Public, educational and government access, or PEG access television, has for decades served community-produced cable programming to the Vermont public: graduation ceremonies. town meetings, the governor's twice-weekly COVID-19 press briefings.
However, shifts in consumer behavior — away from cable in favor of internet streaming — have brought PEG access' primary financing mechanism, payments from cable companies, into question. This hour, we hear what a new report says about the financial viability of PEG access in Vermont.
Our guests are:
- Peter Bluhm, consultant with Berkshire Telecommunications Consulting, which prepared the PEG access report for the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD)
- Kenneth Jones, ACCD’s economic research analyst representative
- Laura Sibilia, Independent who represents the Windham-Bennington district in the Vermont House. She serves as vice chair of the House’s Energy and Technology Committee, one of a handful of legislative committees that received the PEG access report from ACCD
- Lauren-Glenn Davitian, co-founder and executive director of Burlington’s CCTV/Center for Media and Democracy, a founding member of the Vermont Access Network
Broadcast live on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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