Community Access TV for Westwood

Members of the selectman-appointed Westwood Public Access Cable board met Tuesday night and agreed to create a nonprofit corporation, Westwood Community Access Television, Inc., to bring Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) programming to Westwood.

One of the significant challenges for ongoing operation of community access television in Westwood will be the current revenue structure based on franchise agreements with Comcast and Verizon. Westwood receives a 1% revenue share from cable subscribers which translates into approximately $30,000 annually. The franchise agreements also provided significant capital/infrastructure funds and, in the case of Comcast, built out the town's internal high speed fiber network which connects all schools and public buildings. Moving forward, the challenge is to determine the best use of existing capital funds to set up an operation that can be operationally viable.

The other major challenge is location. The committee felt that building out a studio and hiring staff is premature until the needs of the community are more completely understood. Initially government meetings and education programs could be broadcast without the need for a studio. And community programs--such as coverage of school sports, public events such as debates and meetings, could be done on location.

All these issues will challenge this new nonprofit--which technically has not even been incorporated yet. As things progress, check back here for updates...