WPAA-TV, a volunteer-run, nonprofit community media center facilitates the production of citizen media and manages one of Wallingford’s three community television channels. The local television channels are Comcast (Xfinity) 18/1070 within Wallingford, or Frontier 6091, across CT. Unfortunately, Frontier has not carried the designated channel since Oct. 2022. Our content is simulcast worldwide on the internet from this website.
Wallingford Public Access Association, Inc. (WPAA) rebranded as WPAA-TV and Community Media Center in 2016. This d/b/a name better represents the use of the community space.
At no cost to eligible users, WPAA-TV provides the tools and the stage for media production. The volunteer team prioritizes supporting Wallingford-centric media produced by the public. WPAA-TV resources are available to college students and workforce training enrollees. In addition to video production, there is an art gallery on-site, a conference room, a podcast room, and civic, media & digital education opportunities. With minimal planning, Wallingford residents can show up at 6 pm and be LIVE at 7 pm.
Our Official Status
WPAA is the designated Cable Access Provider (CAP) in Wallingford CT operating the Community Access TV station with primary responsibilities for Public Access TV. WPAA-TV is a (501-3(c). This hard-fought designation was confirmed in a regulatory proceeding in 2008.
HERE IS THE LEGALESE:
The General Statutes of Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat.) §16-331a provides for “meaningful community access” as a component of multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) service. Community access is defined as non-commercial programming produced, or sponsored, by members of the community and made available in a cable TV service area as part of the operator’s basic service tier. Community access encompasses Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access programming. MVPDs are required to provide technical and managerial support under the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (Conn. Agencies Regs.) §16‑331a-11 and financial support per Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-331a(k).
PUBLIC ACCESS PLUS – PECULIAR TO WALLINGFORD
Our regulatory responsibility is to enable hyper-local distribution of community-created and represented media as Public Access TV. Unlike other nonprofit Community Access TV stations, WPAA is responsible for the distribution of Government and Educational Access TV not otherwise provided on the Government & Education Channels. Town departments are authorized to use two other channels designated for Town use. Taxpayers cover the cost of channel management and content production on these channels. In most other communities, local government contracts with nonprofits to provide coverage of government meetings and support education in various ways. This usually results in more cost-effective use of the tax-payers portion of these services. There are no such contracts in Wallingford. All Education and Government content administered by WPAA-TV is curated at no cost to taxpayers. As a result, our viewers see news updates from Connecticut’s members of Congress, United Nations stories, and content produced by federal or state governments. Life-long learning content is on our schedule six days a week. (See Learn by Watching)