‘Very, Very Proud’ of LTV

A report to the East Hampton Town Board last week by LTV, the nonprofit cable TV organization that provides public access and government and education programming on Channels 20 and 22 in East Hampton Town, laid to rest questions about how well it was handling its budget, a large portion of which comes from the town.

LTV receives approximately $677,000 annually from the town out of a franchise fee paid to East Hampton from Cablevision. LTV in turn provides public access to the airwaves for town residents and broadcasts 25 meetings a month of public boards, including school boards, the town board, zoning board, planning board, the East Hampton Town Trustees, and the like.

In late 2015, after questions were raised about financial practices at LTV, the town board hired an accounting firm, Nawrocki Smith, to do an operational audit and financial review of LTV, Len Bernard, the town budget officer, explained at a March 21 board meeting.

Early last year, the auditors, who found no serious wrongdoing, made 19 recommendations for improvements.

“Every single one of them has been addressed,” Diana Weir, the new president of the LTV board, said at the meeting. The LTV board has established, for instance, its own audit committee, a purchasing policy and a board-approved vendor list, guidelines for personnel decisions, and a whistleblower policy, among other procedural guidelines. The board has also hired a new accounting firm that specializes in oversight of nonprofit organizations and an independent bookkeeper, Ms. Weir said.

“Thank you for a good report and a very appropriate response,” said Supervisor Larry Cantwell. Because the town “provides substantial funding,” he said, officials wanted to ensure that proper controls were in place regarding finances, “and you have accomplished that.”

Ms. Weir likened recent upheaval at LTV, including the resignation of a former director and board president, to “growing pains” in an organization that has evolved from the singular vision of its founder, Frazer Dougherty, into a multifaceted community cable station.

Coverage of a number of meetings is aired live, or live-streamed. Videos can be watched online through the LTV website or seen on an LTV YouTube channel established last year.

LTV has “turned into a state-of-the-art facility that I think we can all be very, very proud of,” Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc, the board’s liaison to the organization, said. “It captures our everyday life, and it archives it” for future generations, he said. “The fabric of our life is recorded . . . the historic context of the town.”

There are more than 26,000 shows in the LTV archive, according to the organization. In 2016, it celebrated, with marathon reruns and the like, three shows that have run continuously for 28, 30, and 31 years, respectively: Henry Haney’s “Tell It to Henry,” Lois Wright’s “The Lois Wright Show,” and Bill Fleming’s “The East End Show.”

Also last week, LTV issued its annual report on its programming and services, a review that is required under its agreement with the town.

According to the report, LTV aired an average of 118 hours of locally produced programs weekly on Channel 20, its public access channel. On Channel 22, an average of 82 hours of government programming and 86 hours of educational programming aired each week. The station also ran five public-education courses in television production, taken by 66 community members, 16 of whom later produced video content.

Timely items of community interest — at least five appearing every 15 minutes — are posted on a crawl seen on both LTV channels. During weather emergencies, there is a continuous news crawl with emergency information.

The station is reaching out to members of the Spanish-speaking community, encouraging them to participate in public access programming. At present one Spanish-language talk show, “Integrando Culturas,” airs.

According to the annual report, an audit of LTV’s financial statement showed that the station spends 76 percent of its money directly on programming.

An orientation workshop for new producers will be held at LTV on Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. Any East Hampton Town resident interested in producing a show at LTV can attend to learn about video production. The session is a prerequisite for future classes in directing and camera work, submission to LTV of self-produced content, and any video production to be undertaken at LTV. It will include a tour of the building and equipment, an explanation of procedures, a discussion of creative ideas, and a question-and-answer session.

Those who attend can sign up for a three-hour camera and directing class to be held on April 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Translators will be provided for Spanish speakers if requested.

Those who wish to register have been asked to contact LTV’s development director, Ellen Watson, by emailing her at [email protected]. Inquiries can also be directed to [email protected] or by phone to LTV Studios.