Equipment

Staff has spent approximately $35,000 per year on production and other equipment.

As per the contract with the City, WCCA TV received grants of $150,000 in 1997 and 1998 for “equipment, furnishings and/or studio renovations.” WCCA’s expenditure on equipment alone has exceeded the sum of the initial grants. Staff reports that approximately 90% of its equipment is getting old and needs to be updated.

Staff has provided us with a list of equipment that will be needed to keep its inventory of equipment current and to fully transition to a digital environment.22 The sum for this equipment is $824,495.00. A large portion of that budget, $154,720.00 is designated for equipment the public can check out from WCCA and use independently of the studios.

Unlike many other access centers in communities of Worcester’s size, WCCA does not have a mobile van unit. In order to do remote location shoots, staff or volunteers have to load up their cars with equipment and transport it to the site. This is problematic in several ways, mobile van unit equipment is typically fixed and as such suffer less wear and tear than loading it in and out of vehicles. Mobile van units are typically equipped with a generator or multiple large batteries to provide a source of electricity for equipment as well as equipment to monitor video and audio quality. Even under the best circumstances, this ad-hoc way of covering remote shoots leaves WCCA at the mercy of not knowing whether they got quality video until they return to the access center.