Arlington Community Media is dedicated to providing an electronic forum for the free exchange of information and ideas which reflect the talents, skills, interests, concerns, and diversity of the Arlington community. Learn new skills by enrolling in a workshop, connect with others by joining a crew, or make your next TV show by requesting equipment and studio time! For hours, location, or to email us, please visit our contact page.
Arlington Cable Access TV is Born
In 1980, the town licensed its first cable television franchise with American Cablesystems. For the first time, there was a facility for public communication within the town, a combined public access and local origination studio at 81 Mystic Street. During the next two decades, hundreds of citizens used the facility to produce programming for Arlington cable subscribers in the three classic categories: Public, Educational, and Government (PEG). Under that original license, an organization was formed to help the public learn about and to utilize the studio. The board of directors and members of that organization, known as Arlington Cable Access (ACA), maintained the www.arlingtonstudio.com website until the end of September 2006. That site, now listed as www.acmi.tv and now operated by Arlington Community Media Inc. (ACMi), is the site currently in use.
ACA becomes ACMi
Arlington Community Media Inc. (ACMi) was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a not-for-profit corporation. Subsequently and over time, a board of directors was chosen, the organization was designated as Arlington’s official access corporation by Arlington’s Board of Selectmen, and the corporation was granted tax-exempt status by the IRS in July 2006.
The Park Avenue Studio Comes to Life
ACMi formally undertook, on September 26, 2006, the daily operation of Arlington Studio at 85 Park Avenue in Arlington Heights as the Town’s official community media and public access corporation and as operator and manager of that studio, which continues to be Arlington Community Media’s primary production facility.
The Government Channel Returns
The government access channel, lost to neglect more than 20 years earlier, was reinstated at ACMi’s Arlington Studio. By the opening of the company’s first Annual General Meeting in October, ACMi had come to be regarded as a leader in community access technology and innovation in Massachusetts.
Looking to the Future
Today, ACMi operates multiple additional satellite production centers, including in Town Hall, in Arlington High School, and at the Ottoson Middle School. The specific sites of these satellite centers may change over time, but ACMi will maintain a steadfast commitment to building out facilities across town to enhance our ability to cover and present events of community interest.
85 Park Ave., Arlington, MA 02476
Phone: (781) 777-1115
Monday – Thursday, 10-6; Friday, 10-5
85 Park Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476
Phone: (781) 777-1115
Monday – Thursday, 10-6; Friday, 10-5
