The board of directors of LTV, East Hampton Town’s public access television, has formally appointed Josh Gladstone to the role of executive director, succeeding Michael Clark, who resigned in July.
Mr. Gladstone, who was named executive director on Nov. 19, has served as LTV’s creative director since October 2023, and was named interim executive director following Mr. Clark’s departure. As creative director, a title he will retain in addition to his new role, he helped usher in the return of the Playwrights’ Theater of East Hampton and launch the Hamptons Summer Songbook by the Sea series.
Among the goals Mr. Gladstone has voiced for LTV are broadening community access to public broadcasting, including an expansion of services provided to the town, East Hampton Village, and other municipalities across the East End; advancing its production services and making its staff available to support the vision and growth of other local businesses and organizations; championing the importance of hyper-local connection with the “East End News” program produced by Christine Sampson, formerly deputy managing editor at The Star and still a contributor, and producing and presenting events in its Studio 3 black box, which has been described as the “Off Off Broadway” of the South Fork.
“LTV has been on a good run of late,” Mr. Gladstone told The Star this week. “Michael Clark needs to be credited for doing a lot of excellent work building a staff and making strides to modernize LTV.”
Jason Nower, the chief video engineer, “is really, in my opinion, a genius,” Mr. Gladstone said. “He has brought the broadcast systems well into the 21st century. He has created all kinds of networks to do remote work that has allowed us to better serve the town, the village, the schools, and take that technology and that knowledge and the staff to better serve the East Hampton community and other municipalities.”
Mr. Clark, he said, “brought me in to expand the performing arts programming, which we’ve done at LTV to make the space in Studio 3 more inviting for civic groups, meetings, panels, film screenings, and performances of all kinds.”
An expansion of LTV’s production services is also planned. “We have a really gifted team, a staff of very bright young media creatives and producers, and I’m happy to be working with them as a coach and manager. We want to branch out to provide services for other organizations and businesses to help them with their media, to help influencers with creating content on behalf of other groups. That’s one way we can expand on our mission to serve the community.”
“We’ve got a robust intern program that will continue to grow every summer, a lot of young media makers coming to LTV,” he said. “And we’ve got about 10 other ideas for revenue generation, including serving as a fiscal sponsor for filmmakers and artists looking to get tax-deductible contributions.”
Mr. Gladstone “has been a strong leader for the station and a generous mentor to many, helping strengthen both our daily operations and our long-term vision,” J.P. Foster, president of LTV’s board of directors, said in a statement last week. “Josh brings with him a long and respected history in the arts and nonprofit world, and that depth of experience has already made a meaningful difference. We are fortunate to have someone with his passion, integrity, and creativity leading LTV into its next chapter.”
LTV is funded with the franchise fee Cablevision pays to East Hampton Town and Village. Cablevision also grants LTV an annual fee for equipment upgrades. Additional funding comes from contributors, underwriters, grants, production services, and memberships fees.
