New Richmond council approves rebroadcasts with limited advertising on local cable channel

The New Richmond City Council voted to allow rebroadcasts of locally produced livestreamed events on the city’s cable access channel, even when the original recordings contain local business advertisements, council members agreed at their meeting.

City staff told the council that the city’s contract with Northwood Technical College, which manages the local cable access channel, currently bans advertising. Justin Livestream — a private company that records and streams local high‑school athletics and other events — asked that its post‑event recordings be rebroadcast on the channel. Staff presented draft rule language that would permit limited advertising on rebroadcasts while retaining content restrictions.

“Anyone in the community can bring forward local church, local business that wanted to have programming,” a city staff member said, describing how recordings would be submitted to Northwood Technical College and reviewed under the channel rules.

Council members and staff said the proposed changes would not permit all advertising. The draft language mirrors other public‑access policies by prohibiting content such as advertisements for drugs or lewd material and by retaining council oversight through the contract with Northwood. Staff said the city attorney will review the revised rules and Northwood Technical College must sign off before any change goes into effect.

Council members discussed whether decisions about individual rebroadcasts would return to the council. Staff said Northwood would review submitted recordings to determine whether they meet the channel’s guidelines and that routine decisions could be handled by Northwood under the contract; the council could revise the rules later if problems arise. The existing contract with Northwood is annual and runs to July 1; staff said the council can change the rules or direct the college to stop rebroadcasts in future contract cycles.

Alderman Merriman moved to approve the proposed language; the motion passed on a roll call vote. Council members also noted that rebroadcasts could expand local programming — athletics, concerts, commencements — without increasing live‑production demands on city staff.

Staff said the changes could be implemented on a trial basis and adjusted if advertising volume or content proved problematic. The council did not set a sunset date; instead, members emphasized that the annual contract review gives the city a natural point to reassess the policy.

City staff will forward the draft rules to the city attorney for review and coordinate with Northwood Technical College before any rebroadcasts with advertising are scheduled.