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Public media officials seek continued state support for Ohio Channel, Statehouse News Bureau and radio reading services
Summary
Officials from the Broadcast Educational Media Commission, public broadcasters and the Statehouse News Bureau told the Senate Higher Education Committee that state funding is essential to sustain the Ohio Channel, emergency communications and services such as the Ohio Radio Reading Service.
Executives from the Broadcast Educational Media Commission (BEMC), Ohio public broadcasters and the Statehouse News Bureau asked the Senate Higher Education Committee to maintain state support for a set of interconnected public‑media services the witnesses described as vital to civic information, emergency communications and statewide programming.
Jeffrey Phillips, executive director of BEMC, framed the agency’s request around three interlocking components: Ohio Government Telecommunications (the Ohio Channel), the Statehouse News Bureau and the network of Ohio public broadcasters. “There are 3 entities that work together in sharing Ohio's government message,” Phillips told the committee, and he described the relationship as a “three‑legged stool” where each leg must be adequately funded.
Anthony Padgett of WOSU and the Alliance of Public Telecommunications highlighted public media’s role in emergency alerting and education. “Public media stations are the backbone of the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts,” Padgett said, and added stations provide free educational content, teacher professional development and workforce‑focused multimedia projects.
Dan Shellenbarger, general manager of the Ohio Channel and the Statehouse News Bureau, said public media provides archival, streaming and broadcast coverage of official legislative and governmental sessions at no cost to the branches of state government and preserves an authoritative record of proceedings. He urged continued maintenance funding to keep transmitters, fiber connectivity and staffing operational and pointed to the statewide fiber connectivity as unique among states.
Witnesses also described the Ohio Radio Reading Service, which serves Ohioans with visual impairments, and said state support leverages viewer/listener contributions to ensure access statewide. Committee members asked about geographic coverage and collaboration with regional stations; witnesses said the statewide network and collaborations (including station partners in Cincinnati and elsewhere) already provide substantial reach, and materials are available at ohiochannel.org for streaming.
No committee action was recorded at the hearing; witnesses asked the committee to support the governor’s proposed budget levels and the House’s concurrence for the BEMC and public media line items.
