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The History of DATV
The birth of a
strong tradition of public access in the city of Dayton began in 1977. Roxie Cole had the foresight and with a grant
from the Ohio Board of Regents, DATV (Dayton Access Television) was created. The staff
consisted of one, Cole. The budget was $39,000 in cash and the inventory was $50,000 worth
of black and white television equipment. It was a start and on March 1,1978, operating
from one room in the basement of Roberts Hall at the United Theological Seminary, DATV,
which at that time was called Access 30 Dayton, went "on-the-air."
Roxie Cole hosts an early program.
Two strong forces served as catalysts
for the growth of public access television in Dayton.
One was Roxie Cole. Cole became
Executive Director and managed the organization for the next thirteen years. The second force was a nine-member Board of
Trustees. This board was chosen from a cross
section of citizens living in the city. It was their vision and community commitment that
helped Cole develop policies, procedures and the encouragement needed in order to form the
basis of an award winning public access television station. On April 4, 1979, Dayton
Public Access Television, Inc. (dba DATV) was incorporated as a nonprofit, 501© (3)
organization in the State of Ohio.
For approximately six years the
building known as the "White House" on the grounds of the Seminary was home to
public access. In 1983 DATV moved into the rear of the Viacon Cable building at 275 Leo
Street. After fifteen years of using other
people's facilities, DATV purchased their own building at 280 Leo Street, directly across
from the cable building. On Monday,
September 14, 1992, at 3 PM DATV volunteer Clarence Hogan aired the first show, Dayton Black Unity Performers from that facility.
DATV's Public Access Center under construction in 1992.
The white building, with blue
lettering, is a renovated 10,000 square foot building. It has a 40X50 studio, four edit
suites, internet kiosk, volunteer lounge, conference room, administration offices and a
training room. The total price tag for this state of the art television facility geared
toward the Dayton community was nearly $700,000. But when it was completed, it gave the
citizens of Dayton the Freedom to Communicate
by becoming volunteer/producers and creating their own non-commercial television programs.
Some of DATV's original cameras and record decks circa 1978.
Services have
expanded by offering more workshops, extending on-location taping of community events,
in-service collaboration with schools and colleges. A
Community Calendar was initiated to help non-profit organizations to communicate with the
community. Plus Instant Access was initiated. Instant Access gives any citizens a free15-minute
sounding board. They provide the subject,
DATV provides the studio, camera and videographer.
The inventory has grown from black
and white cameras to top of the line digital cameras.
Producers now have the capability to edit from digital to SVHS, do A/B
rolls, use an Avid non-linear edit system or the Trinity editing system which includes the
titling software, Titlewave. The second
Wednesday of each month free orientations are given to any local citizen who desires to
become a volunteer/producer at DATV. If they
chose to proceed with their training they are charged a nominal yearly fee for their
membership. This membership
entitles them to:
*
Basic Television Production Workshops
* Use of DATV's equipment and
facilities
* Opportunity to participate in
advanced workshops
* Opportunity to enroll in Basic
Studio workshops
* Opportunity to work on Live Call-in
studio shows
* Use of the Internet Kiosk
* Subscription to The Viewfinder
*DATV's annual report
* Invitation to annual
awards ceremony
* Invitation to DATV's special events
DATV has advanced to seven full time
staff members and six part time employees whereas Access 30 had only one. The nine member
Board of Trustees has been expanded to eleven members who represents a broad spectrum of
the Dayton community. Channel 30 has become Ch. 20 and on August 2, 1998, Dayton Spiritual
Television, Ch. 12, began airing local religious programming produced by area churches and
religious organizations.
April 1998
In April of
1998 DATV Executive Director Francine Rakel resigned after 7 years. During her
tenure DATV saw the opening of its Community Media Center, was named a finalist
for the Community Communications Awards for Public Access, launched its web site
in 1995, and was named recipient of the Alliance For Community Media's highest
programming honor which is the Hometown Award for Overall Excellence in Public
Access Programming.
Many of the volunteer/ producers
devote time and effort toward the support of the organization through contributing
programming, assisting with operational tasks, and crewing for various on-location events.
The walls of the facilities are lined with award plaques, won by many of the volunteers.
The local cable operator enjoys a good, productive relationship with DATV by contributing
franchise fees and other means of financial support. The city of Dayton has shown great
support for DATV throughout its twenty-five year history, so much so, that the cable
franchise adopted in 1991 mandates support for DATV through the year 2006. While DATV enjoys a good working relationship with
both the city of Dayton and the local cable company, it has always been and will always be
an independent entity, both in structure and philosophy.
The Board, Executive Director, staff and volunteers share a commitment to
the concept of public access television. They
have never strayed from the original idea of public access and their mission statement,
which is:
"Recognizing
that democracy works best with full freedoms for citizens under the constitution, DATV, an
independent, nonprofit organization, has as its mission, to provide public access to cable
television by promoting the public's First Amendment rights, providing appropriate staff
and facilities, to train and equip community users, and encouraging balanced alternative
programming."
DATV has became nationally recognized
by awards won by the staff and by their involvement in the regional and national Alliance
for Community Media. In 1995, DATV hosted the
Alliance for Community Media's Regional Conference and Philo T. Farnsworth Video Awards
held at the Dayton Marriott Hotel. Public,
Educational and Government (PEG) access channels staff, producers and volunteers from
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky participated in a three-day conference.
DATV has won some very prestigious
awards. One was the recognition from the
National Federation of Local Cable Programmers when DATV received the Community
Communications Award for Public Access. The
award is the nation's top honor for public access channels.
According to NFLCP, DATV served as an "outstanding model from which
many access centers around the nation have benefited."
During 1997 the programming seen on DATV was judged to be the best in the
nation in the large access center category and was honored by the Alliance for Community
with the Hometown Video Festival Award for Overall Excellence in Public Access
Programming.
January 2003
In 2003 DATV celebrated its 25th Anniversary of
"Giving Dayton The Freedom To Communicate". As part of this celebration
DATV buried a time capsule that is set to be opened on March 1st, 2078 in honor
of DATV's 100th Anniversary.
DATV looks forward to the next 25 years of giving
the Dayton community “The Freedom To Communicate”.
Former DATV Executive Director's Francine Rakel (l) and John Rocco (r)
at DATV's 25th Anniversary Celebration.
February 2006
DATV Executive
Director John Rocco resigned his position effective February 3rd 2006.
John was offered the
unique opportunity to help build the future of Public Access Television in
the City of Charlotte North Carolina at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public
Access Corporation.
During his
tenure at DATV, both DATV and the City of Dayton have been recognized
nationally for their outstanding work in the field of Public Access
Television. Dayton serves as a model of citizen participation and it is this
type of community involvement that many cities hope to emulate.
During
John's 7 years DATV has celebrated its 25th Anniversary, seen its membership
rise to over 600 people, hosted a regional access television convention, and
been recognized 4 times as having the best public access programming in the
Midwest by being named winner of the Philo T. Farnsworth Overall Excellence
Award presented by the Alliance For Community Media's Central States Region.
Additionally John has served nationally as Chairman of the Alliance For
Community Media.
July 2006
DATV's Board of Trustees has announced the selection of DATV's new
Executive Director. After a nation wide
search, Rick
Hayes has been chosen to lead DATV beginning on July 1st. "We are pleased to
welcome Rick back to the DATV family. He brings with him years of experience
in the access community that will help make DATV an even more valuable asset
to the Dayton area." said Roberta Taylor, DATV Board of Trustees Chairman.
Hayes is no stranger to Dayton or DATV. He served as DATV's (then
Access-30-Dayton) Operations Manager from 1986 until 1987 under DATV's
founding Executive Director Roxie Cole.
Hayes will be only the fourth Executive Director in DATV's 28 year
history. He will be replacing John Rocco who left DATV in January to become
Executive Director of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Access Corporation in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
"I am excited about the opportunity to return to Dayton and to DATV. The
citizens of Dayton are fortunate to have a center that leads the access
movement in providing vital community services and receives such strong
community support in return." said Rick Hayes, DATV Executive Director. "I
look forward to helping DATV grow even further in the future."
Most recently Hayes has been Logistics Coordinator at the Allen County
Public Library during an 11 building construction project in Fort Wayne,
Indiana. Before that he was Executive Director of Community Access Partners
in Ventura, California. From 1997 to 2001 he was Director of Cable
Operations at the Miami Valley Cable Council in Centerville, Ohio. And
served as Station Manager of Access Fort Wayne from 1987 to 1997.
Hayes has also proven himself a leader on the national level by serving
as Chairman of the Board of the Alliance for Community Media for one year
and on its Board for six years.
Hayes is a graduate of Indiana University's School of Public an
Environmental Affairs. And received a Masters of Public Administration from
Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
DATV Operations Manager Steve Ross had served as interim Executive
Director during the search process .
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