Submitted by: Laura Reams
Submitting Department: Communications
Agenda Section: Consent
Item Title:
title
Hyattsville Ordinance 2022-07 Comcast Franchise Renewal and Agreement
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Suggested Action:
recommendation
I move the Mayor and Council adopt Hyattsville Ordinance 2022-07, an ordinance granting a renewal of the cable franchise to Comcast of Maryland, LLC and authorizing a franchise agreement (SECOND READING & ADOPTION).
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Summary Background:
Attorney Suellen Ferguson presented an overview of the Franchise agreement at the Council meeting of November 21. A first reading of the ordinance was held at the same meeting. The ordinance is scheduled for adoption on December 5 to meet the timeline requirement for an adoption/effective date prior to January 1, 2023.
The City has existing franchise agreements with Comcast and Verizon for a Public-Educational-Governmental (PEG) channel used for programming and airing of content including Council meetings and other originally produced City programming. The current Comcast agreement provides the City with 8% percent of annual gross revenues earned by Comcast, calculated on the subscriber base for the City. Five percent (5%) of the gross revenue goes to the City's general fund and three percent (3%) goes to the PEG fund. The PEG funds are restricted for use to support channel programming and equipment to support public broadcasting. The franchise agreement also provides for access to the Intergovernmental Network (I-Net) which is used for governmental internet access and intergovernmental communications in cases of emergency.
In 2012, the City entered into negotiations for renewal of the franchise with the County and 16 other municipalities. The coalition benefits the City through pooling of financial and other resources to reach an agreement is beneficial for the municipalities. Over the last 10 years, negotiations have been ongoing, with the coalition represented by Attorney Sue Ellen Ferguson. Ms. Ferguson ...
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