NYC Media Group

NYC Media Group is the City of New York's agency that handles directly its media assets. NYC Media Group has properties in broadcast and cable television, radio and the web. NYC Media Group itself falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Information Technologies & Telecommunications.

Based in New York City's Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street, on the 27th floor, NYC Media Group is responsible for the television programs shown on cable channels 25 (22 for Cablevision subscribers), 71, 73 and 74. NYC Media Group also has offices located on the campus of the Bronx Community College, the basement of City Hall and 112 Tillary Street in Brooklyn. The primary stations run by the group are NYCTV (cable channel 74) and WNYE-TV (broadcast channel 25/DTV 24); the rest are out-sourced by independent contractors such as Off-Track Betting and the Department of Transportation.

The group also runs 91.5 WNYE on the radio, as well as RadioNYC, the city's telephone hold system, when calling 911 and 311. RadioNYC is also heard on "City Drive Live" on channel 93 (72 for Cablevision subscribers). "City Drive Live" shows traffic conditions from the NYSDOT and NYCDOT cameras that are spread out of all five boroughs of New York City 24 hours a day.

Many of the existing programs are carry-overs from the previous existing entities of Crosswalks NY and NYC TV. Some of the more popular shows include "Cool In Your Code", "Secrets of New York", "$9.99", "What's Cooking At Gracie?", "Paradetown USA", "Fashion In Focus", "The Seven Secrets of Grand Central Terminal", "Blueprint: New York City" and "New York Noise", all of which air or have aired on WNYE during prime time.

Brands

In 2006 NYC Media Group developed various marketing brands to promote different faces of business.

NYC Original Productions was created to showcase the original shows produced in-house by NYC Media Group.

Skyscraper Syndications was created to interact with potential buyers of NYC Media Group's content.

Commercialism

In August 2006, Mayor Bloomberg and NBC Universal Station Group President Jay Ireland joined WNBC General Manager Frank Comerford and NYC TV / NYC Media Group General Manager Arick Wierson to announce a licensing deal between NBC and NYC TV. WNBC began to run some of NYC Media Groups programs during the afternoon of the Fall/Winter season. NYC TV licensed over 100 hours of its content to NBC, which programmed the shows in the 11AM EST block, Monday to Friday and later pushed to 12pm to compete with local news.

2006 also marked a noticeable change, as NYC TV began to air more commercial content than the previous years. However what sets a noticeable issue here is that despite the content of the shows seen, NYC Media Group still is a municipal station bound by rules and regulations set forth by the FCC which are stricter than those used to govern the actions of network television. Content seen previously on NYC TV was primarily promos for various NYC agencies, as well as public service announcements and the occasional promo for NYC Media Groups' on-air programs.

Another noticeable difference in 2006 is the length of many shows. In the past, many shows had variable lengths. Some would run anywhere from sixteen minutes to almost thirty minutes long for shows timed for half-an-hour. Instead, the shows are now, for the most part, running on average about twenty-two minutes long for a half-hour block. This change primarily affected shows on the WNYE channel, though a few changes were noticed on NYC TV's channel 74, since some shows run on both channels. However Council 51 did undergo renaming to The Council during the summer.

Council Criticism

On September 14, 2006, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer interviewed General Manager Arick Wierson and some of his administration (Trevor Scotland and Matthew Tollin) about worries the City Council had regarding possible mismanagement on their part over the agency's spending and programming. One of the core issues was whether the station was straying from its original purpose of being a municipal station and if it was alienating younger and older viewers, as a majority of NYC Media Group's shows focused on young adults.

Awards/Recognitions

In 2004, NYC Media Group was nominated for four New York Emmy Awards.

In 2005, NYC Media Group won eight New York Emmy Awards, while nominated for thirteen.

In 2006, NYC Media Group won four New York Emmy Awards, while nominated for a total of twelve. Also that year, NYC Media Group won six Silver Telly Awards and eight Bronze Telly Awards.

In 2007, NYC Media Group won seven New York Emmy Awards, while nominated for an additional forty-one New York Emmy Awards.

External links

* [http://www.nyc.gov/tv NYC Media Group Home Page]
* [http://www.nyc.gov/doitt Department of Information Technologies & Telecommunications Home Page]

IMDB Links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476065 2005 New York City Video Voter Guide]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439051 $9.99]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443355 Access Mayor]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466597 Applevision]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437704 Blueprint: New York City]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486526 The Bridge]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448956 City Drive Live]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451459 The City That Never Sleeps]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458256 Coming of Age]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421313 Cool In Your Code]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443363 Council 51]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465329 Everyday, Everywhere]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433290 Fashion In Focus]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457345 Fashion Week Diaries]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452559 The History Channel Presents]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449458 Inside the Archives]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489607 Live From City Hall With Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459624 Media City]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449455 New City Classics]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481451 New York 360]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476065 New York City Video Voter Guide]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449459 New York Noise]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443394 Paradetown, USA]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445900 Secrets of New York]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444690 The Seven Secrets of Grand Central Station]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465351 Shaping the City With the City Planning Commission]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448970 Steel Band Panorama]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466625 Taste NY]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449490 That's So New York]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439405 Tribeca Film Festival Presents]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439407 What's Cooking At Gracie?]