With the growth of cable television during the 80’s & 90’s, local access cable was in its heyday. Communities across the country, including Naperville, were producing hyper-local content using volunteers called Community Producers. However, as the internet began to find its way into Americans’ daily lives, rapid changes in the media landscape caused many local access cable stations to close. Naperville wasn’t one of them.
NCTV17 began a transformation of their business model in the mid-2000s, morphing from a volunteer-driven organization creating occasional shows to more of a network affiliate model. Paid staff began producing weekly programming, launching shows such as Naperville News 17 and Naperville Sports Weekly. Leveraging the internet; the station started simultaneously streaming all its on-air programming on its new website as well as uploading all the individual stories and sports highlights both to the website and YouTube.
Fast forward to today and the station is now producing 14 original series and broadcasting more than 30 community events each year. With almost 5.5 million YouTube views, 35,000 visits/month to NCTV17.com, and thousands of residents following the station on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, residents can watch exactly what they want, when they want, and how they want.
While news, sports, and community events continue to showcase thousands of local residents on Channel 17 each year, members of the community are also very involved in producing shows. Each month Career Center, hosted by Kim White of the Community Career Center, brings local experts to the station to offer advice to job seekers who are in transition.
Nicki Anderson, CEO & President of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, hosts a lively panel conversation each month in which local business people weigh in on trending business topics – from use of social media to best practices in hiring.
Coach Jeff Thorne from North Central College stops by each week during the football season to break down the Cardinal’s performance in the past week’s game and provide insights for the week ahead on The Red Zone.
As we look ahead, NCTV17 will continue to adapt to the ever-changing media landscape, but no matter where the world of television goes in the next 30 years, NCTV17’s commitment to serving the Naperville area community and sharing your stories will remain at the foundation of what we do!
Thanks for watching.
