ANDROSCOGGIN VALLEY -- A 30-minute video highlighting some of the special offerings of the Androscoggin Valley is playing on two Maine television stations for an eight week period that started last week.
The segment is playing on Local Discovery, a production of Turnkey Television and airing on stations WPXT (CW) and WPME (MyTV). The show runs every day, alternating between the two stations. The stations broadcast in the Portland, Maine market, extending from Elliot, Maine to Waterville, Maine and Carroll and Coos Counties in New Hampshire.
Cory Culleton of Local Discovery said the show focuses on giving viewers a chance to see things in their own backyard.
“For us it’s very rewarding to tell the hidden stories of Maine and New Hampshire,” he said.
Turnkey Productions approached the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce about doing a Local Discovery segment on the region. City Planner Pamela Laflamme helped out by writing a successful grant application to the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the N.H. Charitable Foundation to help cover some of the local share of the production costs.
Selected to participate in what became the Androscoggin Valley Tourism Promotion Project were the Chamber, White Mountains Community College, Northern Forest Heritage Park, Wildcat Ski Area, St. Kieran Center for the Arts, Gorham Moose Tours, Jericho Mountain State Park, and Gorham Moose Tours.
The filming was done over four or five days earlier this summer. While the content is local, Culleton said the quality of the production is high. He said his company has been producing the show since 2003 and has featured over 20 different towns.
The show will run 56 times during the eight week week period on the Maine stations which Culleton said provide good regional coverage for the Androscoggin Valley.
WPXT targets females 18 to 49 and especially targets mothers and working women. On the local Time-Warner cable, it appears as channel 21. WPME aims at males in the same age group with programming heavy on vehicles, outdoor activities, and sports. It appears as Channel 99 on the local Time Warner Cable. Culleton said the two stations are also carried on both DirecTV and Dish satellite systems.
Once the eight week period is over, the segment will remain on the Local Discovery web site and individual segments will be posted on You Tube.
The organizations are also able to post their segments on their own web sites to promote their activities and offerings. St. Kieran Center for the Arts Executive Director Joan Chamberlain wasted no time in getting the art center’s segment on St. Kieran’s web site. In an e-mail sent to supporters, Chamberlain called the promotional video an incredible opportunity for her organization.
Laflamme said the city plans to post the entire 30-minute video on Berlin’s web site.
Barbara Tetreault, Berlin Daily Sun, August 18, 2009
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