Public-access television
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),[1] and Sidney Dean (City Club of NY).
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.
[13] 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.
[14] 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.
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.
"[16]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the advantage of the public and promote the basic purpose for which this Commission was created:"In 1971, this rule was rescinded, and replaced with a requirement for PEG facilities and channel capacity.
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.
[19] 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.
In United States v. Midwest Video Corp., 406 U.S. 649 (1972), the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's requirements for Local Origination facilities.
The Supreme Court explicitly rejected the notion that cable companies were "common carriers", meaning that all persons must be provided carriage.
added)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.
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.
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.
Because each organization will develop its own policies and procedures concerning the commercial content of a program, constituent services differ greatly between communities.
PEG channels may be run by public grassroots groups, individuals, private non-profits, or government organizations.
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.
Users are not restricted to cable subscribers, though residency requirements may apply, depending on local franchise agreements or facility policy.
There are a number of notable educational-access television organizations that produce programming for a national audience and experiences a very broad distribution.
At its birth, the state of the art PEG facilities were composed of racks full of analog videotape decks and an automated video switching system.
The dropping cost of digital production and distribution gear has changed the way many PEG facilities operate.
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 infringements.
These companies have lobbied for significant legislation through the U.S. Congress and through various state legislatures 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 the state have closed.
