The People’s Money, A Public Resource

The Petition to PURA

WPAA-TV submitted a petition for a Docket on behalf of the people of Wallingford with the potential for positive implications for the communities (Newington, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and more). PURA responded with a narrow opportunity for action assigning the petition as a motion to a 2010 Docket. In response to the petition other community representatives commented: This is mind-blowing, thank you so much. Newington Community TV, the nonprofit, may have been entitled to over $200,000 which it has not received from Cox.

Since 2008, approximately $285,000 of fees paid by Wallingford cable subscribers (Comcast, AT&T, Frontier) have been reallocated to Madison, Guilford, No. Haven, and East Haven with the vast majority going to North Branford. Approximately $18,000 will continue to be reallocated annually if WPAA-TV’s petition to PURA does not provide a resolution.

In 2010, representatives from these small communities (Madison, Guilford, No. Haven, and North Branford) voted to have Wallingford subscriber fees given to them. In 2022, a study of community media provided a baseline to inquire if the action taken, by the former iteration of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission was handled consistent with the statute. An interpretation of equity and precedent, along with this vote, and the absence of town leader concerns in Wallingford was the foundation for the reallocation decision. However, there was no examination of the equity claim. Similarly, the intent for the precedent to end in 2012 and the alternative capital income source within community media with the creation of PEGPETIA was disregarded.

East Haven representatives did not vote in favor of taking Wallingford fees. If the equity claim is valid, they are the community with the highest losses due to inequity. The cable company, the only one with the data, did not disclose how the actual redistribution per the formulae would work.

Some Historical Context

In June of this year, the President of WPAA-TV asked the town to weigh in on a broader question of statutory compliance on behalf of 16,000 Wallingford households. In 2008, Wallingford's Legal Department petitioned to have the fees received in Wallingford 'after reallocation' distributed differently. That petition was unsuccessful due to the unusual manner media resources are handled in Wallingford (See Infographic). This likely influenced the 2010 Town Council decision not to support Wallingford residents as did local leaders in the other towns.

The regulator's findings suggested that local public support helped to sway the decision. Factors like insufficient data, unbalanced local support, and failure to incorporate franchise criteria for prior reallocations, set the stage for a ruling justified as equitable. Failure to have a transparent reallocation process or statutory alignment was not even a part of the discussion.

Why now?

In 2022, Community Media in Connecticut was studied by PURA. A central question was the consolidation or merging of small nonprofits. Testimony in that process shed light on a few things associated with General Statutes § 16-331a(k)1). North Branford’s cable viewer population size would not qualify for community media support as a standalone area per statute, 2) subscriber fees for the designated entities are not defined annually by the regulator, and 3) the published fees and the amounts paid to eligible entities are not the same. If the payable range for fees subscribers can be charged applies to the amount paid to eligible entities (they should be equal) then the allocation of Comcast Branford fees is not compliant with the statute. TBD

Our reallocation situation could not have been foreseen when the statute was written. Quite possibly it should never have been approved. Much has changed in the cable TV world as well.

In 2024

WPAA-TV began engaging the 2024 Town Council in June. After two months of back and forth, which includes providing suggested language for consideration as directed by the chairman, the matter is characterized by him as follows: “This is an issue between WPAA, a private entity, and their state regulators, and I am not interested in getting involved.” WPAA-TV is a nonprofit dedicated to serving Wallingford not a private entity. The regulator regulates the fees paid by cable subscribers. As the 2010 regulator suggested, "the sandbox that is Wallingford" is not his issue.

The language provided for consideration is:

The town council supports the petition to review community media statutes in the proceeding PURA Docket 10-02-03 Motion #2 in the interest of Wallingford Cable Subscribers.

As of this writing, Wallingford subscribers have no direct standing in the petition about how the fees they must pay are used. The Office of Consumer Council is a party to the docket. Subscribers could write to them asking for their fees to be used in Wallingford and restored. occ.info@ct.gov

Gratitude For WPAA-TV Volunteers

This significant loss of funds created operational challenges. Volunteers operating WPAA-TV have met the challenges with sweat equity, strategic planning, and commitment to the community. They are the only Community Media station to have purchased, renovated, and paid off a mortgage debt-in-full for a public media facility. Their annual operating budget ranges from $65,000 to $95,000 annually.

Readers: We ask you to consider these two questions: Do you need to benefit from a nonprofit to appreciate its role in your community? If you are subject to a fee that should be the cost of doing business for a Fortune 500 or 100 company, should that fee serve your community?

Video Why are we not on the agenda: June 25th https://youtu.be/KwhZ8kfQJj8?si=Dck_9l9THP0P8a6W

Docket and Town Council Correspondence File: https://drive.google.com/drive...