South Carolina ETV asks lawmakers to start funding 75 staff and $400K signal monitoring system

Adrienne Farewell, president and CEO of South Carolina ETV and South Carolina Public Radio, told the legislative subcommittee that the broadcaster is asking lawmakers to begin moving 75 full‑time positions to the state payroll and to fund a remote tower monitoring system.

Farewell said the full recurring request is $6,780,000 but urged a phased approach because of fiscal pressures. “This request…is not even really a request. It’s a plea this morning to at least start on the continuum of moving these employees and maybe a phased approach,” she said, asking the committee to consider funding roughly one‑third of the request — about $2.2 million — now.

The agency said the requested positions support transparency work, emergency communications, public safety and education‑related broadcasting. Farewell described recent uses of prior appropriations — including HVAC, control‑room work and security panels — and said ongoing staff shifts reflect aligning personnel with core activities.

Farewell also requested $400,000 in non‑recurring funds for a monitoring and analysis system to allow remote monitoring of broadcast signals and tower infrastructure. She said the capability would reduce trips by engineers across the state and increase redundancy and resiliency: “That will allow us to continue to operate and monitor our system…from a remote location,” she said, citing Hurricane Helene as an example when much infrastructure failed and ETV towers supported NOAA and emergency management equipment.

In committee questioning, Senator Morrie asked whether shifting the 75 employees would raise state expenditures by $6,780,000. Farewell confirmed and said recurring funds would free up entrepreneurial revenue to be used for infrastructure and capital. She reported that recent efforts to market tower assets brought in about $1,000,000 previously and that the new specialist added roughly $500,000 in the last 12 months; the agency has additional RFPs out to expand revenue generation.

Farewell said the monitoring system request was included in earlier versions of both the House and the governor’s budgets and paused for committee follow‑up. The subcommittee did not take a formal vote on the requests; the chair said staff would try to find time for further consideration in the coming days.