Residents who stay informed about Wilton’s municipal government and schools through the town’s public government and education cable channels (Chs. 79 & 78 respectively) will have to get used to new channel numbers this month as Optimum cable TV performs a major shuffle of its lineup effective Thursday, Aug. 21.
The change in channel locations — Ch. 1310 for Town government and Ch. 1305 for the education station — is not sitting well with town officials.
Jeff Boehme, Wilton’s Area 9 Cable Council Government Channel Representative, said he’s “very disappointed” with the decision by Altice, the cable provider that owns Optimum.
“Unfortunately, Altice did not consult the affected towns about the imminent changes and we are collectively concerned this might cause significant viewer disruption in attempting to find their local town content,” Boehme said.
Channels 78 and 79 in Wilton carry an array of local video content, including meetings of several critical Town boards and commissions, including Board of Selectmen and Board of Education, as well as interviews and a variety of school and community events. The channels, Boehme emphasized, help keep Wilton residents informed about their town government and school activities.
Wilton High School teacher and Area 9 Cable Council Education Channel Representative Maria Breece hopes this decision does not result is a major inconvenience and cost for the local channel, which operates on a shoestring budget covered by grants from Altice (through fees collected from cable subscribers) and money from the Town.
“Our Wilton education channel provides our students with unique capabilities to develop our media expertise while updating our community with relevant local content,” Breece said. “We hope this change does not impact our hard work and future plans.”
“We will be working with Wilton town officials to inform residents about the impending move,” Boehme said. “We know there will be some confusion but are hopeful our viewers will find us at our new channels.”
The Area 9 Cable Council (A9CC) is a state mandated governmental body consisting of appointed volunteer representatives in the 10 municipalities, including Darien, Easton, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Redding, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton. The group serves as a citizen advisory group representing their communities’ interests to cable television provider Altice USA and the State of Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). The A9CC’s mission is to advocate the best possible service for Optimum cable television customers and to promote and help fund the utilization of program services through Public, Education and Government Access (PEG).