The Hometown Video Festival, sponsored by the national Alliance for Community Media, has announced its 2008 community media awards, and Cambridge Community Television is sharing top honors with Arlington (VA) Independent Media in the Overall Excellence in Public Access Programming category for organizations with annual budgets over $500,000. Newcomer Cambridge Educational Access (CEA), Channels 98 and 99, has received the Overall Excellence in Educational Access Programming award for centers with budgets under $200,000. The Overall Excellence award recognizes public, educational and governmental (PEG) cable access stations for the high quality of their operational activities and programming efforts. CCTV competes in the highest budget category, against the major cities in the country.

This is the seventh time in CCTV's twenty-year history that we have received this award. Upstart CEA opened its doors only three years ago. The awards will be presented in early July at the ACM's annual conference in Washington DC.

Individual awards were also received by local teens Laura Asherman for her documentary on CCTV's 2007 Summer Media Institute for Cambridge youth, and Max Lewontin for his documentary on homelessness, Nobody Knows My Name, and for the innovative City in Motion. Zach Martin and Quentin James received a first place for The Quiet Generation Presents, as did Amy Mertl for her documentary on the CRLS student photography show in CCTV's Drive-by-Gallery.

CEA’s award winning compilation will be played on Channel 98 at 7:00pm nightly beginning on June 20, 2008. CCTV’s submission will be played on Channel 9 followed by the individual award winners on Monday 6/23/2008 at 10:30pm, Friday, 6/27/2008 at 6:00pm, Sunday 6/29/2008 at 9:00pm, Tuesday 7/01/2008 at 12:00pm, Friday 7/04/2008 at 06:00pm, Sunday 7/06/2008 at 1:00pm, Wednesday 7/09/2008 at 10:30pm, and Friday 7/11/2008 at 6:00pm.