Government's deal with a Pittsburgh public TV station, which will benefit CITV in training and programming, will reportedly come at a cost of $200,000.

On Tuesday, Premier Ewart Brown, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced in a conference with reporters that he was meeting with officials from Pittsburgh's WQED station, which helped to launch CITV.

Dr. Brown also noted that the relationship with that station will allow for unique training of CITV employees.

An article on the deal between the TV stations recently appeared in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.

It said: "WQED Multimedia announced a partnership with the British territory Bermuda, to consult on a government-owned cable channel carried all over the Island, which is located in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 miles off the North Carolina coast.

"Bermuda will pay WQED approximately $200,000 to consult through the end of the year on CITV (Community Information Television), a station that launched in September and now has eight hours of daily programming. The station is funded by $500,000 from the Bermuda Government."

The article continues: "WQED president George Miles said the Pittsburgh PBS station will export its philosophy of localism to CITV. 'In Bermuda, there's a dire need for us to have local programming,' said Ewart F. Brown, Bermuda's premier, who appeared at WQED with Miles for the announcement.

"He said a mutual friend introduced the two men, which is how the project landed at WQED.

"Despite the presence of commercial media in Bermuda, Brown said CITV fills a void, offering educational and cultural programming.

"CITV is operated under the Premier's office and Brown committed to creating a firewall between the government and producers.

"'We're taking steps to make sure there's distance, that there's creative freedom, so that [CITV] does not become simply a messenger for the government,' Brown said."

The Premier pointed out the main purpose of his trip was to further relations with WQED to benefit CITV but was also using his media exposure there to push the Bermuda tourism product.

However, Dr. Brown conceded that Pittsburgh isn't one of our Bermuda's gateway cities, but nonetheless, it only takes a brief stop in Philadelphia, a gateway city, allowing travellers from Pittsburgh to arrive in Bermuda by lunch time.