Do you watch a local community access or a “public access" TV channel to get important information about what is happening in Connecticut? The nonprofit organizations that provide these services need our help.
SB 278 - An Act Concerning Fees Paid to Companies or Organizations Responsible for Community Access Programming
Action:
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Contact your Senator and ask them to urge Senators Looney and Duff to call SB 278 for a vote.
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Urge your Senator to vote YES on SB 278.
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Then, contact your Representative and ask for their support of the bill once it is sent to the Connecticut House.
The nonprofit Community Access Providers have seen precipitous decreases in their operating funds from cable companies. Subscribers are changing from traditional cable to internet-only service—not “cutting the cord,” but switching its use. At the moment, there is nothing in place to ensure that these nonprofits are compensated for the programming they provide when customers switch to internet-only service, so they lose money with each customer who switches.
SB 278 fixes the problem by extending the small community access fee (less than $1/month) to subscribers of any service (cable or internet-only) from those large companies using Public Right of Way (think utility poles and lines along our roadways). The Office of Consumer Counsel supports SB 278. See below for more information and for the list of providers and the areas they serve.
Contact your legislator
Find out who represents you here and use the LWVCT Directory of Elected Officials to find their email address or phone number.
Calling Script
Email template
The following Community Access Providers need our help:
- Citizens TV (New Haven/Hamden/West Haven)
- North Haven TV
- East Haven TV
- Branford Community TV
- Totoket TV (North Branford)
- Guilford Community TV
- Madison Cable Access Group
- Valley Shore Community TV (Killingworth, Westbrook, Essex, etc.)
- Southeastern Connecticut TV (Groton, New London, etc.)
- Nutmeg TV (New Britain, Farmington, Avon, Canton, Berlin, Bristol, Plainville)
- Hartford Public Access TV
- West Harford Community Interactive
- Simsbury Community TV
- Bloomfield Access TV
- East Hartford Community TV
- Soundview Community Media (Stratford)
- Win-TV (Windsor)
The tiny fee for supporting community access (from 60¢ to $1 each month, depending on your area) is only charged to cable customers, based on the cable companies’ use of our Public Right of Way, on the utility poles along our roadways.
All cable (and “alternative video”) companies are also Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Internet-only subscribers are also getting their video service on the same lines, along the same roads. And almost all community access organizations have added their programs on the internet to reach their local viewers. To continue to support those nonprofits that provide our citizens with information about their local communities and governments, we need to pass SB 278.
