CAN TV Community Welcomes a New Year,
Funding Resolved for Now

CAN TV Connection

Published January 1, 2005

By the end of an eventful 2004, CAN TV’s funding problems were finally resolved, at least in the short-term. This positive outcome grew out of the “it takes a village” approach to problem solving. Comcast came forward with a solution by providing funding in the short-term. A settlement was reached with RCN. And the City Council directed CAN TV and the cable companies to work with the city to secure CAN TV’s future funding.

Alderman Bernard Stone remained resolute throughout the year, determined that the public interest be served. He had tremendous support from committed members of the City Council. The Mayor stepped in with timely sponsorship of legislation to help fund CAN TV. The City helped assure CAN TV’s completion of an RCN settlement. And most importantly, the public demonstrated the strength of community support for CAN TV. The combined efforts of this past year have forged a cornerstone that will help secure the foundation of this precious public institution in the future.

We want to thank Comcast for providing supplemental funding that will help make CAN TV whole over the next three years. As part of the agreement with Comcast, CAN TV will provide one analog channel to Comcast over the next three years in exchange for a digital channel. This coincides with Comcast’s city-wide transition from analog to digital technology.

We thank the members of the City Council for support throughout the year, and for the resolution directing CAN TV, the cable companies and the City to jointly work to complete a plan by December 1, 2006 for resolving CAN TV’s long-term funding issues.

And we are pleased that the terms of a settlement with RCN have been fulfilled. Thankfully, with Comcast’s assistance and the settlement with RCN, CAN TV can reverse the cutbacks in service that began last year and return to operating levels that we originally expected to have at this point.

CAN TV’s success in Chicago rests on a strong public, private, nonprofit partnership. When cable first came to town, the City Council studied successes and failures around the country and put a system in place that benefited from what other cities had learned. Today in Chicago, we have the largest cable company in the country, two providers of competitive cable service, a nationally recognized public access center, and public officials at the local, state and federal level committed to ensuring the future viability of public access television. Chicago is poised to be a leader in demonstrating nationally how a major city can work to protect public media in the future.

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