Spotlight Asbury Park: A Year of Two Milestones

By Ed Salvas, Secretary. Asbury Park Cable TV Advisory Committee

January 2023 marked the start of the eleventh year of operation for Asbury Park TV, known as APTV.  Seen on Optimum channels 77 and 116 and on Verizon FiOS on channels 28 and 30, APTV is programmed around the clock with the usual Public Access programs: City Council, and Board of Education meetings, as well as the Planning and Zoning Boards. APTV can also be seen on streaming services Roku and Apple TV, YouTube and online at www.AsburyParkTV.com.

This year, we’re looking forward to two important milestones – opening our new studio and turning on our APTV “Beach Cam” on the famous Asbury Park Boardwalk.  In March of 2020, Nate McCallister was hired as APTV’s Station Manager.  He calls the studio an “alternative work space” that for years had been a storage room next to the Council Chambers and will be convenient for interviews following the twice monthly Council meetings and numerous other meetings and city events that take place in the Chambers. 

We anticipate the Beach Cam to be on before summer.  Positioned on a light pole near the south end of the boardwalk, it will also be helpful to the city beach management to keep an eye on the beach and boardwalk crowds and surf conditions.  The Beach cam will be added to the second channels, Optimum 116 and FiOS 30 along with the latest weather information and Public Service announcements.  The major programming schedule on APTV is available on the main channels.

APTV operates as part of the City of Asbury Park’s Department of Communications with a seven-member Advisory Committee which reviews and selects programs, follows news and trends in the PEG world, and stays up to date as a member of JAG from Day One.  In addition, we’re responsible for several “Electronic Billboards” located around the city with the “Welcome to Asbury Park” greeting and a rundown of announcements of coming events and other public service messages.

At APTV we believe we have a good mix of programs that meet the criteria for the true meaning of a PEG channel – “Public, Educational and Government.”  Since the beginning in 2012 we have aired meetings of the Asbury Park City Council, Planning and Zoning Boards, and the Board of Education.  The Board of Ed. meetings are taped by them and delivered to us.  Since Asbury Park is experiencing significant redevelopment, the Planning Board meetings often have an overflow attendance as well as strong viewership on-demand.

Thanks to Verizon FiOS and the internet, we can be seen beyond Asbury Park and have been carrying meetings of the Deal Lake Commission, the group that oversees the lake, a large body of water that flows from the Ocean through seven towns in Monmouth County. Deal Lake was named the “Third Most Beautiful Lake in New Jersey” by a national travel magazine in 2022. 

Also on the APTV schedule is “Monmouth in Focus,” a production of the County Commissioners and “Aging Insights” from the N.J. Advocates for Aging Well.  Among our own original productions is a quarterly interview with Mayor John Moor talking about current city issues and a weekend weather forecast and Podcast produced by Muata Greene, which earned him one of the five JAG Awards won by APTV last year.  APTV also carries two national programs each evening, “Sidewalks Entertainment,” a celebrity interview and music program from San Francisco, and “Democracy Now,” an independent News program.

The APTV Advisory Committee meets at the Historic Stephen Crane House, built in the late 1800’S and the home of the famed writer during his teenage years.  With the Asbury Park Historical Society, APTV has produced a documentary about the life of Stephen Carne which debuted on the station In December, 2022.