Budget Bites: Hyattsville Communications and Cable TV Changes

Proposed changes to includes funding for streaming City Council meetings on the Internet and engaging residents through monthly coffee hours.

The city plans to make renovations to its cable TV studio this summer, including the addition of cameras to bring the total to five—about the amount the city should have—said Communications Manager Abby Sandel, who handles both the cable TV and communications department budgets, at a recent City Council meeting.

The cable TV budget will include $33,000 in capital spending for upgrades that will allow the playback of meetings, original content on cable channel 71 (Comcast) and online streaming of meetings in real time from the city’s website.

The $33,000 comes from franchise (PEG) fees with cable providers that can only be used for capital expenses associated with cable television. 

While the cable TV is separate in the budget, Sandel also works on projects associated with the TV station.

“We’ve been working toward those things for a while,” Sandel said, adding that her department will have completed its 18-month plan by the end of this year.

“When I came here two years ago [the city] was doing about what others were doing,” she said. “Now [we] have better design, social media…”

The city implemented a was launched the next day.

“People are busy and I want to show that we’re listening … ,” Sandel said, adding that the goal is to proffer audience engagement.

Right now the communications department has the equivalent of 1.5 full time staffers and that won’t change this year, Sandel said.

The total budget for the communications department is $226,000. The cable TV budget is $75,000, according to

Part of Sandel’s goal of reaching out to residents is her suggestion to invite the community to a coffee hour each month to discuss season issues.

She’s also looking to see if there’s an interest in a citizens’ academy to learn more about how government works and also scoping out the possibility of getting a publicist for reaching out to regional and national media.