Budget cuts force Columbia Access Television to close
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After about seven years of funding cuts, Columbia Access Television will close its doors Sept. 30.
With an annual budget of $68,000 and an allocation of just $35,000 from the city, Columbia Access Television Board President Shelly Silvey said Wednesday that the board felt left it could no longer survive. Since 2012 CAT gradually saw its budget shrink from $200,000 to $100,000 to $50,000 and eventually to about $35,000 over the past two years, Silvey said.
“This isn’t really a shock to anybody who knows anything about public access television because you’re seeing this nationwide,” Silvey said. “We actually survived longer than a lot of similar sized cities.”
Mediacom cable subscribers pay federally mandated franchise fees of 3 percent of their cable bills to the city to support public, educational and governmental television uses, according to Mediacom spokesman Thomas Larsen. A Charter Communications spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Known as PEG fees, the fees essentially subsidize memberships for CAT’S members, Silvey said. Columbia City Council meetings and Columbia Board of Education meetings will still be televised and streamed through the two remaining public channels, the education and government channels, Silvey said.
“The educational channel is run by Columbia Public Schools and government is run by the City of Columbia,” Silvey said. “So, we’re just dropping the ‘p’.”
In recent years Fourth Ward Councilman Ian Thomas served as one of CAT’s largest allies within city hall. Thomas learned of the news weeks ago. Minority communities and folks without resources lost a voice within the community, Thomas said Wednesday.
“I really believe a functioning democracy for people to give voice to themselves,” Thomas said. “It seems that’s what public access television does.”
City spokesman Steve Sapp said the city collected $876,315.76 in PEG fees during fiscal year 2018 from Mediacom and Charter subscribers. So far during fiscal year 2019 the city collected $208,000.75 in PEG fees, Sapp said.
Nationwide about 3,000 PEG channels run by more than 1,500 public, educational and governmental entities exist,
according to the National Association of Counties. Cord-cutting
continues to hammer cable operators and the entities that rely on them.
In 2018 the five largest pay-TV providers lost about 3.2 million subscribers, according to Variety Magazine.
“Sean has done a tremendous job and been very accommodating to the members,” Silvey said.
Thomas would like to see the money redirected to a city-run public access channel. Already the city maintains a television studio and equipment for its own channel, Thomas argued.
“It doesn’t have to be an independent organization,” Thomas said. “Public access can be run within the city government.
pjoens@columbiatribune.com
573-815-1722
With an annual budget of $68,000 and an allocation of just $35,000 from the city, Columbia Access Television Board President Shelly Silvey said Wednesday that the board felt left it could no longer survive. Since 2012 CAT gradually saw its budget shrink from $200,000 to $100,000 to $50,000 and eventually to about $35,000 over the past two years, Silvey said.
“This isn’t really a shock to anybody who knows anything about public access television because you’re seeing this nationwide,” Silvey said. “We actually survived longer than a lot of similar sized cities.”
Mediacom cable subscribers pay federally mandated franchise fees of 3 percent of their cable bills to the city to support public, educational and governmental television uses, according to Mediacom spokesman Thomas Larsen. A Charter Communications spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Known as PEG fees, the fees essentially subsidize memberships for CAT’S members, Silvey said. Columbia City Council meetings and Columbia Board of Education meetings will still be televised and streamed through the two remaining public channels, the education and government channels, Silvey said.
“The educational channel is run by Columbia Public Schools and government is run by the City of Columbia,” Silvey said. “So, we’re just dropping the ‘p’.”
In recent years Fourth Ward Councilman Ian Thomas served as one of CAT’s largest allies within city hall. Thomas learned of the news weeks ago. Minority communities and folks without resources lost a voice within the community, Thomas said Wednesday.
“I really believe a functioning democracy for people to give voice to themselves,” Thomas said. “It seems that’s what public access television does.”
City spokesman Steve Sapp said the city collected $876,315.76 in PEG fees during fiscal year 2018 from Mediacom and Charter subscribers. So far during fiscal year 2019 the city collected $208,000.75 in PEG fees, Sapp said.
“Sean has done a tremendous job and been very accommodating to the members,” Silvey said.
Thomas would like to see the money redirected to a city-run public access channel. Already the city maintains a television studio and equipment for its own channel, Thomas argued.
“It doesn’t have to be an independent organization,” Thomas said. “Public access can be run within the city government.
573-815-1722
