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from: CentreDaily.com

Public Access Television
Live, from Philly, it's ... zip. Still.

Has it been only three years since Mayor Street's administration endorsed launching a public-access cable television station in Philadelphia?

And only two decades since the city's cable franchise law established the legal framework for a TV outlet for amateur broadcasters?

How the years do roll ... on ... by. If public-access TV ever debuts in Philadelphia, its first arts-and-culture offering should be a community theater production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

That said, curtain-time for public-access TV may be closer now than at any point in the nearly decade-long grassroots campaign to bring it to life in Philadelphia.

The coalition of more than 80 community groups and hundreds of residents agitating on behalf of public-access TV in the city has reason to hope. (Online at phillyaccess.org.)

With legislation before City Council to consolidate city cable service under one company - hometown cable giant Comcast Corp. - city officials finally have an opportunity to tune in public-access TV.

Having missed a chance to insist upon Comcast's additional help in setting up a citizen-run cable channel before granting the hefty, 2004 tax break for the company's Center City headquarters, city officials need to use this moment to reach a workable deal on public-access TV.

At a Council hearing Monday on Comcast's territory expansion, Council members missed an opportunity to link approval of the measure with progress on a public-access deal.

But even though Council shows no sign of forcing the issue, Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, chair of the Public Property committee, did predict that a public-access agreement could be in the offing. That's good.

Recent talks between the city and Comcast have focused on how to raise the additional funds needed to operate a public-access system. The city's cable franchise law provides for start-up funds from cable operators, but the sums earmarked out of annual franchise payments to the city likely won't cover day-to-day costs.

Options? Comcast could agree to boost its payments for public-access. Or Philadelphia could follow the lead of other cities, where a minimal pass-through fee of 25 cents or so is tacked on cable users' bills. (Accustomed to periodic rate hikes of several dollars, would the typical Comcast customer even notice?)

At a certain point - like, now - city officials also have to meet their obligations toward citizen-run TV. That means the Street administration should stop studying public-access TV, and instead move ahead with its launch. If necessary, start out with a minimal service while angling for greater financial support.

In dozens of other major metro areas, public-access TV gives communities an expanded voice. In this region, it's time to replace the test pattern with citizen-produced broadcasts.