City plans to sell local station’s home

By George P. Hassett

The city’s cable access television station, the oldest in the state, is facing an uncertain future as city officials plan to sell off the station’s building in Union Square.

At the April 25 Somerville News contributors meeting, Somerville Community Access Television Executive Director Wendy Blom said the station has a temporary contract to remain in the old Union Square fire station free of charge until June. She said city officials assure her they will not displace SCAT but will not agree to anything in writing.

‚ÄúThere is some uncertainty there. We don’t know what may happen at City Hall. But we do have support in the community,‚Äù she said.

Blom said that support comes from SCAT’s efforts to be ‚Äúembedded‚Äù in Somerville. More than 30 percent of the station’s shows are in languages other than English, she said, and programs such as Next Generation Producers offer teenagers opportunities to create their own movies, music videos and documentaries.

Last year, the young producers premiered their work on the big screen at an event held at The Somerville Theater and attended by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone.

“I think people know SCAT is the place to turn to if they want to get their political views on the airwaves and people with teenagers understand all the services we offer to kids who may not play sports or have anything to do after school,” she said.

SCAT is funded through profits from cable companies. Cable companies who do business in Somerville must pay the city five percent of their profits. SCAT gets roughly one-third of that money to operate their station. Blom said their budget is under $400,000 a year.

The money helps fund a station that puts on a wide variety of shows, from ‚ÄúJoJo’s Magic Dreamcart‚Äù – an award winning children’s show that has been picked up by Rhode Island public television – to ‚ÄúFruit or Breast‚Äù – an almost risqu√© game show that features a contestant figuring out a series of secret words, always relating to fruit or breasts, based on clues from another contestant.

Blom said Curtatone has told her the city will sell the building at 90 Union Square within the next two years. She said she would like to see SCAT find a home with other non-profit organizations.