Why Should Delaware Care?
Public access television is intended to provide a hyperlocal broadcasting service for residents. DETV has served as Wilmington’s public access channel for six years, with the city covering much of the costs of the operations. But, two months ago, the city pulled some of that financial support. Then, this month Wilmington and DETV officially decided to part ways.
After six years, the city of Wilmington has ended its contract with its public access television provider DETV, according to city officials.
The decision comes after negotiations to renew a public access contract broke down between the city and DETV after they had been ongoing since last fall.
Spotlight Delaware learned that Wilmington’s latest offer made last month was to pay DETV $25,000 to continue as the public access operator for one year – an amount that was significantly lower than the $100,000 the city paid the network the previous year.
Elijah Simmons, chief of staff to the Wilmington City Council, said DETV ultimately declined the offer.
He said the city drafted the latest proposal in April, rather than using one that had been discussed last fall because officials wanted to “focus on the solvency” of a fund that pays for the city’s video and telecommunications operations.
April Johnson, DETV’s director of operations, said the network was willing to accept the $25,000 offer from the city, even though company officials felt it was unfair. But, she said, it would have to be contingent on the city committing to a three-year agreement and assisting with a DETV move to new broadcasting space.
She also said that the “closed-door” negotiations soured over what she claimed was the city’s failure to reimburse DETV for various costs, including moving its broadcasting operations two separate times, which the city had requested.
“There were promises that were made to us that were now being reneged on. And so we can’t move forward with new business until we solidify old business,” she said.
Two months before Wilmington’s and DETV’s divorce, acrimony between the two sides first became public.
At the time, Wilmington had pulled separate funding that it had provided to DETV to cover the rent, equipment, and utilities costs at a broadcasting space used for its public access shows.
The decision caused DETV Executive Director Ivan Thomas to accuse the city of failing to support his station, as he said they had promised. Thomas also said in a social media post at the time that the move would place Wilmington at risk of what he called an “information blackout.”
But Wilmington officials said they pulled that funding because of a drop in revenue from cable provider Comcast, which financially supports the operations of Wilmington’s public access and government broadcasting – on channels 22 and 28, respectively.
On Wednesday afternoon, Channel 28 broadcasted a simple slideshow showing images of Wilmington.
Imposed over the images was a message that said, “Wilmington public access Channel 28 is currently going through a transition. We appreciate your patience during this process.”
Public access funded by cable
Comcast pays the city to operate as a cable provider within its limits.
In September, Wilmington officials negotiated and finalized with Comcast a five-year franchise extension agreement, in which the provider would pay the city a minimum of $90,000 each year.
Portions of those payments would then be distributed to the city’s government access channel, WITN — and to DETV.
Comcast would also make additional payments to Wilmington based on the number of subscribers and types of subscriptions that city residents had. It is that revenue that City Council President Trippi Congo said had declined recently.
City officials have also told Spotlight Delaware that due to their new contract with Comcast, Wilmington is facing a potential $2.1 million “shortfall” over the next six years for its Cable, Video, and Telecommunications Fund.
‘Next steps haven’t been fully determined’
In March 2024, DETV had signed a one-year agreement to continue operating Wilmington’s public access channel.
Six months later, Wilmington and Comcast finalized their new contract.
Two months after that, in November, conversations around a new contract for DETV became public.
During a Wilmington City Council Finance Committee meeting on Nov. 13, the city proposed a three-year contract renewal that would have forced DETV to pay about a quarter of its rent expense at its public access broadcasting space, which was on the third floor of the I.M. Pei building in downtown Wilmington.
At the time, DETV officials challenged the provision. Five months later, the city made its decision to cut the entirety of its funding for the network’s rent and utilities.
Early last month, city officials approached DETV with its newly proposed one-year public access contract, in which the city agreed to provide $25,000 to DETV. But, in order to receive the grant money, DETV would have had to submit regular reports on finances, programming, and operations, according to the agreement.
DETV declined the offer.
Johnson said DETV will continue sharing public information with Wilmington residents, just not as the city’s official public access channel. She added that the network is in discussions with Comcast to move the network to a new channel.
In March, Thomas, DETV’s executive director, took to social media to call for donations, saying that DETV intends to launch new programming to resemble shows on public television stations.
In several posts, he has said his company will create “Delaware’s own version of PBS.”
Beyond its support from the city, DETV received $293,000 from the Delaware state government for various services rendered during the 2024 fiscal year, according to the Delaware Open Checkbook webpage.
The company brought in nearly $1.4 million in total revenue in 2022, according to its tax filing that year – the most recent that is available on the IRS website.
With DETV no longer operating the city’s public-access station, the public-access operator role is now vacant. And it remains unclear how long the city will take to fill the position or who the next provider might be.
“The next steps haven’t been fully determined yet, however, we are in the process of figuring it all out,” Simmons said.
