NDCTV UNVEILS NEW NAME. LANCET DESIGNS THE NEW WEBSITE
Northern Dakota County Community Television (NDCTV) announced its new name, "Town Square Television," during a LIVE cable TV program on election night. The non-profit corporation celebrated its 15th anniversary with an open house in honor of the new name. While production staff and volunteers televised a six-site LIVE election coverage program on Community Channel 14, about a hundred community members and past and present leaders of the organization gathered at the studio to witness the unveiling of the new name and logo.
We began developing a new name and logo last summer - the timing was right as we prepared for a paint job for our new state-of-the-art mobile production truck, new signage for our property, and an update to our web site (www.townsquare.tv)," said Lois Glewwe, Chair of the Town Square Television Board of Directors.
"We wanted something shorter, more memorable, and more descriptive of who we are. Town Square Television denotes the very LOCAL nature of and the fact that we bring together all aspects of our community on our family of seven local cable channels," added Executive Director Jodie Miller. "The new logo includes buildings that represent school, home, business, local government, faith, and neighborhood - just as Channels 14 through 21 carry programming on a very local level on all of those topics. And of course, the community itself is very involved in creating much of our programming."
The LIVE election night program is a perfect example - with a budget of less than $4,000 and a 5 to 1 ration of volunteers to staff, Town Square Television produced a LIVE three-hour cable program covering city, county, and school district results, giving 60 area candidates a chance to thank their constituents, AND posting the precinct breakdowns on the web site. Nine volunteer reporters in seven different locations delivered interviews, commentary, pre-taped segments, and local analysis to the viewers, with camera crews ranging from junior high students to college interns to retirees. And this year guests for the open house were able to watch the production from behind the scenes.
Hence the new tag line included with the logo, "Town Square Television, bringing together people, programs, and production."
"Our programming is extremely diverse, but local issues and participation in democracy are a very important aspect of our mission, "states Miller, "we cover 16 local government meetings every month and produce many hours of candidate forums and programs each election season. And Public Access Channel 15 is the "soapbox" in the town square, the place where local residents can submit their own programs to get their messages on TV."
According to Miller there is one other benefit of the new name, "Finally we can stop being confused with Dakota County, other organizations with the "NDC" acronym, NBC Television, and even the state of North Dakota!"