Malverne's got a vision, funding for better public TV

Who would have thought public television could bring in the dough? Well, it has in the Village of Malverne, which earlier this month renewed an agreement with CableVision that will bring the village a total of $356,000 in franchise grants throughout the next 15 years.

Malverne's volunteer-based Cable Television Committee negotiated a deal with CableVision in which the cable provider agreed to match the $175,000 grant Verizon is giving the village. When Verizon signed with the village in December 2007, it agreed to pay the $175 grand only if CableVision matched the grant dollar for dollar.

The new agreement was adopted at a public hearing on Sept. 1 and has since been submitted to the New York State Public Service Commission for review. It will be finalized pending the PSC's approval within 30 to 60 days.

"The community members of the Cable Television Committee ... have diligently worked over the past three years on working out terms of the agreements," said village Trustee and committee liaison Michael Bailey. He added that Village Attorney James Frankie, a former committee member, "was instrumental in his support of the group and the contract negotiations."

But aside from the committee's due diligence, the reason Malverne was able to secure such hefty grants — about 10 times higher than other surrounding communities — is because the village is "so good" at using its government-access channel, according to Bailey.

"Due to the robust use of the ... channel, it is substantially larger than any other village grant than we have seen," Bailey said. "For comparison purposes, the franchise grant provided to the Town of Oyster Bay — substantially larger that the Village of Malverne — included an initial payment of $15,500 versus $50,000 for Malverne. Additionally, Malverne will receive annual payments of $12,500 for 10 years versus $5,500 paid yearly to Oyster Bay."

Malverne, Bailey added, became somewhat of a benchmark for providing government access to the public, and that has earned it credit and recognition as deserving of large grants. Malverne was among the first villages to take the initiative of making the government process more accessible to the public, primarily by broadcasting board meetings and public hearings. Since its establishment in 1989, MalverneTV has "progressed into one of the most technologically advanced and professionally-run government access stations in the tri-state area," according to its website, malvernetv.blip.tv.

The website boasts that "everything Malverne related" can be found on the channel, including local government meetings, village events, announcements and original programming from today and the archives.

Seeing the channel's success and benefits, the village felt it imperative to improve and expand its broadcasting capabilities — and, according to Bailey, these grants will go a long way toward doing just that.

The funds can only be used for broadcasting, maintaining the broadcasting station and capital expenditures that support the government-access channel. The village has plans to improve each of those things, Bailey said, including starting to webcast and fixing up the second floor of village hall, where the majority of broadcasting for Malverne TV is done. The village has already created a digitized archive of the last 20 years of broadcasts and upgraded various facilities to accommodate digital television.

The village's improvement and expansion projects will take place over time, according to Bailey, who explained the grant breakdowns. Each cable provider will give the village $50,000 up front, and then $12,500 annually for 10 years. In addition, Verizon has given the village $3,000 for providing access at the Malverne Public Library for those who don't have cable. CableVision has also agreed to provide $3,000 for increased access, but Bailey said the village has not yet decided how to use the funds. As a bonus for signing franchise agreements with the providers, the village will also receive 5 percent of each of the franchisees' revenues, according to Bailey.

CableVision customers can check out MalverneTV on channel 18, while Verizon customers can check it out on channel 30. Those without cable can visit the library or check out the website malvernetv.blip.tv. For more information or to ask questions, email malvernetv@gmail.com.

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