Alan Heller remembers when Duarte Public Access Channel was operated out of a closet in a band room in Duarte High school in the 1980s.
As a volunteer and former president, he tapped local sports — football, swimming, wrestling — and broadcast them on the public access channel — known as a PEG channel (public, educational and government access) — for residents to watch.
“I used to climb a crow’s nest with a ladder and a pole before people noticed and provided me a lift,” Heller chuckled.
It was a kind of golden moment for the local public access scene – long before the YouTube and TikTok era, when home video studios were far from normal, the way they are now, just a cellphone lens away.
The realities of time have caught up with the channel, which has closed its doors after more than 30 years.
But the legacy, and the memories of the station live on in Heller.
He looks fondly on a platform that was truly public. Anyone could participate and film cable content — gardening, cooking, music, political debate, religious programming — anything one could want to put out to the public.
Eventually, the city provided DCTV with a studio and equipment room on 3rd Street.
Yet as the years passed, DCTV’s equipment aged and so did the few volunteers. Funding remained sparse and the nonprofit struggled to find participants.
The city sold the studio to build new housing.
“When that sold, we became homeless,” said Minoj Patel, DCTV’s last president.
Then the pandemic hit and the city of Duarte formerly severed ties with DCTV. When the dust settled, after 30-plus years, Duarte’s public-access television station formerly closed the books.
As for the “G” in the PEG channel, the city of Duarte renewed and edited a version of its 2020 communication contract with Trepepi Smith — a provider of marketing, technology and public affairs consulting services — in the Fall of 2022. According to city officials, the public access side of things — the aspect provided to community members to use independently — is still under review.
According to the Alliance for Community Media, in 1980 there were 2,500 access centers across the country. As of 2022, there were only around 1,600, and most of them were small operations with just one to three employees.
DCTV had only one part-time employee, a station manager – Levon “Mr. Y” Yotnakhparian. He did everything from producer, director, video engineer, lighting director, boom operater — you name it, Mr. Y did it.
The Duarte High School TV, video and photography teacher brought in his students to gain a hands-on experience. He made sure his young people had a meal, providing pizza at every production out of his own pocket.
“He is an unsung hero,” Patel said. “He was there for his love of the kids and the love of the art itself … everytime things got worse and it meant he had to make bigger sacrifices — he did it.”
Mr. Y’s students would participate by filming the Route 66 parade or summertime concerts in the park. Some have gone on to work in video and photography, from weddings to producing on “Dr. Phil.”
“Even when some of them are hesitant or scared — I would push them to do it,” Yotnakhparian said. “And then I would just watch them see how easy it is. The best kick out of it — that I taught them how to do it and they are moving and they’re doing it without further instructions.”
Patel hopes that the city of Duarte will find a new way to embrace the “diamond in the rough,” that is public access programming to inspire civil engagement and community in a younger generation.
“We had a gem and a real platform to do things,” Heller said.
