Measuring PEG Access Channel Viewership and Impact

I looked over Rob's “Audience Measurement as It Relates to PEG Access TV and Its Mission” and I look forward to hearing about new data available and efforts to collect it.

In addition to being a literature survey, the above mentioned article did a good job of describing a contextual structure for this topic: "... it seems audience measurements of PEG access centers are being done (or at least reported) for two purposes. [1] First, measurements are used essentially for marketing purposes – in order to convince policy-makers, funders, and other potential participants of the reach and value of public access. [2] A second major use of audience measurement involves the assessment of the needs of the community of service...Other purposes [3] for audience measurements involve tracking the effects of specific programs and program streams."

As a producer, I am mainly interested in measurements that provide data for using "adaptive management" in my efforts to educate and engage the public [3] and those that will help me convince others to support my project [1]. As a community member, I am interested in [2].

Another question that I'd like to see some data on: how does PEG effectiveness in community communication compare with, say, putting up community oriented videos on the internet?

And another question: How does PEG effectiveness compare with other methods of community communication, such as community events? Perhaps this question isn't very well framed, but it's motivated by a very surprising experience I had recently. I have been producing a TV series for over 3 years now, and all that time I've been searching, with spectacular lack of success, for sponsors and partners and volunteers to help make the show sustainable. I searched locally and regionally, and I succeeded only in digging myself deeper into debt.

I was also bothered by 2 things: many people don't have cable and/or don't watch much TV, and that in community terms, TV is an isolating activity, rooting people to their couches instead of involving them in community activities. As an experiment, I began a series of events at community centers. At these events I showed excerpts from my TV series, talked a little about the issues in the video, had a panel discussion with some local experts, and lots of time at the end to allow the audience to discuss these issues with their neighbors.

Much to my surprise, these events were a big success -- volunteers and organizations wanting to partner with me came out of the woodwork. Money started flowing in from sponsors, donors and DVD purchases -- not enough to make it sustainable yet, but these events generated far more active interest and engagement than 3 years of the TV show ever did. That really got my attention, and I'm not quite sure why things happened that way. I suspect that there are many interrelated reasons for this phenomenon, but the difference between TV and personal contact must be a part of the equation. Hence the question, how does PEG compare with non-TV community outreach efforts? Perhaps knowing that could a) help PEG be more relevant; b) help community organizers better judge how much effort to put into PEG vs. how much to put into other forms of outreach.

Or something like that :-)

John F. Williams