1989: YOU DIDN'T KNOW I WAS A TV STAR, DID YOU?

It's been 24 years since a LOCAL cable company gave a true LOCAL news channel with weekly programming. Back in the early years of cable in Hamilton Township, the original "Hamilton Cablevision, and then" TKR Cable" maintained studios in Hamilton where true local television could be brought to the citizenry. Hamilton subscribers could tune in to watch LOCAL political candidates, LOCAL football and baseball games, and LOCAL coverage of Septemberfest, Harvest Fest, the Sayen Azalea fest, and other programming of interest to LOCAL citizens. I was one of the personalities who brought local politics, news and other interesting subject to the taxpaying citizens of Hamilton in my weekly "In Focus" program. Then along came Cablevision, and we lost the local coverage when the Hamilton Avenue studios were closed. Cablevision's lame alternative to "Local Access" programming is found in their slogan, “TV that’s close to home.” It is indeed close to home if you live in Monmouth, Ocean, and Somerset Counties. Hamilton gets minimal coverage. I would assume that it's just too expensive to travel from the company headquarters in Wall, New Jersey, when they can save money by covering the football games of Toms River High School, never mind the fact that Hamilton Township covers a huge area insofar as population is concerned. Cablevision's "TV that's close to home" gives us the opportunity to hear the hostess talk with the mayor of Marlboro, NJ, a congressman from Dunellen or Brick or Matawan or countless other a non-Mercer County districts. Where we once had comprehensive coverage of the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, it is now covered by Cablevision who televises the Belmar parade. Where we once had full season LOCAL coverage of our local sports teams, we now get to watch perhaps one football game from Hamilton, and the rest from out of the area. (WE MISS YOU, RONNIE STEWART; YOU GAVE US ALL THE LOCAL FOOTBALL AND BASEBALL GAMES and were the best as a play by play announcer.)