Teen Scene Through The Years

It began as a dream in July of 2002 when founder Trey Schmaltz, not even a high school freshman yet, decided that the Northshore was missing something.  What exactly was it missing?  To Trey, it was a teen TV show not only for teens, but produced entirely by a teen staff.

By the time school started in August of 2002, Trey was discussing and pitching the show with local TV stations.  By December of 2003, a year and a half after the thought first entered his mind, Trey had found an interested station: WSTY TV-23 in Hammond, the Northshore’s only broadcast TV station.

On February 16, 2004, Teen Scene hit airwaves, broadcasting to a possible 200,000 plus audience.  This first broadcast was very simple, but lived up to its name.  Trey Schmaltz and Bernard Lemoine, the original Teen Scene duo brought viewers into the lives of teens.  The first show showed viewers what was to come on future episodes, and also featured the firs school update: St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

As the rest of the first season progressed, Teen Scene and its staff grew, and by the summer of 2004, reporters where filing reports from “in the field,” and out of the studio.

In February 2005, after being on the air for a whole year, Teen Scene launched its second season by “going on the road.”  For the rest of the season, Teen Scene was filmed on location at every high school in Tangipahoa Parish.

“On the Road” was the pretty much the theme for season two, as Trey Schmaltz-now the sole anchor of the show- broadcast from Mardi Gras on board a float in the Rhea Parade, and also remote locations of Mexico for the special show “Teen Scene Travels to Mexico.”

However, by August 2005, “On the Road” took on a whole new meaning.  As Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Teen Scene immediately began broadcasting.  First from our studio in Hammond for a live newscast, then in New Orleans, Metairie, Ponchatoula, Hammond, and Mandeville.  And for the next six months, Teen Scene hosted many special reports from the Southshore as it struggled to rebuild. 

By October 2005, Teen Scene re-organized itself, and changed to FPTV-17, allowing viewers a clear signal, better picture, and more in-depth reporting.  Around this time, the show also entered into partnerhips with The Hammond Daily Star and Bee 97.1 to produce a teen newspaper and radio show to go along with the TV show.  Teen Scene Magazine still continues, with teen columns appearing in the paper, but Teen Scene On the Bee was short lived because of staffing problems. 

As Teen Scene premiered on FPTV-17 in November of 2005 from the Hammond vs. Ponchatoula Football game, staff announced Trey’s new counterpart: Chelsea Herrick.  From then on Trey and Chelsea hosted every Teen Scene episode until May when Trey Schmaltz and the rest of the senior staff left.

In the six months that Teen Scene was hosted by Trey and Chelsea, viewers were brought “On the Road” again for Mardi Gras and other shows in the beginning of season three.

For almost three years, Teen Scene has brought viewers exclusive reports and ground breaking segments.  It is still the only TV show “for teens, by teens,” and has a guest list that rivals network news programs.  Local news anchors discuss current events; politicians-Bobby Jindal, Dick Cheney, the late John Hainkel; bands-Click Five; and celebrities- Marguerite Perrin and Kidd Kraddick and Crew from Kidd Kraddick in the Morning.

Today, Teen Scene is beginning its third season and is hosted by Chelsea Herrick with a new co-host to be made public in late May.  Adrienne Watts is the president/executive producer, Christine Davis runs post-production/editing, and Chris Longman is VP Production.  L.E. Wallace of L.E. Wallace Productions continues his work as Producer and performs all of the final cuts for the show before it is sent to air on FPTV-17.

Teen Scene reaches over 200,000 people on FPTV-17 and in The Daily Star.  The show broadcasts from its studio at Southern Exposure Studio in Ponchatoula.

As always, Teen Scene is entering this new chapter dedicated to you, and making our coverage even better.