Written by Amber Skinner | 15 June 2010

When you turn to channel 14, you're likely to see someone you know. That's because Harpswell Community Television (HCTV) is just that: Community television, where you're apt to find a telecast of the latest Board of Selectman meeting or a list of local goings-on with your neighbor's most recent recording playing in the background.
HCTV went on the air in 1985, with an outpouring of funds, effort, "hot lunches" from the community, and equipment provided by the cable company "to create our own programming," according to HCTV founder and current volunteer Dave Chipman.
It is the "first and only non-profit public, educational and governmental station broadcast over the air in the United States," Chipman explained.
Program Manager Donna Frisoli has worked at the station for the past 10 years, starting as a volunteer in 2000 and hired on the following year. She is now one of two part-time employees, "although it's really a full-time job," she said.
"We are on air 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Frisoli continued. The priority of what to air first is simple: "Local stuff comes first, although there isn't always a lot of it," Frisoli explained. "There are very few producers in the area. "And we're encountering copyright issues more and more lately," she said. The associated fees of many shows HCTV would like to tape and air (such as local school theatrical productions) put them out of reach financially. "We would love to be able to air these shows, but we just can't afford (the fees).
"We air local government meetings, church services and our scrolling bulletin board, with information on non-profit, school and government happenings. But we do have more time to fill," Frisoli explained. "We look for free programming that is entertaining and informative, without copyright or performance fees. We avoid controversial or political items.
"Although we do take requests. If three local residents request it, even if it's political, we'll show it," she said. "But we're very careful about when these are on air."
Frisoli has no way of knowing how many people watch HCTV, but the channel is available to residents with cable service in Harpswell, Topsham, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham. In Harpswell alone, approximately 2,000 homes subscribe to cable. HCTV also offers a low-power broadcast which covers 40 communities in Maine. "Potentially, we have about 25,000 watchers," Frisoli said. "But I don't think the number's really that high."
The station is funded "by donations and by money appropriated at Town Meeting," Frisoli explained. In 2009, the Town provided $36,500, with a slightly lower amount promised for 2010. "(Working within our budget) is extremely difficult," she said. "But we do the best we can." A small depot is located on Community Drive, where residents can drop off returnables in support of the station, which "helps out a lot," Frisoli continued.
"Volunteers...that's what keeps (the station) going," Chipman said. "It's been an effort - a community effort - to become what it is: One of the finest community stations in the United States."
In many small towns, especially an aging one like Harpswell, community television can be a powerful tool and an asset worth the effort. Especially in terms of local gatherings and government meetings, "residents can see what happened with their own eyes and ears, and make their own opinion," Frisoli explained. "They don't have to rely on second-hand information to find out what's going on in the community."
The Harpswell Community Television Station is located at 10 Community Drive. For more information, call 833-2363 or visit www.harpswelltv.org.