Blog

EMERGENCY BENEFIT BROADBAND PROGRAMWhat is the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program and what will it provide? The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program is an FCC program that provides a temporary discount on monthly broadband internet bills for qualifying low-income households.  If you household is eligible, you can receive: Up to a $50/month discount on your broadband internetRead more

SUN OUTAGES & THE AFFECTS ON TV SERVICE What are Sun Outages? Twice a year (spring and fall), TV providers experience a technical phenomenon called “sun outages.” For a period of about 2 weeks, the sun causes “solar interference” to all geostationary satellite signals. As the sun’s path across the sky gets lower each day,Read more

Fiber Optics – How Your Provider is Increasing Value In Your Community Does Fiber Optics increase the value of your home? Fiber to the home offers many advantages to residential customers and businesses alike and prepares everyone to enjoy an even greater selection of communication options in the future. It can do a lot forRead more

Data Privacy Day is January 28th! Data Privacy Day occurs every year on January 28th as a reminder to carefully manage your privacy settings on your devices and online services. This nationally recognized day is a perfect opportunity for individuals to evaluate their personal cybersecurity.  Our personal data is collected and used through a variety of mediaRead more

5 Tips to Maintain High-Speed Internet While Working From Home In today’s technically advanced society, it is hard to imagine getting through the day without using the Internet. A majority of Americans are forced to work from home because of the coronavirus. Maintaining a stable internet connection is crucial during this troubling time. Unfortunately, thereRead more

How the Internet Works First, we have to ask, what is the internet? Internet is essentially a set of rules that lets your computer talk to another computer. Your computer uses those rules to connect you to the Web. The Internet is technically a global network of billions of computers and other electronic devices that areRead more

Burying Cable Drops Burying Cable Drops Do you ever see Madison trucks out in your neighborhood and wonder what they could possibly be working on? One project they could be completing is burying a cable drop. What is a cable drop? A cable drop is the cable that brings the high definition television or cableRead more

Madison Focuses on Local Education Madison Communications has been serving central IL for over 75 years. We are committed to giving back to our communities and achieving the highest level of customer service. Part of giving back includes opening up opportunities for those in our service areas. Besides being a part of local chambers and donatingRead more

Madison Named Coal County Business of the Year Madison Communications was awarded “Business of the Year” by the Coal Country Chamber of Commerce!  Board member Margie Brill presented the award, noting that Madison Communications has been a CCCC member and corporate level sponsor for 14 years. “In addition to the financial commitment they have made toRead more

What are Local Broadcaster Retransmission Fees? What are the retransmission consent negotiations? A decades-old federal law empowers broadcasters, including corporations that own TV stations such as ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, to charge fees to local TV providers for the right to carry or “retransmit” their signals even though over the air programming is freeRead more