Lanesville TV
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Lanesville TV (channel 3) was a pirate television station in Lanesville, New York, United States,[1] set up by the Videofreex collective. The station used a transmitter donated by Abbie Hoffman to broadcast its signals. Member Bart Friedman compared it to later public access television stations.[2] The group referred to Lanesville TV as "probably America's smallest TV station".[3]
At the time, Lanesville's population was too sparse to afford a cable television system. The station made its first broadcast on March 19, 1972, initially running half-hour weekly programs at 7 p.m. on Sundays, before moving to Saturdays later in the year, as a result of a viewer poll.[4] In 1976 the station was featured in WNET's Video Television Review, outlining its operations.[1] Its programming consisted of "narrowcasting" local events.[5]
Broadcasts closed in February 1977,[6] with five members of the collective continuing to work for Videofreex after its closure;[4] the collective was disbanded the following year.[2]