Downsville Community TV: Description of Activities (1972)
Principal members: Dean and Dudley Evenson.
Downsville Community TV was started by Dean and Dudley Evenson. Downsville is a small community in the Catskill Mountains. Using a Sony 3600 Portapak, Dean and Dudley produced local programming which they then aired on cable. "At a pre-scheduled time, on a given evening each week, a green VW van pulls up to a telephone pole on a country road and unhooks two cables which are hanging there waiting to be plugged into a Portapak. With the flip of a few switches, the local community cablecast begins. In their homes, all the local folks are sitting eagerly by their tv sets, waiting to see themselves, their friends and neighbors on Channel 3."
Downsville Community TV used local programming primarily, since this is what their community was most interested in. They produced profiles of a teacher canning chairs, a grocer making sausages, a cop talking about the non-existence of crime in small towns, interviews about local political issues, and local civic and cultural events. They were also interested in creating a series about the problems of small farmers, and were concerned about environmental issues.
-From Profile in Radical Software Vol. 2, No. 1, 1972
Summary
Downsville Community TV was founded and operated by Dean and Dudley Evenson in Downsville in the Catskill Mountains; the pair produced and cablecast local programming using a Sony 3600 Portapak, with weekly broadcasts transmitted by a green VW van that connected two cables to a Portapak and aired on Channel 3. Programs included profiles of local workers (a teacher canning chairs, a grocer making sausages, a cop discussing the non-existence of crime), interviews on local political issues, and civic and cultural events; they planned a series on small-farm problems and noted concern for environmental issues. Reported in Radical Software, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1972.
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Last modified 13 September 2026