Misplaced Pages

#35964

69-580: The scholarly article, "Perceived Impact of the Cable Policy Act of 1984," published in the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media in 1987, described its objective as follows: The new law attempted to strike a delicate balance between the FCC, local governments, and marketplace competition, where in the past, each of these entities had vied for dominance. The Cable Act was to be the solution to

138-416: 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

207-512: 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 license 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

276-451: 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

345-664: 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

414-441: 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

483-480: 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

552-481: A diversity of information as it was required, because it was avoided and never mandated by local franchising authority. In the 1998 court case Time Warner Entertainment Co. vs. FCC, the court deemed the act ineffective in terms of unaffiliated programming. "The 1984 legislation did not accomplish much. Unaffiliated programming on leased channels rarely appeared." The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act reinforced its intent that leased access to provide

621-427: A diversity of information to subscribers as determined by the cable operators. The Time Warner Entertainment Co. vs. FCC court also upheld the provision mentioned above. Journal of Broadcasting %26 Electronic Media The Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering media studies , with a specific focus on broadcasting and electronic media . It

690-425: 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

759-412: 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

SECTION 10

#1732772142036

828-446: A number of notable educational-access television organizations that produce programming for a national audience and experiences a very broad distribution. 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

897-467: 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

966-473: A sub-menu on the cable box, giving subscribers limited bandwidth access (and limited picture quality) to the channel, while also separating the PEG channels from the commercial channel lineup in an effort to fulfill their franchise obligations while discouraging the channels use, and hopefully eliminate the PEG channels that have the least political power. In the United States, public-access television

1035-472: 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 fees , member fees, grants and contributions. Public, educational, and government access television (also PEG-TV , PEG channel , PEGA , local-access television ) refers to three different cable television narrowcasting and specialty channels . Public-access television

1104-761: 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. The first experiments in public-access television and/or non-commercial community television began in 1968 with Dale City, Virginia 's Dale City Television (DCTV) and Bob & Janeen Burrel at Stoughton, Wisconsin 's WSTO TV , and 1970 with Robert Monroe in Charlottesville, Virginia and Jefferson Cable Corporation's Cablevision 10 and 11. Also, at that same time in New York City , Fred Friendly , head of

1173-420: 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

1242-399: 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 stations outside of some universities or technical colleges such as Milwaukee 's Milwaukee Area Technical College , which owns the area's two PBS member stations and offers students

1311-406: 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. PBS generally does not offer local programming content. Instead, it broadcasts content produced for a national audience distributed via satellites . There

1380-415: 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

1449-486: The Cable Television Protection and Competition Act of 1992 was passed to regulate cable television rates that cable operators charged consumers. The law, intending to grant privileges to local community members by allowing them to require PEG channels also allowed these municipalities to decide against PEG requirements. In franchise agreements, contracted between cable operators and municipalities,

SECTION 20

#1732772142036

1518-722: 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, under the acronym PEG . In the United States, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) produces public television , offering an educational television broadcasting service of professionally produced, highly curated content. It

1587-670: The First Amendment to the United States Constitution . Cable consumers' complaints about the outcomes led to policy discussions in the late eighties and early nineties in which public interest was considered but not represented. If monopolies were broken apart and competition was restored, then many of the problems would likely be resolved. Cable operators would not refuse to carry programs and services with popular demand, and prices would return to appropriate and economical rates. In order to address this problem,

1656-581: The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), formerly the National Cable Television Association. These parties worked to lobby Congress for their respective members, who represented diverse populations and had firm, unyielding interests. Instead of having Congress determine the outcome of a stalemate, the two organizations tried to present a unified front. This was a strategic move meant to increase

1725-638: The Supreme Court of the United States in the Midwest Video decision. 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 offer three access-channels, one each for public, educational, and local government use. The rule

1794-554: The Third Report and Order. The order was enacted to encourage consumer choice and innovation among video devices. The regulations adopted in the order established requirements for broadband, cellular, and wireline Personal Communications Services (PCS) carriers in compliance with the assistance capability requirements prescribed by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act . The FCC hoped that

1863-648: The Cable Communications Act of 1984. The need for an act to determine who holds regulatory authority for cable communications was quite evident, however it took time to reach an agreement. Negotiations for the act lasted nearly two years and agreements moved back and forth between the House and the Senate. The two parties involved in the negotiations were the National League of Cities (NLC) and

1932-546: 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

2001-523: The Cable Television Protection and Competition Act of 1992, which allowed the FCC to establish rules requiring cable operators to prohibit particular shows. In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the law was unconstitutional claiming that cable operators should never be required to act on behalf of the federal government to control expression in relation to content. Commercial leased access did not provide cable subscribers with

2070-418: 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

2139-464: The FCC's requirements for local origination facilities. However, in 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Midwest Video Corp. stating that the FCC's new requirements exceeded the agency's statutory powers as granted to them by Congress and as required by cable operators to provide Public-access television. The FCC was interfering with the agency's First Amendment rights. After the Supreme Court's decision, PEG advocates started work on what became

Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2208-742: The First Amendment interest of cable audiences to receive diversified information as specified in the Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission court case of 1969. This provision declared that state and local authorities should allow, but not mandate, that this type of information be distributed via non-commercial Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels. Furthermore, it prohibited cable operators from exerting any type of editorial control over program content broadcast through PEG channels and freed them from any potential liability for

2277-457: The act protected cable operators from unfair denials of renewal. However, in order to be granted a franchise renewal, the act specified that cable operators' past performances and future proposals had to meet the federal standards in the new title. The act was meant to reduce an unnecessary regulation that could have potentially brought about an excessive economic burden on cable systems. In return for establishing franchise standards and procedures,

2346-435: The act specified that cable operators were expected to be receptive to their local communities' needs and interests. Congress recognized the vital role of cable television in encouraging and providing a place for free expression. This provision assured that cable communications provide the general public with "the widest possible diversity of information sources and services." Through this statute, Congress attempted to uphold

2415-478: The agreements were voided four times. The National League of Cities (NLC) voided agreements three times because cable companies were freed from rate regulation, given renewal expectancy, and could default on promises in certain circumstances. On the other hand, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NTCA) voided agreements once because they felt that another Supreme Court ruling would provide

2484-484: The article's talk page . Public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television ) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels . Public-access television was created in the United States between 1969 and 1971 by

2553-429: 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

2622-481: 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

2691-984: 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. Policies and regulations are subject to their own ordinances and community standards, initially defined within the individual franchise agreements between community (government) franchise grantor and system operator. While many of these agreements are similar boilerplate , motivated individuals and groups have been able to make creative stipulations to serve an individual community's needs. 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

2760-500: The content of the programs and set the rates for services and channels on their system. These changes in authority were not immediate, but evolved over the course of a few years. Cable consumers were outraged with the increases in prices and services, whereas municipalities were annoyed with violated contracts. Many of these outcomes can be attributed to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) interpretation of Congress' mandates, which contained poor choice of language and confusion over

2829-493: The content. The act lifted programming rules and subscription fees. It was this provision that inspired Senator Barry Goldwater to begin his work on the Cable Communications Act of 1984. The Cable Communication Act of 1984 added "Title VI—Cable Communications" to the Communications Act of 1934. The title was originally divided into the following sections: In 1972, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued

Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2898-480: The demands of the cable industry yielded a law with only small benefits for consumers and public-access television advocates. The 1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act written by Senator Barry Goldwater , 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

2967-440: The demands of the public. During the negotiation process, there was relatively little public participation, meaning cable consumers and public, educational, and government access (PEG) advocates were left vulnerable to cable operators' enforcement and decisions. There was dramatic growth in the cable industry once the act went into effect. However, it remained largely in the hands of few local monopolies that were able to determine

3036-409: 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

3105-479: The federal level with the concept of local origination. 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, "no CATV system having 3,500 or more subscribers shall carry the signal of any television broadcast station unless the system also operates to

3174-403: The industry with better rate deregulation than under the present FCC regulations or the bill. The result of the act was an intricate, minimally influential agreement between cable operators and municipalities. It has been highly debated for its effectiveness, because evidence shows that unaffiliated television programming on leased access channels was avoided and rarely appeared. As a title of

3243-411: The intention of one or more of the parties involved to marginalize one channel and emphasize another, such as placing Government access on channel 3 or 10, Educational access on a channel numerically near a PBS station, and Public Access in the high 90's or higher on a digital-only service tier. Various Cable TV companies have marginalized PEG programming in other ways, such as moving some or all of them to

3312-545: The larger Communications Act of 1934 , the Cable Communications Act of 1984 has been amended and revised with the Cable Act of 1992, also referred to as Cable Television Protection and Competition Act , and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 . The Cable Communications Act of 1984 had minimal advantages, because it was enacted around a strong legislative agreement between the demands of cable operators and

3381-504: 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. PEG access may be mandated by local or state government to provide any combination of television production equipment, training and airtime on

3450-470: The likelihood that the bill would be passed in both the House and the Senate. The act began as bill S. 66 in the Senate where it was passed on June 14, 1983 and moved on to the House. The companion bill, H.R. 4103, in the House was passed on October 1, 1984 and returned to the Senate where modifications were made to conjoin the texts. The bill was officially passed on October 11, 1984 and signed by President Ronald Reagan on October 30, 1984. During negotiations,

3519-755: The limited ability (within FCC guidelines) to produce their own programs to air on a public television station for television production experience. 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 drives , or telethons which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming. PBS

SECTION 50

#1732772142036

3588-499: 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

3657-477: The local government. Equipment available for public-access television broadcasting is evolving quickly. 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. Recently, the low cost of digital production and distribution equipment, such as cameras, non-linear editing systems , digital video playback servers and new Internet technologies have made digital content production

3726-470: The municipality could specify a PEG channel requirement and later opt out of these channels, keeping the cable television franchise fees for their general fund and supplying their communities with no PEG outlets or channel capacity . Since its approval, many public-access television centers have closed as a result of the opt-out provision. Since the act prevented cable operators from regulating publicly generated content, much controversy developed around what

3795-411: The newly adopted regulations would generate a competitive marketplace for various devices capable of accessing cable video services by allowing consumers to purchase smart video devices that were compatible with all multichannel video programming services. This would allow consumers the freedom to change service providers without changing their entertainment devices. The "Third Report and Order" resulted in

3864-491: The norm. 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 . Special interest groups have also frequently applied pressure on PEG operations. PEG often struggles to balance freedom of speech with free, open access to

3933-417: 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

4002-417: 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

4071-525: The ongoing problem of who, or what, should exercise the most power over local cable operations. In order to balance power between cable television operators and the government, the act established regulations regarding franchise standards and proceeds that would attempt to strengthen the development of cable systems. The act gave municipalities, governing bodies of cities and towns, principal authority to grant and renew franchise licenses for cable operations. By establishing an orderly process for franchise renewal,

4140-820: 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

4209-480: 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 . However, the legislative imperatives of compromise between the demands of the people and

SECTION 60

#1732772142036

4278-569: 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. The public policy origins begin at

4347-401: The top 100 U.S. television markets providing three Public-access television channels, each for Public-access television , Educational-access , or Government-access television (GATV) (PEG) use. If demand was low for all three channels in a specific market, cable companies had the jurisdiction to supply fewer channels. At least one PEG channel was required at all times. In 1976, the regulation

4416-578: Was allowed to appear on these channels. A public-access television center in Eau Claire, Wisconsin was faulted for televising a video created by Christian Bangert, a man convicted of murdering a city police officer. The tape was shown repeatedly during Bangert's trial, and many people felt its airing was in bad taste. Across the country, controversial content such as explicit sex and promotion of Nazi groups have aired via PEG channels. Congress, in an attempt to protect viewers from indecent programming, passed

4485-447: 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. 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 States Supreme Court cases involved

4554-406: Was created in the United States between 1969 and 1971 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and has since been mandated under the Cable Communications Act of 1984 , which is codified under 47 USC § 531. PEG channels consist of: The channel numbering, signal quality, and tier location of these channels are usually negotiated with a local authority, but often, these choices are made with

4623-461: Was created:" 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 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-access television, which

4692-558: Was established in 1957 as the Journal of Broadcasting , obtaining its current name in 1985. The editor-in-chief is Carolyn A. Lin . According to the Journal Citation Reports , the journal has a 2017 impact factor of 1.917 and a five-year impact factor of 2.885. This article about a journal on mass media is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See tips for writing articles about academic journals . Further suggestions might be found on

4761-551: Was expanded to include cable television systems in communities with 3,500 or more subscribers. Cable companies saw the regulation by the federal government as an unlawful intrusion into their business practices and immediately started to challenge its legality. In the court case United States v. Midwest Video Corp., the Midwest Video Corporation sued the FCC for overstepping its authority in requiring Public-access television channels. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld

#35964