It’s great when you can hire an A-list celebrity to hawk your product or service on TV. But for smaller organizations with limited resources—and particularly nonprofits—community access television (CAT) can be an attractive option as a messaging vehicle.

Although CAT does not have the centralization or unified reach of broadcast and cable television, it can still be an effective channel for community-oriented messages and causes. However, public relations professionals need to be aware of how community access television works and the differences in dealing with community access as opposed to conventional broadcast or cable television.

Community access television is a unique by-product of the cable television system in this country. As part of the federal regulations concerning cable television, CAT is endowed by the cable systems that serve the community, and receives its annual operating budget from a small percentage of each subscriber’s cable television bill. Obviously, communities with larger populations and multiple cable systems will have larger budgets, more staff and facilities.

As a general rule, cable subscribers in most communities comprise about 60% of all TV households, reaching 80%-plus in denser urban areas such as the Northeast. Urban areas tend to have well-endowed and -staffed CAT stations, whereas suburban communities may have joint facilities or none at all.

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENT ROLES

CAT doesn’t function quite the same as commercial broadcast television, or for that matter public television (PBS). The technology and broadcast fundamentals are the same (some CAT stations have equipment that is technically on par with their larger commercial cousins; it’s just that the commercial stations have more of it and more paid professional staff). CAT stations are staffed by a small cadre of television professionals, who often have many roles. Typically, a small station may have a station manager and a director of programming, and then perhaps a community outreach staff person. The rest are volunteers who have been trained in television production by the staff and then crew the various productions.

The goals of CAT are twofold: to provide as much coverage of community-oriented events as possible and also to provide opportunities for the volunteer producer/members to create original programming on just about any topic that interests them.

This orientation can provide a channel for publicizing a client’s or executive’s activities (mostly their community involvement) and, rather interestingly, an opportunity for PR professionals to come up to speed on television production. However, it is important for public relations professionals to understand how to approach CAT and to also set both their own and their clients’ expectations in terms of what the realistic results may be.

VOLUNTEER STAFFING

Unlike commercial television, there is no “assignment desk editor” or strict hierarchy at the CAT station. Most of the production work is done by volunteers; but don’t be misled by that term. You are very likely to encounter experienced adults who are professionals in their other fields and help out either out of sense of community involvement or because they want to produce original programming. At minimum, they are trained in basic television production and, in some cases, create network-quality programming. Recent advances in digital camera technology and nonlinear (computer-based) editing software have dramatically closed the gap between commercial television and CAT.

What clients or causes would lend themselves to CAT? Obviously, community-oriented clients or causes would top the list. However, causes that have national appeal can fit into this description as well. Examples include PSAs on college savings programs, traffic safety and smoking cessation.

SEEK OUT LOCAL HOSPITALS

An example of a community-based organization would be the local hospital. A particular hospital I know of is a major volunteer and charitable activity for many of the community’s business and political leaders. Each year, they run a weeklong fund-raiser that culminates in a black-tie affair. They also put on a cabaret show each year featuring the hospital staff and volunteers. The community access station produced a multi-camera production of that event that utilized their field production truck.

The hospital also has a number of alternative medicine programs, and has become the basis of an ongoing medical segment on the monthly community video news magazine that the CAT station produces. With a client like that, a public relations firm would have easy access to the CAT station and could offer many program subject opportunities.

BE A CAT PERSON

Another opportunity for public relations firms and professionals is to join their local CAT and get trained in the basics of television production. There are many advantages to this. First, you will develop much greater insights into the use of television for public relations. There is absolutely no substitute for the experience gained by participating in actual television production activities. Secondly, you will have much greater credibility with CAT stations if you’re a CAT producer-member yourself. You will know their situation and talk their lingo.

You will also have greater credibility with commercial television producers and staff: You’ll know the procedures and the terminology.

Here are some tips for PR professionals who want to leverage the opportunities in community access television:

• Your primary relationship should be with the member-producers. If something is going to get produced, they will be the ones doing it.

• Check your client roster for those who are good community citizens and/or whose executives play leadership roles in their communities.

• Determine which CAT stations serve those communities. Introduce yourself; pay a visit and find out what kind of programming they do.

Encourage your staff to join their local CAT and become member-producers themselves. Not only will that enhance their capabilities, it gains credibility with the CAT community, and who knows—they can pitch in and help get community-related coverage for your clients. PRN

CONTACT:

This article was written by Jeffrey Geibel, principal of Geibel Marketing and PR. He is a member/producer and technical director with Wakefield Community Access Television in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

( Editor’s Note: This article was excerpted from the recently published PR News’ Guide to Best Practices in Nonprofit Communications, Vol. 1. To order this and other PR News guidebooks, go to www.prnewsonline.com/store/.)

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Tech Tips for CAT Success

Successfully leveraging community access television (CAT) not only requires some backstage leveraging, but also some technical and production know-how. Here are three related tips from Jeffrey Geibel of Geibel Marketing and Public Relations:

• Remember that often a story can be covered backwards, such as when you spot a CAT crew filming a client-related community event. Talk to the camera operator and/or the location director/producer. (Note: Sometimes the camera operator is the producer.) Ask what production they are working on. If your client is related to it—and they already have taped the B-roll—often the rest of a peripheral story can be back-filled and taped pretty easily. Suggest it and make it easy for them.

• If you produced PSAs, don’t forget to include CAT stations in your distribution list. Sometimes the CAT station can produce a PSA on a community-related subject that you’re advocating.

• With recent technical developments, community access programs can be uploaded to a centralized server (such as PEGMedia.org) for distribution nationally to other CAT stations or others who want to download the program. This extends the reach of a locally produced program to a potential national audience. Check with your local CAT station to determine if they are aware of this development.

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