Video Production in Philadelphia for a Show That Airs on PhillyCAM

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

PhillyCAM, the nonprofit the City of Philadelphia designated to run its public access network, airs programs only when nothing in them sells. No price, no call to buy, no product placement, and a contributor’s credit held to 15 seconds inside 60 seconds of thanks. Video production in Philadelphia for a community show starts from those rules, then cuts a second version for the sponsor’s own channels, where the offer can come back. Progression is based in New York, plans and edits these programs from there, and offers on-site sessions in Philadelphia on request.

A 15 second credit with a sale in it

A neighborhood hardware store pays toward a series on block history. Its draft credit reads like a flyer: a percent off, this week only, the best prices in town.

PhillyCAM’s FAQ lets a credit carry a logo, a name, an address and a phone number, and a phrase describing the business and what it contributed. It may not carry qualitative or promotional information. The rewritten credit says who the store is and that it funded the series, and that is all.

• The first version is an ad. The second is a credit.
• The offer is not lost. It moves to the sponsor’s own cut.
• The credit is timed on the timeline, not on the script.
• The sponsor sees both versions before either is delivered.

Video production in Philadelphia for the public access channels

PhillyCAM is the nonprofit the City of Philadelphia designated to operate its public access television network, and the PhillyCAM FAQ says it started cablecasting on October 23, 2009, on Comcast 66/966 and Verizon 29/30. By agreement with the City, PhillyCAM administers and operates the channels.

Its Programming Policies say the channels are designated for non-commercial programming and are not subject to content regulation by PhillyCAM, the cable operator or the City. Responsibility and liability for program content lie with the program provider, and PhillyCAM does not review or censor programs before cablecast.

The January 2020 Member Policies Handbook adds that a program is reviewed only when a violation is reported to the Programming Director. The edit has to be right before delivery.

From the cold open to the closing credits

A community program has a running order, and each line in it either runs on PhillyCAM as it is, runs with a change, or comes out. The table follows one hypothetical block-history show from the cold open to the credits and marks how each line runs on PhillyCAM and in the sponsor’s own cut.

What makes a program an ad?

The Programming Agreement lists advertising or material that promotes a commercial product or service, including commercial calls to action, price information and lottery information. The handbook adds product placement and a value statement, and defines a commercial call to action as an imperative telling someone to do something for which money will be spent.

Where may a phone number appear?

Only noncommercial websites, phone numbers and email addresses can be shown, and only occasionally within a program. Commercial contact information can be displayed only as a contributor credit, and never throughout a program.

How long can the thanks run?

The FAQ limits an individual credit to fifteen seconds and all credits together to sixty seconds, at the beginning or preferably at the end. Credits may be oral, visual or both. Time each credit on the timeline of the edit.

• Name, address, phone number and logo may appear in a credit.
• One phrase may describe the business and the contribution.
• Nothing qualitative or promotional may appear.
• Time the credits on the edit, not on the script.

Budgeting a half hour for community television

Pricing depends on scope and is set in the written proposal, and published prices are subject to change. Video production companies in Philadelphia and elsewhere price by the shoot days, the crew and the finished minutes, and the table shows the published ranges.

A program for PhillyCAM is quoted after a written scope. See our video production cost page for how scope sets price.

The Become a Member page says anyone who lives or works in Greater Philadelphia may join, and that for-profit organizations do not qualify for organizational membership. Airtime has no price, because channel time is never sold.

Where television production companies in Philadelphia fit

The program is submitted by a PhillyCAM member who has attended TV Orientation, through a Project Proposal, an Episode Page and a Program Submission Form. The handbook says members may do contracted fee-for-service work on projects that yield non-commercial program content for PhillyCAM’s channels, and that PhillyCAM is not responsible for the terms of those work agreements. That is where television production companies in Philadelphia and elsewhere come in.

The member who signs is the client’s own person. The producer prepares everything that person signs for.

Who has to be the member?

The person who submits. The Submit a TV Program page says a current member who has attended a TV Orientation may submit one TV series or individual videos as the schedule allows.

• The member signs the Program Submission Form.
• The producer prepares the files, the credits and the paperwork.
• The sponsor funds the production, never the airtime.
• PhillyCAM is not a party to the work agreement.

Rights to every face, song and photo

Producers must hold the rights to all content, including appearances, music, photos and video. The person who signs the Programming Agreement is responsible for all releases and clearances, and PhillyCAM may ask for proof.

One release per person on camera and one license per track, kept in a folder named for the episode, answers the request before it is made. Legal questions about releases go to counsel.

• A release for every person who appears.
• A license for every track, with the terms saved.
• A source note for every photo and clip.
• One folder per episode, named like the file.

One series, monthly episodes, a week ahead

A series, per the FAQ, is at least four new programs with a consistent theme or format, in a half hour slot or, if necessary, an hour, with at least one new episode a month delivered at least a week before the cablecast date. A single program provider may not submit more than one non-local series.

Priority goes first to programs produced by PhillyCAM members, second to member sponsored programs produced in the Philadelphia area, and third to non-local programs sponsored by members. Staff choose the slot, and PhillyCAM may pre-empt programs for live or special event coverage. Shoot two episodes before asking for a series slot.

• Plan four episodes with one theme.
• Deliver each episode at least a week before cablecast.
• Expect staff to choose the time slot.
• Expect a pre-emption now and then.

The master file PhillyCAM asks for

The Submit page asks for an HD file at 1920 x 1080 and 29.97 frames per second, under a 20 Mbps data rate and under 10 GB, as .mp4, .m4v or .mov. Filenames carry the show title and episode number with no spaces or special characters.

An episode description under 200 characters goes on the Episode Page before file delivery. The filename must match the Episode Page exactly, and the system is case sensitive. The handbook says a program that fails minimum technical standards may be removed from the schedule until it is fixed.

• Export at 1920 x 1080 and 29.97 frames per second.
• Keep the data rate under 20 Mbps and the file under 10 GB.
• Name the file for the show and the episode, with no spaces.
• Match the filename to the Episode Page, capital for capital.
• Check the sound and the picture before delivery.

Nobody pays for the slot or to be on it

The FAQ says channel time may not be bartered or sold, and members may not require compensation from people for appearing. The Programming Agreement says a program contains no solicitation or appeal for funds.

A sponsor pays the producer for production, never PhillyCAM for airtime. The credit is the only thanks on screen.

• No appeal for funds inside the program.
• No payment from anyone for appearing.
• No barter of channel time.
• A credit for what the sponsor contributed, and nothing more.

What the sponsor sees before delivery

A sponsor who pays toward a show wants to see what it is getting. The producer shows the PhillyCAM edit and the sponsor’s cut side by side, with the credit timed, before either file leaves the building.

Can the host thank the store aloud?

Yes, within the credit limits. A credit may be oral, visual or both, and the spoken thanks counts toward the fifteen seconds.

What if the sponsor wants the offer inside the show?

It goes in the sponsor’s own cut. The show on PhillyCAM stays non-commercial, and the offer returns where the sponsor controls the channel.

Does a show have to be a series?

No. The Submit page says a current member who has attended a TV Orientation may submit one TV series or individual videos as the schedule allows.

• Show the sponsor both edits before delivery.
• Time every credit in front of the sponsor.
• Keep a written record of what was approved.
• Confirm which cut goes to which channel.
• Send PhillyCAM’s questions to the member who signed.

After it airs, the sponsor’s cut

For a program to go on demand, the FAQ says it must air on the channel first, be locally produced, suitable for all ages and 100% original content. The handbook says content made with PhillyCAM’s equipment and space must appear on the public access channels first.

The sponsor’s own cut, with its offer and its link, is exported from the same project after the cablecast and posted on the sponsor’s channels only. Our corporate video production page covers films made for a business’s own use.

For other Philadelphia work, see our marketing agency in Philadelphia page.

Frequently asked questions