CMSI attracts thousands of new viewers

PRESS RELEASE

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

JENNIFER SAMMARTINO, 718-727-1414

CMSI attracts thousands of new viewers

with live sports coverage

Community Media of Staten Island sees thousands

of new views for President’s Cup

Staten Island, NY – There have been lots of firsts for Staten Island over the last two weeks. In fact, Borough President Vito Fossella conceptualized and launched the first Borough President’s Cup basketball tournament for girls and asked Community Media of Staten Island to broadcast it live. And we did it.

The announcement was made prior to the tournament at a press conference held at the College of Staten Island.

“The Borough President offered us a challenge and we accepted,” said Jennifer Sammartino, Executive Director of Community Media of Staten Island (CMSI). The existing infrastructure at CMSI allows for in-the-field live broadcasting which was done to cover the Postcards 9/11 Ceremony in 2023. But the technology had not been used by CMSI to cover live sports.

“This assignment certainly came with obstacles and I am proud to say that this team overcame them,” Sammartino said. With the assistance of the Tournament Committee and CMSI team, a robust team of in-field videographers, engineer, studio management and commentators, this tournament coverage was a resounding success.

“I could not be more proud of the people who participated int his collaboration to make this such a success, not just for us, but for the athletes, their families, and the community at large,” Sammartino said.

A still-new partnership with Cablecast allows CMSI to not only broadcast to Spectrum and Verizon as we do currently on four channels but offer streaming and video-on-demand on our new web site, communitymediasi.org and via a new app, Community Media of Staten Island, which can be found by searching the Apple Store and Google Play by using “community media”. To watch programming via the web site, simply go to communitymediasi.org/watch.

“We have embarked on another new chapter for CMSI,” said Maria Esposito, Chair, Board of Directors, CMSI. “As a youth sports fan myself, I am pleased to be able to bring this level of engagement to our viewers. The overwhelming viewership tells us that this was much clamored for in the community.”

While viewership numbers for television are unavailable, the numbers of views on the streaming app were the largest CMSI has seen since launching the app in September of last year.

The first game of the tournament logged 765 views live, while by the end of the tournament, the final game grabbed 1476 views live. These numbers continue to grow as more people tune in to watch the games on demand, with that number at 6,000 to date.

The app is free and available on Google Play, App store, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick and Roku.

For those interested in getting trained to use our equipment in the field, please visit communitymediasi.org to get started.

Interested in making your own content? Give us a call at (718)727-1414 or visit us at communitymediasi.org to learn more.

ABOUT COMMUNITY MEDIA OF STATEN ISLAND

Staten Island Community Television (SICTV) was founded in 1983 as a result of a franchise agreement between the city of New York and Staten Island Cable (now Spectrum). Permanently opened in 1988, SICTV is organized as a not-for-profit corporation under IRS Code 501C3 and currently has a board of directors appointed by the Borough President of Staten Island. Channels provide local programming created by the wide variety of individuals, groups and organizations within a community.

In 2023, the name was changed to Community Media of Staten Island (CMSI).  CMSI provides comprehensive television production training for eligible community members. Eligible members are defined as Staten Island Residents or individuals affiliated with Staten Island based Not-For-Profit Organizations. Volunteers, who assume all responsibility for materials submitted for cablecast, produce programming from start to finish. Access to channel space is on a First-Come, First-Served Basis. Equipment and channel usage is free of charge to eligible community members.