HARTFORD – Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and a coalition of Fairfield County Democrats wrote Thursday to Altice USA, owner of Optimum cable, to oppose the telecommunication company’s planned reassignment of local government and educational channels for much of the region.
In a letter to Altice Chairman and CEO Dennis Mathew, the legislators voiced their disappointment and concern related to Optimum’s abrupt and poorly communicated decision to shift programming from the long-standing channels 78 and 79 to the 1300 range for municipalities in the Area 9 Cable Council.
The changes are expected to result in confusion among audiences in Greenwich, Darien, Easton, New Canaan, Norwalk, Redding, Stamford, Westport, Weston and Wilton, who have tuned in to channels 78 and 79 for local government and educational programing for more than two decades.
“Local programs are vital to our democracy,” the legislators wrote. “They provide community-specific information, foster civic engagement, and provide a platform for local voices and diverse perspectives. This sudden and ill-advised decision to change channel positions will, in effect, exile local content by hiding it with a new channel assignment.”
Click here to read the letter.
The legislators expected Optimum’s decision would require costly rebranding for local stations, such as changing “Darien TV79” to “Darien TV,” and would place the burden of informing viewers on the local stations themselves.
They also criticized Optimum for providing customer notice only through billing statements, which they argued are often crowded with excess information and fine print.
In their letter, the lawmakers urged Altice to reverse the change or explain why the reassignment was necessary, why it had to be implemented so quickly, and what additional steps the company would take to inform customers. They also asked whether Altice would fund a broader information campaign to minimize the disruption.
“We hope that our concerns can be addressed to safeguard our communities’ access to local educational programming,” the legislators wrote.
The letter was signed by Senators Duff, D-Norwalk, Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, and Pat Billie Miller, D-Stamford, as well as Representatives Hector Arzeno, D-Greenwich, Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, Eilish Collins Main, D-Stamford, Savet Constantine, D-Wilton, Lucy Dathan, D-New Canaan, Anne Hughes, D-Easton, Jonathan Jacobson, D-Stamford, Dominique Johnson, D-Norwalk, Stephen Meskers, D-Greenwich, Kadeem Roberts, D-Norwalk, and Travis Simms, D-Norwalk.
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