Representatives from Access Sacramento, KVIE, Sacramento Life TV and the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) presented reports to the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission on March 6.

Joe Barr, board chair of Access Sacramento, said he recently joined the organization and described a restructuring to position the nonprofit as a “community media of the future” focused on training filmmakers and audio producers. Barr said Access Sacramento is revamping governance and programming to lift local voices.

David Lowe, president and general manager of KVIE, used his remarks to highlight “Protect My Public Media Day” and to urge continued support for federal funding that sustains public television and radio. Lowe said KVIE will host a free community event, “Be My Neighbor Day,” on April 5 in South Natomas to thank first responders and the public.

Owen Burgess, program director at Sacramento Life TV, read a message describing community reporting and programming the channel has supported, including coverage of local fundraisers, Adopt-a-Family events and a podcast collaboration produced at Access Sacramento. Burgess said Sac Life’s work helped promote local events and nonprofit fundraising.

Peter Skibitski, senior technology director for San Juan Unified School District and chair of the SECC board, announced that the SECC selected Aaron Heinrich as its new executive director after a national search and nearly 24o candidates (transcript: 24 applicants, narrowed to 5). Heinrich described his background in broadcast promo production and programming and said SECC received a record 634 entries for the county awards, with judging underway and the awards ceremony planned for April 27 at Hiram Johnson High School.

The commission received the reports and filed them; no formal action was required beyond receiving the presentations.

Selected quotes

- "We're revamping governance. We're setting the organization up to be the community media of the future," said Joe Barr of Access Sacramento.

- "It is an investment in the American people," David Lowe said of federal support for public media.

Why it matters

The channel licensees are primary partners in the county's public-media ecosystem. Their reports show active community engagement, training pipelines with Access Sacramento, and expanded youth participation in SECC-run student media programs.