PCTV to Go Dark After Decades of Community Coverage

By Abby Luby

After a quarter century of serving several Westchester communities with original, local TV programs, PCTV is closing its Pleasantville-based cable station, headquartered on Lake St. 

The not-for-profit organization will no longer produce shows after May of this year. 

A longtime hub for local voices, the station has encouraged community engagement through its live coverage and local programming. 

PCTV has been supported financially mainly by the Village of Pleasantville with fundraisers and sponsorships bringing in additional revenue. 

“I would like to thank the Village of Pleasantville for its funding over the years,” PCTV board president Michael Inglis remarked. “I’d also like to express our gratitude to our station manager Shane McGaffey and acknowledge all the producers for creating such outstanding local content. We believe this local voice will be sorely missed.”

McGaffey has worn many hats since he started working at PCTV 25 years ago, in 2000. He has simultaneously served as director, camera person, editor and instructor. 

“It’s been a struggle to survive financially,” McGaffey observed. “Around 2010 the village seemed more supportive. We were recently awarded a $50,000 New York State grant for an education program and we have received a few other grants. But without the village support we are unable to accept any of those funds.” 

A public statement released on Tuesday by PCTV acknowledged its spring closing:

“PCTV does not see a financial way forward under these circumstances and thus will be closing at the end of its financial year in May,” the statement reads.

The announcement went on to thank past village board members who were supportive and PCTV staff member Evelyn Tierney “for her loyal administrative work through the years.” 

Last year the village budgeted $116,500 for PCTV. 

Discussions about the station’s financial viability have been ongoing for years, Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer said. 

“PCTV has had a long run but the video landscape has changed dramatically,” Scherer noted. “We’ve long discussed if there was a way forward to increase revenue without further expansion and no way has been found.” 

Scherer said PCTV offered local, independent producers a way to create live programs, many of them specific to the community. 

“Producers used this great public service that provided a studio to record and broadcast their show and that was a great thing,” the mayor added. 

But the media landscape has evolved quickly with a shift from traditional public access TV to platforms like YouTube and Zoom, putting strain on local cable stations like PCTV. 

“People have lots of ways of getting information today,” Scherer said. “It’s a very different world where we use Zoom for meetings which are recorded. The production values aren’t as good. But they are good enough.”

To date, PCTV has created more than 4,000 public access shows and has broadcast and produced nearly 1,000 government meetings and functions. 

Since 2009, original content has been created by over 30 producers who covered such topics as politics, literature, the arts, health and wellness, real estate, food and wine, music, astrology and environmental issues. 

The Examiner even hosted a periodic civic affairs program, titled Examiner News Talk.

For McGaffey, the loss of local, independent voices could form a big information gap in the community, especially those heard in PCTV’s live debates and interviews with elected officials and candidates running for public office. 

“The platform for presenting candidates would be difficult to replicate,” McGaffey said. “These shows allowed people to hear directly from that person. Not knowing what candidates think isn’t going to be very helpful in future elections. The community will lose out.” 

PCTV programs have reached more than 55,000 households in the Westchester communities of Thornwood, Valhalla, portions of New Castle, Mt. Kisco, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, Ossining and Briarcliff Manor.

McGaffey said the PCTV website will still be accessible and will archive past public meetings. 

“With over 3,500 shows there is quite an archive of programs,” he said.

McGaffey was not yet sure if archived programs could be stored in other places.

After PCTV closes Scherer said the village might consider hosting meetings on YouTube.