Loveland council advances 10-year Comcast cable franchise agreement

The Loveland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt on first reading Ordinance No. 6838, granting a cable franchise to Comcast. The 10-year agreement runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2036, keeps the city’s 5% franchise fee and shifts PEG access funding from a per-subscriber charge to a percentage of Comcast’s gross revenues.

Chief Information Officer Dan Coldiron told council the ordinance would replace an agreement that expires July 1 while continuing existing construction, customer service and compliance standards. He said a cable franchise is required because providers use public rights-of-way for their infrastructure, and the agreement lets the city enforce standards, collect franchise revenue and support public, education and government broadcasting.

Coldiron said the biggest change is the PEG fee structure. The old model charged 50 cents per subscriber per month, but he said streaming services had reduced that revenue as residents moved away from traditional cable packages. Under the new agreement, PEG funding will instead be based on a share of gross revenues, a model he said has become standard and matches recent Comcast agreements in Fort Collins and Longmont. He also said the agreement raises the city’s potential audit-cost reimbursement to $7,500 per audit year if an audit finds Comcast underpaid by more than 5%.

The agreement also requires 110 channels of programming and remains nonexclusive, meaning other providers can operate under the same framework. Coldiron said Pulse pays franchise and PEG fees for its entertainment services as well, and he noted the city included a “most favored nations” clause so one cable provider cannot receive more favorable franchise terms than another.

During public comment, resident Darren Barrett argued the franchise fee functions as a tax rather than a true fee. Other speakers asked whether Pulse could eventually expand further into cable service, whether the city had been approached by other cable companies, and where franchise revenue goes.

In response, Coldiron said he was unaware of other cable providers seeking a city franchise. He said the general franchise fee goes into the city’s general fund and is not restricted to information technology spending, while PEG revenue is limited to capital costs for public, education and government broadcasting. He said PEG revenue was about $40,000 in the last year and helps pay for equipment such as cameras and microphones, with the city also sharing PEG revenue with Thompson School District for broadcast needs.