Keeping connected: ACTV broadcasts Anderson County’s story daily
B.J. Caldwell inteviews Anderson County Lady Mavericks Coach Mitch Cupples for ACTV during a broadcast of the Anderson County vs. Clinton basketball game. (photo:Tony Cox )
“I love what we do — I think it’s great,” Sutton said, then laughed and shared ACTV’s motto, describing public meetings and school programs and coined by station manager Andy Garrett, “Adults screaming, kids singing!’”
That motto certainly covered a recent March evening, when coverage was in place for the Clinton City School Board, Anderson County School. Board, Anderson County Library Board, spring musicals at Claxton and Norwood elementary schools and the first ever flag football game between Anderson County and Clinton high schools.
“We have the ability to go live from just about anywhere in our county, and have 13 part-time employees who help us with hosting and videography duties,” Sutton said, noting all are adults.
“We have had student interns before, but a lot of our work takes place after people leave for the day, and goes into the night.
“We are very happy to have these folks,” he said. “They do a great job, and we do a good job retaining our employees. They are learning a trade that could be utilized in just about any work environment.”
It’s a long way from ACTV’s humble beginnings in 2006, when then Anderson County Attorney Jay Yeager approached ACS’s previous director of technology, Johanna Whitley, with the idea to create a local government channel.
Sutton, who had been working for ACS’s technology department since the previous year, was tapped to lead ACTV, backed by $75,000 in initial funding from ACS, Clinton City government and Anderson County government, and Sutton was given a six month deadline.
One of their first items of business was to hire Andy Garett as the one and only full-time employee.
“He’s our station manager, and oversees the upkeep and day-to-day operations,” said Sutton.
They also assembled a formal board of directors, began working with Comcast on fiber optic installations and began creating a plan for 24-hour a day programming.
“We built the initial infrastructure, but had very little to go off of on how best to build a TV station,” Sutton recalled.
Some elements were a given: 24 hour access, and government and education programming only.
“There are very few government education channels in East Tennessee,” Sutton said. “We have to be very careful when producing and choosing our programming — but that is also a good thing, in that we don’t have someone coming in from outside to produce content that wouldn’t be a positive reflection on our community, as is the case with other public education government channels.”
ACTV has three remote studios, two in-house locations, and also records onsite events, from governmental meetings to numerous school events, including sports, graduations and music programs.
“A lot of events we cover are live, including school board meetings for Anderson County and Clinton,” Sutton said, noting ACTV covers 250 separate events annually.
The channel is 1083 on Comcast and ACTV also has a You Tube channel and streams 16 hours a day on its website.
“In the 20 years ACTV has been around, we have seen people go from having traditional cable, to leaving cable and following on-demand programming and streaming. ACTV has been streaming since 2007. Even if you didn’t have the comfort of a chair at home, you can watch us anywhere, anytime.”
Sutton personally produces two programs, an art tutorial show hosted by Norris elementary school art teacher Alison Greenhouse (Mrs. G-House), who Sutton refers to as “the Bob Ross of ACTV,” and Storytellers with Darren Leach, which is a podcast style show highlighting individuals in Anderson County that has contributed significantly to its success..
Both programs have proven to be very popular with audiences.
“The Art Class with Mrs. G-House has done tissue transfer prints and life masks, for example,” Sutton said. “The Storytellers is filmed in a podcast format, where we ask people to simply tell us their stories — a lot of which gives us the history and culture of Anderson County.
“That show is in its second season, and one series was where we interviewed six of the 1992 Clinton High School class who were members of the football team who were runners up in the state championship that year.”
As he continues to seek and hone content, Sutton said he has “a passion for pushing the envelope.
“I am always looking for ways to make good content programs for everybody here.”
When he’s not working, Sutton enjoys spending time with his children, Jackson and Alyssa Kate, and working in the Faith Promise Church’s Celebrate ministry, which “helps folks with hurts, habits and hangups find the love of Jesus, who loves them no matter what the world has told them.”
