New CTV director could be picked today New CTV director could be picked today (June 17, 2005)

Board, cities interviewing three finalists to run public station
by Jeb Bing

The CTV30 board of directors and a representative of the four cities that support the community television system are meeting today to finalize their selection for a new executive director of the station.

Jeff Eorio, director of Parks and Recreation for San Ramon, said the station received 50 applications for the job, which has been vacant since Jan. 1. The station's former executive director, Bruce Goddard, resigned under pressure because of what the board and cities believed were unfavorable management techniques.

Today's meeting also brings together a newly-constituted six member board that includes businessman Scot Gambruno, appointed two weeks ago by the Pleasanton City Council to fill that city's long empty seat on the board. San Ramon also appointed a new member, Renee Boone, and Dublin re-appointed its board member Valerie Barnes. Livermore has yet to name a CTV board representative.

Also on the board are veteran members-at-large Nancy Pennell, Ginger Ripplinger and Joan Zehnder, who is chairwoman.

Eorio said he and the board members were scheduled to review 11 finalists for the executive director's position on Wednesday, and then to pick the candidate they want to offer the position from a final three they will interview today. If that candidate accepts the offer, the post could be filled in mid-July at the latest.

The new director will assume control of a community television service that is supported by Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore and San Ramon, with its primary $680,000 a year in revenue coming from a 50-cent fee assessed on each Comcast cable subscriber's monthly bill.

In the past year, the four cities and Comcast have added additional funds to finance a $1.8 million expansion project that includes nearly $500,000 in new cameras and digital production equipment. Plans for a new $1 million studio and broadcast center are expected to win state approval next month, in time for the new director to initiate a construction bid process. The studios will be built on school district headquarters property near Abbie and Second streets.

In accepting the appointment to the CTV board, Gambruno said his mission will be to boost production capabilities at the station to generate more outside revenue. With satellite dish subscribers increasingly canceling out of Comcast cable services, and the 50-cent CTV surcharge that goes with it, revenue from Comcast subscribers is expected to start dropping.

That hasn't happened yet, and Eorio told the board last month that Comcast has added 2,000 new subscribers, mainly from new residential construction under way in the Dougherty Valley that CTV serves.

Gambruno, who is Vice President of Innovative Cost Management of San Jose, an employee benefits consulting firm, said he will call on his years of experience in finance, sales and marketing to help make CTV more financially independent. One way he plans to accomplish that is by bringing in more paying advertisers and sponsors for CTV programs and special broadcasts, similar to what ValleyCare Health Systems produces on a regular basis on Channel 30.

"With a new executive director and more help from board members, we see the station developing better programming with more revenue-generating commercial breaks," Gambruno said. "I'd like to see the station produce more programming that covers volunteerism and the fine arts. With sponsors, we could broadcast plays from the Amador Theater or 'Shakespeare in the Park' into the homes of seniors and shut-ins who aren't able to get out to see those shows."

Gambruno, 33, lives on Junipero Street with his wife Deborah and their two children, Micayla, 5, and Ricci, 3.

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