NBCT Announces New Name, Identity, and Digital Platform

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—Northern Berkshire Community Television Corporation (NBCTC), an independent public, educational, and government (PEG) community media nonprofit, announced an organizational transformation, including a new name, rebrand, modernized website, and upgraded content distribution infrastructure.
 
Effective immediately, NBCTC will operate as Gateway Collaborative Media (GCM) in alignment with the organization's evolving mission, expanded services, and emergence as a resourceful community partner, stated a press release.
 
While it will continue to provide three channels of television programming to Clarksburg, North Adams, Adams, and Cheshire cable subscribers—a viewership that has sustained the organization for thirty years—GCM is expanding its reach by piloting synergistic initiatives and offering regional membership tiers intended to serve all residents of the northern Berkshires.
 
Alongside the name change, GCM has unveiled a new logo as well as a fully redesigned web platform, both created by Stockbridge-based design and digital marketing firm Gemini Creative, that reflects an evolving demographic, economic, and technological landscape. As audiences increasingly produce and consume content across digital channels, gatewaymedia.org positions the organization as a relevant community resource. 
 
By transitioning away from traditional PEG terminology and toward "community," "odyssey," and "civic" media, the website reinforces GCM's role as a dynamic and inclusive media hub built upon communication, participation, and connection, continued a press release.
 
"We're carving a future for Gateway Collaborative Media by making our programs and services as accessible as possible," said Bill Wilson, president of GCM's board of directors. "We want our neighbors to engage with us so that they can engage with each other."
 
The revamped website features two new yet important capabilities: online streaming and an up-to-date, searchable program archive. These functions were made possible in part by a major server upgrade that significantly expanded the organization's digital infrastructure. The new system allows GCM to begin offering video-on-demand programming and livestreaming through gatewaymedia.org, making local content readily available.
 
Additionally, a custom app—under development by Tightrope Media Systems, GCM's longtime media technology supplier—will be launched this summer. The app can be downloaded to any smart device, including televisions, tablets, computers, and phones, providing even more ways for audiences to watch local programming and engage with community-produced content.
 
 Visit Gateway Collaborative Media online or in person at 69 Union Street in North Adams for more information about these and other services.
 
 
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NAFD/NAPD Forces Championship Final in Women's League

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – North Adams Fire Department/Police Department scored three runs in the top of the sixth to take a one-run lead and held on for a 5-4 win over Belle Ame Lashes in the championship round of the North Adams Women’s Softball League.
 
Carrie Brassard went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Kenzie Dobbert recorded a pair of strikeouts as NAFD/ NAPD forced a winner-take-all finale on Tuesday night to conclude the double-elimination tournament.
 
It was a pitchers’ duel early between Lashes’ Sarah Sweet and Dobbert, who started a 1-3 double play on a line drive back to the circle and speared another line drive for the third out in the third inning.
 
Sweet got out of a jam after putting runners on first and second to start the third with three straight outs to help keep it a 0-0 game going to the fourth.
 
In the top of the fourth, the first responders scored the game’s first two runs.
 
Heather Morris got things started with a leadoff single to left and moved into scoring position on Brassard’s single.
 
Morris came home when Anna Dix singled up the middle, and an infield error allowed NAFD/NAPD to score its second run.
 
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