President's Message | June 24, 2019
FCC Cable Franchise Rule-Making Updates
There is a strong possibility that the FCC will issue an order in the cable franchise rule-making at its August 1, 2019 meeting. We will know the agenda of the meeting sometime during the second week of July, and if the item will be heard at that meeting, we'll be able to see and analyze the draft order around July 12.
We don't know what's in the order yet. But regardless of how bad it may be, we probably have until July 24 (a week before the meeting) for any final communications to the FCC before the Commissioners vote on the item.
So now is the time to reach out to Congress to ask that they express opposition to the proposed rules.
If you haven't done so, please set up to talk with Senate and House staff in your districts asking for that support. We have materials you
can use here on our website.
Keep playing the
video produced by 1623 Studios about the impact of the rule-making on our channels.
And continue to reach out to local press about the impact of the proposed rules - this last week, our members in Montgomery County MD got
great coverage from Bethesda Magazine about what the rules would do to operations in Suburban DC.
We'll send you analysis as soon as we hear details of any order.
Public Policy Donations to ACM
ACM thanks the four organizations who are issuing a public policy donation challenge to all Alliance members this summer.
Queens Public TV ($10K), CCX Media ($5,000), Cablecast Media ($3,000) and CCTV Salem ($3,000) have put up $21K in challenge grant money for public policy and legal projects in the coming year IF we can raise another $21K by the end of the National Conference in Portland, OR.
Donations to the fund will be used in legal defense and public policy advocacy in the coming year - so you can rest assured that your investment will be well spent defending our field.
You can make a pledge by contacting ACM's Fundraising Chair Mike Johnson at
mjohnson@ccxmedia.org.
Let's do this!
ACM National Conference Just 2+ Weeks Away!
And I hope you are finalizing your plans to join colleagues from across the country at the National Conference in a little more than TWO weeks!
Registration is still open and rooms are still available at the conference hotel. If you or someone else from your organization wants to register for the Emerging Leaders Institute, we are cutting off registration for that training at the end of business on Friday June 28th.