HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-02-01, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018. PAGE 9.
Television pilot project coming to Huron East
Rediscovering broadcasting
Chris Cooper and his company Rediscovering Canada is setting out on a pilot project next
month and Huron East will serve as its first location. The project aims to create local
broadcasting over the internet as many local television networks have been forced to close
their doors. Above is a screenshot from one of the episodes of Our People, Our Places
featuring musician Mary Paige St. Onge. (Courtesy photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Huron East will serve as ground
zero for a pilot project by Chris
Cooper and Rediscovering Canada,
which hopes to reinvigorate local
broadcasting.
Cooper, who has been working
with Huron East — specifically the
Economic Development Department
and its leader Jan Hawley — for
years, is launching Rediscovering
Canada Television (RCTV) public
internet television on March 9. The
station will feature RCTV original
Canadian content and Cooper hopes
that it will truly be a viewing
experience that will be for the
people.
The community television aspect
of the project is where Huron East
comes in.
"Our commitment to
communities, especially in rural
Canada and our remote north is our
priority," states the Rediscovering
Canada website. The website,
Cooper said, will categorize content
by province or territory and then
even further by community.
The website also states that while
Huron East has been the first to
jump on board for the project,
negotiations are ongoing with a
number of other communities across
the country that are eager to have a
platform to promote local talent.
Cooper hopes to focus on factual
original series, comedy, short films,
documentaries, home-grown music,
theatre, dance and art.
The programming in Huron East
will begin with new episodes of Our
People, Our Places and other
programs presented by Cooper
himself, but he hopes as the network
gains steam and interest is
generated, that more people,
preferably young people interested
in broadcasting, will get involved.
As production budgets have been
slashed, especially to stations
serving rural communities, Cooper
says that it's getting more difficult
for residents to see their own stories
on television. Using the power of the
internet and social media, Cooper
hopes to restore greatness to the
world of local broadcasting with
high quality.
While he hopes to bring people on
and help them get a start in the
industry, he also hopes that the
project will continue to grow and
that they'll be able to eventually pay
people generating content and
working with them.
He also said that copyrighting for
the project will be very community -
minded. When people contribute
programming to the project, they
own the material.
So far, Cooper says that the
interest has been through the roof,
with tens of thousands of people
across the country getting in touch
and submitting material or pitching
ideas.
As for the Huron East connection,
Cooper said he has been working
with the municipality for years and
is consistently impressed with it. He
has worked with Economic
Development Officer Jan Hawley
and Huron East just seemed like the
right place to launch original
programming.
It also helped, he said, that he and
his crew had already produced video
for the municipality several years
ago that could be rebooted and
repackaged ahead of the March
launch date.
For more information, visit
re di s c overi n g c an ad a. c a.
Get information
on Huron County attractions
on the
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section of our website
www.northhuron.on.ca
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