Public-access television


Public-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 the Federal Communications Commission, under Chairman Dean Burch, based on pioneering work and advocacy of George Stoney, Red Burns, and Sidney Dean.
Public-access television is often grouped with public, educational, and government access television channels, under the acronym PEG.

Distinction from PBS

In the United States, the Public Broadcasting Service 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 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 was also previously 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.

PEG-TV

Public, educational, and government 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 and has since been mandated under the Cable Communications Act of 1984, which is codified under 47 USC § 531. PEG channels consist of:
  1. Public-access televisionGenerally 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. 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 televisionIs distance education, a curated form of educational television, it is a synchronous learning educational technology unique to cable television systems and transmit instructional television, 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.
  3. Government-access televisionCable 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 accessCable television channels that are similar to commercial television where a fee is paid-for-services of reserved channel time.
  5. Municipal-access television and 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, 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 assuming 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 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 90s 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 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.

History

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.

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 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 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, along with Sidney Dean, were instrumental in developing the theoretical legal basis and the practical need for public-access television, and helped to eventually obtain public-access television requirements in the franchise agreement between the city government and the cable company.
The legal basis of the local municipality regulating cable companies—which use public rights-of-way in order to make profits—to meet certain minimum standards of public service requirements, i.e., facilities and equipment, channel capacity, and funding, came out of this work of these pioneers.

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 to create a service like PEG through regulation of the cable industry.
In 1969, in the First Report and Order, the FCC stated,
"no CATV system having 3,500 or more subscribers shall carry the signal of any television broadcast station unless the system also operates to a significant extent as a local outlet by cablecasting and has available facilities for local production and presentation of programs other than automated services."

In a report filed with this regulation, the Commission said,
" 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 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 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.