NineNorth

What NineNorth does

NineNorth is the public-facing brand of North Suburban Access Corporation, a non-profit community access television station serving nine municipalities in Ramsey County, Minnesota (Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Mounds View, New Brighton, North Oaks, Roseville, and St. Anthony). Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Roseville, the organization is governed by the North Suburban Communications Commission (NSCC), a joint powers authority established by the nine member cities. NineNorth produces hyperlocal digital media content including municipal public meeting recordings, school district events, graduations, sports, concerts, and community storytelling, and distributes this content across cable channels (SD 14/799 HD and SD 15/859 HD), Smart TV platforms (ROKU, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android) via the Cablecast Screenweave app, and on-demand via Vimeo under its Forever Downloads service.

The organization's core products are two 24/7 streaming channels — NineNorth Shorts (Channel 14), featuring inspiring stories about people, places, and events in the nine communities, and NineNorth Community (Channel 15), providing comprehensive coverage of local events, sports, performances, and community activities. Beyond broadcasting, NineNorth offers video production services, public meeting recording, webcasting, and virtual event production for its municipal and school clients. Original program series include NineNorth Spotlight (community profiles), Chamber Check In (local business features in partnership with the Twin Cities Metro Chamber of Commerce), and The Press Box (high school sports coverage). The underlying technology stack is conventional broadcast and streaming infrastructure rather than a proprietary software platform.

NineNorth's revenue model is unconventional for an investment-grade profile: as a non-profit community access organization, it is funded primarily through municipal contributions from the nine member cities via the NSCC joint powers agreement, supplemented by local business sponsorships (notably Comcast). All core services are provided free to community residents. There are no external investors, no funding rounds, and no equity structure. The organization is not a venture-backed or PE-eligible entity, but rather a publicly-funded community media infrastructure.

Name

NineNorth

Legal name

North Suburban Access Corporation

Website

https://ninenorth.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NineNorth is a non-profit community access television station serving nine municipalities in Ramsey County, Minnesota, producing local government meeting coverage, school events, and community programming distributed via cable and Smart TV channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Media Services

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (5161), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (5162), Teleproduction and Other Postproduction Services (512191)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPABADAH

Educational/Instructional Public Media Services (Schools, Distance Learning)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Broadcasting (TV & Radio)/Public/Nonprofit Broadcasting (PBS/NPR-style)

Keywords

• Community media production
• Public access television
• Video production services
• Government meeting webcasting
• Community broadcasting

Headquarters

HQ city

Roseville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship: Local business sponsors support the creation of important local video content for citizens. The organization partners with companies like Comcast and produces sponsored content like Chamber Check In featuring member businesses.
2. Public/Government Funding: Operated by North Suburban Access Corporation under governance of North Suburban Communications Commission, a joint powers agreement between nine member cities. Funded through municipal contributions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NineNorth is a community-focused video production studio and public access media organization serving nine cities in Ramsey County, Minnesota. It operates two 24/7 streaming channels (NineNorth Shorts and NineNorth Community) and provides video production, public meeting recording, webcasting, virtual event production, and Forever Downloads services to municipalities, school districts, and community partners. The organization produces original program series covering local government, schools, sports, businesses, and community events, distributing content via cable TV, Smart TV apps, and online streaming.

Product overview

NineNorth is a community-focused video production studio and public access media organization serving nine cities in Ramsey County, Minnesota (Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Mounds View, New Brighton, North Oaks, Roseville, and St. Anthony). The organization operates a two-channel 24/7 streaming platform: NineNorth Community (Channel 15 SD/859 HD) for comprehensive coverage of local events, sports, and community activities, and NineNorth Shorts (Channel 14 SD/799 HD) for inspiring stories about local people and places. Beyond its core broadcast channels, NineNorth provides video production services including public meeting recording, webcasting, virtual event production, and a Forever Downloads service for permanent access to milestone event recordings. The organization also produces original program series including NineNorth Spotlight (community profiles), Chamber Check In (local business features), and The Press Box (high school sports coverage). Content is distributed via Smart TV platforms (ROKU, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android) through the Cablecast Screenweave app and archived videos are hosted on Vimeo.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NineNorth Shorts: Channel featuring inspiring stories about people, places, and events in the nine communities
• NineNorth Community
• NineNorth Shorts Channel 14
• NineNorth Community Channel 15
• CTV
• Forever Downloads

Products and services

• NineNorth Shorts (Channel 14/799 HD) 24/7 streaming cable channel (SD 14 / HD 799) featuring inspiring short-form stories about people, places, and events in the nine North Suburban communities, available via cable television, Smart TV apps, and web streaming.
• NineNorth Community (Channel 15/859 HD) 24/7 streaming cable channel (SD 15 / HD 859) providing comprehensive coverage of local events, sports, performances, and community activities for residents of the nine member cities.
• Video Production Services Full-service digital media production for community-focused content, producing educational and engaging digital media for municipalities, schools, and community organizations across the nine cities.
• Public Meeting Recording Recording and broadcasting service for municipal public meetings including city council meetings and North Suburban Communications Commission governance meetings, designed for government transparency and civic engagement.
• Webcasting Live web streaming services for community events and municipal meetings, enabling residents to view local programming and government proceedings online.
• Virtual Event Production Virtual event production services for city meetings and community programming, supporting hybrid and remote participation formats for municipal and partner clients.
• Forever Downloads Free permanent downloads of milestone community events such as children's concerts and graduations, hosted on Vimeo and made available to families and community residents.

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• North Suburban Communications Commission (NSCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNineNorth is operated by the North Suburban Access Corporation under governance of the NSCC, a joint powers agreement between the nine member cities: Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Mounds View, New Brighton, North Oaks, Roseville, and St. Anthony. The NSCC oversees operations and sets strategic direction.
• Twin Cities Metro Chamber of CommercecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNineNorth partners with the Twin Cities Metro Chamber of Commerce to produce Chamber Check In, a weekly program featuring member businesses. This partnership provides content for both organizations while supporting local business visibility.
• ComcastminorGTM or Marketing PartnerComcast is a sponsor supporting the creation of important local video content for citizens.
• Ramsey County LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNineNorth partners with Ramsey County Library to record and stream the Tuesday with a Scholar lecture series. This partnership allows the library to reach a wider audience with educational content.
• Mounds View School District 621coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNineNorth provides comprehensive coverage of school events including graduations, concerts, and athletic events for the Mounds View district.
• Roseville School District 623coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNineNorth provides comprehensive coverage of school events including graduations, concerts, and athletic events for the Roseville district.
• Saint Anthony Schools District 282coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNineNorth provides comprehensive coverage of school events including graduations, concerts, and athletic events for the Saint Anthony district.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Dakota County CTV: Dakota County operates community access channels serving Dakota County, Minnesota municipalities, mirroring NineNorth's role for Ramsey County. It provides municipal meeting recording, school coverage, and community programming under a similar public-access TV framework.
• Town Square Television: Town Square Television operates community access channels serving several suburban Minneapolis–St. Paul municipalities. It is one of the closest functional peers to NineNorth, operating under a similar joint powers / municipal funding model and producing local government meeting, school, and community event coverage.
• Northwest Community Television: Northwest Community Television is a community access organization serving suburbs north and west of Minneapolis. It runs PEG channels, municipal meeting webcasts, and community programming with a comparable funding and operating model to NineNorth.
• Metro Cable Network (Minneapolis): Metro Cable Network provides public access programming for the City of Minneapolis, including city council coverage and community-produced content. It is a direct functional peer running a publicly funded access channel in the same metropolitan media market.

Others

• Granicus: Granicus provides government meeting video streaming, agenda management, and public records tools used by municipalities nationwide. It is a vendor/adjacent provider whose municipal webcasting capabilities overlap with NineNorth's public meeting recording and webcasting services.
• CivicPlus: CivicPlus offers government technology including agenda, meeting, and video solutions for municipalities. It is an adjacent provider whose meeting streaming tools compete for the same municipal budget line items NineNorth depends on.
• Vimeo: Vimeo hosts the Forever Downloads archive and broader NineNorth video library. It is an enabling infrastructure provider used for video distribution and on-demand archival of community event footage.
• League of Minnesota Cities: The League of Minnesota Cities is a membership association of Minnesota municipalities that supports city governments including their public communications and engagement functions. It is thematically related as a stakeholder/membership body that influences how cities fund programs like NineNorth.
• Cablecast (by Tightrope Media Systems): Cablecast provides the broadcast automation and OTT streaming platform that powers NineNorth's channels on cable and Smart TVs (Screenweave). It is a key enabling technology vendor and a comparable platform for other community access channels.

Broad incumbents

• Twin Cities PBS (TPT): TPT is the PBS affiliate serving the Twin Cities and broader Minnesota region. It is a larger incumbent public broadcaster with overlapping mission (educational/community programming) but operates at regional scale with fundraising, membership, and national distribution rather than hyperlocal municipal coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ninenorthmedia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NineNorth