Description of Activities (1972)

Publication TypeMiscellaneous
Source (undated)
Keywordsgroups
Full Text: 

Principal members: Dean and Dudley Evenson

Downsville Community TV was started by Dean and Dudley Evenson. Downsville is a small community in the Catskill Mountains. Using a Sony 3600 Portapak, Dean and Dudley produced local programming which they then aired on cable. "At a pre-scheduled time, on a given evening each week, a green VW van pulls up to a telephone pole on a country road and unhooks two cable which are hanging there waiting to be plugged into a portapack. With the flip of a few switches, the local community cablecast begins. In their homes, all the local folks are sitting eagerly by their tv sets, waiting to see themselves, their friends and neighbors on Channel 3."

Downsville Community TV used local programming primarily, since this is what their community was most interested in. They produced profiles of a teacher canning chairs, a grocer making sausages, a cop talking about the non-existence of crime in small towns, interviews about local political issues, and local civic and cultural events. They were also interested in creating a series about the problems of small farmers, and were concerned about environmental issues.
          -From Profile in Radical Software Vol. 2, No. 1, 1972

Group Name: 
Downsville Community TV
Group Dates: 
Group Location: 
Downsville, New York