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 Natural Awakenings Lancaster-Berks

Independent, Local Programming on LCTV 66 Brings Out the Best of Lancaster

Jun 30, 2016 10:51PM ● By Michelle Bense

Lancaster Community TV, or LCTV 66, on Lancaster Comcast channel 66, is a nonprofit station reaches about 87,000 households in Lancaster County and in Wrightsville. The station airs programming for the community 24/7, and has been on the air for almost five years. Co-creator Diane Dayton is passionate about the impact that a local, independent form of media like LCTV 66 can have on the community.

“Frank Altdoerffer and I created the station and run it from the old WLAN/FM 97 building in downtown Lancaster,” says Dayton. “We hope the station is a resource for information and a source of entertainment that helps connect the residents in our community.”

Dayton and Altdoerffer worked together in radio in the 1980s, and wanted to bring the community connection that they had in radio, to TV. “We feel that independent and local voices are vital to a community’s health, well-being and positive growth. We went after getting a channel on Comcast and quite literally built the station from scratch,” explains Dayton.

Dayton also hosts an interview show called Behind the Lines on BRC 11 (Northern Lancaster County’s Community Connection) which is also on LCTV 66. The weekly show covers a wide range of informative, educational and entertaining subjects and aims at giving voice to people, places, events, concerns and projects in our community, “to bring us together with knowledge and connections to make a difference for good as individuals and in our community.”

“An advantage of local independent media”, Dayton says, “is that they can give a longer form to stories. Network stations may only be able to give a minute or two of coverage on topics, but on Behind the Lines and LCTV 66, we can give more of the story because we have the time and space to give it.”.

“There is always a story somewhere. I meet people at expos, in grocery stores, walking through the neighborhood, at a concert, and wow—another story to tell,” enthuses Dayton. “Being curious and wanting to know things, with a desire to connect and bring people together for good are driving forces behind what I do on Behind the Lines and what we do with LCTV 66.”

For more information, visit LCTV66.org and DaytonCommunications.com.

Michelle Bense is a freelance writer and editor for Natural Awakenings magazines. Connect at [email protected].