Vermont Access Network asks Senate Government Operations for $1.89M to shore up community media
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Summary
Laurie Gwen Davidian and Rutland PEG TV director Tom Latepole told the Senate Committee on Government Operations that community media face falling cable revenue and rising costs and requested inclusion of a $1.89 million FY27 appropriation (including a $90,000 one‑time radio allocation) to sustain local TV and radio services.
Laurie Gwen Davidian, public policy director of the CCTV Center for Media and Democracy, told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on April 2 that the Vermont Access Network and the Vermont Community Radio Network are seeking $1,890,000 in FY27 funding to preserve community television and radio services.
“For the record, I’m Laurie Gwen Davidian,” she said. Davidian asked the committee to include the request in its recommendations to Senate appropriations and explained that the House had separated the request out of H.935 and advanced it as part of the budget process.
Davidian gave a breakdown of the request: $1,800,000 to support 24 community media centers across the state and a $90,000 one‑time allocation for community radio stations. She said the governor’s budget recommended $1,350,000 and the House added roughly $540,000 toward the full $1.89 million request. “The 90,000 is included in the one‑time budget,” she said.
She said community media reach roughly 94% of Vermonters through television and radio outlets and provide services that include live and hybrid coverage of municipal meetings, local news and emergency communications, media education and preservation of large audiovisual archives. Davidian told the committee that the network produced about 15,000 hours of local television and that radio partners produce about 20,000 hours of programming annually.
Davidian described a worsening financial picture: declining cable franchise revenue (about a 6% drop this year) combined with rising operating costs (she estimated about an 8% annual increase), producing a budget gap she described as “on the order of $2.5 million” this year and about $3 million next year. She said the organizations are pursuing other revenue, including fees for service, sponsorship and underwriting, but are not asking the legislature to close the entire gap.
Committee members expressed support for the request. Senator White said they were “very supportive of fully funding” the appropriation and raised the idea of looking at whether streaming services could contribute through a fee or excise tax; Davidian and others noted such a change would be complex and politically sensitive. A committee member suggested exploring regionalization and shared services among smaller stations to reduce costs; Davidian said cooperation and shared purchasing are already being used and remain options for future sustainability.
Tom Latepole, who the chair introduced as running PEG TV in Rutland, described local impacts: live town meeting coverage that served as a source for other media, a widely watched annual parade stream and nearly 1 million YouTube views on the station’s channel. Latepole said Rutland PEG has nine employees—five studio staff and four field producers—and that the organization has lost about 8–10% of cable revenue each quarter.
No formal vote was taken; presenters thanked the committee and the chair moved on to announce the next agenda item. The committee paused for a scheduled 10‑minute break as it awaited witnesses for H.588.
Sources: Presentation and Q&A during the Senate Committee on Government Operations meeting, April 2; quotations and figures from testimony by Laurie Gwen Davidian, Amy Schroeder and Tom Latepole.
