HOMTV: 'We're with the times now'

TV studio open house shows off renovations

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When it comes to modern media and technology, practically every couple of years brings the equivalent of a new era in history. With facilities dating back to 1992, the studios of HOMTV and CAMTV in Meridian Township seemed almost ancient, left in the dust when the digital era swept in. However, a recent renovation project has brought a much-needed upgrade to the dated facilities.

“We’re with the times now,” said Deborah Guthrie, communications director for HOMTV/CAMTV. 

Previously, the main control room for HOMTV, the government access television station for Meridian Township, and CAMTV, a channel for community programming, was stuck in what Guthrie calls a “small congested area that made it difficult to train a lot of our journalism and telecommunications students.” The computers lacked direct connections to share information. The teleprompter was a homemade contraption.

“You can imagine how separate everything was,” Guthrie said.

Thanks to a $326,600 renovation, the control room was relocated to a larger and more appropriate room and a production editing suite for student interns was created in another location in the building. “That allowed us to streamline all of our computers so we have a direct connection to the other computers,” Guthrie said. 

Now, rather than transferring footage by tape or USB, the computers can share information instantly and upload it directly to the Internet.

“The time it takes to do things is cut drastically,” Guthrie added. “It saves a tremendous amount of time to produce programs for residents.” 

HOMTV hosts an open house tour from 6-8 p.m. today. Visitors will be able to watch a live Meridian Township meeting being taped and edited by the student interns. Guests can also walk through the alumni hall of fame that has been created to honor past interns and show how what they have done after their involvement at HOMTV.

“We’ll also have the opportunity for people to act like a news anchor and read from a teleprompter,” Guthrie said. “We didn’t have prompters that were real before — we had ones we made out of wood,” she added, with a laugh.

“It’s hard for us to get the word out about who we are and that were here,” Guthrie said.

“I’d really like people to know about the services we provide for Meridian Township.”

HOMTV/CAMTV Open House

6-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 20

5151 Marsh Road, Okemos

Free

(517) 853-4000

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