010, the one-run program ''Dirty Talk Live: Sex Advice, and Naughty Stories'' aired on TV3 at 8:00 p.m. and sparked controversy among residents, politicians, and local media. The program was a live call-in format featuring a sex therapist, a panel of young adults, and a dominatrix. The program was uncensored and unedited which led to TV3 being called out for lewdness. On the screen, there was a still image of two "scantily clad" women kissing. In the corner of the screen, "they had a picture of a squirrel standing erect with a part of the male anatomy sticking out"; audio of two women discussing sexual matters played over the image on the screen. Medford Council President Robert Maiocco claimed "It was flat-out pornographic. This wasn't just regular locker room talk, it was obscene. It's what even the Supreme Court has ruled as being pornographic." Councilor Robert Penta in a rage shouted over a City Council Meeting to the TV3 management that "you are sick to allow that to be broadcast over Channel 3." TV3's Director of Operations Daniel Sarno defended the content of the program, telling Fox News "anything that is protected under the First Amendment is fair game on public access television". The media attention lasted approximately one week.


References


External links


TV3 official website
{{Boston TV American public access television Television stations in Boston