Eagan Television and Thomson Reuters: A First-of-its-Kind Public/Private Partnership

Eagan Television (E-TV) has a unique partnership with that has allowed the to take their cable TV infrastructure and operational excellence to the next level, and has provided Thomson Reuters with professional internal communications support.

The station, which includes local channels 14-16 and 18-20, has won numerous awards in the short time it has been operating. The partnership has been distinctive enough to win a 2009-10 Local Government Innovation Award for Public/Non-Public Collaboration from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. The collaboration between E-TV and Thomson Reuters was the only collaborative partnership to win the award between a government entity and a for-profit business.

The award is even more remarkable considering the relative newness of the station. Negotiations began in June 2009, and the build-out was completed and the station operational by February 2010.

E-TV also was nominated for a regional Emmy Award and received two national government programming awards, including a first-place, Best Promotion of a City Award for the Eagan 150th Anniversary/Founder's Day reenactment video and a first-place award in the middle-market community television station category for the "Make Me a Monster Contest Promotion.”

Behind the Partnership

When Eagan’s cable TV operation was at a crossroads, Rick King, Thomson Reuters chief technology officer, stepped in. From there, King, along with Tom Garrison, communications director for the City of Eagan, helped forge an out-of-the-box solution for both the city and Thomson Reuters.

“If we could give them space, Internet, personnel and agree on utilization it would be an interesting public/private partnership where we share the cost,” King said.  

King credits the city's realization that the partnership could work on its culture. “In times when budgets are tight, no matter where you are politically, there is still very little out-of-the-box creativity that would help governments stretch their dollars.” King said. “Eagan, [however], is very forward-looking and the city staff is enabled to look for creative solutions.”

As part of the agreement, the City of Eagan uses the space at Thomson Reuters rent-free in exchange for providing Thomson Reuters with an agreed-upon number of hours of internal communications (not commercial) video support. The partnership works especially well because the peak times of use for both organizations do not conflict; Thomson Reuters typically uses the studio between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., while E-TV is busiest from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m.