PCTV, Pittsburgh Community Television’s public-access cable channel, will cease operations by the end of August due to a lack of funding.
“The continued decline in cable subscribers and the changing media landscape have had a devastating impact on our funding and viability,” PCTV Executive Director John Patterson wrote in a letter announcing the closure this week. “While we have increased our rates in recent years, we felt we could not continue to increase costs to the community. Without new sources of funding, we have no choice but to cease operations.”
PCTV launched in the early 1980s and is currently carried by Comcast (channel 21/1070) and Verizon (channel 47) and is also available to stream on Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, via an iOS app and on its website, pctv21.org.
Programming on all platforms will cease after August 30.
In a telephone interview Thursday, Patterson said PCTV’s funding came primarily from cable franchise agreements the city negotiated with Comcast and Verizon, but those franchise fees were no longer sufficient to support PCTV because of declining cable subscriptions. PCTV also received revenue from user fees, some grants and payments for production services, often from nonprofits, including the Confluence Ballet Company, the League of Women Voters and a local chapter of the National Council of Negro Women.
Patterson and two other full-time employees will spend September shutting down the operation at 1300 Western Ave. on the North Side and moving the equipment (it’s owned by the city of Pittsburgh) and then they’ll be out of work.
“We exhausted every avenue to try to keep the network open,” Patterson said. “With the funding (for cable franchise agreements) going down, we couldn’t replace it. So it became clear we couldn’t continue.”
Among PCTV’s longest-running programs are the religious program “Swords of Light” and the non-religious shows “Steel City Sports World” and “The Boxing Authorities.”
Heidi Norman, director of innovation and performance for the city of Pittsburgh, said that in addition to the decline in cable subscribers, enhanced personal communication systems implemented during the pandemic have reduced the number of people paying to use PCTV services.
“We are so grateful for the decades that PCTV has served the community,” she said. “It is the city’s organization that has given ordinary residents a voice to communicate with their neighbors through television. Right now, especially during the pandemic, we have learned that people are able to find a voice and share it with their neighbors around the world without having to go into a studio and work with television and public access channels.”
Norman said the city intends to have plans in place to support public access to media by the end of the year. Next year, the cable franchise fee money that would have gone to PCTV will instead go to Pittsburgh City Channel, a government-owned channel carried by Comcast (Channel 14/1074) and Verizon (Channel 44), to purchase equipment and upgrade its control room. Another portion of the franchise fee money will be earmarked for the Pittsburgh Parks Department, which plans to build three digital media hubs at city recreation centers (Ammon, Warrington and Thaddeus Stevens recreation centers) where community members can learn how to create digital media.
PCTV is currently available in about 50,000 homes, Patterson said, and he has heard from community members who have independently produced television programs that air on PCTV.
“They expressed great sadness that we were closing,” he said. “It was a very popular venue for the African-American community. I think they felt it was a place where they were welcome and that it was in danger of being closed. A lot of nonprofits used it. It was a low-cost way for them to produce media. I hope people can continue to produce and find other outlets.”
Although PCTV is the only public-access cable channel of its kind in the city of Pittsburgh, Patterson said the suburbs offer public access at Bethel Park, Moon Community Access and an educational channel in Peters Township.
“We do not blame the City of Pittsburgh for the closure of PCTV,” Patterson wrote in his letter to PCTV supporters. “The City has funded PCTV through cable television franchises for the past 38 years. Unfortunately, the City is also affected by the demise of cable television, and we understand why it is no longer able to fund PCTV.”
“Watson” at MIPCOM
CBS’ upcoming medical mystery series “Watson,” which is set in Pittsburgh and wrapped a few days of filming in June with most of its footage currently being shot in Vancouver, B.C., will have its world premiere Oct. 20 at MIPCOM in Cannes, France, where television series are sold to international markets. Star Morris Chestnut and series creator Craig Sweeny, a Squirrel Hill native, will be in attendance.
“Watson,” which is set to air Sunday nights on CBS beginning in early 2025, follows Watson (Chestnut) a year after the death of Sherlock Holmes as Watson resumes his medical career.
The zapping
Judd Apatow will direct a two-part documentary about comedy legend Mel Brooks for HBO. … PBS’s “Frontline” will air a two-hour special, “Biden’s Decision” (9 p.m. Aug. 6, WQED-TV) about President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. … Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning film “The Boy and the Heron” will make its U.S. streaming debut on Max on Sept. 6. … Verizon will offer free access to YouTube TV’s “NFL Sunday Ticket,” a bundle of out-of-market games, to customers who subscribe or upgrade to select wireless and home internet plans. Details at verizon.com/nfl-sunday-ticket-on-youtube-streaming. … A streaming bundle that includes Disney+, Hulu and Max is now available for $17 per month with ads or $30 per month without ads, a savings of up to 38% if each service were purchased individually. … Discovery Channel’s “Expedition X” returns for a new season with an episode (9 p.m. Aug. 14) exploring the Trans-Allegheny Insane Asylum in Weston, West Virginia. … The fourth season of “The Chosen” debuts at 8 p.m. Sept. 1 on The CW.
You can contact TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Submit your TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and address.
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