History of CATTV

The City of Erie Cable TV Access Corporation is a small 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization in Erie, Pennsylvania, dedicated to our vision of empowering community voices and visions. Doing business as Community Access Television (CAT) and incorporated as a Pennsylvania nonprofit in late 1996, the organization came into being as a result of the work of a cable access board that was formed in the mid 90s to advise the City of Erie how to best use the resources provided by Erie Cablevision through its cable franchise agreement with the City. The recommendation to form a nonprofit corporation to control and manage those resources was approved by City Council and then-Mayor Joyce Savocchio in September 1996 and affirmed by Council resolution on April 16, 1997.

Public access television as conceived in Erie and practiced in communities across the United States is akin to a public soapbox or forum. The television station is a place where anyone who lives or works in the city or belongs to an organization based in the city can become a member and learn to produce their own television programs. It is completely first-come-first-served and nondiscriminatory and the cost is very low. All opinions and viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged on the channel, which is channel 2 on the Erie cable system. Members attend an orientation where they are introduced to the concept of public access television and where they learn the most important rules. Then they attend basic television production classes, after which they have access to our equipment and facilities to produce programs on topics of their own choosing. We also offer advanced classes and workshops at very low cost.

Today, Community Access Television is a small but thriving asset to the Erie community. With a membership fluctuating in the 230-250 range and a core of dedicated producers, we have continually built our programming base. There are twelve series that regularly produce new episodes and about a dozen producers who generate non-series programming. In addition, with the help of our members, CAT shoots three multi-day festivals and a number of political forums each year. From September 2001 through August 2002, our members contributed nearly 2,600 hours, valued at approximately $42,000 using figures validated by Independent Sector at www.independentsector.org.