MJ:
TV Middletown will go dark, move to Internet
Middie, Fenwick football, basketball will no longer be shown.

MIDDLETOWN —
TV Middletown will go dark and begin to change to an all social media/Internet system in a few weeks. Blame severe cutbacks in funding for the nonprofit community television station, officials said.

Continuing the “Positively Middletown” route, TV Middletown will be keeping up with the times and transitioning to social media and on line programming, according to a prepared statement released Friday night.

Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, tvmiddletown.org, and other social media outlets will be utilized.

“We will take a new avenue to serving the community,” station manager Ty Thomas said in the statement.

Mike Scorti, TV Middletown board president, said, “When your revenues dwindle, you must cut back on expenses. We do not want to have outstanding debts so we will change our direction and will put the building up for sale immediately.”

With the new system, there will be no high school sport programming. Middie and Fenwick football and basketball games will not be shown. Parades and regular programs such as public events, 8 Minutes in Middletown, TVM Café, Foundation Matters and others may not be shown.

Continuing will be wall-to-wall coverage of school board and City Council meetings.

Station funding comes from the city, through Time Warner Cable franchise fees and the school board. The city has cut its funding (about $112,000 in six-month increments), said Ann Mort, a station board member. With those sources and a fundraiser held earlier this year, the station is still about $60,000 short of what it needs to stay on the air, she said.

The station, with an annual budget of approximately $300,000, employs two people full time and one part time.

The TV Middletown building at Central Avenue and Verity Parkway, owned by TV Middletown, has undergone many repairs the last few years. It also houses the Safety Council, Community Pregnancy Center and Downtown Middletown Inc on the first floor, TV Middletown on the second floor and has two other floors empty at present.

The building is home to a large mural depicting the city’s early canal days.

The TV Middletown board met Thursday to finalize what members said had become “quite evident in recent months” and agreed unanimously to make the programming changes and sell the building, according to the statement.

This is very sad. MiddletownTV has provided a number of important services to our city for many years. The productions that they have done are extraordinary because they have only three employees. That in itself is a managerial feat of great proportions. Their volunteers have done wonderful works. Won't you miss the sports broadcasts? Of course you will. You couldn't find a better TV producer than Ty Thomas.  MIddletown is losing a great asset.  Maybe if we all sent a few dollars they might could save it. Why don't we all plan to put them in the budget until January 1st.  I'm going to do so.
      Paul Nagy

Ty Thomas was quoted as saying, "Television is like a dinosaur." 

middiemom wrote: TV middletown and MUSA.........both dying dinosaurs

Well said oh "drinker of the Kool-Aid", "wearer of the rose-colored glasses" and "believer in the snake oil remedies".

Mercy lady, look at this frikkin' city and honestly tell me that you think your little buddies down at Donham Plaza have done a good job.

You must enjoy sponsoring the ghetto building program they have created. This place looks like some inner city destitution nowadays. There is no eye-opening progress but rather a general malaise of futile direction going nowhere. It is a land that time forgot surrounded by growth and prosperity occurring in other communities.....even Hamilton is doing better and has a game plan.

The stupidity keeps churning in this city but Adkins and company keep it under the cuff so as not to be discussed here.

middiemom wrote: Sir,         Nothing can change with a snap of the fingers nor a wave of a magic wand. These things take time.We have wonderful destinations in which to shop and restaurants to eat. Try attending a first Friday. It is wonderful. The vagrants and ne'er-do-wells  need to be cleared of the city first and foremost. Then we can change the perception and image of this city and return it to it's glory days again. It will take time but we will get there even with grouchy curmudgeons.  Bright past, brighter future!

Spoken like a true follower of propaganda spewed forth by the purveyors of destruction of a once great city.

middiemom:

"Nothing can change with a snap of the fingers nor a wave of a magic wand. These things take time."

Let's see, your little buddies have had three decades to make a change for the better and we are still stuck in failure mode. How much time do you people need to get it right?

middiemom:

"The vagrants and ne'er-do-wells need to be cleared of the city first and foremost"

Nope, wrong focus. The city needs to be cleared of the ones running it and the very ones you are defending. They are the problem children and if you support them, you would be labeled as a problem also.

middiemom:

"Then we can change the perception and image of this city and return it to it's glory days again".

Your statement would not be needed if there was a shred of competence with regard to running this city the last 3 decades. Who do you think created the poor perception and city image?.......the same type of clowns that you have now in office. It is their making and there is no defense nor excuse for what they have done to this town. Would you know what the glory days would be in this city? Did you experience the 50's and 60's when it was in full swing? I certainly did and that is why I'm so angry about the condition of the town and the freefall it has taken the last 3 decades.

middiemom:

"It will take time but we will get there even with grouchy curmudgeons"

Ouch mom. That hurts.    This "grouchy curmudgeon" has more compassion for this dam city than all the king's men in Donham Castle and would never have taken it to the landfill like your little ghetto crowd has done.

The city definitely had a bright past but it will never have a bright future with the current thinking, mis-focused planning and totally clueless crop of people currently running the show. Not even in touch with the people. Time for a city government purge to rid the city of epidemic stupidity in leadership. Everything they try and touch is a disaster. Look at the poor record of success in their endeavors. It is very apparent.    

Mom, you are consuming the Kool-Aid by the gallons. You are as gullible as they come and can't see reality because of your blind allegiance to the lies and propaganda out of this city government. A shame to watch a person close their eyes to reality.

No worries boss man
The seasonal malaise will pass, and MUSA will continue to fill the void left by the unfortunate mercy killing of TVM
If only they had opened their mind and studio to open discussion, and programming that had more mass appeal....
No real business plan for the future though

Hate to lose Ty Thomas and Bret Dennis
Two very admirable locals
But when u r at da mercy of da man.....

TV Middletown seeking $20,000 from city

By Ed Richter

Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
TV Middletown has yet to secure the $20,000 it had hoped from the city to help make ends meet for the rest of the year.

The public access channel on Time Warner Cable is going off the air and moving to an online-only format, primarily due to financial challenges and mounting bills. The city had previously offered the station $20,000 in exchange for providing programming that the city wanted done.

TVM officials had asked the city give them access to those dollars to help them get through their current money woes.

“They need the $20,000 to get by, but they can’t do the programming being asked,” City Manager Doug Adkins said. “(The) $20,000 is not a huge amount, but it is taxpayer money. I’m not sure how it keeps them in business for the rest of the year.”

Adkins said TV Middletown needs to have a plan that makes sense before the city hands over any cash. TVM officials gave Adkins a preliminary profit-and-loss overview for 2016 on Tuesday, a document that is being revised, according to the station’s executive director Ty Thomas.

TVM, which hit airwaves in 1998, produces local programs as well as gavel-to-gavel coverage of City Council, the Middletown school board, city planning commission and other local events. The station has had financial issues and projected a possible deficit of $60,000 to $80,000 for 2016. Last week, TVM’s two full-time employees and one part-time employee were laid off.

The station runs on a base budget of $150,000 in which $112,000 is provided by the city which is a part of the cable franchise fee that is paid by Time Warner, and $38,000 is provided by the Middletown City Schools. The nonprofit also relies on fund-raisers and had a telethon last spring.

However, over the past three years, TVM has reached out to the city for advances on their contribution to make ends meet, according to city financial records and emails. On Dec. 2, Thomas requested an advance from the 2015 allocation to keep the station from shutting down. The city provides two disbursements of $56,000 during the year. The city obliged and advanced them $30,000 from their first half allocation.

City Council members told Adkins they wanted him to continue discussions with TVM, which provides good community programming, and also explore options such as streaming council meetings directly to the city’s website. Adkins said the city is looking into possibly updating its equipment in council chambers where council and school board meetings are recorded and later cablecast.

Thomas confirmed Wednesday that TVM would be giving Time Warner its 30-day notice in the coming days that it will be vacating channel 24 and cease all cable programming. TVM has already announced it will be live streaming via the internet and its website.

“We want to stretch that out to give us some breathing room,” Thomas said.

Once that is done, Thomas said the nonprofit will submit another appeal to the Butler County Board of Tax Revision to obtain relief on the increased property taxes on its building, which is also on the market.

Thomas said new programming may resume in a few weeks online.

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So here's what I'm wondering. Time Warner pays the City a chunk of money every year, essentially to hold the monopoly of being the sole cable television programming provider within Middletown. Thirty plus years ago that was a big deal because if you wanted something other than broadcast tv and couldn't afford a gigantic satellite dish (those ones the size of a small car), you had to go with cable. Maybe not quite so big of a deal now that there are a variety of other options as technology has progressed (satellite, fiop, tv over internet, etc.).

And so the city pays a huge chunk of this money every year to TV Middletown. Makes some sense, since it runs a television station that you can only access their regular broadcast via the same cable monopoly that pays the city.

But now TVM announces they're going to stop being a broadcast television station. So why should the city continue to fund TVM $112,000 a year with Time Warner money? Or better yet, how long is that Time Warner money going to continue to flow in?

Councilman Dan Picard said council has not discussed the matter of future funding; however, he said he is not in favor of continuing funding, saying that TVM “has not provided a viable plan or business model that will work.”

Dean
I don't understand why they would be talking with the city. They should be talking with the Butler County Auditor. If in fact they are a non-profit then why are they paying property taxes on this building?

"The problem is there is no real leadership, no direction, just a rudderless ship taking on water and only the city, using public money, is doing the bailing. "

Ooops, John, that discribes the entire "Downtown Dream Area"

TVM could still do hs sports via audio
Primarily funded by private contributors
Honestly it could be done(and was done) without any TVM involvement
Maybe if the TVM Directors had provided more diverse discussion programming, they could have grown more local appeal/ viewership
Sad to lose Thomas and Dennis

Hmmm....If City Hall is not going to support TVM are they going to continue to support and give funds to Downtown Middletown, Inc?

IF the council election results as stated, there will be no need for TVM because there will be no need to watch any meetings.
Continuation of the current tax--spend on cronies/enablers--fee additions/increases--less services--all decided in "special session" prior to meetings
Same people will be given former downtown real estate--same buildings will be given facade grants--no one will pay property or payroll tax in that area
No one will have any idea what MMF and DMI does, nor will they care
Outside of the perennial takers, upscale residents will spend more time at their 2nd homes, contribute less, and continue to shop in other quality of life areas

Went to Loveland last night to walk the trail and dine
Place was packed with young/middle aged yuppies
Place was booming

Time to re-pack and head down to Central/University to wait for that train out of here that we were promised
Ever hear the old jimmy Rogers tune "Waitin on a Train"?