Lower Cape TV To Cease Newsroom Operations; Declining Cable Subscriptions Lead To Staff Layoffs

ORLEANS – Big changes are coming to Lower Cape TV.

 The nonprofit public access station, which services the communities of Orleans, Brewster, Wellfleet, Truro and Eastham, is discontinuing its newsroom operations and laying off the bulk of its staff.

 Among those being laid off is the station’s executive director, Teresa Martin, who said a total of six full and part-time staffers are being let go. Two staffers will stay on to continue to operate the station’s public, educational and government (PEG) channels.

 “There’s plenty of funds to do that,” Martin said. “There’s plenty of funds to keep the building running.”

The station’s board of directors informed staff July 3 of the layoffs, which go into effect tomorrow (July 18).

 “It’s so disappointing,” said Leah Belliveau, who produces KidNews 22 for Lower Cape TV. “It just felt like such a family there. I was in the company of some really dedicated, good journalists and videographers.”

 The newsroom produces segments and features for the station under the banner Cape Cod News. When Lower Cape TV began the process of renovating its studio on Namskaket Road in 2022, it was decided to create a nonprofit newsroom to broaden the station’s function, said Tim Counihan, a member of the station’s board of directors and its treasurer.

 “We had some accumulated funds, and we decided that we wanted to try and see if we could bridge our PEG existence into more of a news operation, to try and augment news on the Lower Cape,” he said.

 But a sharp decline in cable subscriptions over the past decade put the board in the position to make changes. Martin said that since 2014, Comcast subscriptions have fallen on the Cape by 45 percent.

 While Counihan said that the station’s board and staff had hoped to fund the newsroom through grants and other sources, the drop in subscriptions created a funding gap that proved too difficult to fill. 

 “We hate to lay off good people,” he said. “It’s a good organization and it’s run well and it’s doing good things. But we just can’t afford to continue doing it.”

 Rafal Kowalczyk, the station’s director of production, said there was “chatter” among the staff about potential layoffs ahead of the official decision. Given the changes in the media landscape, with more people moving from cable to streaming services, he said he wasn’t surprised by the news.

 ‘There is no way around it,” he said. “Bill Gates could not save the typewriter, no matter how smart he is. The horse and buggy made way for the automobile. And streaming has taken over.”

 A Brewster resident, Kowalczyk was in his ninth year working for the station. Now he’s looking ahead to the next opportunity. 

 “Uncertainty is on the menu for the next few months,” he said of his future plans. “I’ll figure out what’s best for me and my family, but being here on the Cape, I definitely want to stay here. Our child goes to school here. My wife works here.”

 Beyond the decline in subscriptions, Martin said local issues such as housing and food insecurity may have forced some LCTV donors to prioritize other needs.

 “Donors that would have been donors two years ago are now really concerned about things like human services. So some of that donor money has shifted around,” she said.

 Now Martin and others are looking at ways of keeping Cape Cod News going in some fashion or another. Martin said she is trying to secure the funding needed to continue the nonprofit newsroom outside of Lower Cape TV, and that she’s hopeful to resume production in some form later this summer.

 “It’s like one chapter ends and another chapter starts,” she said. “I personally believe that we need journalism more than ever before.”

 Cape Cod News is a member of the Institute of Nonprofit News, an organization of 500 independent nonprofit news organizations nationwide. Martin said she plans to look at those other organizations’ operations while she looks at ways to move Cape Cod News forward.

 Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if Cape Cod News will continue to have access and use of Lower Cape TV’s studio and equipment moving forward. Otherwise, Martin said she will explore other spaces, adding that there’s also the potential for producing segments remotely.

 “It’s a beautiful facility,” she said. “And I’m sure as things roll out in the next few weeks, we’ll figure out all of those questions for the newsroom.”

 Past Lower Cape TV employees will be invited to take part in the new venture, Martin said. Kowalczyk, for one, said he'd be happy to contribute.

 “Teresa has been my best boss ever,” he said. “If she ever comes to me and asks for help to facilitate a news package, a story or a sit-down interview, I’d be happy to help her out. Because she took a risk and a chance on me nine years ago.”

 Belliveau said that she plans to keep producing KidNews, the student-produced news program that stars Nauset elementary students and is produced at Orleans Elementary School. She said she has been in communication with Dawn Steber, a teacher at OES, about bringing the popular show back.

 “I’m open to anything that would keep the program alive, specifically KidNews,” she said. “That’s where I want to stay. That’s where my interests are.”

 “I think the material is great,” Counihan said of the programming produced through Cape Cod News. “The stories were all relevant to the Lower and Outer Cape. They were all well produced. The content produced was of much higher quality than what is typically produced in a public access environment.”

 Looking ahead, Counihan said that Lower Cape TV remains committed to utilizing its studio for broader community use by different local groups and organizations. The space has hosted candidate forums and other events, and most recently served as the winter home for the Orleans Farmers’ Market.

“I wish it weren’t happening,” he said of the layoffs. “We’re still working out the details of how we’re going to go forward. But I know what the PEG access model is, and we’ve got a great space. We want to continue to use that as a community resource.”