This is a bit different type of post, as I won’t be dissing on any stable geniuses, talking about grifters, or bemoaning the failure of Democrats to get together on effective messaging.
Besides being a now sporadic blogger, I am the chairman of the board of SEC-TV, the public access station that serves most of New London and part of Windham County. Anyone who wants (even if they’re a right-winger!) can have a television show on our station, all of which are also available over the internet. While it’s true that anyone who wants can start their own youtube channel, we offer something more, in that we have a professional studio with experienced support staff to assist in the creation of a show. We also provide coverage of meetings of town board and commissions in our service area.
Our funding comes from a very small cut of the subscriber fees paid by cable customers. There are two problems with that. First, and this may not change, the cable companies do their best to avoid paying the proper amount of fees as required by current law. Second, a lot of people are cutting the cord and switching to all internet, that internet being provided by cable companies and/or internet provides that still provide access to the services we provide. We get nothing from the fees charged to those subscribers. As a result our revenues are declining, making it difficult to maintain the level of service we have provided in the past.
There is a bill pending in the Connecticut legislature that would address this problem by imposing a gross earnings tax on “communication services”, a portion of which would be paid to community access stations, the amount to be adjusted yearly based on the rise or fall of the consumer price index.
It’s important that we get as much support from Connecticut residents as possible, so I’m asking that you sign a petition to the legislature in support of HB 5446, the legislative proposal to address this issue. You can read the bill here and you can sign the petition here.
Post a Comment