By SAXON DAUGHERTY Staff writer
Oil City’s local access television station is expected to be up and running under a new provider by early April.
Mayor Bill Moon Jr., Oil City Councilman Isaiah Dunham and City Manager Mark Schroyer met with Lucas Ruot, of Titusville-based Stream Media, before Thursday’s City Council meeting to discuss the future of the station.
City Council selected Stream Media late last month to run the Public, Education and Government (PEG) channel, which is part of the Comcast cable system and is included in the 10-year agreement between Comcast and the city to provide cable services to subscribers.
WREC-TV had been running the channel without a formal contract, even though one was previously constructed.
Schroyer previously said that the contract likely fell by the wayside because of turnover at City Hall.
Stream Media and Jonathon Wenner, who founded WREC-TV in 2013, both made presentations before council in September 2015, but a decision was never made until last month.
Moon, Schroyer and Dunham all said Thursday’s meeting went well, and they are excited about the investment Stream Media is making in the city.
Dunham said the company is in the process of securing some space in downtown Oil City so it can have a branch office, and Ruot will be purchasing $70,000 worth of equipment as a startup.
Moon said Stream Media will likely be hiring three people as well to help with the operation.
The goal is to have everything ready by early April. A formal contract is being drafted to reflect the desires of both sides. The agreement is expected to be ready for adoption at an upcoming City Council meeting.
There is no regularly scheduled programming that currently airs on the channel, and it will be on hiatus for a short time until Stream Media is ready to launch.
