Norwood Cable Television Advisory Committee Reports Smooth Progress in Franchise Negotiations-August 11, 1981

Cable television is on track to arrive in town by next spring as scheduled, with the Cable Television Advisory Committee reporting zero major roadblocks in ongoing negotiations with Adams-Russell Co. Inc., the franchise holder.

“We’re making pretty good progress in the negotiations with the company,” CATV Advisory Chairman Edward F. McKenna told his colleagues last night. Following an executive session described as an “amicable adversary relationship,” McKenna reported that out of 46 contract sections, 38 have already been successfully resolved through rewrites, substitutions, deletions, or remaining unchanged.

With only one or two sessions remaining before provisional licensing details are finalized, key items still on the bargaining table include negotiating utility pole access and rental fees with the municipal light department to adjust existing wires, as well as finalizing required construction and performance bonds. Under the provisional license, Waltham-based Adams-Russell is granted up to one year to secure federal and state permits and utility agreements—a preliminary phase McKenna estimates could take as little as three months before selectmen issue the full 15-year operating license. Barring unforeseen appeals against the selectmen’s June decision awarding the franchise over six competing bids, McKenna predicted that cable installation could begin by January, with subscribers hooked up and the system fully operational by the spring.

The proposed $2.5 million, 52-channel system promises robust local capabilities, including a fixed full-color production studio, a mobile color television studio, 60 public access outlets connected to local schools and the town hall, and a dedicated staff of two full-time and part-time employees. Projecting an initial subscriber base of 4,000 to 5,000 households paying an average monthly base fee of $15, Adams-Russell anticipates generating over $1 million in revenue by its second year—climbing to $1.4 million by the tenth year as premium options expand—with rates frozen for the first two years of operation.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger