Lake Forest council keeps PEG cable channel operational after debate over costs and reach

Lake Forest city staff asked the City Council on June 2 to authorize suspending the city’s public education and government (PEG) cable channel, citing low usage and technical compatibility problems with the updated in-chamber AV system. After public comment from residents who said many seniors rely on cable, and a city council discussion about access and cost, staff said it will keep the PEG channel on the air and proceed with necessary equipment replacements under existing staff spending authority.

The staff presentation, led by Carrie Copp, assistant to the city manager, said the PEG channel is provided through the city’s Comcast franchise agreement at no franchise fee cost to the city, but the city pays for equipment and operation. Copp told council that only three meeting types are broadcast to the channel (city council, plan commission and finance committee), those meetings are also livestreamed on the city website and YouTube, and Comcast does not provide viewership metrics for PEG channels. Copp said the city’s 2023 community survey showed only 1% of respondents (about 14 people) listed the PEG channel among their top three sources for city information.

“We currently only use the channel to broadcast 3 public meetings,” Copp said, and noted recent AV upgrades in the chamber improved web streaming but did not resolve compatibility with the cable broadcast. Copp explained two pieces of equipment need replacement—HDMI-to-SDI converters and an end-of-life battery backup—and that the scrolling informational slides have not played for several weeks because of the compatibility issues.

Several residents urged keeping the channel for seniors who rely on a television to follow meetings. Joanne Desmond, who identified herself as a Lake Forest resident and representative of senior organizations, asked the council “not [to] suspend the Lake Forest public education and government access cable channel” and requested the city invest “$3,360 to upgrade the equipment to make it fully functional.” Other speakers and aldermen said the cost was modest relative to overall communications spending and emphasized the channel’s importance to some long-time residents.

Aldermen debated practical and equity issues: some said most residents use the website, e-newsletter or YouTube (the city’s e-newsletter reaches roughly 12,000 subscribers), while others said many longtime residents — especially seniors — are accustomed to channel 17 and prefer the TV experience. Council members also discussed whether meetings held outside the council chambers would appear on the PEG channel; staff said they currently would not without installing additional equipment and coordinating with Comcast.

At the close of the discussion, Copp cautioned that the equipment replacements would “just keep the lights on” and would not improve the fundamental quality of the cable broadcast, which is controlled by Comcast. Copp added that because the city is not changing the franchise agreement, it could resume or discontinue the channel later. Based on the evening’s discussion, Copp said staff would keep the PEG channel on the air and proceed with necessary equipment work within staff spending authority and would notify residents via the city e-newsletter. Staff also offered in-person training for residents who need help accessing livestreams on the website or YouTube.

The council did not take a formal roll-call vote on the PEG channel during the meeting; staff characterized the direction as maintaining the channel and pursuing modest equipment fixes and outreach rather than suspending service.