Negaunee, MI – October 31, 2018 – Earlier this year, the City of Negaunee filed a complaint against Charter Communications following Charter’s discontinuation of the City’s Local Origination Channel (“LOC”), and refusal to provide Negaunee residents a Public, Education, Governmental (PEG) channel. The LOC provided programming such as broadcasts of City Council meetings, public service announcements, and school related events. A PEG channel would carry much of the same programming, but with more content, some of which will be produced by Negaunee students. Currently, there are no channels carrying this type of programming, nor does the City have the capability to provide “live” broadcasts of its Council meetings.
The City and Charter mediated their dispute, and ultimately agreed to work together toward a resolution. To that end, Charter indicated it would consider accommodating the City’s request for a PEG Channel, but requested additional information demonstrating community support for a PEG channel. The City then conducted a community assessment survey, compiled the results, and forwarded those results to Charter, along with information on capital and operational budgets as well as content.
Survey results indicated a strong level of interest for a PEG channel with content including the broadcasting of City Council meetings, community announcements, calendars, and high school events and programming. It is the City’s hope that Charter will recognize the importance of local broadcasting to the residents of the Negaunee, and work with the City and its resident customers to provide a PEG channel.
“One of our major concerns is that those that have cable TV as their only source of news won’t be able to stay informed about what’s going on in Negaunee. The majority of survey respondents were between the ages of 51 and 80, I don’t think it’s fair that these folk should be left out and left behind. We feel confident that Charter will continue to work with us to ensure that everyone receiving their services in the City of Negaunee can continue to stay engaged with Negaunee,” City Manager Nate Heffron stated.
A copy of this survey can be viewed online at www.cityofnegaunee.com, or at the Negaunee Public Library.
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