Community Media Center of Marin

What Community Media Center of Marin does

The Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community media center founded in 2008 and headquartered at 819 A Street in San Rafael, California. It is the sole designated Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access provider for Marin County, operating three dedicated cable channels — Community (Comcast Ch. 26/24), Government (Comcast Ch. 27), and Education (Comcast Ch. 30; AT&T U-Verse Ch. 99) — that together reach 70,000+ households across the county, complemented by live streaming via the Cablecast platform and an on-demand YouTube archive under the "Marin TV" brand. Beyond broadcast distribution, CMCM provides free member access to a full-service production studio, field equipment (Sony X70 HD cameras, Blackmagic ATEM switchers, wireless intercom), a podcast studio, and an editing lab running Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve on M2 Pro Mac systems; it also operates the on-site Georgia Annwell Gallery, the marINSANITY comedy show, and the Marin Media Corps youth program.

CMCM produces more than 600 local municipal and county government meetings each year, broadcasts high school graduations and candidate forums, and runs a recurring workshop/certification catalog covering film editing, multi-camera field production, interview skills, studio production, and the "Ask The Experts" master-class series taught by Emmy- and Academy Award-recognized professionals. The center's revenue mechanics rest on three pillars: (1) individual and household memberships (price not publicly disclosed), (2) annual underwriting/sponsorship tiers from local small businesses — Bronze at $2,000, Silver at $3,500, and Gold at $5,000 — which buy multi-platform acknowledgement across Marin TV outlets, and (3) pay-as-you-go workshop fees ranging from $10 (members) to $200 (non-members) per course. Tax-deductible donations supplement these streams. Go-to-market is community-centered: free monthly orientations (in-person and on Zoom), civic partnerships with schools and municipalities, organic social media, local press, and event-based engagement.

In July 2023, CMCM materially expanded its footprint by absorbing NCTV (Novato Community Television), grandfathering NCTV members for one year and extending channel operations county-wide. The center currently operates Tuesdays-Thursdays 2:00-9:00 PM and Fridays-Saturdays 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, with Wednesday closures instituted in mid-2026 to redirect staff time to production. Notable operational context: CMCM is engaged in a California Public Utilities Commission process seeking HD carriage of its channels rather than the current downconverted standard-definition feed, and is mid-migration to a refreshed web platform after its legacy CMS was disrupted by a server upgrade.

Name

Community Media Center of Marin

Legal name

Community Media Center of Marin

Website

https://cmcm.tv

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Media Center of Marin is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating the county's three public-access cable channels (Community, Government, Education) and live-streaming infrastructure, serving Marin County residents with production facilities, workshops, and youth media programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Media Services

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (5161)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

State/Regional Public Broadcasting Networks & Consortia (MPABADAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Media Digital Platforms & Streaming (Apps, On-demand, Podcasts) (MPABADAG), Public Broadcasting Production Units & Studios (In-house/Member) (MPABADAF)

Keywords

• Community media access
• Public access television
• Media production training
• Youth media education
• Government broadcasting

Headquarters

HQ city

San Rafael

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Community Media Center of Marin provides Marin County residents with free access to professional production studios, field equipment, editing labs, and three dedicated cable channels (Community, Government, Education) distributed via Comcast and AT&T U-Verse to 70,000+ households. Members can produce and broadcast original local content covering civic, educational, and cultural topics, supported by youth media programs, professional workshops, and an on-site art gallery.

Product overview

Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM) operates a multi-channel public access media platform delivering local community, government, and educational programming to Marin County residents. The core offering consists of three cable television channels (Community on Comcast 26/24, Government, and Education on Comcast 30) plus online live streaming via Cablecast. Beyond broadcasting, CMCM provides production facilities, equipment access, and training through membership. The product portfolio includes youth programs (Youth Media Academy, Marin Media Corps), professional development workshops (Ask The Experts master class series covering editing, cinematography, screenwriting, on-camera skills), studio and field production certifications, a dedicated art gallery (Georgia Annwell Gallery), and on-demand content distribution via YouTube. Members can produce original programming, access editing labs with Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve, and utilize podcast and production studios. The center recently upgraded to M2 Mac editing systems and expanded services to include Novato residents following consolidation with NCTV.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Marin TV Community Channel

Quantifiable outcome

• Reaches 70,000+ Marin County households through cable TV and live streaming
• +3 more outcomes

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cambridge Community Television (CCTV): Nonprofit community media center operating public-access channels in Cambridge, MA, with member production facilities, workshops, and government-meeting coverage — a structurally identical peer to CMCM.
• Austin Community Television (ACTV): Austin-area PEG access television nonprofit operating public-access channels, government-meeting broadcasts, and member production programs — closely comparable to CMCM's cable-distributed PEG model.
• Berkeley Community Media: Nonprofit community media center providing public-access cable channels, production equipment access, and training in Berkeley, California — analogous to CMCM in structure, nonprofit status, and PEG-style programming.
• Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN): NYC-based community media nonprofit operating multiple PEG cable channels and production facilities, offering free member access and training — structurally identical to CMCM but at much larger scale in a different geography.
• PEN TV / Peninsula TV (Midpen Media Center): San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula community media nonprofit providing PEG channels, production facilities, and training across multiple municipalities — a near-twin to CMCM operating in an adjacent Bay Area region.
• Access Sacramento: Sacramento-area nonprofit operating PEG cable channels, member production facilities, and youth/community media training — a same-model community media center with comparable membership and underwriting revenue dynamics.
• Metro Nashville Government TV / Nashville Community Media: Nashville-area government and community access channel operator streaming council meetings and local programming on cable and online — comparable to CMCM's government-meeting production and distribution role.
• Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN): Boston's community media nonprofit providing PEG cable channels, training, and production facilities — same PEG-channel/membership/workshop model as CMCM at larger scale.
• San Francisco Government Television (SFGovTV): PEG/public-access cable and streaming operation for the City and County of San Francisco, broadcasting government meetings, education, and community programming — directly comparable to CMCM's three-channel Community/Government/Education model serving a Bay Area municipality.

Others

• Alliance for Community Media: National trade association representing public-access and community media organizations like CMCM — not a direct operator, but the principal industry body governing PEG-channel policy, franchise terms, and best practices relevant to CMCM's business.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cmcm_tv
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CMCMtv
• Facebookfacebook.com/communitymediacenterofmarin

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Media Center of Marin