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NORTH TV WINS NATIONAL AWARDS FOR |
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The recent announcement of the national Hometown Video Award winners by the Alliance for Community Media included only a handful of cable access corporations who had won multiple awards. Among them are many large metropolitan areas throughout the country including Ann Arbor, Michigan; Boston, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Nashville, Tennessee; and San Jose, California.
Although the population of the town of North Attleboro can’t compare with those major cities, the same can’t be said for the town’s cable access corporation – North Attleborough Community Television. Known to town residents as North TV, the producer of local programs on the Comcast and Verizon systems garnered two awards in the national competition that included more than a thousand entries from the country’s more than three thousand cable access corporations.
“Viewers have often heard me say that we have one of the hardest working and most talented staffs in the business,” said North TV executive director Peter Gay. “These awards prove it,” he added.
“A Town of Faith” was chosen as the top Spiritual and Inspirational program, as produced by a professional staff, in the nation. The quarterly program which features interviews with local clergy and tours of North Attleboro churches is produced and edited by North TV’s access coordinator Michelle Lussier and is hosted by Gay. The episode that was submitted for consideration featured Sacred Heart Church and included an extensive interview with the church’s Pastor, the Reverend David Costa. Churches showcased on the series to date include the Central Congregational Church, Congregation Agudas Achim, the First Baptist Church, the First Congregational Church – the Old Town Church, the First United Methodist Church, Grace Episcopal Church, and St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church.
“It’s wonderful to be recognized nationally for a program that focuses solely on North Attleboro and I am honored to be such an integral part of that,” stated Lussier.
Deb Marcoux, who serves as the president of North TV’s board of directors, is proud of the group’s awards. “It is a great accomplishment for North TV to win for the ‘A Town of Faith’ series, and one to be particularly proud of as we celebrate our fifth year of bringing high quality, original programming to the town,” Marcoux said. “Being recognized by the Alliance for Community Media for producing one of the best public access programs within the nation is quite an honor, and one the staff of North TV is certainly well deserving of,” she added.
Last year’s North Attleboro at Attleboro Thanksgiving Day football game was singled out by judges for special recognition, citing the expertise of producer/director Chris Miller and the knowledge of announcers Gay, Joe Andruzzi, and Steve Houle. One judge commented, “The station has all of the cool toys and people who know how to use them.”
“North TV being nationally recognized for sports production is a great achievement, considering the fact that we are competing with organizations far larger and with resources much greater than ours,” responded Miller.
The award for sports coverage was not a first for North TV, as the staff has won the Alliance’s Northeast Regional competition each of the last three years. The region represents all of New England and the state of New York.
"It is such a tremendous achievement for North TV, on its fifth year anniversary, to receive first place in this national competition,” said North Attleboro Board of Selectmen chairman John Rhyno. “The series ‘A Town of Faith’ speaks volumes for North TV’s ability to meet the needs of our community; congratulations to the North TV staff and their board” he added.
In addition to Gay, Lussier, and Miller, the North TV staff includes government channel coordinator Meghan Miller, education channel coordinator Trevor Bowman, and administrative assistant Susan Lacombe. The board of directors consists of Marcoux, vice president Marge Kraskouskas, treasurer Scott Smith, clerk/secretary Sherry Rhyno, and directors Robert Cote and David Robinson.
North TV produces community, educational, and governmental access programming for the residents of North Attleboro and oversees channels 9, 15, and 98 on the Comcast cable system and channels 22, 23, and 24 on the Verizon FiOS system.
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North TV, 93 South Washington Street North Attleborough, MA 02760 508-695-3973 |