The 2023 Hometown Media Awards, part of the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) conference, will be live streamed on June 28. Cablecast, a division of Tightrope Media Systems, is offering this coverage through a new public internet channel called Hometown TV, accessible via the Cablecast Streaming App.
Details of the Live Stream
The ACM Foundation presents the annual Hometown Media Awards to honor outstanding producers in community media and radio who use PEG (Public, Educational, and Governmental) access channels. This year's ceremony will take place on June 28 as part of the ACM conference at BRIC Media Arts in Brooklyn, New York.
Awards Program Overview
Each year, more than 1,000 entries are submitted to the Hometown Media Awards program. A panel of industry judges evaluates these submissions, and approximately 100 winners are selected for their creative programs that engage viewers in unique ways. All award winners will be invited by Cablecast to add their videos to the new Hometown TV channel.
Platform Features
Hometown TV is designed as a free platform without advertisements, allowing both winners and fans to watch and share award-winning content easily. Steve Israelsky, president of Cablecast Community Media, emphasized the importance of this initiative: “With Hometown TV, we’re connecting a nationwide network of producers around a common love of hyper-local media.”
ACM Foundation's Role
The proceeds from the awards program will support the ACM Foundation, which focuses on facilitating, preserving, and promoting education in community media. Mike Wassenaar, president and CEO of the ACM and its Foundation, highlighted the significance of these awards: “The Hometown Media Awards are special to the community media industry because they celebrate outstanding work and bolster our capacity to cultivate thriving local media in the future.”