Public-access television
Encyclopedia
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial
mass media
where ordinary people can create content television program
ming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channel
s. Public-access television was created in the United States
between 1969 and 1971 by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), under Chairman Dean Burch
, based on pioneering work and advocacy of George Stoney
, Red Burns (Alternate Media Center and Sidney Dean (City Club of NY).
Public-Access Television is often grouped with public, educational, and government access
television channels, by the acronym PEG. PEG Channels are typically only available on cable television
systems.
(PBS) is Public television, an Educational television
broadcasting
service of professionally produced, highly curated content. It is not Public-access television, and has no connection with cable-only PEG television channels. Although non-commercial educational
television bears some resemblance to the E of PEG, PBS bears little resemblance to Public-access television.
The PBS service is mostly not local programming
content. Instead, it is content produced for a national audience
distributed via satellite
s. There is no generally accepted right of access for citizens to use broadcast studio facilities of PBS member stations, nor right of access by community content producers to the airwaves
stewarded by these television station
s. These qualities are in stark contrast to PEG channel content, which is mostly locally produced, especially in conjunction with local origination
studio facilities. And in the case of the P, Public-access television, the facilities and Channel capacity
are uncurated free-speech zones available to anyone for free or little cost.
Since 53% to 60% of public television's revenues come from private membership donations and grants, most stations solicit individual donations by methods including fundraising
, pledge drive
s or telethons which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming. PBS is also funded by the Federal government of the United States
.
PEG channels are generally funded by cable television companies through revenues derived from Cable television franchise fee
s, member fees, grants and contributions.
, Public-access television is an alternative system of television which originated as a response to disenchantment with the commercial broadcasting
system, and in order to fulfill some of the social potential
of cable television.
Community television
began in 1968 with Dale City, Virginia
's Dale City Television (DCTV) and Bob & Janeen Burrel at Stoughton, Wisconsin
's WSTO TV
.
Also, at that same time in New York City
, Fred Friendly
, head of the Cable TV and Communications Commission, made recommendations for a leased-access
channel for public use. The rent for equipment usage and studio time was opposed and later dropped. This free-access requirement was the contractual beginnings of PEG.
Filmmakers George Stoney
, and Red Burns (who had served on the Canadian Film Board
), along with Sidney Dean (City Club of NY), were instrumental in developing the theoretical legal basis and the practical need for Public-access television, and helped to eventually obtain Public-access television requirements in the franchise agreement between the city government and the cable company.
The legal basis of the local municipality regulating cable companies—which use public rights-of-way
in order to make profits—to meet certain minimum standards of public service
requirements, i.e., facilities and equipment, channel capacity, and funding, came out of this work of these pioneers.
. It was the first attempt by officials at the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to create a service like PEG through regulation of the cable industry.
In 1969, in the First Report and Order, the FCC stated,
In a report filed with this regulation, the Commission said,
In 1971, this rule was rescinded, and replaced with a requirement for PEG facilities and channel capacity
. The concept of Local programming
persisted, however the rules have been modified to say
In contrast with public Public-access television, which is government-mandated access for programming, Local programming is now usually programming of local interest produced by the cable operator or PEG organizations. The term is also generally accepted to refer to television programming that is not produced by a Commercial broadcasting
company or other media source for national or international distribution.
Also note that at this time, the FCC was considering CATV a common carrier
which is a term that comes from the bus and shipping industries, where, in exchange for being offered a charter for their operations by the government, companies were required to give all persons passage. Thus, if CATV operators we considered common carriers, then they certainly would have to give all persons access to carriage on their cable channels. However, this was specifically rejected by the Supreme Court of the United States
in the Midwest Video decision.
Supreme Court cases involved a company known as Midwest Video.
In United States v. Midwest Video Corp., 406 U.S. 649 (1972), the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's requirements for Local Origination facilities. However the Public-access television requirement did not survive legal scrutiny seven years later.
In 1979 the U.S. Supreme court sided against the FCC in the case FCC v. Midwest Video Corp., 440 U.S. 689 (1979), determining that the FCC's new requirements exceeded the agency's statutory powers as granted to them by Congress. The Supreme Court explicitly rejected the notion that cable companies were "common carriers", meaning that all persons must be provided carriage. Instead, the Supreme Court took the stance that cable companies were private persons
under the law with First Amendment to the United States Constitution
rights, and that the requirement for Public-access television was in fact a burden on these free speech rights.
This judicial action prompted PEG advocates to begin work on what would become the Cable Communications Act of 1984.
Congress acted to save PEG from the result of the Supreme Court Midwest Video decision decision, however the legislative imperatives of compromise between the demands of the people and the demands of the cable industry yielded a law with only small benefits for consumer
s and Public-access television advocates.
The 1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act
written by Senator Barry Goldwater
, said,
This appeared to be a law which creates new rights
, allowing local communities to require PEG channels, however, it in fact had the opposite effect. Since the franchise agreement is a contract between the cable operator and the municipality, the municipality could always stipulate a PEG channel requirement, and the contracts clause of the United States Constitution
prevents Congress from interfering. So while the intent may have been to correct the omission which led to the Midwest Video decision, and make PEG mandatory, the result was a law which allowed the municipality to opt-out of PEG requirements, and keep 100% of the Cable television franchise fees for their general fund, while providing no PEG facilities or television channel capacity
. Since 1984, many Public-access television centers have closed around the country as more municipalities take the opt-out provision.
However, the Cable Communications Act of 1984 did contain some benefits for PEG, as it barred cable operators from exercising editorial control over content of programs carried on PEG channels, and absolved them from liability
for that content.
Congress passed the Cable Television Protection and Competition Act
of 1992, which gave the FCC authority to create rules requiring cable operators to prohibit certain shows. The Alliance for Community Media
(ACM) and others brought suit. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium v. FCC, 95-124 (1996) held the law unconstitutional, in part because it required cable operators to act on behalf of the federal government to control expression based on content.
Currently the ACM and others are focusing on operational challenges after new deregulation
rules in various states are directly threatening PEG access.
Municipalities must take initiative and petition the cable operator to provide the funding for PEG access as laid out by law, but municipalities may also choose to take no action and will instead keep the Cable television franchise fees in a general fund. A municipality may also choose to allow Government-access television (GATV) but not Public-access television or may replace it with Governmental access television or may take away Public-access television altogether, depending on the disposition of the local government or its voters.
Municipalities have a broad spectrum of franchise agreements with cable television service providers and may not create a monopoly
through these agreements. Depending on the size of the community and their contractual agreement the PEG and local origination channels may take many forms. Large communities often have a separate organization for each PEG type, smaller communities may have a single organization that manages all three. Because each organization will develop its own policies and procedures concerning the commercial content of a program, constituent services differ greatly between communities.
Services available at Public-access television organizations are often low cost or free of charge, with an inclusive, content neutral, first-come, first-served
, free speech ideology. Monies from Cable television franchise fees are paid to government for use of right-of-way
use of Public property
, hopefully allowing other general fund monies to be used to operate the facilities, employ staff, develop curriculum, operate training workshops, schedule, maintain equipment, manage the cablecast of shows and publish promotion materials to build station viewership. Funding and operating budgets vary significantly with the municipality's finances. Frequently it is left to the cable franchise to determine how they operate Public-access television. The FCC does not mandate a cable franchise to provide any of the above services mentioned.
Users of Public-access television stations may participate at most levels of this structure to make content of their choosing. Generally, anyone may have their programming aired on a Public-access television channel. Users are not restricted to cable subscribers, though residency requirements may apply, depending on local franchise agreements or facility policy. Many Public-access television channels try to favor locally produced programs while others also carry regionally or nationally distributed programming. Such programming—regional, national or even international—is usually aired on a channel curated by the PEG operator, which also carries programs produced by professional producers. A show that originates outside the municipality is often referred to as "bicycled", "dub and submit", or "satellite" programming.
In the event that a Public-access television channel becomes filled with programming, a franchise may state that more television channels may be added to satisfy the demand.
is the institution set aside for fulfilling the needs of the educational departments and organizations within the municipality. Educational-access television channels may be associated with a specific school, school district or even private organization that is contracted to operate the Educational-access television channel for the city.
Educational-access television centers usually operate a cable channel on the local cable system and often include elements and principle that echo Public-access television in terms of training and resources. Many school media and video training programs are based in the Educational-access television centers. Programming distributed by these centers ranges from student or parent produced media to coverage of local school functions and bodies (such as the School Council meetings or Committee). There are a number of notable Educational-access television organizations that produce programming for a national audience and experiences a very broad distribution.
PEG facilities were composed of racks full of analog
videotape
decks and an automated video switching system. Recently, the low cost of digital production and distribution equipment, such as cameras, non-linear editing system
s, digital video playback servers and new Internet technologies have made digital content production the norm. The dropping cost of digital production and distribution gear has changed the way many PEG facilities operate.
s. Special interest groups have also frequently applied pressure on PEG operations.
PEG often struggles to balance Freedom of speech
with free, open access to the cable systems and as a result cable operators or PEG organizations have occasionally (rightfully or wrongfully) banned producers, discriminated between programming in their allocation of airtime, or have removed or banned programming based upon potential legal problems, the values of the PEG organization, or the values or desires of the cable TV provider.
Funding for PEG is usually managed from local governments issuing the cable television franchise agreement. This same government often receives Cable television franchise fees that come from the cable companies. Negotiation for PEG television services can often be hindered by obstructive or restricting behavior from the cable company, a competing cable provider, or the government officials and staff issuing the franchise agreement.
PEG television has been challenged by cable TV operators and telephone companies, who are now expanding into the cable TV business. These companies have lobbied for significant legislation through the US House of Representatives and through various state assemblies to reduce or end PEG television.
In California
, the passage of AB2987 or "The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006", has changed the laws by which cable TV companies operate and as a result many Public-access television studios in California have closed.
Municipalities, local governments and even residents often confuse the difference between commercial broadcast television and PEG television. PEG television has been reported to the FCC about infractions that may apply to broadcast television, even though cable television
content (including Public-access television) is not subject to the same rules. Because cable television is a closed system with elective access there are fewer rules and restrictions about content.
PEG television stations and studios are sometimes poorly managed and/or poorly supported, and give rise to numerous complaints. Station complaints range from poor scheduling and playback, programming playing late or not at all, or signal strength being so weak that the program becomes unwatchable. Studio complaints usually focus on the lack of equipment or facilities, poor equipment condition, and staff indifference. Accusations are often made that these situations arose as a result of willful neglect on the part of a city, a cable company, or other third party organization, with the intention of making the Public-access television facilities so inviable that interest in them will wane and facilities can be closed. Complaints may also reflect viewers' general disagreement with other people's viewpoints. Complaints may also reflect discrimination in the resources a PEG organization applies to one type of programming vs. another.
Another challenge in maintaining Public-access television facilities as a free speech forum can come from within the membership of the PEG facility itself, by the overuse of commercial video programmers whose program content contains Sponsorship Underwriting Advertisements like the type permitted on Public Broadcasting Stations. Programming could then become very similar to other cable channels and programming without such sponsorship could be deprived of fair treatment by the administrators of a Public-access television facility.
syndication and aggregation, mobile-device and cell phone media, and countless new methods for distributing information and ideas. As cable television adopts new technologies, many Public-access television centers adapted these new technologies in order to continue serving their missions and goals within their own constituency.
channels in other countries, notably in Scandinavia
, Western Europe
, Canada
and Australia
. In Germany
, Norway
and Sweden
there are "Open channels". In most countries Public-access television channels are broadcast on cable but in Australia, Denmark
and Norway
Terrestrial television
transmission is common (UHF or digital). All channels are for profit operations.
Non-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...
mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
where ordinary people can create content television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
ming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channel
Specialty channel
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....
s. Public-access television was created in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
between 1969 and 1971 by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC), under Chairman Dean Burch
Dean Burch
Dean Burch served as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from October 31, 1969 to March 8, 1974, and as chairman of the Republican National Convention....
, based on pioneering work and advocacy of George Stoney
George C. Stoney
George C. Stoney is a professor of film and cinema studies at New York University , and a pioneer in the field of documentary film. Stoney directed several influential films including All My Babies and How the Myth Was Made...
, Red Burns (Alternate Media Center and Sidney Dean (City Club of NY).
Public-Access Television is often grouped with public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access
Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...
television channels, by the acronym PEG. PEG Channels are typically only available on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
systems.
Distinction from PBS
The Public Broadcasting ServicePublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS) is Public television, an Educational television
Educational television
Educational television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable television in the United States as Public, educational, and government access ...
broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
service of professionally produced, highly curated content. It is not Public-access television, and has no connection with cable-only PEG television channels. Although non-commercial educational
Non-commercial educational
The term non-commercial educational applies to a radio station or TV station that does not accept on air advertisements , as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission . NCE stations do not pay broadcast license fees for their non-profit uses of the radio spectrum...
television bears some resemblance to the E of PEG, PBS bears little resemblance to Public-access television.
The PBS service is mostly not local programming
Local programming
The term Local Programme, Local Programming, Local Content or Local Television refers to a television programme made by a television station or independent television producer for broadcast only within the station's transmission area or television market...
content. Instead, it is content produced for a national audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
distributed via satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
s. There is no generally accepted right of access for citizens to use broadcast studio facilities of PBS member stations, nor right of access by community content producers to the airwaves
Radio waves
Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Radio waves have frequencies from 300 GHz to as low as 3 kHz, and corresponding wavelengths from 1 millimeter to 100 kilometers. Like all other electromagnetic waves,...
stewarded by these television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s. These qualities are in stark contrast to PEG channel content, which is mostly locally produced, especially in conjunction with local origination
Local origination
In broadcasting, local origination may refer to:*community radio*community television*local insertion*local programming*public-access television...
studio facilities. And in the case of the P, Public-access television, the facilities and Channel capacity
Channel capacity
In electrical engineering, computer science and information theory, channel capacity is the tightest upper bound on the amount of information that can be reliably transmitted over a communications channel...
are uncurated free-speech zones available to anyone for free or little cost.
Since 53% to 60% of public television's revenues come from private membership donations and grants, most stations solicit individual donations by methods including fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
, pledge drive
Pledge drive
A pledge drive is an extended period of fundraising activities, generally used by public broadcasting stations to increase contributions. The term "pledge" originates from the promise a contributor makes to send in funding at regular intervals for a certain amount of time...
s or telethons which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming. PBS is also funded by the Federal government of the United States
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
.
PEG channels are generally funded by cable television companies through revenues derived from Cable television franchise fee
Cable television franchise fee
A cable television franchise fee in the United States, the stems from a community's basic right to charge for use of the property it owns. The cable television franchise fees represent part of the compensation a community receives in exchange for the cable operator's occupation and the right-of-way...
s, member fees, grants and contributions.
History
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Public-access television is an alternative system of television which originated as a response to disenchantment with the commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship...
system, and in order to fulfill some of the social potential
Human Potential Movement
The Human Potential Movement arose out of the social and intellectual milieu of the 1960s and formed around the concept of cultivating extraordinary potential that its advocates believed to lie largely untapped in all people...
of cable television.
First pioneers
The first experiments in Public-access television and/or non-commercialNon-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...
Community television
Community television
Australia's Community Television is a form of Citizen media much like Public Access Television in the United States and the Community Channel in Canada...
began in 1968 with Dale City, Virginia
Dale City, Virginia
Dale City is an unincorporated community in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community had a total population of 63,616 according to the 2006 American Community Survey....
's Dale City Television (DCTV) and Bob & Janeen Burrel at Stoughton, Wisconsin
Stoughton, Wisconsin
Stoughton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States and is a neighbor of Madison. It straddles the Yahara River about 20 miles southeast of the capital, Madison. Stoughton is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area...
's WSTO TV
WSTO TV
WSTO TV is Stoughton, Wisconsin's community television station. One of the first Public, educational, and government access community channels, started in 1968 by Bob and Janeen Burrel. WSTO was originally called Viking Media Corp, until becoming WSTO in the early 1970s...
.
Also, at that same time in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Fred Friendly
Fred W. Friendly
Fred W. Friendly was a president of CBS News and the creator, along with Edward R. Murrow, of the documentary television program See It Now...
, head of the Cable TV and Communications Commission, made recommendations for a leased-access
Leased access
Leased access is airtime that the Federal Communications Commission mandates must be provided by cable operators for use by independent cable programmers and producers who are not owned by the operators...
channel for public use. The rent for equipment usage and studio time was opposed and later dropped. This free-access requirement was the contractual beginnings of PEG.
Filmmakers George Stoney
George C. Stoney
George C. Stoney is a professor of film and cinema studies at New York University , and a pioneer in the field of documentary film. Stoney directed several influential films including All My Babies and How the Myth Was Made...
, and Red Burns (who had served on the Canadian Film Board
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
), along with Sidney Dean (City Club of NY), were instrumental in developing the theoretical legal basis and the practical need for Public-access television, and helped to eventually obtain Public-access television requirements in the franchise agreement between the city government and the cable company.
The legal basis of the local municipality regulating cable companies—which use public rights-of-way
Right of way (public throughway)
Right of way is a term first used to describe the right to travel unhindered, to access a route regardless of land ownership or any other legality.The right of way may be limited...
in order to make profits—to meet certain minimum standards of public service
Public services
Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...
requirements, i.e., facilities and equipment, channel capacity, and funding, came out of this work of these pioneers.
Local origination
The public policy origins begin at the Federal level with the concept of local originationLocal origination
In broadcasting, local origination may refer to:*community radio*community television*local insertion*local programming*public-access television...
. It was the first attempt by officials at the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to create a service like PEG through regulation of the cable industry.
In 1969, in the First Report and Order, the FCC stated,
"no CATV system having 3,500 or more subscribers shall carry the signal of any television broadcast station unless the system also operates to a significant extent as a local outlet by cablecasting and has available facilities for local production and presentation of programs other than automated services."
In a report filed with this regulation, the Commission said,
"[We] recognize the great potential of the cable technology to further the achievement of long-established regulatory goals in the field of television broadcasting by increasing the number of outlets for community self-expression and augmenting the public's choice of programs and types of services. . . . They also reflect our view that a multi-purpose CATV operation combining carriage of broadcast signals with program origination and common carrier services, might best exploit cable channel capacity to the advantage of the public and promote the basic purpose for which this Commission was created:"
In 1971, this rule was rescinded, and replaced with a requirement for PEG facilities and channel capacity
Channel capacity
In electrical engineering, computer science and information theory, channel capacity is the tightest upper bound on the amount of information that can be reliably transmitted over a communications channel...
. The concept of Local programming
Local programming
The term Local Programme, Local Programming, Local Content or Local Television refers to a television programme made by a television station or independent television producer for broadcast only within the station's transmission area or television market...
persisted, however the rules have been modified to say
Origination cablecasting. Programing (exclusive of broadcast signals) carried on a cable television system over one or more channels and subject to the exclusive control of the cable operator.
In contrast with public Public-access television, which is government-mandated access for programming, Local programming is now usually programming of local interest produced by the cable operator or PEG organizations. The term is also generally accepted to refer to television programming that is not produced by a Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship...
company or other media source for national or international distribution.
Also note that at this time, the FCC was considering CATV a common carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
which is a term that comes from the bus and shipping industries, where, in exchange for being offered a charter for their operations by the government, companies were required to give all persons passage. Thus, if CATV operators we considered common carriers, then they certainly would have to give all persons access to carriage on their cable channels. However, this was specifically rejected by the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in the Midwest Video decision.
Federal mandate by the FCC
Hundreds of Public-access television production facilities were launched in the 1970s after the Federal Communications Commission issued its Third Report and Order in 1972, which required all cable systems in the top 100 U.S. television markets to provide three access-channels, one each for public, educational, and local government use. The rule was amended in 1976 to require that cable systems in communities with 3,500 or more subscribers set aside up to 4 cable TV channels and provide access to equipment and studios for use by the public.Midwest video decisions
Cable companies saw this regulation as an unlawful intrusion by the federal government into their business practices, and immediately started challenging the legality of these new rules. Two important United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Supreme Court cases involved a company known as Midwest Video.
In United States v. Midwest Video Corp., 406 U.S. 649 (1972), the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's requirements for Local Origination facilities. However the Public-access television requirement did not survive legal scrutiny seven years later.
In 1979 the U.S. Supreme court sided against the FCC in the case FCC v. Midwest Video Corp., 440 U.S. 689 (1979), determining that the FCC's new requirements exceeded the agency's statutory powers as granted to them by Congress. The Supreme Court explicitly rejected the notion that cable companies were "common carriers", meaning that all persons must be provided carriage. Instead, the Supreme Court took the stance that cable companies were private persons
Corporate personhood
Corporate personhood is the status conferred upon corporations under the law, which allows corporations to have rights and responsibilities similar to those of a natural person. There is a question about which subset of rights that are afforded to natural persons should also be afforded to...
under the law with First Amendment to the United States Constitution
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
rights, and that the requirement for Public-access television was in fact a burden on these free speech rights.
This judicial action prompted PEG advocates to begin work on what would become the Cable Communications Act of 1984.
The 1984 Cable Act
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
s and Public-access television advocates.
The 1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act
1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act
The Cable Communications Act of 1984 was an act of Congress passed on October 30, 1984 to promote competition and deregulate the cable industry. The act established a national policy for the regulation of cable communications by federal, state, and local authorities...
written by Senator Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
, said,
"A franchising authority ... may require as part of a cable operator's proposal for a franchise renewal ... that channel capacity be designated for public, educational, or governmental use." -- 47 USC § 531(a)(emph. added)
This appeared to be a law which creates new rights
Positive law
Positive law is the term generally used to describe man-made laws which bestow specific privileges upon, or remove them from, an individual or group...
, allowing local communities to require PEG channels, however, it in fact had the opposite effect. Since the franchise agreement is a contract between the cable operator and the municipality, the municipality could always stipulate a PEG channel requirement, and the contracts clause of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
prevents Congress from interfering. So while the intent may have been to correct the omission which led to the Midwest Video decision, and make PEG mandatory, the result was a law which allowed the municipality to opt-out of PEG requirements, and keep 100% of the Cable television franchise fees for their general fund, while providing no PEG facilities or television channel capacity
Channel capacity
In electrical engineering, computer science and information theory, channel capacity is the tightest upper bound on the amount of information that can be reliably transmitted over a communications channel...
. Since 1984, many Public-access television centers have closed around the country as more municipalities take the opt-out provision.
However, the Cable Communications Act of 1984 did contain some benefits for PEG, as it barred cable operators from exercising editorial control over content of programs carried on PEG channels, and absolved them from liability
Legal liability
Legal liability is the legal bound obligation to pay debts.* In law a person is said to be legally liable when they are financially and legally responsible for something. Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law. See Strict liability. Under English law, with the passing of the Theft...
for that content.
Congress passed the Cable Television Protection and Competition Act
Cable Television Protection and Competition Act
The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of the United States Congress which was approved in 1992, required cable systems to carry most local broadcast channels and prohibited cable operators from charging local broadcasters to carry their signal.In adopting the 1992 Cable Act,...
of 1992, which gave the FCC authority to create rules requiring cable operators to prohibit certain shows. The Alliance for Community Media
Alliance for Community Media
The Alliance for Community Media , previously known as the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers , is an advocacy and lobbying organization in the United States in support of Public, educational, and government access cable tv channels...
(ACM) and others brought suit. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium v. FCC, 95-124 (1996) held the law unconstitutional, in part because it required cable operators to act on behalf of the federal government to control expression based on content.
Currently the ACM and others are focusing on operational challenges after new deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
rules in various states are directly threatening PEG access.
Principles
PEG access may be mandated by local or state government to provide any combination of television production equipment, training and airtime on a local cable system to enable members of the public, accredited educational institutions, and government to produce their own shows and televise them to a mass audience.Municipalities must take initiative and petition the cable operator to provide the funding for PEG access as laid out by law, but municipalities may also choose to take no action and will instead keep the Cable television franchise fees in a general fund. A municipality may also choose to allow Government-access television (GATV) but not Public-access television or may replace it with Governmental access television or may take away Public-access television altogether, depending on the disposition of the local government or its voters.
Municipalities have a broad spectrum of franchise agreements with cable television service providers and may not create a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
through these agreements. Depending on the size of the community and their contractual agreement the PEG and local origination channels may take many forms. Large communities often have a separate organization for each PEG type, smaller communities may have a single organization that manages all three. Because each organization will develop its own policies and procedures concerning the commercial content of a program, constituent services differ greatly between communities.
Structure and programming
PEG channels may be run by public grassroots groups, individuals, private non-profits, or government organizations. Policies and regulations are subject to their own ordinances and community standards.Services available at Public-access television organizations are often low cost or free of charge, with an inclusive, content neutral, first-come, first-served
First-come, first-served
First-come, first-served – sometimes first-in, first-served and first-come, first choice – is a service policy whereby the requests of customers or clients are attended to in the order that they arrived, without other biases or preferences. The policy can be employed when processing sales orders,...
, free speech ideology. Monies from Cable television franchise fees are paid to government for use of right-of-way
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
use of Public property
Public property
Public property is property, which is dedicated to the use of the public. It is a subset of state property. The term may be used either to describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of its ownership...
, hopefully allowing other general fund monies to be used to operate the facilities, employ staff, develop curriculum, operate training workshops, schedule, maintain equipment, manage the cablecast of shows and publish promotion materials to build station viewership. Funding and operating budgets vary significantly with the municipality's finances. Frequently it is left to the cable franchise to determine how they operate Public-access television. The FCC does not mandate a cable franchise to provide any of the above services mentioned.
Users of Public-access television stations may participate at most levels of this structure to make content of their choosing. Generally, anyone may have their programming aired on a Public-access television channel. Users are not restricted to cable subscribers, though residency requirements may apply, depending on local franchise agreements or facility policy. Many Public-access television channels try to favor locally produced programs while others also carry regionally or nationally distributed programming. Such programming—regional, national or even international—is usually aired on a channel curated by the PEG operator, which also carries programs produced by professional producers. A show that originates outside the municipality is often referred to as "bicycled", "dub and submit", or "satellite" programming.
In the event that a Public-access television channel becomes filled with programming, a franchise may state that more television channels may be added to satisfy the demand.
Educational-access television
Educational-access televisionDistance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
is the institution set aside for fulfilling the needs of the educational departments and organizations within the municipality. Educational-access television channels may be associated with a specific school, school district or even private organization that is contracted to operate the Educational-access television channel for the city.
Educational-access television centers usually operate a cable channel on the local cable system and often include elements and principle that echo Public-access television in terms of training and resources. Many school media and video training programs are based in the Educational-access television centers. Programming distributed by these centers ranges from student or parent produced media to coverage of local school functions and bodies (such as the School Council meetings or Committee). There are a number of notable Educational-access television organizations that produce programming for a national audience and experiences a very broad distribution.
Government-access television
Government-access television (GATV) is a resource of the city to address local municipal programming needs. Often the city or town may use the G channel to cablecast city council meetings, election programming, local emergency announcements and other events and programs as valued by the local government.Technologies
Equipment available for Public-access television broadcasting is evolving quickly. At its birth, the State of the artState of the art
The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
PEG facilities were composed of racks full of analog
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
decks and an automated video switching system. Recently, the low cost of digital production and distribution equipment, such as cameras, non-linear editing system
Non-linear editing system
In video, a non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing digital audio workstation system which can perform random access non-destructive editing on the source material...
s, digital video playback servers and new Internet technologies have made digital content production the norm. The dropping cost of digital production and distribution gear has changed the way many PEG facilities operate.
Challenges
PEG television has come under fire from many sources including cable TV providers, local governments and officials, producers, viewers and even corporate litigation from potential copyright infringementCopyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
s. Special interest groups have also frequently applied pressure on PEG operations.
PEG often struggles to balance Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
with free, open access to the cable systems and as a result cable operators or PEG organizations have occasionally (rightfully or wrongfully) banned producers, discriminated between programming in their allocation of airtime, or have removed or banned programming based upon potential legal problems, the values of the PEG organization, or the values or desires of the cable TV provider.
Funding for PEG is usually managed from local governments issuing the cable television franchise agreement. This same government often receives Cable television franchise fees that come from the cable companies. Negotiation for PEG television services can often be hindered by obstructive or restricting behavior from the cable company, a competing cable provider, or the government officials and staff issuing the franchise agreement.
PEG television has been challenged by cable TV operators and telephone companies, who are now expanding into the cable TV business. These companies have lobbied for significant legislation through the US House of Representatives and through various state assemblies to reduce or end PEG television.
In California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the passage of AB2987 or "The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006", has changed the laws by which cable TV companies operate and as a result many Public-access television studios in California have closed.
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
content (including Public-access television) is not subject to the same rules. Because cable television is a closed system with elective access there are fewer rules and restrictions about content.
PEG television stations and studios are sometimes poorly managed and/or poorly supported, and give rise to numerous complaints. Station complaints range from poor scheduling and playback, programming playing late or not at all, or signal strength being so weak that the program becomes unwatchable. Studio complaints usually focus on the lack of equipment or facilities, poor equipment condition, and staff indifference. Accusations are often made that these situations arose as a result of willful neglect on the part of a city, a cable company, or other third party organization, with the intention of making the Public-access television facilities so inviable that interest in them will wane and facilities can be closed. Complaints may also reflect viewers' general disagreement with other people's viewpoints. Complaints may also reflect discrimination in the resources a PEG organization applies to one type of programming vs. another.
Another challenge in maintaining Public-access television facilities as a free speech forum can come from within the membership of the PEG facility itself, by the overuse of commercial video programmers whose program content contains Sponsorship Underwriting Advertisements like the type permitted on Public Broadcasting Stations. Programming could then become very similar to other cable channels and programming without such sponsorship could be deprived of fair treatment by the administrators of a Public-access television facility.
Future
Public-access television organizations remain in service in their municipalities. In a changing technology industry, many PEG organizations began investing in training and technology to distribute media in new ways using the Internet. In the twenty-first century, the consumer media market became flooded with blogs, vlogs, RSSRSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
syndication and aggregation, mobile-device and cell phone media, and countless new methods for distributing information and ideas. As cable television adopts new technologies, many Public-access television centers adapted these new technologies in order to continue serving their missions and goals within their own constituency.
Outside the U.S.
There are Public-access television or Community televisionCommunity television
Australia's Community Television is a form of Citizen media much like Public Access Television in the United States and the Community Channel in Canada...
channels in other countries, notably in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
there are "Open channels". In most countries Public-access television channels are broadcast on cable but in Australia, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
transmission is common (UHF or digital). All channels are for profit operations.
External links
- The Alliance for Community Media is the national organization representing PEG access centers in the United States.
- Community Media Forum Europe Paneuropean network for community radio and television
- FCC Fact Sheet - U.S. Public, Educational, and Governmental Access Channels ("PEG channels")
- Global Village CAT - 700 community television stations around the world