Pierce County TV, which produces videos about people, programs and events in the region, won five first-place awards for programming by a leading national industry group.

Judges with the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors awarded a total of 14 “Government Programming Awards” to PCTV during its annual conference earlier this month. The awards program honors excellence in broadcast, cable, multimedia and electronic programming produced by local government agencies.

PCTV competed among 670 entries by local governments throughout the United States and Canada and won first place for:

•          The weekly news program “Pierce County News.”

•          The magazine-style program “Rainier Country.”

•          Community event coverage of the 2012 opening of the LeMay Car Museum.

•          Community awareness with a “Pierce County News” special about Northwest Trek.

•          Its redesigned website, www.piercecountytv.org.

PCTV also won second place – behind Austin, Texas – for the prestigious overall “Excellence in Programming” award.

“This is the third consecutive year PCTV has been honored for overall excellence, which establishes our place among the best government channels in the country,” said Stan Flemming, a Pierce County Councilmember and president of the Rainier Communications Commission, which represents jurisdictions served by the channel. “These awards speak volumes about the quality of our community programming since we compete with excellent channels in places like Seattle, Tampa, Austin, Houston and Tucson.”

PCTV also won second- and third-place and honorable mention awards for:

•          A mini-documentary about Arts Connect, a Hilltop Artists partnership that uses art to rehabilitate girls in Pierce County’s juvenile court system.

•          A video about the Puyallup Library’s centennial celebration.

•          A video about Sumner’s senior center.

•          A public education video about management of stormwater drainage along county roads.

•          An entertaining video about the roller derby club called the Dockyard Derby Dames.

PCTV also provides production support for University Place TV, which won five awards, including an “Excellence in Programming” award for small cities. UPTV’s other awards honored videos about a community festival, pedestrian safety, bike safety and local business.

“We congratulate these winners for actively supporting community programming’s role in building stronger, more connected communities,” said NATOA President Tony Perez of Seattle TV.

Pierce County TV airs meetings and original community programming for jurisdictions, agencies and schools. PCTV is available on channel 22 on the Comcast and Click! systems, and channel 20 on Rainier Connect. Programming is available on demand at www.piercecountytv.org.