Bainbridge Island Television ended its 25 years of public access broadcasting this week.
It’s dying days were tumultuous, with street and City Hall protests, e-mail and social media campaigns and several BITV news specials decrying the city’s decision to cut funding to the station.
Now a fight looms over the robotic cameras and other equipment BITV purchased with public funds. BITV says the equipment belongs to them. The city disagrees.
And there appears to be some conflict on BITV’s sparsely-populated board. One member is now serving as both president and vice president, while another member says all control is now in the hands of the executive director. There are hints that some former board members may try to revive the station in the coming months.
You can read more in my most recent story about BITV.
This blog’s most recent poll (see right column) posed the question of how much financial support the city should give BITV. As of today, the results show a majority (64 percent) wanting no city funding to go to the station. About 20 percent want the city to meet BITV’s full funding request of almost $300,000, and 16 percent say BITV should get half that amount.
You can read BITV’s closure announcement below.
