Darien TV79 is moving up the dial this month as Optimum cable TV does a major shuffle of its channels.
The new channels will be 1310 for the Darien TV79 (town government) channel and 1305 for the Blue Wave station, which also covers Board of Education meetings. The switch will be made Aug. 21.
Jim Cameron, program director and co-founder of TV79, said Optimum’s decision will mean a major inconvenience and cost for the local station, which operates on a shoestring budget, including grants from Altice (in fees collected from cable subscribers) and money from the town government.
“We’re not happy about this move,” Cameron said. “Before the decision by Altice, owner of Optimum, we were not consulted,” he added. “Unfortunately, it seems there’s nothing we can do to stop this change.”
For almost 20 years Darien TV79 has broadcast town meetings and community events, keeping local residents informed about their town government. Sister station BlueWave TV on channel 78, has covered the work of the Board of Education and is also being forced to move.
New Name, New Logo
Image from DarienTV
This new logo replaces the DarienTV79 logo.
Prompted by the cable channel move, the station is rebranding as “DarienTV.”
“It doesn’t make much sense to call ourselves Darien TV79 anymore,” says Cameron. “We think our new name, DarienTV, better reflects the many video platforms where our coverage can be viewed.”
DarienTV also has a website where meeting videos are posted for on-demand viewing, as well as YouTube Live (now on 24 hours a day) and Facebook pages where you can watch the station’s coverage. Those streaming and on-demand sites are unaffected by the Altice move.
Darien Board of Education meetings are posted on this DarienPS YouTube channel.
Image from DarienTV79
Old logo. DarienTV won’t be on Channel 79 as of Thursday, Aug. 21.
“We’re creatures of habit in Darien, so I agree this change by Altice isn’t exactly welcome,” said First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky. “That said, Jim and his team have done a terrific job rebranding our town’s most important communication asset. I really like the new logo, and with a little time, we’ll all be saying ‘DarienTV’ just as naturally as we say ‘TV79’ today.”
“Right now we’re just trying to let our loyal viewers know about the impending move,” says Cameron. “We know there will be some confusion but are hopeful our viewers will find us at our new channel or another of our platforms.”