03-24-04 Good times on "Miracle Mountain"
Mike Prince
FCT Staff Writer 
Broadcasting the gospel from atop Miracle Mountain in Russellville 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Connie Jones and her Channel 44 team are trying to spread the Word to as many people as possible.

We're here to be a blessing for this community, said Jones, who co-manages the Unity Broadcasting Network station with her husband Ronald Jones. We're here for all the people in this area. We understand that this television station really belongs to them.

Jones said Channel 44 reaches the community through a variety of Christian-based programming.

We have all sorts of community programming that is either Christian in topic or produced by Christians, said Jones, who moved to Russellville from Booneville, Miss. in 1996. With programs that focus on people in our community doing what they do, we offer viewers homegrown television that a lot of folks appreciate.

The Russellville station is one of five in the Unity Broadcasting Network. UBN has sister stations in Mississippi, Tennessee and Missouri.

When we first came here to help out with the station for a while, I was kickin' and screamin, said Jones, who began her television career as an audio/visual engineer. But I've really learned to love it here. It didn't take long for me to see the special quality of the people in this community. I love my job and I love Russellville, very much.

TV 44 programming includes local news, sports and weather (the station has its own staff meteorologist) as well as shows that focus on community happenings, a cooking show and a Saturday morning show. The station also airs church services from the area.

The station is a non-profit organization, so most of the funds to run Channel 44 come from donations, Jones said.

The local programming is really what we're all about, said Jones, who is also a published poet. It's special when people can see themselves, friends and relatives on television.

In addition, our live local shows provide an interactive aspect to the programming, she said. People call us with prayer requests or a question about something on a show. Sometimes folks call with something they want to give away or sell. The live shows are always a lot of fun.

Local content is aired in the evenings Monday through Friday with satellite-fed gospel/county music programming filling the daytime hours. Channel 44 begins each Saturday with a local morning show at 9 a.m. and continues with local programming until 10 p.m. The station airs local content from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Sunday.

Although Jones enjoys the challenges of filling many roles and completing various tasks as a station manager of a small Alabama television station, it's singing on air that brings her the most personal joy.

My family was always involved in singing, said Jones, who hosts a weekly poetry/singing show each Wednesday at 9 p.m. Of all the fun things I have an opportunity to do, singing is the most rewarding for me. Singing on the air, and learning that people actually enjoy hearing it, is personally fulfilling for me.

I may not be the best singer in the world, but no one in the world loves to sing more than me, said Jones, who reached No. 5 on a gospel/country radio chart for her song "Jesus, You're All I Need".

Jones said the men and women who makeup the Channel 44 staff work exceptionally well with each other. And that is extremely important to the station's role in the community, she said.

Everyone that works here makes it special for me, she said. We make a good team. The hours are long and sometimes hard, but it's all worth it. We're doing something good and worthwhile for this community.

Although Channel 44 has a potential reach of 250,000 viewers and Jones weekly poetry/singing show is also aired on other gospel stations throughout the South via syndication, Jones said she is still amazed when she hears positive feedback from viewers far from "Miracle Mountain".

I'm often humbled by the response from viewers from our area and beyond, she said. Sometimes you can get so busy that you forget that we all influence others in some way. It makes it all worthwhile when you touch someone's life in a positive way.