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Uniting People & Government through the Power of Television
Television Montana (TVMT) is a public affairs television service established by the Montana legislature in 2001. This unique public-private partnership combines state government resources with private sector contributions and the television production services of Helena Civic Television. TVMT is Television by the People, for the People, and Made in Montana.

Overview
The purpose of TVMT is to provide Montana citizens with unfiltered access to public policy deliberations through gavel-to-gavel coverage of the legislative process and the proceedings of the executive and judicial branches of government. HCTV is under contract to cover Legislative Sessions and Interim committees, and to work toward statewide delivery of TVMT programming on cable television and by other means, such as the Internet.

The Next Phase

In the 2007 Session, HCTV undertook a successful fundraising effort involving private sector underwriters as well as the Legislative Services Division (LSD) to cobble together a television "network" that carried TVMT programming to 7 cities in the western part of the state served by Bresnan Communications and 15 communities served by Mid-Rivers Communications in central and eastern Montana.  HCTV also fed the programming to the Office of Public Instruction, which allowed real-time video-streaming to K-12 schools across the state.  In the 2007 special session, an appropriation of $200,000 was awarded to LSD for the purposes of sustaining and expanding the TVMT public affairs network.  HCTV is working with Bresnan, VisionNet, 3 Rivers and Mid-Rivers to establish connections between Helena and 30 communities prior to the 2009 Legislative Session.  We are also planning to provide TVMT programming to Montana PBS to enable digital, over-the-air broadcasts in Bozeman and Missoula, and in Billings and Great Falls when the infrastructure is in place.  HCTV is anticipating major legislation in 2009 that will cement the TVMT enterprise as a public service available all across Montana.  Citizen support for this effort is always welcome; please contact your legislator and the governor to urge their consensus on this opportunity to make state government accessible and transparent to the public.



    

State Government Programming

Helena Civic Television covers all Interim Committees and a variety of other state government proceedings and events in the capital city.  Our LIVE and repeated telecasts are available locally on cable channel 19.  This same programming is carried in Bozeman (channel 63), Missoula (channel 67) and Billings (channel 70) via Bresnan Communications' fiber network connecting Helena to these other cities.  HCTV is working with Bresnan, VisionNet, 3 Rivers and Mid-Rivers to establish connections between Helena and not fewer than 30 cities and towns prior to the 2009 Legislative Session.  Please watch for news on our progress!