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School Committee backs letter to modernize community media funding to include streaming revenues
Summary
Franklin's School Committee voted to send a letter of support to state legislators urging an update to community media funding so streaming services and digital content contribute to local public media revenue, citing Franklin TV's declining cable-derived funding.
The Franklin School Committee approved a letter of support urging state lawmakers to modernize funding for community media programming so that streaming services and digital distributors contribute to the support currently derived from cable subscription fees.
Committee members said Franklin TV and other community media providers have seen declines in cable-related revenue as residents “cut the cord” and move to streaming platforms. The proposed legislation mentioned in committee discussion—an "Act to modernize funding for community media programming"—would extend the same type of fee that funds community access television to streaming and digital platforms, the committee heard.
The committee authorized sending the letter to Senator Rausch and Representative Roy and said it would also share the letter with the town and Franklin TV. Members said they would circulate the finalized letter to other area school committees to ask for similar support.
Motion and vote: The committee moved, seconded and approved the recommendation by roll-call vote with members voting yes (Gallagher; Charles; O’Sullivan; Griffith; Callahan). The mover and seconder are not specifically identified in the public transcript.
Committee members described Franklin TV as a locally important public media outlet that covers school and town meetings, sporting events and civic programming, and said modernized funding could help stabilize its operations as audiences shift to digital platforms.
