My Radio Works reports on Worthington City Council’s view of a bill I’ve been tracking (the MN Equal Access to Broadband Act)…

The Worthington City Council on Monday approved a resolution of support for efforts of the Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators to modernize public, education and government programming and public access funding.

City Administrator Steve Robinson explained that community television in Worthington is funded through franchise fees with local cable television providers. The franchise fees received by the city are based on the number of customers.

As viewing preferences have changed, Robinson continued, many individuals have cut the cable TV cord and turned to streaming services, thereby reducing the fees the city receives to continue to fund Cable 3. Worthington Cable 3 broadcasts city council meetings, as well as many of the high school’s athletic and cultural events and local celebrations.

Current state law does not require alternative streaming companies to compensate cities for use of our public right of way. Two House and Senate bills have been introduced to modernize and provide sustainable funding for community television. One would assess a fee on streaming services, collected by local governments, to fund local public, education and government community television. Another would, in exchange for private use of the city’s public right of way by broadband providers, establish a broadband franchise requirement to generate compensation.