Cortez’s only local television studio will celebrate its third year on the air on March 1.
Mesa TV’s broadcasts reach the Four Corners counties of Montezuma and Dolores, as well as parts of western La Plata County and eastern San Juan County in southeast Utah, and parts of northwestern New Mexico, according to a news release.
“It is funny how you fall into things at certain points in your life,” said Jekekiah Coy, co-founder and CEO of Mesa TV. “The co-founder and I went to the same church, and it was just one of those things like, ‘Hey, you wanna start a TV station?’ So we are doing it for the community and we are doing it for the Lord.”
Mesa TV broadcasts live on YouTube and over-the-air antenna TV on channel 30.6.
“We are encouraging the community to contact us with local news and upcoming events,” said Coy in a news release. “We also have a real desire to see our local high school students become involved, possibly in such areas as the production of their own weekly newscast to be aired on Mesa TV.”
Coy said that Mesa TV is seeking a sponsor for local basketball game streaming.
Looking to the future, Mesa TV hopes to start an internship program, providing the opportunity to learn the profession of broadcast media and TV and video production with hands-on experience.
Successful completion of the program could lead to a future staff position, according to the news release.
Mesa TV partners with Montezuma-Cortez High School to video record games, concerts, dramas or other programs to be broadcast at a later time.
Mesa TV also hopes to start a weekly, 30-minute newscast focused on positive, local news.
In addition, Coy will offer a midweek class for the public titled, “Introduction to Video Editing” for a fee through the Cortez Cultural Center website.
Participants will need a version of Sony Movie Studio 13 Platinum and a personal laptop.
According to a news release, a separate class may be offered in the future on the “Introduction to Digital Photography and Art,” and class sizes will be limited for the sake of individualized instruction.
“This community is awesome, and I just want to say that we do it for the community,” Coy said. “We want to have people communicate with us and call us with their ideas and stuff and it is what we are here for, to serve.”
Contact Coy at Jedekiah@ mesatv.co or 970-560-0574 with any questions, comments or suggestions.