About Us

Cable Advisory Board of Madison, Hanover and Jefferson County

APPOINTED MEMBERS

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Bob Fourhman, Secretary
Lori Hedges
Bob Wolfschlag, President

MADISON

Hank Bentz
Jim Lee, City Council
Chuck McKay, Treasurer

HANOVER

Virgil Imel, Vice President
Kathi Scroggins, Town Council

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS

CABLE ADVISORY BOARD
Dennis Crank, Executive Director

TIME WARNER CABLE
Mardy Osterman

MISSION STATEMENT

The CABLE ADVISORY BOARD was established at the request of Jefferson county residents and is comprised of Jefferson county residents who are appointed to the Board by the governments of the city of Madison, the town of Hanover and Jefferson County. The BOARD operates under the authority of the current Franchise Agreement between the cable company and the inter-local agreement between the governments.

The BOARD will strive to provide meaningful communication between represented communities and the franchised cable company by acting as a conduit for the transmission of information and the development of policies.

The BOARD will discuss concerns expressed by represented citizens, the franchised cable company and government agencies with the goal of developing optimal cable service to the entire community.

Since 1994, the Cable Advisory Board has operated in a cooperative and unified municipal relationship that has been productive for the community during the tenures of several cable operators.

The Board purchased television equipment in 1995 that has been used to produce well over a thousand programs that have been shown several thousand times on cable TV in the past 13 years.

The Board has sponsored documenting and televising regularly scheduled government meetings since 1996, when it originally sponsored airing two monthly of the Madison City Council, both live and delayed using tape playback.
Currently, the present schedule includes a monthly recording schedule of about 18 various government meetings. This programming has practiced being a mirror of the community and has developed a respected reputation for honest and reliable information. These meetings must be public and are not edited in any manner.

The Board also sanctions the recording and playback of varied school and community events each month.
The Board has also provided television coverage for the Chamber of Commerce Tele-Auction fundraiser ever since Adelphia sold its internal media production unit several years ago.

The Board requested from the cable company a dedicated channel for these community airings in 1999, purchased appropriate equipment and accomplished the establishment of that channel in 2004. That channel, TV-15, is a public access channel that has become a community television station, reaching about 20,000 viewers in over 6000 residences. TV-15, operating in City Hall, now repeatedly airs about 250 different programs annually as well as maintaining a Community Bulletin Board that displays between programs. The intent and mission of the Board is to meet the increasing number of requests from schools, businesses and organizations for TV-15 to document and air community events.

According to language specific to the Franchise Agreement, the Board receives a stipend of $6000 paid annually by the cable operator.

Each municipality that holds a Franchise Agreement with the franchised cable operator receives an annual franchise fee from the cable operator.
This fee amounts to 5% of the operator’s cable television revenue as determined by what monthly charges subject to the franchise fee have been collected by the cable operator for television service provided to cable customers residing in the geographic area served by each municipality. The franchise fee charge is listed on the customer’s monthly billing. The cable company collects the franchise fee from customers monthly and pays the annual 5% franchise fee to each of the municipal governments.

Government units have stewarded this discretionary revenue for almost 30 years to offset shrinkage in general funding or meet increased and unexpected demands on the budget. The Board requests consideration is given to redirect a portion of those ‘non-tax’ franchise fees to the stewardship for developing public access television service over the next several years.

TV-15 has great potential to serve the whole of community components, governmental, organizational, economic, and academic in a manner that would make the community proud to work and reside here. The Board believes this should be done on a non-profit basis and has authorized TV-15 to charge minimally for services.

A government funded public access station that promotes citizen understanding and responsibility and that highlights community culture and business ventures, including tourism, can be a tremendous asset to a community. The Board encourages developing television service that may benefit our community experience using television as an asset and welcomes public input.

The Board also requests each governing body to review which of its councils, committees and commissions would benefit from improved public understanding through television coverage.