Stay tuned.

Stratford could have its own community TV channel, airing local news, community events, sports, arts and entertainment.

The concept is not ready for prime time just yet, but things could progress quickly, said Jeremy Pillon, one of the drivers behind the not-for-profit, “grassroots” initiative.

“We don’t see this process taking years,” he said in a recent interview. “We see it taking months.”

That’s assuming preliminary discussions prove fruitful.

Pillon, who connected with Mayor Dan Mathieson and other Stratford officials through the Intelligent Community Forum in New York last year, is working closely with Southshore Broadcasting near Leamington, where its CFTV (Community Focus Television) is already offering community-based programming to the Leamington and Essex County area.

Stratford would be a good place to replicate that innovative model, said Southshore president Tony Vidal.

“Stratford is very progressive, and very unique with the arts and theatre,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday, “and more people should know what’s going on there.”

A Stratford channel would provide an effective “soapbox” for the community to stand on and tell its own story, suggested Vidal.

Pillon agreed.

“You don’t have a whole lot of television content being produced now,” he said. “So there’s no real local television news. There’s no real local voice on TV that’s for Stratford. And what we want to do is give Stratford that local TV voice to complement the media that’s already there.”

In a community known for its artistic side, and one which is emerging as a digital media centre powerhouse, there should be no shortage of Stratford-based material that would make for good television, suggested Pillon.

“Stratford is a great city for content. There’s such a great creative class, so it’s a matter of really just organizing what’s there, and making those connections between the school of digital media (University of Waterloo Stratford campus), for example, the local high schools, the Stratford Festival.”

Finding content creators in one thing. Making that content available to local viewers is another, and Vidal said it could happen in a number of ways.

With the proper agreements in place, the Stratford channel could be offered online, over the air, or possibly through local cable or satellite providers.

“The whole concept is exactly that, to have as many vehicles as possible to deliver the information,” said Vidal.

Making that unique content available will not only raise Stratford’s profile, but could also help with tourism and economic development efforts, he added.

Both Vidal and Pillon stressed that a Stratford television channel, if it materializes, would complement other media services already available in the city.

“The point is not to necessarily disrupt the local providers, but to offer a choice to citizens of how they want to consume their services,” he said.

While discussions about a possible Stratford community TV channel are still in the early stages, and the city hasn’t committed any money to the initiative, Mayor Dan Mathieson said likes the concept.

“I think it has a lot of merit going forward in the digital age,” he said, suggesting that people are already growing accustomed to “broadcasting themselves” online through things like YouTube, Flickr and Instagram.

A local television channel, if done properly, would provide another outlet for the community to express itself, he said.

mike.beitz@sunmedia.ca