By Scott Mealiff, Program Director, WSCS, City of Sheboygan
Plans are underway to celebrate the 40th anniversary of community media in Sheboygan in conjunction with Community Media Day – October 20, 2022.
The city’s PEG (Public, Education, and Government) access television channels date back to 1982 when the City of Sheboygan signed a franchise agreement with Lakeside Cablevision to provide cable television service in the city. As part of the agreement, channel space, production equipment, and training would be available to residents for locally produced programming.
Over the years, the cable company changed hands through mergers and consolidation. In 1997, at the conclusion of the original franchise, the cable company, now Charter Communications, did not want to operate the community access facilities anymore, even as their obligation to continue providing channel capacity and the franchise fee payments to the City remained. As a result, the City of Sheboygan took on the operation of the public/government access channel. In the years since, the City has continued to manage the cable channel and expand access via Internet delivery platforms and additional video service providers.
Two years ago on Community Media Day, Oct. 20, 2020, the final cutover was made to fiber optic delivery of the local PEG channels – the conclusion of a multi-year project between Charter Communications and the City of Sheboygan. This upgrade has proven to provide Sheboygan residents a high(er)-quality and stable signal for viewing local government meetings, events, and citizen-produced programs.
Watch as we celebrate 40 years serving the community of Sheboygan!
