CPTV's classy reception at Governor's Residence in Hartford

Connecticut Public Television, which started in the basement of Trinity College’s library in 1962, marked its 50^th anniversary with a reception at the Governor’s Residence on Prospect Street in Hartford Wednesday evening. More than 100 business and civic leaders, not to mention contributors and one "ink-stained wretch,"  attended.

With Gov. Dannel Malloy still at work during this dinner hour, First Lady Cathy Malloy, top, presented a Governor’s Proclamation recognizing the golden anniversary to Jerry Franklin, president & CEO of the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network.

Cathy Malloy mentioned the couple's "two Jack Russells" in the kitchen and talked about the art in the mansion, which is augmented by museum collections but is mostly part of the Malloy private collection. She said her mother, turning 93 Monday, was upstairs but a big fan of CPTV (and no doubt the recently departed UConn women's basketball).

Above is the view from the outdoor bar on the mansion's porch overlooking the stately yard and nearby hills.

Franklin, seen above, covered some of the same ground in our recent article on the 50th anniversary, earlier this month, which can be found here. 

“While many think CPTV first starting airing sports with the UConn women, we were actually one of the first stations to broadcast live tennis in 1964.” Franklin said.  “A little company in Bristol may have just gotten the idea to broadcast sports from us.”

Franklin said CPTV was looking ahead to "continue to tell Connecticut stories," and was looking to come up with a Latino version of the "Infinity Hall" concert series that CPTV presents nationally. He also talked about the CPTV Sports channel and the 2013 opening of its Learning Lab school for Hartford high school students (good luck with that, CPTV staffers!) and also a center for U.S. veterans learning wireless and digital media skills. 

And as he did in the Register article, Franklin told us the radio side of the endeavor, WNPR, is doing great work and getting strong results in audience and fund-raising. We had a nice chat with WNPR's John Dankosky, news chief and host of "Where We Live," a splendid morning program that was nonetheless snubbed by Linda McMahon and (to a lesser extent) Chris Murphy recently. (Politicians treat the media worse than the general public, which is pretty bad.)

The crowd fills the center room of the Governor's Residence.

Lee Newton, right, chats up friends of the public TV and radio outlet.

Paul Pfeffer (right), manager of education services, oversees the CPBN Media Lab, where students interview interesting people and post the results online. Some five dozen interviews, including one with yours truly before the Register's Digital First days, can be found here.