August 17, 2021

ACA Connects Mourns the Loss of ACAC Founder and Cable TV Pioneer Dean Petersen

PITTSBURGH, August 17, 2021 – ACA Connects President and CEO Matthew M. Polka issued the following statement:

“Everyone at ACA Connects is deeply saddened to hear the news of Dean Petersen’s passing on Aug. 8 – two days before his 81st birthday. ACA Connects simply would not be here today without Dean’s vision and wisdom at a time when small cable TV providers were threatened by the disproportionate and harmful impact of federal cable TV regulation.

“Dean was a ‘cable guy’ in the truest sense of the word, and he was dedicated to our industry. He served in many ways, whether as president of Southwest Missouri Cable TV in Carthage, Mo., until its sale in 1999, as a founding Board Member of our Association for many years, and as a leader in telling our ‘independent’ story to Congress and the FCC. For all his service, Dean was named a Cable TV Pioneer in 1994.

“Dean, along with Stan Searle, founded ACA Connects (then the Small Cable Business Association) in 1993. The trade organization was established to create a voice in Washington, D.C., for independent, smaller providers in reaction to passage of the re-regulatory Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 and Federal Communications Commission’s implementing rules. That voice and organization remain as strong as ever nearly 29 years later because of Dean’s and Stan’s vision.

“When Dean stepped down from the ACA Connects board in 1999, he was given ACAC’s second ‘Eagle Award,’ recognizing his efforts in, and contributions to, our Members and the cable TV industry. Stan Searle of Searle Communications in Monument, Col., was ACA Connects’ first recipient of the ‘Eagle.’

“ACA Connects will miss Dean and we owe him an incredible debt of gratitude. And you can be sure we will carry on in his memory.”

Please visit here for Dean’s full obituary.

About ACA Connects: America’s Communications Association – Based in Pittsburgh, ACA Connects is a trade organization representing more than 600 smaller and medium-sized, independent companies that provide broadband, phone and video services to nearly 8 million customers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA Connects’ members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their businesses. For more information, visit: