After 15 years of leading MHTV, Executive Director Joan Goloboy has retired, and we are taking this moment to both recognize and thank Joan for her many contributions to local access public television in Marblehead.
Cable television came to town in the mid-’80s, with Continental Cablevision being the first of many cable companies to provide such service to homeowners looking to abandon their roof-top antennae. From the beginning — as part of their franchise licenses with the town — cable companies have dedicated at least one channel for public, education and government access by providing a locally based cable television studio.
Just as Continental was starting operations here, Goloboy moved to Marblehead after spending time in New York City performing in off-Broadway musicals. She told The Current she became intrigued to learn about editing video when she arrived here, and she availed herself of editing courses being offered by Continental to local residents.
The cable company quickly recognized her talents, and before long it hired Goloboy to cover local government meetings. Thus began her career in cable television.
Eventually, Goloboy left Marblehead’s local office, but she continued to rise in the ranks of the cable television world.
In 2009, the operation and management of Marblehead’s public access cable studio transitioned from being under the control of the cable companies, and the Select Board founded a new nonprofit corporation with funding for the studio coming from the cable company contracts with the town. There was the need to find an executive director to oversee this new studio, and after diligent search Goloboy was selected in 2011 from a field of candidates to assume its leadership. The rest is history.
Goloboy took it upon herself to forge lasting and meaningful relationships with Marblehead leaders in government, education, business, history and the arts, to name but a few. Under her leadership, Goloboy developed her MHTV team. Over time, she spearheaded the transition from analog to digital video. She increased citizen, government and business connections within the community, and she drove the development of new hyperlocal programs to inform and entertain cable subscribers.
Goloboy and her team modernized the cable studio that now is located at the Veterans Middle School, upgrading the equipment, redesigning the studio and office space, expanding programming production, installing video servers to facilitate 24-7 playback and redesigning the MHTV website to make it heavily video centric.
But wait, that’s not all! Goloboy encouraged the use of the studio’s platform to promote local nonprofit initiatives; to grow the volunteer, donor and community producer base; to implement community partnerships with local businesses; to grow a robust YouTube channel for live MHS sports; and to reach a larger audience through daily video email newsletters.
Under her leadership, MHTV and its team have won countless national and regional awards from the Alliance for Community Media, having been recognized nationally for “overall excellence” 12 times and regionally 10 times. This is quite an accomplishment for which we applaud Goloboy and her team.
These are challenging times for cable television — many subscribers are “cutting the cord” — and the landscape is ever-changing. During Goloboy’s tenure as executive director, MHTV has been able to adapt to these changes, and we at The Current are hopeful that her successor will meet these challenges and continue to provide Marblehead’s cable subscribers with the passion and competence we have come to expect from MHTV under Goloboy’s many years of service.
Thank you, Joan, for all your hard work as steward of our local cable television journalism, and may you enjoy your well-earned retirement. We’ll see you around town!
