History
Everyone has a story including a cable access station. We hope you enjoy this bit of history that explains how we got to where we are today...
Our story begins on a cool fall day in 1983. Cities across the nation were welcoming this new cable TV business and Hastings was no different. As with most cases, the city developed a franchise agreement with a cable company to ensure a benefit would be had for the community. In return for having sole operation in Hastings, the company was required to supply local access TV. This requirement produced Hastings Cable Access. John Weaver was then hired by the cable company to run the operation. Its programming at the time consisted of a slide show of local announcements and occasionally a taped program.
The cable company ran the station for several years until 1989. At this point the city took over and created Hastings Cable Access Corporation. This allowed the station to separate itself as a non-profit organization. A volunteer Board of Directors was formed and were handed the reins to Hastings Community TV (the unofficial but more popular name of the station). The end result was an independent TV station responsible for three local channels that provided education, government and public access (otherwise known as the PEG channels). At this time Channel 10 was public, Channel 3 was education and Channel 12 was for local government.
HCTV established its home in then Hastings High School (now the middle school). Paul Auran was soon hired to assist John Weaver with the growing station. They worked with students and the general public to produce more local programming for the access channels. Paul continues to share his skills today with both the school district and HCTV as the station’s Operations Manager.
In 1990 it was decided to add a local newscast to Hastings Community TV. Judy Hemp was hired to produce and write the biweekly newscast. Out of all places she found a talented news anchor at Hastings’ Regina Medical Center. His name; David Baudoin. Baudoin, who was working in public relations, was also the former owner of the local radio station. His broadcasting experience provided a smooth start at the news desk. After two years he went from a volunteer to something a little more permanent. In 1992 David Baudoin was selected as the new Executive Director for HCTV, a position he holds to this day.
The next major change for Hastings Cable Access came in 1996. For the sake of continuity, the cable service provider decided to assign the same PEG channels for all cities with their service. Our designations (which still exist today) became channel 14 for public access, channel 15 for education and channel 16 for government access.
Plans for a brand new high school were also underway at this time. The school district graciously invited HCTV to move with the high school to its new building and asked for input on the designs for a studio. All of the packing and moving was well worth it when Hastings Community TV established its new home in 2000.
This brings us to present day in HCTV history. The station continues to grow with staff members (now up to nine) and seek even better ways to inform and entertain Hastings. HCTV has also become a coveted spot for internships. Students from the high school’s broadcast journalism class (aka The Ekko) and those from area communications and broadcasting colleges feed their need for experience here. The extra help along with the growing staff has lead to more and more programming. Productions now include a weekly newscast surrounded by many various programs with Hastings flare.
HCTV’s story is far from over. Stay tuned as many more chapters with cable access characters play out....