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Gaston County debates ending cable access channel as viewership falls and costs rise
Summary
Communications staff recommended discontinuing the county government cable access channel on Dec. 31, 2025, citing low cable adoption, aging equipment and a roughly $40,000 replacement cost; commissioners raised concerns about seniors, emergency messaging and asked staff to explore grants and alternatives.
Communications Director Adam Gough asked the Gaston County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 17 to end broadcast of the county government cable access channel on Dec. 31, 2025, and continue recording and streaming meetings via the county website and YouTube.
Gough said national cable penetration has fallen (citing a recent Pew Research estimate of about 36% of U.S. households) and that less than 30% of Gaston County households can access the specific cable providers that carry the county channel. He said his two‑year review and a property‑tax‑bill survey (two rounds totaling roughly 1,100 and 550 responses) showed only a handful of regular cable‑channel viewers and that the channel requires aging hardware and frequent staff intervention. Gough estimated roughly $40,000 in equipment replacement costs and said retiring the channel would save that capital outlay and free digital staff to produce more on‑demand content.
Commissioners pressed staff on several fronts: how emergency notifications would be handled (Gough said the county uses Everbridge for geolocated emergency messaging), whether seniors or residents without streaming access would be disenfranchised, whether the county could cooperate with schools for uplink redundancy, and whether grants or franchise fee revenue could offset costs. Some commissioners favored 'limping along' through the current fiscal year and returning with a more detailed cost analysis for next year’s budget; others argued the county should not continue investing in rapidly obsolescing hardware.
Chair Brown attempted to call for a motion to discontinue the channel (the transcript records a failed or unrecorded attempt and no final motion on the item during the meeting). No formal vote to end the channel appears in the record for Nov. 17. Commissioners directed staff to gather more data, check franchise‑fee allocations and report back with options for minimal service continuity and equity for seniors and less‑connected residents.
Staff said regular meeting broadcasts and on‑demand web and YouTube streams would continue whether or not the cable feed is retired. No immediate policy change was enacted at the Nov. 17 meeting.
