Back in August of 2019, the Federal Communications Commission put out an order which granted permission to cable companies such as Comcast and Charter to value non-monetary items as in-kind donations which can cause a huge wipe of Community Cable Access stations around the country. Now in the month of February, people like myself who are running these stations are waiting to see what deductions come with our first quarterly checks from cable franchises for 2020.
What does this mean for stations? Well, no one really knows yet until we get our checks this month. Luckily, we have groups like MassAccess who advocate and file bills in the Massachusetts legislature such as H-4045, an act relative to digital entertainment on public right of ways. There’s also Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey’s filing of an amendment to The Communications Act of 1934, this includes the co-signing of all if not many Massachusetts legislators on the Federal Level.
This is good an all, however, there’s always going to be that 50/50 chance that something will pass, or something will not pass. And obviously, if none of these bills pass, the fight will continue. Sure, underwriting is an option, but the road to finding alternative revenue to keep community media running is going to be a bumpy road. Hopefully, we will remain and we will survive for that community media is strong and important. However, our futures will depend on our first quarterly checks this month.
Alex Writes Stuff 