City Council Approves Cable Franchise Agreement

A new cable franchise agreement that would close an Eden Prairie production studio and potentially limit public access programs got approval from Edina City Council this week—among other area city councils—despite pushback from some concerned citizens.

The five cities that comprise the Southwest Suburban Cable Commission are in the process of reviewing a 10-year agreement with Comcast. On Tuesday, Edina signed off on the agreement—the same day Hopkins and Eden Prairie both approved it. Meanwhile, Minnetonka and Richfield plan to grant final approval in August following initial review earlier this month.

But along the way, public access users have been urging officials to think again. , who produces a show called Democratic Visions at the studio, told Minnetonka council members Monday the facility is cramped and difficult to use but that great things come from it. He added that the reason the studio is underutilized is because nobody knows about it. If it was better promoted, he said it could be educational and give a voice to many community groups.

"I am very, very concerned about the removal of an access station here without having in place a provision for creating a new one," he said.

Edina City Council members were hesitant to approve the new agreement, with several voicing concerns over the impact of shuttering the Eden Prairie studio.

Mayor Jim Hovland said it feels like the loss of a public studio space is impacting the free speech of citizens.

"There's something about this that doesn't feel right," he said. "I can't even put my finger on it, but it doesn't feel right that we're giving this up." 

Councilwoman Joni Bennett had qualms over residents being forced to turn to school districts or the city to secure studio space, particularly if the content of the programming wasn't something favored by those organizations.

"Right now someone has the ability to generate programming that may be something that … isn't favored by their local school district or by their local city government," Bennett said. "What you're proposing is something that abolishes that access, that abolishes the facility through which citizens have been able to obtain a resource."

Brian Grogan, an attorney who represents the cities in the Cable Commission, said a total of 13 producers used the facility in 2009. 

Under the old agreement, approved in 1997, cities received a 5 percent franchise fee from Comcast. At the same time, the company kept 25 cents per subscriber per month to run the Eden Prairie studio—a charge called a “public, education and government,” or “PEG,” fee.

The new 10-year deal would see cities still receive the 5 percent franchise fee. But now a 60-cent PEG fee will go directly to the cities instead of 25 cents going to Comcast.

The approved PEG fee should bring in about $80,000 per year for Edina, according to Grogan. He said the PEG fees collected by the five communities could be enough to construct a new state-of-the-art studio, if they elect to pool their resources and spend the money that way. On the other hand, the cities could funnel those fees to their local community access channel.

"I wanted to put you in control, give you resources to make those choices and give every city the autonomy to do that," Grogan said.

The company is also giving the commission $200,000 to invest in fiber optic lines and automate playback, part of the transition away from the studio.

The studio isn’t the only part of the current system that could see cuts. Grogan also predicted a transition away from public access programming toward a government-type channel that also has community information.

Like Edina Patch on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our daily newsletter