Our History
Local since 1989.
1989
SCHOPEG founded by Michael Vandow and fellow volunteers
A channel of our own
In 1989, a volunteer effort led by Michael Vandow of Cobleskill set out to give Schoharie County its own cable channels for local government, schools and residents. SCHOPEG was incorporated as a New York nonprofit the next year and served Schoharie County and neighboring Duanesburg from the start. Vandow was the first president of the board and still leads it today.
Milestones
Growing with the county
For most of its history SCHOPEG’s channels ran on Time Warner Cable, under franchises our towns and villages negotiated together. When those contracts came up in the mid-2000s, SCHOPEG volunteers including Mike Vandow and Ken Hotopp held a public hearing in Cobleskill so residents could weigh in on the new agreements, signed in 2006.
Around the same time, SUNY Cobleskill gave SCHOPEG studio space, room for its equipment and utilities. In return, Executive Director Jack McNerney, a communications professor at the college, taught studio production and SCHOPEG covered campus events. With support from the Appalachian Regional Commission, SCHOPEG also equipped TV studios in six central schools and upgraded its own studio and field gear.
When Charter bought Time Warner Cable and became Spectrum, our channels came along: 1301 and 1303.
Named in the franchise
Between 2017 and 2019, each of our 15 towns and villages renewed its cable franchise with Charter. The new 15-year agreements name SCHOPEG as the organization that runs the community channels and commit funds for new production equipment.
A new chapter
In 2026 SCHOPEG added a Program Director and launched the SCHOPEG News Brief, a weekly newscast on what’s happening across our towns. Thirty-seven years in, the idea hasn’t changed: no tax dollars, run by neighbors, on the air for everyone.
Were you part of SCHOPEG’s story?
If you produced a show, ran a camera or have old tapes or photos from SCHOPEG’s early years, we’d love to hear from you.