June 6, 2003

Dear Editors,

Jefferson doesn't know what it's missing!  It's missing something that you'll find in Fort Atkinson, Watertown, Whitewater, Lake Mills and even Cambridge: its own public access television channels on the cable system.

These channels are often called “PEG” channels – short for “public, education and government.”  PEG channels are a great way for a community to stay informed about local events. They have tremendous reach.  Of the estimated 2,500 households in Jefferson, about 2,000 subscribe to Charter cable.  It's sad but true that Jefferson news and events rarely appear on Madison and Milwaukee television, and then only for tragedies.  PEG channels can change that.

Five percent of every Jefferson cable bill is a franchise fee.  It's about two dollars on the average monthly bill.  Charter collects it and pays it to the City, like a tax, as payment for its use of the City's right-of-way and poles.  Every year the City receives about $50,000 from Charter.  So far, the money has been added to the general revenue fund.

I think it is time to consider that some of this money be used for these channels.  After all, the PEG channels have been part of the City's cable plan for almost twenty years.  No one has ever stepped forward to create them.  Now the City is addicted to the franchise money.  In many cities, most if not all of the franchise fee supports their PEG channels.  In Watertown, for example, they collect $183,000 a year but return $100,000 to the PEG channels.

Last year, the City Council rejected the creation of the channels.  That proposal included a new full-time employee and diverted the entire franchise fee to the PEG channels.  I think that proposal failed because it was too much, too soon.  The state budget crunch didn't help, either.  Sadly, the baby went out with the bath water: there was no fall-back plan to simply activate the PEG channels.

I propose starting small and proving the value of the PEG channels to the community before asking for more money.  It costs nothing to ask Charter to install the two access channels.  The franchise agreement requires them to set up two channels at two locations at no cost.

One channel could originate from City Hall.  The Jefferson School District is eager to host the other channel.  It is a great way to leverage its video and computer systems as well as enhance the curriculum.  Again, Jefferson doesn't know what it's missing – in most other districts, the high school produces at least one video news program.  In Sun Prairie, their KIDS-4 channel has been operated by elementary school students for more than twenty years!

Studio space might be allocated in the now-empty basement of City Hall.  The new Middle School already has a room earmarked as a video studio.

I think that we can start small and grow later.  Forget the full-time employee for now.  Let's just get it started!  At first, both channels would show just a simple slideshow of announcements of coming events.  Imagine seeing school lunch menus, park and recreation schedules, and information about fundraisers and charitable events sponsored by civic groups like the Kiwanis, Rotary, Chamber and Optimists.

Technically, each channel requires not much more than an ordinary PC running Powerpoint, equipped with an adapter to convert the computer's video to television signals.  I think this first step can be accomplished very quickly with donations and volunteer labor.

Money is available for expansion, too.  Charter will provide a $30,000 equipment grant to start a community access channel.  If we ask for this money, they are allowed to pass it along to consumers on the cable bills.  For three years, a basic cable bill will increase less than fifty cents.

After the channels expand to play video, imagine seeing football, softball, soccer and Little League games, live or as reruns.  Imagine watching the out-of-town games.  Imagine the Tomorrow's Hope ceremonies and the Gemuetlichkeit Days parade and ball on television.  Imagine election debates and City Council meetings.  The County Board meetings are already playing on the PEG channels in other cities, but not in Jefferson.  Churches are often great supporters of public access channels.  Their volunteers record the church services and replay them during the week.  The PEG studios can also be used to produce public service announcements that Charter can broadcast on other channels on the cable system, too.

My company, goJefferson.com, will step forward to make the first donations of hardware, software and a web site.  More information about PEG channels is available on my web site.  I will volunteer, too.  I spent a decade in the video industry.  There are volunteers and teachers at the School District ready to help.  Let's hope the City Council has the wisdom to ask Charter to activate these channels for the betterment of Jefferson.

Sincerely,

John Foust