This message is from Jeanne Sparks in her role as a member of the board of directors of Santa Maria Community Television:

There is a meeting on Thursday that I think is important for activists. 

It’s about the local public access television station – Santa Maria Community Television (SMCTV) - that sends out locally produced television shows on Comcast Channel 25 to residents in Santa Maria and Orcutt. It also provides use of a large studio free-of-charge to videotape local programs. You could produce quality programs using the three studio cameras, furniture, props and even a green screen. 

The station is facing funding shortfalls and needs more programming to show its value to the City of Santa Maria, which oversees it operations.

The SMCTV board of directors, staff and producers are having a public meeting on Thursday to discuss the future of the station and assess the value of it to local residents.

I think most of us are active in groups that could benefit from putting programming out on the station. Thousands of people could see our programs right on their big screen TVs, the same place where they watch their favorite television shows.

We are also looking at live streaming the channel so that people who do not subscribe to Comcast can also access the programs. (We would need to do some fundraising for this.)

Please come to the meeting. It is 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 6 at the Media Center, 910 S. Oakwood Drive, Santa Maria. It’s the building behind the Mussell Senior Center. The cross streets are Park and Camino Colegio. See map below.

If you can’t come, please let me know what you think about using the resources. We need to take action now before it’s too late!

Thank you.

Jeanne Sparks
SMCTV Board Member
SBCAN Associate Director
[email protected]
805.739.1836