NEW YORK — Looking like a superhero in her vinyl black trench coat, stiletto boots and red choker, she navigates the city with a hand-held Treo-like device and struts to the drum of rock music. Facing her camera crew, this diva host is more MTV than municipal programming, but make no mistake, she is the face of government television.
Kelly Choi, a journalist and former model, is the star of "Secrets of New York," the latest hit show in the rebirth of NYC TV -- New York's government-run television station under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's charge. Gone are the days of back-to-back City Council meetings and government news on Channel 25.
Now, the cable channel has positioned itself as a magnet for a younger, hipper audience, with programs featuring indie bands, bars, fashion, celebrity chefs and hip-hop videos.
It's a model that government-run stations across the country and around the world are trying to learn from. NYC TV's producers have received calls from stations in Los Angeles, Seoul and other cities interested in developing similar shows.
Producers say the concept is useful and entertaining for residents, and has boosted local tourism and business.
"We wanted stuff that people could actually use, as opposed to this ethereal wonkish government stuff," said NYC TV General Manager Arick Wierson, a former investment banker who helped revamp the station's image beginning in 2003 after working on Bloomberg's mayoral campaign.
Wierson, 34, had no television background but knew the city was missing an opportunity to communicate with its residents. The channel was a hodgepodge of news conferences and meetings that did not have a programmable schedule and often did not start on the hour.
The revamped station's flagship program, "Secrets of New York," explores little-known pockets of the city using flashy graphics, mysterious story lines and sex appeal. It has been broadcast nationally on 65 PBS stations -- including KCET in Los Angeles -- and has aired on NBC.
The show won five Emmy Awards this year, and has become an anchor for the station's lineup. Viewers tune in weekly to watch Choi explore forgotten subway tunnels and sewers, and uncover stories about bridges, jails and city monuments. She has traveled 600 feet below ground into a water tunnel and has stood on top of the George Washington Bridge.
