CABLE ACCESS CHANNELS, often called Public, Educational, and Government (or PEG) access channels, are not something that many people think about. Chances are, most people have come across their local PEG programming while scrolling through channels. They’ll usually see coverage of a city council meeting, high school sports, or a locally produced television show.

When most people think of their local cable access channel, they think of government meetings, whether that be the city council, school committee, or whatever else. While government coverage is a crucial part of what PEG stations do, allowing residents to view previous meetings and increase government transparency, many stations do more than that.

They broadcast local sports games, cover community events, and allow community members to produce their own shows. Many stations have also adapted to the new social media landscape, producing short-form news content and sharing information online, something that became vitally important during the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when many small newspapers and media outlets have closed their doors, PEG stations help fill the gap in coverage, producing easily accessible, local content for a wide variety of viewers.

However, there is a major problem facing PEG stations across the state: funding. These stations rely on franchise fees from cable companies for most, if not all, of their funding. In short, cable subscribers pay a franchise fee as part of their cable bill. Those fees then go to local municipalities to be used to pay for a PEG access station, equipment costs, personnel, etc.

This funding model worked well in years past. Now, though, many customers are canceling their cable subscriptions in favor of online streaming services. As the number of cable subscribers drops, so does the available funding for PEG stations, forcing many stations into tough situations where the revenues from franchise fees simply aren’t enough to cover a station’s operating expenses. As funding continues to decline, stations may face the choice of either cutting back on coverage or closing their doors for good.

There is a possible solution being proposed, though. Legislation has been filed called An Act To Modernize Funding For Community Media Programming. If passed, this legislation would impose a 5 percent fee on streaming services for using public utilities (sidewalks, telephone poles, etc), much the same way that cable companies have to pay the fee. The money collected would then be distributed to PEG stations and community media centers across the state based on population.

This legislation would provide a new source of funding to ensure the continued operation of PEG access stations. Last year, the bills were referred to the committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity. So far, there has been no further action on this legislation. If passed, these bills would help ensure a healthy future for local community media.

PEG stations provide an invaluable service for communities across the state. While often viewed as a relic of the past, the services that cable access stations provide are more important now than they’ve ever been. Broadcasting government meetings, covering community events, letting citizens produce their own shows, and providing training on equipment are just a small part of what these stations do. Without modernizing the funding structure these stations rely on, we could soon see them disappear. The Legislature must act quickly to pass the necessary legislation to keep cable access alive.

Caleb Tobin of Holbrook is a production technician at Holbrook Community Access and Media and a junior at Stonehill College.