If you haven’t yet watched one of Huntsville Town Council’s monthly meetings online, you’ll have another year to give the service a try.
YourTV, formerly CogecoTV, began a six-month livestreaming trial in June that allows residents to watch a webcast of council meetings at huntsvillecouncil.onyourtv.tv. (Previously recorded meetings can be accessed here.)
The first livestream on June 26, 2017, had 78 viewers during the meeting and a total of 115 views including the video posted afterward. They watched an average of 18 minutes and 47 seconds each. The July 26 meeting had 86 real-time viewers, 113 total views both during and after the meeting, and an average of watch time of 16 minutes and 19 seconds.
The September 23 meeting was the most-watched so far with 153 total views, 135 of those during the meeting, and an average viewing time of 24 minutes and 22 seconds.
As of Tuesday morning, the October 23 council meeting had 134 views, 107 of which were during the meeting, and an average watch time of 12 minutes and 30 seconds.
Several councillors said that they had received positive comments about the service. A small number of viewers have completed an online survey – available at huntsville.ca until December 30 – and their responses echoed those shared by councillors. Of the respondents, 71 per cent were happy with the quality and 81 per cent said they would watch the webcasts if they were offered as an ongoing service. Only 25 per cent said they had watched a council meeting on TV.
Based on the results of the trial so far, Huntsville’s General Committee, at its October 25 meeting, agreed to extend the service for a year after the trial ends to December 31, 2018 at a cost of $6,000. The resolution will be presented at the next council meeting for ratification.
The staff report presented to committee noted that with the Council Chambers Working Group investigating options for relocating or renovating council chambers, “it would not be prudent to invest further capital into Council Chambers at this time to accommodate livestreaming.”
It also noted that while the cost of launching an in-house livestreaming system in Huntsville’s Council Chambers is unknown, the District of Muskoka, which launched its own service on September 19, invested approximately $21,000 this year to purchase/upgrade a/v equipment and camera, and to secure a livestreaming host provider.
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