TV30
Encyclopedia
Tri-Valley Community Television (TV30) is a non-profit Public-access television
, Educational-access television and Government-access television (GATV) (PEG) television channel serving the Tri-Valley
area. The cities include Livermore
, Dublin
, Pleasanton
and San Ramon
. The station operates channels 28, 29 and 30 on the Comcast
Cable TV system. It can also be seen throughout the San Francisco Bay Area
on AT&T U-verse VDSL service. It cablecasts to 68,000 households representing a population of nearly 200,000 people. Until mid-2007, TV30 was one of the few community cable stations with a live daily newscast. The Pleasanton-based station has endured management and budget controversies.
Darla Stevens was Executive Director
of the 501(c)3 California
Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation known as Tri-Valley Community Television until her retirement in fall of 2003. At that point, then Operations Manager Sheila Tole replaced Stevens as interim Executive Director. In March 2004, Bruce Goddard was hired for the position of Executive Director and Tole departed.
Goddard instituted many changes in concert with city staff and the board. However, Goddard left the station the following December, amid accusations by employees Goddard had laid off. Production company owner Glenn Davis was hired as his replacement in July 2005. Davis resigned in early 2008 after an investigation into sexual harassment claims could not support nor deny any claims.
In 2004, the station re-named itself TV30. That change came with several other attempts to revamp the "look" of the station. The name of the newscast was changed from "The 580/680 News" to "TV30 News." The news set was changed from a blue-lit grey set handed down from a San Francisco network affiliate, to a remodeled salmon one built by station employees. In Fall 2005, the set was changed again, this time to a new professionally-designed one. This was the first of many moves that sent the station hurtling into debt. TV30 News was again renamed in July 2007 to "TV30 News Live at 4," to reflect what time the show airs live (the same taped version runs again at 7, 9, and 11). The change brought different graphics with it once again, the third time in as many years the on-air "look" changed. A new motto also came with the new name: "The Pictures. The Stories. Your World".
On May 1, 2007, it was reported that the station requested $65,000 from each of the four cities to keep running through the end of June (the end of the station's fiscal year). This comes after the station's board of directors was removed, and it was announced that the mayors from the four cities would oversee the station instead. TV30 had used up most of its $100,000 credit line and was $208,000 in debt. On June 30, the "TV30 News" gave its final broadcast.
Today there are new programs airing and being developed which bring the station back to its roots. The station is once again focused on highlighting the events, people and places in the Tri-Valley area.
pending an investigation. No results were officially released. Goddard refused public comment and chose to resign rather than continue under the cloud.
After an extensive search for a successor, Glenn Davis was hired as the station's new executive director on July 1, 2005. Davis' reign has had its own share of controversies, with the station falling significantly into debt since his inception. After Davis was hired, the station operated in the red for two years in a row for the first time ever. Furthermore, in mid-August 2007, a Contra Costa Times
article came out that said the station was being sued for sexual harassment
by the former news director, with Davis the main target of the suit. In late December, another employee made similar accusations, and Davis was again placed on administrative leave.
According to a March 5, 2008 article in Pleasanton Weekly, Davis resigned after an investigator concluded there was "insufficient evidence" to support the claims of harassment made by one former and another current employee. A lawsuit is still pending in Alameda County Superior Court.
According to the CNN website, Davis "writes, produces and films videos for corporations in El Cerrito, a suburb of Oakland, in northern California."
A March 7, 2008 San Jose Mercury News article says "While the board of directors credited Davis with reversing the long-deteriorating technical condition of the station and restructuring the program schedule, he is also associated with the financial overages that led to budget deficits two years in a row." Indeed, Davis oversaw several graphics upgrades and new set designs. Long-running program "Everything Local" was also taken from a low-budget in-studio community affairs program to a flashy magazine program under Davis's watch.
Dublin Mayor Janet Lockhart also told the newspaper "It was never intended that we would all be financing a fully functioning competitive station -- that's not what we originally started out to be.... Some of the management leadership has kind of led us in that direction."
Following an independent investigation looking into the second sexual harassment investigation against Davis, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence with the claim, but a civil case is still pending in Alameda County. Davis resigned in March 2008.
The TV30 Board of Directors advertised for a new Executive Director in June. Roger Bradley, Administrative Analyst for Dublin, was tasked with screening the applications. Bradley received twenty applications; ten of which were selected for interviews. Bradley sent out a press release on September 12, 2008 announcing the appointment of Melissa Tench-Stevens as the new Executive Director of TV30. Tench-Stevens is currently the President and CEO of The Evers Group, LLC in San Jose.
One of the longest running shows at the station has been Let's Talk Sports. Hosted by George "Dr. B" Baljevich, the show grew from a call-in talk show, to a studio interview talkshow, and later a field production at TV30. The last in-studio taping of this show took place in 2004.
Everything Local is another long-running show that started off in-studio, then moved to the field. It was at first hosted by various faces at the station. When it moved to the field, it was hosted by Eboni Warnking, and is now no longer in production.
The station also receives money to produce and air several shows, including Livermore Life (paid for by the Livermore Downtown Association) and COPPS (City of Pleasanton Police).
Lately there has been a shift away from locally produced programming such as Media Roundtable and Everything Local. The station has started airing programs produced by outside sources such as the University of Hawaii-produced Growing Old in a New Age, and the PBS program California Connected.
show was the live newscast, titled "TV30 News Live At 4" at the time of its cancellation. TV30 was one of the only community cable stations in the country to have a live, daily newscast. It debuted as "580/680 News", but became "TV30 News" in 2005. In 2007, the name changed again, this time to "TV30 News Live At 4" to emphasize its live presence. That change brought new features, including a controversial traffic segment.
The show was anchored by Tom Morrison since its inception in 1988. George "Dr. B" Baljevich" anchored sports since the beginning. Ian Bartholomew was also a sports anchor, joining in the early 1990s. Shortly after the newscast was launched, Robin Fahr joined Tom Morrison as co-anchor for the show. By 2005, Fahr was only anchoring one or two days a week with Michelle Soba anchoring or Morrison solo-anchoring the rest of the week. Soba took over the desk full-time that year. She left in early 2007, and was replaced by Melinda Meza.
By early 2008, financial problems at the station began to mount, with the news bearing the brunt of the blame. In a March 5, 2008 Pleasanton Weekly article, Dublin Mayor and TV30 board chair Janet Lockhart was quoted as saying "The news program is the most expensive in the station lineup." Lockhart raised concerns over the newscast in the Pleasanton Weekly article, "It makes no sense to me to have a live traffic report aired at 4 p.m. and then the same news repeated through the evening," she added. "I also don't understand why our local station reports on news you can watch on regular stations, such as the latest Britney Spears scandal."
Citing increased costs at keeping the news afloat, the board ultimately canceled "TV30 News Live at 4" in April 2008. The board is considering a weekly or monthly news magazine in its place.
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
, Educational-access television and Government-access television (GATV) (PEG) television channel serving the Tri-Valley
Tri-Valley
Tri-Valley is a triangle-shaped region in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area. The area is 18 miles southeast of Oakland and 33 miles from San Francisco...
area. The cities include Livermore
Livermore, California
Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....
, Dublin
Dublin, California
Dublin is a suburban city of the East Bay region of Alameda County, California, United States. Located along the north side of Interstate 580 at the intersection with Interstate 680, roughly east of Hayward, west of Livermore and north of San Jose, it was named after the city of Dublin in...
, Pleasanton
Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, incorporated in 1894. It is a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area located about east of Oakland, and west of Livermore. The population was 70,285 at the 2010 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton was ranked the wealthiest middle-sized city in...
and San Ramon
San Ramon, California
-2010 census:The 2010 United States Census reported that San Ramon had a population of 72,148. The population density was 3,991.1 people per square mile...
. The station operates channels 28, 29 and 30 on the Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
Cable TV system. It can also be seen throughout the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
on AT&T U-verse VDSL service. It cablecasts to 68,000 households representing a population of nearly 200,000 people. Until mid-2007, TV30 was one of the few community cable stations with a live daily newscast. The Pleasanton-based station has endured management and budget controversies.
History
Tri-Valley Community Television started in 1976, founded by Darla Stevens. Known then as CTV 30 (Community Television channel 30), the station expanded from having only a few hours each day on the air, to growing to over three channels decades later. By the 1980s, the station moved from covering local events and happenings, and began producing studio shows with the help of the local cable company.Darla Stevens was Executive Director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of the 501(c)3 California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation known as Tri-Valley Community Television until her retirement in fall of 2003. At that point, then Operations Manager Sheila Tole replaced Stevens as interim Executive Director. In March 2004, Bruce Goddard was hired for the position of Executive Director and Tole departed.
Goddard instituted many changes in concert with city staff and the board. However, Goddard left the station the following December, amid accusations by employees Goddard had laid off. Production company owner Glenn Davis was hired as his replacement in July 2005. Davis resigned in early 2008 after an investigation into sexual harassment claims could not support nor deny any claims.
In 2004, the station re-named itself TV30. That change came with several other attempts to revamp the "look" of the station. The name of the newscast was changed from "The 580/680 News" to "TV30 News." The news set was changed from a blue-lit grey set handed down from a San Francisco network affiliate, to a remodeled salmon one built by station employees. In Fall 2005, the set was changed again, this time to a new professionally-designed one. This was the first of many moves that sent the station hurtling into debt. TV30 News was again renamed in July 2007 to "TV30 News Live at 4," to reflect what time the show airs live (the same taped version runs again at 7, 9, and 11). The change brought different graphics with it once again, the third time in as many years the on-air "look" changed. A new motto also came with the new name: "The Pictures. The Stories. Your World".
On May 1, 2007, it was reported that the station requested $65,000 from each of the four cities to keep running through the end of June (the end of the station's fiscal year). This comes after the station's board of directors was removed, and it was announced that the mayors from the four cities would oversee the station instead. TV30 had used up most of its $100,000 credit line and was $208,000 in debt. On June 30, the "TV30 News" gave its final broadcast.
Today there are new programs airing and being developed which bring the station back to its roots. The station is once again focused on highlighting the events, people and places in the Tri-Valley area.
Management controversies
In December 2004 several employees of the station were removed by Bruce Goddard. Those former employees made public accusations about his management style, and threatened lawsuits to the station's board of directors. None of the employees were reinstated but accusations on behalf of the terminated employees lead to Goddard being placed on paid administrative leaveAdministrative leave
Administrative leave is a temporary leave from a job assignment, with pay and benefits intact. Generally, the term is reserved for employees of non-business institutions such as schools, police, and hospitals....
pending an investigation. No results were officially released. Goddard refused public comment and chose to resign rather than continue under the cloud.
After an extensive search for a successor, Glenn Davis was hired as the station's new executive director on July 1, 2005. Davis' reign has had its own share of controversies, with the station falling significantly into debt since his inception. After Davis was hired, the station operated in the red for two years in a row for the first time ever. Furthermore, in mid-August 2007, a Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times
The Contra Costa Times is a daily newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, U.S.. The paper serves Contra Costa and eastern Alameda counties, in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area...
article came out that said the station was being sued for sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
by the former news director, with Davis the main target of the suit. In late December, another employee made similar accusations, and Davis was again placed on administrative leave.
According to a March 5, 2008 article in Pleasanton Weekly, Davis resigned after an investigator concluded there was "insufficient evidence" to support the claims of harassment made by one former and another current employee. A lawsuit is still pending in Alameda County Superior Court.
According to the CNN website, Davis "writes, produces and films videos for corporations in El Cerrito, a suburb of Oakland, in northern California."
A March 7, 2008 San Jose Mercury News article says "While the board of directors credited Davis with reversing the long-deteriorating technical condition of the station and restructuring the program schedule, he is also associated with the financial overages that led to budget deficits two years in a row." Indeed, Davis oversaw several graphics upgrades and new set designs. Long-running program "Everything Local" was also taken from a low-budget in-studio community affairs program to a flashy magazine program under Davis's watch.
Dublin Mayor Janet Lockhart also told the newspaper "It was never intended that we would all be financing a fully functioning competitive station -- that's not what we originally started out to be.... Some of the management leadership has kind of led us in that direction."
Following an independent investigation looking into the second sexual harassment investigation against Davis, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence with the claim, but a civil case is still pending in Alameda County. Davis resigned in March 2008.
The TV30 Board of Directors advertised for a new Executive Director in June. Roger Bradley, Administrative Analyst for Dublin, was tasked with screening the applications. Bradley received twenty applications; ten of which were selected for interviews. Bradley sent out a press release on September 12, 2008 announcing the appointment of Melissa Tench-Stevens as the new Executive Director of TV30. Tench-Stevens is currently the President and CEO of The Evers Group, LLC in San Jose.
Programming
Tri-Valley Community Television broadcasts public meetings on an on-going basis, including the city council meetings of each of the four participating jurisdictions, as well as the Pleasanton School Board, the Dublin School Board, the Livermore School Board and the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District. The bulk of the station shows air on channel 30, while the meeting mostly air on 28 and 29.One of the longest running shows at the station has been Let's Talk Sports. Hosted by George "Dr. B" Baljevich, the show grew from a call-in talk show, to a studio interview talkshow, and later a field production at TV30. The last in-studio taping of this show took place in 2004.
Everything Local is another long-running show that started off in-studio, then moved to the field. It was at first hosted by various faces at the station. When it moved to the field, it was hosted by Eboni Warnking, and is now no longer in production.
The station also receives money to produce and air several shows, including Livermore Life (paid for by the Livermore Downtown Association) and COPPS (City of Pleasanton Police).
Lately there has been a shift away from locally produced programming such as Media Roundtable and Everything Local. The station has started airing programs produced by outside sources such as the University of Hawaii-produced Growing Old in a New Age, and the PBS program California Connected.
Local shows produced and aired by TV30
- Conversations With Robin Fahr
- COPPS
- In A Word
- Let's Talk Sports
- Livermore Life
- Mayors Report
- Slice of Life Dublin
- Tri-Valley Sports Final
TV30 shows no longer being produced
- Ask The Doctor
- Everything Local
- Magic Mike's Playhouse
- Media Roundtable
- Positively Pleasanton
- The Real Estate Show
- TV30 Weekend (Sometimes referred to as TV30 News: Weekend Edition)
- TV30 News
- Valley Forum
TV30 News
The station's flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
show was the live newscast, titled "TV30 News Live At 4" at the time of its cancellation. TV30 was one of the only community cable stations in the country to have a live, daily newscast. It debuted as "580/680 News", but became "TV30 News" in 2005. In 2007, the name changed again, this time to "TV30 News Live At 4" to emphasize its live presence. That change brought new features, including a controversial traffic segment.
The show was anchored by Tom Morrison since its inception in 1988. George "Dr. B" Baljevich" anchored sports since the beginning. Ian Bartholomew was also a sports anchor, joining in the early 1990s. Shortly after the newscast was launched, Robin Fahr joined Tom Morrison as co-anchor for the show. By 2005, Fahr was only anchoring one or two days a week with Michelle Soba anchoring or Morrison solo-anchoring the rest of the week. Soba took over the desk full-time that year. She left in early 2007, and was replaced by Melinda Meza.
By early 2008, financial problems at the station began to mount, with the news bearing the brunt of the blame. In a March 5, 2008 Pleasanton Weekly article, Dublin Mayor and TV30 board chair Janet Lockhart was quoted as saying "The news program is the most expensive in the station lineup." Lockhart raised concerns over the newscast in the Pleasanton Weekly article, "It makes no sense to me to have a live traffic report aired at 4 p.m. and then the same news repeated through the evening," she added. "I also don't understand why our local station reports on news you can watch on regular stations, such as the latest Britney Spears scandal."
Citing increased costs at keeping the news afloat, the board ultimately canceled "TV30 News Live at 4" in April 2008. The board is considering a weekly or monthly news magazine in its place.
On-air staff
- George "Dr. B" Baljevich
- Ian Bartholomew
- Kathy Cordova
- Robin Fahr
- Myla Grasso
- Jim Ott
- Patty Powers
- Carolyn Siegfried
- Rachael Snedecor
Former staff
- David Allendorf
- Jenny Chu (Currently a reporter at WROCWROC-TVWROC-TV, virtual channel 8, is a CBS affiliate based in Rochester, New York, USA, owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group. WROC-TV operates Fox affiliate WUHF through a shared services agreement. The two share studios on Humboldt Street in Rochester...
) - Mari-Ela David (Currently a reporter at KHNLKHNLKHNL is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Hawaii that is licensed to Honolulu. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter in Palehua...
) - Susan Dhillon
- Mika Edwards
- Evangeline Fabia (Currently a host for Let's Go LA on the LA County Channel)
- Mae Fesai (Currently a reporter and anchor at KSBWKSBWKSBW is a television station in the United States and is the primary NBC affiliate for the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks...
) - Juliette Goodrich (Currently a reporter at KPIX)
- Dawn Gordner
- Katie Harlan (Currently a reporter and anchor at KGETKGetKGet is a free download manager for KDE. By default it is the download manager used for Konqueror, but can also be used with Mozilla Firefox. KGet is part of the KDE Network package, and was featured by Tux Magazine and Free Software Magazine.-History:...
) - Anser Hassan (Currently on the beachOn the BeachOn the Beach is a post-apocalyptic, end-of-the-world novel written by British-Australian author Nevil Shute after he emigrated to Australia. It was published in 1957....
) - Wendy Jensen
- Whitney Kimmel
- James Koponen
- Chris Kypreos
- Nitin Lal (Currently a reporter at KHSLKHSL-TVKHSL-TV Channel 12 is a CBS affiliate television station based in Chico, California. Its transmitter is located in Cohasset, California. The station is owned and operated by Catamount Broadcasting of Norwalk, Connecticut, which also operates KNVN channel 24, a NBC affiliate owned by Evans...
) - Michelle Loupe
- Melinda Meza
- Tom Morrison
- Linda Mumma (Now known as Linda Garrett) (Currently a reporter at KGUNKGUNKGUN-TV, channel 9, is the ABC-affiliated television station serving Tucson, Arizona, owned by Journal Broadcast Group, Inc.. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 9 from Mount Bigelow, located northeast of Tucson...
) - Elisha Rivers (Currently an anchor at KEMO-TV and traffic reporter on KCBSKCBS (AM)KCBS is an all-news radio station in San Francisco, California, that is a key West Coast flagship radio station of the CBS Radio Network and Westwood One. Its transmitter is located in Novato, California. KCBS currently has studios on Battery Street, where it shares the location with co-owned KPIX...
) - Kim Shull
- Azenith Smith (Currently an anchor and reporter at KION-TVKION-TVKION-TV is a full-power television station in Salinas, California, broadcasting on digital channel 32 as a CBS affiliate. The stations continues to use UHF channel 46 as its virtual channel through the use of PSIP. KION-TV shows local news, weather, and sports programming, as well as syndicated...
) - Michelle Soba
- Pete Sumulong (Currently a sports anchor at KCSGKCSGKCSG is a full-service television station in Cedar City/St. George, Utah, broadcasting locally in digital on UHF channel 14 in Cedar City as the affiliate of Me-TV for the state of Utah. Founded June 11, 1984, the station began broadcasting in May 1990 and was licensed June 21, 1990. It is owned by...
) - Katie Thompson
- Jason Toupes
- Aja Vickers (Currently a reporter at KSNWKSNWKSNW, digital channel 45 , is a NBC affiliate television station based in Wichita, Kansas. It is owned by the New Vision Television group. KSNW is also the flagship station of the Kansas State Network , a chain of NBC affiliates serving the western three-fourths of the state. KSNW's transmitter is...
) - Eboni Warnking
- Betty Yu (Currently a reporter at News 12News 12 NetworksNews 12 Networks comprises seven regional cable news television channels in the New York metropolitan area. The channels offer local news 24-hours a day and reach approximately 3.8 million television households in the tri-state area...
) - Wendy Poon (Currently a reporter at KXTV-TV)