Mark your calendars for the 2025 Public awareness weekend! This year PAW will be held March 14th & 15th.
As a volunteer-driven television station, MCA-TV relies on volunteers to produce, edit and star in its locally-produced programs and is always looking for new volunteers and program ideas.
Moon Community Access Television is the public, educational and government access television station owned and operated by the Township of Moon. Moon Township is one of the few Western Pennsylvania municipalities to give township residents the opportunity to produce original television programs.
For more than 30 years, MCA-TV has aired locally-produced programming designed to keep Moon Township residents tuned in to their community. In turn, Moon Township residents also play an active part in MCA-TV’s programming lineup.
As a public access television station, MCA-TV is designed to give residents the opportunity to communicate via television. MCA-TV airs a full lineup of locally-produced programs, all of which are produced by Moon Township residents with the help of volunteers from any community.
MCA-TV airs locally on Comcast channel 21 and Verizon FiOS channel 35, and reaches more than 40,000 households in Moon Township and surrounding communities. The station is primarily funded by the cable television franchise fees that cable carriers Comcast and Verizon pay to Moon Township each year. The franchise agreements for each cable provider can be found here: Moon Comcast Cable Agreement" or Moon Verizon Cable AgreementVerizon (PDF).
As a volunteer-driven television station, MCA-TV relies on community members to produce, tape and star in its locally-produced programming. Whether you prefer to work behind the scenes or on-camera, MCA-TV has a role for you.
That’s what makes you the key to MCA-TV.
Here at MCA-TV, we are excited to announce the completion of our studio renovations! In addition to the virtual set added a few years ago in the studio, we have recently completed renovations in our control room. Our new and improved set-up has been flipped sideways to allow even more space for volunteers. With this new layout came new equipment as well. We are officially able to record our programming in HD and have updated our audio board, added new flat screens, expanded countertops to provide more work space, and made sure to include a comfy couch as well! We can't wait to get it up and running to provide some more entertainment for the members of our Township.
Moon Community Access Television, MCA-TV, celebrated its 35th anniversary in January. The station started as "Chanel 14" located in Moon Schools in 1985 and has since grown drastically. MCA-TV is owned and operated by Moon Township and funded by franchise fees.
As one of the most active stations in the area, MCA-TV volunteers produces 700+ hours of programming annually. These programs feature over 45 area nonprofits, local board meetings, sporting events and more. Program lineups can run the gamut from informative to quirky. Meetings, cooking shows, high school and college sports, talk shows, religious programs, fitness classes, and more have filled the schedule over the past 35 years.
Unlike most public access stations, MCA-TV has a production trailer to shoot on location and has offered extensive sports coverage in the area for Moon Area Schools and Robert Morris University. During this time, Robert Morris University has won numerous Mid-Atlantic Student Emmy’s for their sports productions.
The number of programs broadcast by local public access stations is increasing because the shows are free or inexpensive for residents to produce. They also give average people venues to express themselves. Many small towns do not receive regular media coverage, so they offer public, educational, or government, so-called PEG, access channels about activities in the community, like Moon Township.
MCA-TV has a few volunteers who have produced shows since the studio opened 35 years ago. Linda Francis has produced a workout series on the station since 1985. As the times have changed, she has adapted her program to keep up. She started teaching a high intensity workout program and since has altered that to Senior Workout, which is still filmed monthly. She said, “I have been the producer and host of a fitness show since the startup of our station in 1985. Volunteers are a big key to the success of the station so please consider joining us for this great experience.”
To get involved, residents take four 1½-hour training courses that prepare them to volunteer at the station. After the course, they can produce their own shows in the studio or borrow equipment to film a program outside of the studio.
Tune in to MCA-TV, Comcast channel 21 and Verizon FiOS channel 35 to watch the plethora of community produced programs.
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