Public-access television

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 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 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 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,^[3] most stations solicit individual donations by methods including fundraising, pledge drives, 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 fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

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Educational television

Educational television

Educational television or learning 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 (PEG) channel providers. There are also adult education programs for an older audience; many of these are instructional television or "telecourse" services that can be taken for college credit, such as the Open University programs on BBC television in the UK.

Local programming

Local programming

The terms local programme, local programming, local content or local television refers to a television program made by a television station or independent television producer for broadcast only within the station's transmission area or television market. Local programmes can encompass the whole range of programme genres but will usually only cover subjects or people of particular interest to an audience within the station's coverage area.

Audience

Audience

An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music, video games, or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art. Some events invite overt audience participation and others allow only modest clapping and criticism and reception.

Milwaukee

Milwaukee

Milwaukee, is the most populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the United States, the fifth-largest city in the Midwestern United States, and the second largest city on Lake Michigan's shore behind Chicago.

Milwaukee Area Technical College

Milwaukee Area Technical College

Milwaukee Area Technical College is a public two-year vocational-technical college based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MATC offers day, evening, and weekend classes at campuses in downtown Milwaukee, Oak Creek, West Allis, and Mequon. Enrollment is about 35,000. MATC offers over a dozen accredited associate degrees, as well as well over a hundred vocational licenses, job training certificates, and adult enrichment courses. MATC also runs GED and HSED classes at local community-based organizations and offers high school diplomas through its Adult High School program.

Milwaukee PBS

Milwaukee PBS

Milwaukee PBS is the collective brand for two Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television stations licensed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States: WMVS and WMVT. Both stations are owned and operated by the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC).

Channel capacity

Channel capacity

Channel capacity, in electrical engineering, computer science, and information theory, is the tight upper bound on the rate at which information can be reliably transmitted over a communication channel.

Grant (money)

Grant (money)

A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, a specialised grant-making institution, or in some cases a business with a corporate social responsibility mission – to an individual or another entity, usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local government body, for a specific purpose linked to public benefit. Unlike loans, grants are not to be paid back.

Fundraising

Fundraising

Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.

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 that a contributor makes to send in funding at regular intervals for a certain amount of time. During a pledge drive, regular and special programming is followed by on-air appeals for pledges by station employees, who ask the audience to make their contributions, usually by phone or the Internet, during this break.

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 United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a federal district, five major self-governing territories and several island possessions. The federal government, sometimes simply referred to as Washington, is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president and the federal courts, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.

Cable television franchise fee

Cable television franchise fee

In the United States cable television industry, a cable television franchise fee is an annual fee charged by a local government to a private cable television company as compensation for using public property it owns as right-of-way for its cable. In the US, cable television services are provided by private for-profit companies, cable television providers, which sign a franchise agreement with cities and counties to provide cable television to its residents. The franchise fee is set during initial negotiation of the franchise agreement, usually by a process in which the government requests bids from cable providers to serve their community. This fee can be renegotiated when the franchise agreement comes up for renewal, usually at intervals of 10 to 12 years. Although it is paid to a government, it is not a tax.

Public, educational, and government access television^[4] (also PEG-TV, PEG channel, PEGA, local-access television) refers to three different cable television narrowcasting and specialty channels. Public-access television 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.^[5] PEG channels consist of:

1. Public-access television – Generally quite free of editorial control, a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create television programming content which is transmitted through cable TV^[6] The channels are reserved free or at a minimal cost. The local origination television content revolves primarily around community interest, developed by individuals and nonprofit organizations.
2. Educational-access television – Is distance education, a curated form of educational television, it is a synchronous learning educational technology unique to cable television systems and transmit instructional television,^[7] on Time Warner Cable channel 21, programming within city limits. Educational-access channels are generally reserved for educational purposes and are not for government-access or public-access television. Many schools have adapted educational access channels to enhance school curriculum. Some schools have done this better than others. Although the use of television in schools can be traced to those schools serving the bedroom communities of Manhattan in the 1960s, where executives and technicians of early television lived, the creation of PEG channels expanded the value of television as a school or community resource. Students produced and aired community stories in part to serve community stakeholders and in part to engage in active learning. These schools developed school-based community television as a storytelling laboratory.^[8]
3. Government-access television – Cable channel capacity for the local government bodies and other legislative entities to access the cable systems to televise public affairs and other civic meetings. Government channels are generally reserved for government purposes and not for education-access or public-access television.
4. Leased access – Cable television channels that are similar to commercial television where a fee is paid-for-services of reserved channel time.
5. Municipal-access television – or "Community Access television" are ambiguous terms that usually refer to a channel space assigned on a Cable TV System intended to provide the content to all or some of the above listed access channels,^[9] and may contain other "access" programming such as "religious access" or the TV programming of a local institution, such as a college or a library. These channels are usually created as cost saving measures for the Cable TV company if their franchises or governing authorities allow it.
6. Hybrid – Often, one channel will take on the role of another channel type on a regular basis. An example of this would be a college with a strong television production curriculum assumes the roles of educational access and public access. Beyond the typical curated educational access programming, a public access television element would be added where public access television producers would make shows using college owned ( or shared) equipment and college students as crew. This can be very beneficial to both entities, as the students earn credits for the work while contributing to the public access channel. However, difficulties can arise when the programming made for public access is of a type that does not reflect the values or tastes of the supporting college, and in such situations, colleges often make the decision to downplay or abandon the public access element of the channel, depending on how much funding is earned by assuming the public access television duties.

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 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 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.^[10][11]

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Cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadcast television, in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves and received by a television antenna attached to the television; or satellite television, in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth, and received by a satellite dish antenna on the roof. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephone services, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. Analog television was standard in the 20th century, but since the 2000s, cable systems have been upgraded to digital cable operation.

Narrowcasting

Narrowcasting

Narrowcasting is the dissemination of information to a narrow audience, rather than to the broader public at-large. Related to niche marketing or target marketing, narrowcasting involves aiming media messages at specific segments of the public defined by values, preferences, demographic attributes, and/or subscription. Narrowcasting is based on the postmodern idea that mass audiences do not exist.

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.

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access, fair competition, radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security.

Mass media

Mass media

Mass media refers to a diverse array of media that reach a large audience via mass communication.

Distance education

Distance education

Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually involved correspondence courses wherein the student corresponded with the school via mail. Distance education is a technology mediated modality and has evolved with the evolution of technologies such as video conferencing, TV, and internet. Today, it usually involves online education and the learning is usually mediated by some form of technology. A distance learning program can be completely distance learning, or a combination of distance learning and traditional classroom instruction. Other modalities include distance learning with complementary virtual environment or teaching in virtual environment (e-learning).

Educational television

Educational television

Educational television or learning 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 (PEG) channel providers. There are also adult education programs for an older audience; many of these are instructional television or "telecourse" services that can be taken for college credit, such as the Open University programs on BBC television in the UK.

Educational technology

Educational technology

Educational technology is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refers to the industry of companies that create educational technology.

Instructional television

Instructional television

Instructional television (ITV) is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. Educational television programs on instructional television may be less than one half hour long to help their integration into the classroom setting. These shows are often accompanied by teachers' guides that include material to help use this program in lessons. Instructional television programs have historically been shown during the daytime on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations in the United States. However, fewer public television stations devote their airtime to ITV today than they did in the past; these days, ITV programs are either seen on a digital subchannel of non-commercial educational public television station, or passed on to a local educational-access television channel run by a public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV organization.

Channel capacity

Channel capacity

Channel capacity, in electrical engineering, computer science, and information theory, is the tight upper bound on the rate at which information can be reliably transmitted over a communication channel.

Public affairs (broadcasting)

Public affairs (broadcasting)

In broadcasting, public affairs radio or television programs focus on matters of politics and public policy. Among commercial broadcasters, such programs are often only to satisfy Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulatory expectations and are not scheduled in prime time. Public affairs television programs are often broadcast at times when few listeners or viewers are tuned in in the U.S., in time slots known as graveyard slots; such programs can be frequently encountered at times such as 5-6 a.m. on a Sunday. Sunday morning talk shows are a notable exception to this obscure scheduling.

Leased access

Leased access

Leased access is airtime that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates must be provided by cable operators for use by independent cable programmers and producers who are not owned by the operators. Leased access airtime may be purchased on specialty channels by individuals or groups with E&O insurance for the purposes of airing television programming content, usually local programming.

In the United States, 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.^[12]

Pioneers

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)^[13] and 1970 with 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.^[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.^[15]

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.

Local origins

The public policy origins begin at 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 a significant extent as a local outlet by cablecasting and has available facilities for local production and presentation of programs other than automated services."^[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 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.^[17]

In contrast with 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.^[18]

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^[19] 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 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.^[19]

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 States 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.^[19]

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.^[20]

1984 Cable Act

U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater

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 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)^[21][22](emph. 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. 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 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.

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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. It was the United States' first model of radio during the 1920s, in contrast with the public television model in Europe during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, which prevailed worldwide, except in the United States and Brazil, until the 1980s.

Human Potential Movement

Human Potential Movement

The Human Potential Movement (HPM) arose out of the counterculture of the 1960s and formed around the concept of an extraordinary potential that its advocates believed to lie largely untapped in all people. The movement takes as its premise the belief that through the development of their "human potential", people can experience a life of happiness, creativity, and fulfillment, and that such people will direct their actions within society toward assisting others to release their potential. Adherents believe that the collective effect of individuals cultivating their own potential will be positive change in society at large.

Community television

Community television

Community television is a form of mass media in which a television station is owned, operated or programmed by a community group to provide television programs of local interest known as local programming.

Dale City, Virginia

Dale City, Virginia

Dale City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located 25 miles south west of Washington, D.C. It is an annex of Woodbridge, Virginia. As of 2020, the total population was 72,088.

New York City

New York City

New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States and more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city. New York City is located at the southern tip of New York State. It constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, and is sometimes described as the capital of the world.

Fred W. 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. He originated the concept of public-access television cable TV channels.

Leased access

Leased access

Leased access is airtime that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates must be provided by cable operators for use by independent cable programmers and producers who are not owned by the operators. Leased access airtime may be purchased on specialty channels by individuals or groups with E&O insurance for the purposes of airing television programming content, usually local programming.

George C. Stoney

George C. Stoney

George Cashel Stoney was an American documentary filmmaker, educator, and the "father of public-access television." Among his films were Palmour Street, A Study of Family Life (1949), All My Babies (1953), How the Myth Was Made (1979) and The Uprising of '34 (1995). All My Babies was entered into the National Film Registry in 2002. Stoney's life and work were the subject of a Festschrift volume of the journal Wide Angle in 1999.

National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 13,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has bilingual production programs and branches in English and French, including multicultural-related documentaries.

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access, fair competition, radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security.

Channel capacity

Channel capacity

Channel capacity, in electrical engineering, computer science, and information theory, is the tight upper bound on the rate at which information can be reliably transmitted over a communication channel.

Local programming

Local programming

The terms local programme, local programming, local content or local television refers to a television program made by a television station or independent television producer for broadcast only within the station's transmission area or television market. Local programmes can encompass the whole range of programme genres but will usually only cover subjects or people of particular interest to an audience within the station's coverage area.

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 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.

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 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.

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Educational-access television 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 (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.

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 the norm. The dropping cost of digital production and distribution gear has changed the way many PEG facilities operate.

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State of the art

State of the art

The state of the art refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contexts it can also refer to a level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the common methodologies employed at the time.

Analog signal

Analog signal

An analog signal is any continuous signal representing some other quantity, i.e., analogous to another quantity. For example, in an analog audio signal, the instantaneous signal voltage varies continuously with the pressure of the sound waves.

Videotape

Videotape

Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassette recorders (VCRs) and camcorders. Videotapes have also been used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram.

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 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 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.^[23] The California Public Utilities Commission now franchises cable television. However, they do not regulate PEG television, which remains the purview of the various city and county governments.

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.

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Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works. The copyright holder is typically the work's creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize copyright infringement.

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognised as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law by the United Nations. Many countries have constitutional law that protects free speech. Terms like free speech, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression are used interchangeably in political discourse. However, in a legal sense, the freedom of expression includes any activity of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.

California

California

California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and it has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadcast television, in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves and received by a television antenna attached to the television; or satellite television, in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth, and received by a satellite dish antenna on the roof. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephone services, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. Analog television was standard in the 20th century, but since the 2000s, cable systems have been upgraded to digital cable operation.

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, RSS 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.

There are public-access television or community television 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.

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Community television

Community television

Community television is a form of mass media in which a television station is owned, operated or programmed by a community group to provide television programs of local interest known as local programming.

Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. Scandinavia most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In English usage, it can sometimes also refer more narrowly to the Scandinavian Peninsula, or more broadly to all of the Nordic countries, also including Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.

Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.

Canada

Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. It is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. The country is sparsely inhabited, with most residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

Germany

Germany

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second-most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of 357,022 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi), with a population of over 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr.

Norway

Norway

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency of Norway; it also lays claims to the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.

Sweden

Sweden

Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge–tunnel across the Öresund. At 447,425 square kilometres (172,752 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.5 million, and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi), with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas, which cover 1.5% of the entire land area, in the central and southern half of the country.

Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Nordic constituent country in Northern Europe. It is the most populous and politically central constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the North Atlantic Ocean. Metropolitan Denmark is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, lying south-west and south of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany, with which it shares a short land border, its only land border.

Terrestrial television

Terrestrial television

Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an antenna. The term terrestrial is more common in Europe and Latin America, while in Canada and the United States it is called over-the-air or simply broadcast. This type of TV broadcast is distinguished from newer technologies, such as satellite television, in which the signal is transmitted to the receiver from an overhead satellite; cable television, in which the signal is carried to the receiver through a cable; and Internet Protocol television, in which the signal is received over an Internet stream or on a network utilizing the Internet Protocol. Terrestrial television stations broadcast on television channels with frequencies between about 52 and 600 MHz in the VHF and UHF bands. Since radio waves in these bands travel by line of sight, reception is generally limited by the visual horizon to distances of 64–97 kilometres (40–60 mi), although under better conditions and with tropospheric ducting, signals can sometimes be received hundreds of kilometers distant.

• Boston Neighborhood Network
• BronxNet
• Chicago Access Network Television
• Citizens Television (New Haven, Connecticut)
• CreaTV San Jose
• Fairfax Public Access (Fairfax, Virginia)
• List of American public access television programs
• Manhattan Neighborhood Network
• NSTV (North Shore TV)
• Queens Public Television
• Seattle Community Access Network
• Tri-Valley Community Television (Tri-Valley, California)
• WSTO TV (Stoughton, Wisconsin), early public access station
• York Community Access Television (York, Pennsylvania), early public access station

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Boston Neighborhood Network

Boston Neighborhood Network

Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN) is a public, educational, and government access (PEG) broadcasting service serving Boston, Massachusetts.

BronxNet

BronxNet

BronxNet is a public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable television network in The Bronx, New York, airing on multiple Cablevision and Verizon FiOS channels. BronxNet is located on the campus of Lehman College, and at a new studio, "BronxNet East", in the Mercy College campus at 1200 Hutchinson Metro Center.

Chicago Access Network Television

Chicago Access Network Television

Chicago Access Network Television is a public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable television service in Chicago, Illinois. The organization is funded by cable companies as part of their cable franchise agreements with the City of Chicago. The companies are also required by law to carry the network's five channels.

Citizens Television

Citizens Television

Citizens Television (CTV) is a Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV network based in Hamden, New Haven, and West Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1991, the network consists of three separate channels seen in New Haven, Hamden, and West Haven. According to its website, Citizens Television "exists only because of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We protect it, and it protects us. All of us!" The station's stated purpose is to encourage its viewers to exercise their legal right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression through CTV. The station is financially supported by viewer donations.

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Connecticut after Bridgeport and Stamford and the principal municipality of Greater New Haven, which had a total 2020 population of 864,835.

CreaTV San Jose

CreaTV San Jose

CreaTV San Jose is a nonprofit organization based in San Jose, California, United States, that broadcasts several public-access television channels in San Jose and the surrounding Silicon Valley area. Under federal law, CreaTV receives a share of the gross revenue of local cable franchisees Comcast and AT&T, which amounted to $1.2 million in 2009.

Fairfax, Virginia

Fairfax, Virginia

The City of Fairfax, colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2010 census the population was 22,565, which had risen to 24,146 at the 2020 census.

Manhattan Neighborhood Network

Manhattan Neighborhood Network

Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) is an American non-profit organization that broadcasts programming on five public-access television cable TV stations in Manhattan, New York City. The country’s largest community media center, MNN operates two community media centers – in midtown Manhattan and East Harlem – and provides education, equipment, facilities, and programs to community producers and organizations who want to create programming to air on one of MNN's five channels. In 2016, MNN will post more than 5,000 enrollments in their media classes, making one of the largest media education institutions in New York City.

Queens Public Television

Queens Public Television

Queens Public Television (QPTV) is a not-for-profit private corporation Public-access television network serving the residents of the borough of Queens, New York City. QPTV manages the four public, educational, and government access (PEG) channels on the cable TV systems for Queens.

Seattle Community Access Network

Seattle Community Access Network

Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN) is one of the Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable television channels in Seattle, Washington. The station provides camera equipment, television studios and training that allow residents of King County to create and cablecast their own television shows for a small fee. The station is carried on Comcast and Broadstripe cable systems in King County and the greater Puget Sound region except for six cities covered by Puget Sound Access.

Tri-Valley Community Television

Tri-Valley Community Television

Tri-Valley Community Television (TV30) is a nonprofit public-access television, educational-access television and government-access television (GATV) (PEG) television channel serving the Tri-Valley area, east of San Francisco, California. The cities include Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton and San Ramon. The station operates channels 28, 29 and 30 on the Comcast Cable TV system. It can also be seen throughout the San Francisco Bay Area on AT&T U-verse VDSL service. It cablecasts to 68,000 households representing a population of nearly 200,000 people. Until mid-2007, TV30 was one of the few community cable stations with a live daily newscast. The Pleasanton-based station has endured management and budget controversies.

Stoughton, Wisconsin

Stoughton, Wisconsin

Stoughton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. It straddles the Yahara River about 20 miles southeast of the state capital, Madison. Stoughton is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,173.