WILMINGTON, MA — A bill that was filed this summer at the State House could be very important to the future of WCTV. HD.4389 – An Act Relative to Digital Entertainment on Public Rights of Way – aims to update the law relative to how media consumption is changing and how that impacts centers like WCTV.
For more than 30 years, WCTV’s funding has relied on cable franchise agreements between cable companies and the town of Wilmington (important note: not tax dollars). In order to run lines throughout town and sell service, those companies agree to return a small percentage of their cable-related revenues back to town to support local programming. It’s like this in most Massachusetts communities.
But cable subscriptions are down (about 7% statewide over the past few years) as people “cut the cord.” As we all know, people aren’t throwing away their TVs. Instead, new streaming video providers have entered the market, creating competition and offering many of the same services as traditional cable. But these new streaming companies aren’t held to the same standards as cable… even though they are often delivered to your home with the same wire.
This bill aims to fix that.
It would place a fee – comparable to what’s on traditional cable – on streaming providers for using the same “public rights of way” to sell their product to households in Massachusetts. It’s not a tax on the internet. But it would apply to streaming services on the internet like Netflix, Hulu, and others.
Funds would be collected by the state and distributed to the state general fund, municipalities (like Wilmington) and community media centers (like WCTV). Without an updated funding model, WCTV will likely continue to see declining revenue and be forced to make choices about what services we can offer the community.
We are so thankful to have initial support on this bill from State Reps Dave Robertson and Ken Gordon. Overall, more than 80 state lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors. As the bill moves forward in the legislative process, we are excited to see what happens next.
What can you do? If you see your state rep or state senator, tell them you support this idea. We don’t yet know when the bill will come up for debate but getting the word out if vital for the next several weeks.
If you’d like to read more about this bill, head to WCTV.org and look for the “Streaming Bill” button at the top of the page. It has a bunch of links with further details. I’m also happy to answer any questions you might have (shaun@wctv.org).
(NOTE: The above announcement was submitted by WCTV Executive Director Shaun Neville.)
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