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Cable access may change dramatically starting Jan. 1, as the city of Cloquet cuts the cable coordinator position from full-time to half-time.

CAT-7 has been on our local cable TV system since the 1970s. It’s the only TV channel dedicated exclusively to Cloquet and the surrounding area. And while fewer people subscribe to cable TV than before, CAT-7 programs are still watched by many local residents.

CAT-7 is operated by the city of Cloquet but is funded by cable subscription fees and receives no city tax dollars. A Cable Commission — made up of representatives from Cloquet, Scanlon, Esko, and Carlton — advises CAT-7, but the board is essentially inactive and most of the work is done by Cloquet city administration. Each cable subscriber in those four cities, and the rural areas in between, pays the cost.

Admittedly, the content on CAT-7 is weak. There’s Wilderness hockey, which is popular, several church service rebroadcasts, Cloquet City Council meetings and the venerable “Harry’s Gang” talk show (started by Harry Newby, Sr. and now hosted by Pine Knot News publisher Pete Radosevich), but other than that, the station consists mostly of rotating public service announcements with WKLK radio in the background.

So, it’s understandable that when our new city administrator, Aaron Reeves, got around to scrutinizing the CAT-7 budget, he had some concerns.

Reeves feels that too much money is spent on CAT-7. So, effective Jan. 1, 2019 the full-time cable coordinator position will be reduced to part-time. It’s likely that some shows will be affected. Viewers may be left with a scroll of irrelevant information and little local programming.

Reeves told the Pine Knot News that the CAT-7 budget exceeds the subscription fees by a significant amount. This means they are “burning through reserve funds” and would need to make up the difference with tax dollars after 2019.

And he feels the station is underutilized. “Like any city department, we need to make sure we are getting adequate service for the taxpayer’s money,” he said. “At CAT-7, we’re not getting enough value to justify the expense.”

Reeves has asked that the cable coordinator, Eric Lipponen, to turn in a schedule each week and justify any work that may be done after 4:30pm. “City business hours are during the day, but a lot of activity happens in the off hours. As an administrator, I need to know when city staff is punched in and working. If work is being done after hours, I’d like to have that schedule. Right now, we don’t know what work is being done and when,” Reeves told us.

Lipponen is concerned. Most of his programming is taped after hours, like the sporting events and the city council meetings. And he doesn’t think someone can do an adequate job if the position is part-time.

“Even if they reduce the programming so the work can be done in half the time, there’s not many people with the skills necessary to run a cable station who will work only part-time,” Lipponen told us.

He thinks the station is doomed.

“Without a full time cable coordinator, CAT-7 will go off the air,” he predicted.

It’s tough to compete with Duluth’s broadcast stations, and with streaming and satellite, cable access just isn’t as relevant as it used to be. But considering the pure local nature of CAT-7, and that no city tax dollars are needed to support it, it’s unwise to let the station slip away.

Rather, the city should be making efforts to make CAT-7 more relevant to its citizens. Maybe CAT-7 could team with the local newspaper Pine Knot News to provide daily updates. Perhaps information on city services can be offered. Maybe more local programming can be produced, or maybe students with an interest in broadcasting can take a more active role. After all, the station is already based at the high school where it has a renovated studio … at least for now, as Reeves would like to see it moved to the new City Hall come spring.

The city administrator told the Pine Knot News that nothing will change at CAT-7.

“There’s no reason to stop broadcasting the programs already on CAT-7. It just doesn’t seem to be enough work to justify a full-time position,” he said.

Cutting back Cloquet’s only TV station, even if it’s cable access, is a step in the wrong direction. We hope the city finds a way to use CAT-7 to its full potential.

Reeves said he agreed.

“There’s a lot of potential for our cable channel. It’s underutilized now. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions we’d love to hear them.”

So would we.

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