Goddard puts new face on TV30 Goddard puts new face on TV30 (September 17, 2004)

by Jeb Bing

T ri-Valley Community Television, the government and public education system renamed this week as TV30, is also sporting new programs and news sets and a new producer, thanks to the hands-on management by its executive director Bruce Goddard. Hired just six months ago to breathe new life into the community broadcasting system where costs were rising and viewers dwindling, Goddard cut staff and costs, streamlined its financial statements to provide a better look at how much CTV was spending, and resuscitated a $1.5 million plan that was funded but not moving forward to build new production and broadcast studios on school district property near Abbie and Second streets.

Goddard said TV30, which includes cable Channels 28, 29 and its flagship Channel 30, is unique among the country's local public franchises that operate under the guidelines of the Federal Communications Act. It has the only daily live news broadcast in community television and serves 68,000 households representing a population of nearly 200,000 in the cities of Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore and San Ramon. Approximately 66 percent of TV30's $650,000 budget for fiscal year 2004-05 is appropriated by those four cities from revenue generated by a 50-cent charge on Comcast cable bills in franchise fees. The balance comes from underwriters, whose "commercials" are aired in return for their contributions to the system, and from fees TV30 charges to organizations such as ValleyCare Health System and the Pleasanton Police Department's COPPS talk show that TV30 produces and broadcasts.

For a time, it looked like no one was at home at TV30. Last year, before the CTV board of directors hired Goddard, the station's founding director retired. Others who had nursed the station along over much of its 27 years left later, including Dawn Gordner, Sheila Tole and Jack Oliver. Several key news reporters took jobs at network affiliated stations, including Katie Harland who has gone to the CBS affiliate in Eugene, Ore. As a reporter. Still, TV30's anchors Tom Morrison, Robin Fahr and Michelle Soba are carrying on; they, coupled with sports broadcast veterans Ian Bartholomew and George "Dr. B" Baljevich, are familiar faces to viewers across the Tri-Valley.

This week, Goddard introduced his new News Director Susan Dhillon, who is returning home to the Tri-Valley from the ABC affiliate in Fresno. Like others now reporting for commercial broadcast stations who got their start at CTV, Dhillon learned the ropes here and then moved on to increasingly responsible news and management positions at network affiliates in Reno and Salinas before becoming a field producer in Fresno. Working closely with Goddard, Dhillon will help make TV30's news department and other programming more proactive, plugging into the four Tri-Valley cities with more live coverage and diversified reporting. Along with replacing worn out cameras and production equipment, Goddard also has won board approval to buy a new van, which will display the new TV30 call letters and help the news team cover more local events.

Besides the new TV30 facilities, which Goddard hopes will be completed in a year, he also plans to quickly bring in digital playback and high tech graphic equipment that will give viewers better quality and also open more opportunities for revenue-generating production opportunities. These will include production work on television infomercials and other programs for local nonprofits and government agencies as well as internships for Regional Occupation Programs (ROPs) by Tri-Valley high schools. Students get professional training behind the camera while TV30 gains extra hands to produce even more shows that can add to the station's bottom line as it improves news and feature programming for its Tri-Valley market area. 1

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