Communications division cites steep franchise-fee decline, seeks modest equipment funding

The city’s Communications Division presented its FY27 budget request on May 14, describing revenue pressures from long-term franchise-fee reductions and cord-cutting, and asking for modest capital support to maintain STL TV operations.

Commissioner Donna Brook Sanders said the division’s proposed FY27 operating budget is approximately $1.36 million and stressed that cable franchise-fee revenue has declined substantially after state-mandated rate reductions and widespread cord-cutting. The division also reported reduced right-of-way fee revenues and noted it has offset some declines by charging reimbursable client services to other city departments and bringing small-cell 5G management in-house.

Why it matters: STL TV provides transparency by broadcasting committee meetings, Board of Aldermen sessions and other public events; degradation in signal, staffing or equipment would affect public access to city proceedings.

Key points from testimony and Q&A:
- Revenue pressure: the commission attributed a near 50% decline in franchise-fee revenue to state policy changes and cord-cutting, constraining operating margins.
- Staffing and operations: the division maintains a combination of nine full‑time programming staff, several regulatory staff and a pool of performance employees to cover production demands.
- Equipment needs: production staff requested targeted capital of roughly $15,000–$20,000 to replace cameras, audio or other broadcast equipment to get through FY27; the division said a larger multi-year overhaul would be ideal but costly.
- In-house coordination: STL TV requested departmental policy requiring city entities to route video and media work through the communications division before contracting outside vendors, so the city can centralize spend and direct equipment or marketing dollars to internal capacity.

Committee response: Aldermen thanked STL TV staff for sustained coverage and asked the budget office to consider modest facilities/operations support; production staff said $20,000 would address several near-term needs and that more comprehensive funding would be required for a full systems upgrade.

Ending: The committee signaled support for continued public-access broadcasts and encouraged the communications division to provide a prioritized equipment list for possible inclusion in supplemental funding or capital planning.