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Middleborough PEG committee approves FY26 spending plan, weighs capital upgrades and closed-caption rollout
Summary
At a Town of Middleborough PEG access/media committee meeting, members approved a proposed FY2026 PEG fund budget and discussed franchise-fee income, capital project priorities, closed-captioning rollout and studio equipment needs.
Committee member Karen reported that fourth-quarter franchise-fee payments from Comcast and Verizon increased the PEG access fund balance and presented the committee's proposed FY2026 operating and capital budget, which the panel approved with a corrected top line.
The budget matter was the meeting's central item because franchise fees fund most local public-access operations. Karen said the committee received $64,059.43 from Comcast and $52,623.74 from Verizon, and that the PEG fund balance stood at $456,752.24 (as presented by staff). The committee also reported an FYEDU credit of $23,336.63 applied to the education channel account, leaving $49,506.06 earmarked for programming needs.
The nut graf: The committee approved a FY2026 PEG-related budget of $392,789.29 that keeps $150,000 in capital reserves while moving operating items forward; members said they will prioritize capital purchases that provide the most value for town residents and cable viewers.
In discussion before the vote, staff and members debated priorities for capital spending, including upgrades to studio production equipment, a portable studio set, and a possible lobby display at town hall to show meeting information and live video. Staff said one studio line item (a potential middle-school-related project) could be as large as $75,000 depending on scope. Committee members said they will continue researching costs and bring refined recommendations back to an open meeting before committing large appropriations.
The committee also described progress on closed-captioning: staff said the closed-captioning system purchased in November is functioning for video-on-demand uploads but not yet delivering captions on live streams. IT and systems staff were scheduled to work with the software vendor to reconfigure how the live stream is routed so captions appear during live broadcasts.
Staff reported several operational items and community outreach initiatives: the PEG operation added a Spotify account so locally produced podcasts are available on that platform; an intern is producing short social videos for the upcoming Rotary auction; and the studio is recruiting volunteers and part-time contributors to maintain coverage of town meetings and events. Staff also said they are continuing a backlog conversion of older video-on-demand files using a scripted process to restore missing VOD entries.
Ending: Committee members said they will present the committee's annual report to the select board if requested, continue refining capital priorities, and return with more detailed estimates at future meetings.
