North Allegheny school officials are hoping that NATV soon will be among the television viewing choices for district residents.
David Morris, the North Allegheny faculty member in charge of the NATV studio, last week told school board members that he and other district officials were working with local cable providers to create an exclusive station that would air a variety of district programming. The announcement came as part of Morris' report to the board about the happenings at NATV.
Currently, the North Allegheny television station broadcasts within the district's schools and does not have its own cable channel.
If a deal can be struck with AT&T Broadband and Armstrong Cable Services, the two companies that provide cable service to the district, NATV could broadcast in the homes of district residents with cable access.
For board President Maureen Grosheider and member Jim Beierle, the new channel would be greatly welcomed.
Grosheider, a resident of Marshall Township, and Beierle, a resident of Bradford Woods, both are served by Armstrong Cable Services. Right now, Seneca Valley School District television programming — known as SVTV — is on their cable lineup.
"I'm getting really tired of watching SVTV," Beierle said.
For those familiar with SVTV, it seems NATV would be operated much the same.
The station would broadcast athletic events, school board meetings, club fund-raisers, plays and musicals, as well as any emergency announcements.
When not showing programming, the channel would serve as a bulletin board for district announcements.
The "major challenge," right now, Morris said, is setting up an exclusive channel for NATV's use.
In Morris' report, he noted that AT&T Broadband has expressed reluctance to provide an exclusive channel to the district and intends to charge the district for the implementation of a channel. Morris said AT&T has not said how much it would cost to start the channel.
District officials said they intend to talk again with AT&T officials next month, after the company finalizes a contract to be the cable provider for much of the North Hills, including Franklin Park and McCandless, which are part of the North Allegheny School District.
AT&T officials declined to comment on the matter because negotiations are ongoing.
At Armstrong Cable Services, Joe Wyant said his company was optimistic a deal could be reached so that Armstrong could bring NATV to Armstrong customers in Marshall and Bradford Woods. Wyant is general manager of Armstrong's Zelienople service area.
Wyant said an agreement will have to be reached between his company and AT&T so that NATV's signal can be sent from the senior high school, which sits in AT&T's service area in McCandless.
"I'm confident we'll get it worked out," Wyant said. "We're hopeful that this will get resolved fairly soon."
Armstrong has allowed Seneca Valley to broadcast on the cable system since 1978. Wyant said the company does not charge the district for exclusive use of the channel because the company believes the programming is important.
Tim Hall, who as technology specialist at Seneca Valley oversees production at SVTV, said he thinks the community and the students benefit from local school programming.
"It helps keep people, especially ones who don't have children in the schools, in touch with what's going on at Seneca Valley," Hall said. "And the students get to learn a lot about broadcasting."
Hall said based on comments from those involved in SVTV — like its newscasters — people do watch the channel.
"Each year, the kids always say no one is watching," Hall said. "But then they go to the supermarket one evening and someone recognizes them and says 'Hey, I saw you on TV.'"
