PCN (the Pennsylvania Cable Network) is a Government-access television (GATV) cable television network dedicated to 24-hour coverage of government and public affairs in the commonwealth. It features live coverage of both Houses of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, as well as other forms of informational and educational programming.
The bulk of PCN's operations are located in Harrisburg, the commonwealth capital, but it also has bureaus in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
PCN's president and CEO is Brian Lockman, formerly C-SPAN's vice president of operations.
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PCN was founded in 1979 by eleven Pennsylvania cable television companies as a non-profit network for televising Educational-access television programming from Pennsylvania State University. Its funding comes from the cable companies that carry PCN, and it receives neither commonwealth nor federal funds.
In 1992, PCN began moving away from a strictly educational format, with its coverage of Governor Bob Casey's "Capitol for a Day" town hall meetings. Two years later, it began televising daily coverage of the General Assembly. PCN ended its relationship with Penn State in 1996, and assumed full responsibility for the network's operations and programming.
The majority of PCN's programming is live, unedited coverage of both houses of the General Assembly, press conferences, and meetings of various political and business organizations. PCN's programming also includes tours of museums and manufacturing facilities, educational speeches and presentations, and cultural programming, as well as Weather World, a fifteen minute weather program from the Pennsylvania State University Department of Meteorology. Unlike most public affairs networks, PCN also broadcasts high school athletic events, including football and basketball games, wrestling matches, and state championships.
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