Sometimes I think about old stuff. This is one of those thoughts– but it’s still current. Decades ago a metro-oriented visionary had a grand thought, of a cable system that would reach the metro region. Channel 6 was a must-carry on every cable system that reached metro area outlets.
This was back in the day when regional thinking was a priority and the Metropolitan Council had a say about the possibilities of a regional communications system.
For many years I served on the Board of the Metro Cable Network – a lost opportunity beyond belief. Perhaps because there is no regional vision, or perhaps because there is no financial support for that vision, the MCN is longer a regional voice. Surely, the technology has changed, but the idea of thinking regional is a post-technology thought. Technology can divide or connect the region.
I am sad. The region needs a voice and the potential is technologically at hand, even if it’s retro by today’s standards. Politics, finances and people have sapped Channel 6 of the potential it once had. Of course I would like to see a more vibrant and relevant Channel 6. Still, the fact that the technology is dated does not assume that the vision is obsolete, just not politically popular at this juncture.
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