Save Access

from: Alliance for Community Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 29, 2008
Alliance Testifies Before House Subcommittee on
Telecommunications and the Internet: PEG Access in the Digital Age

The Alliance was represented today by Ms. Annie Folger, Executive Director of the Midpeninsula Media Center. Ms. Folger’s remarks addressed the difficulties faced byPublic, Educational and Government Access (PEG) communities across the country. Many communities are seeing threats to their PEG facilities posed by video providersunwilling to meet the public interest needs required of them in exchange for use of the public rights of ways.

Millions of dollars have been spent by telephone and cable companies in the past two years on ad campaigns and lobbying to influence state cable franchise laws in 17+ states. The FCC has over-ruled Congress, assigning itself powers that Congress conferred on local communities.

According to Ms. Folger, “This chaos is being used to dismantle PEG support and to damage channel quality and accessibility. We welcome competition. But it cannot be used to gut PEG Access provisions that have provided direct service to the local community.”

Ms. Folger’s testimony made special example of AT&T’s blockage of closed-captioning for PEG channels on its U-Verse system— a function which is found on all of its commercial channels. At DeAnza Community College in Ms. Folger’s home town, this policy results in the inability of hearing impaired students to view classes which they need to improve their lives.

According to Alliance Executive Director, Anthony Riddle, “AT&T’s practice is not the only bad act
by a video provider, but their willingness to sacrifice the needs of disabled students in a race for
profit certainly makes them the poster child of corporate irresponsibility.”

Another issue raised was the “channel-slamming” engaged in by Comcast. Channel slamming is the practice of relocating PEG channels from desirable locations to inaccessible or unfamiliar “wilderness” locations on short notice and without consulting the communities involved. Additional purchases or steps may be required of viewers to continue viewing PEG channels. This practice isolates the PEG channels and tends to decrease viewership.

Many PEG centers have moved into digital technology for production and transmission. PEG centers are fully engaged in migration to an integrated digital environment when allowed. The primary challenge for PEG access is not digital technology, but how cable providers— whether traditional cable operator or telephone company— provide PEG signal quality, functionality, channel placement and funding support.

For more detail, please refer to the attached testimonies and summaries.

ACM: Annie Folger Summary: summary-testimony.doc

from: MLive

Public access TV channel may vanish without funding
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
By Greg Chandler
The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND -- Viewers of the public-access channel MacTV outside the Holland city limits could lose coverage later this year unless their local governments step in to assist with funding.

from: MLive

Comcast apologizes for local access changes
by The Associated Press
Tuesday January 29, 2008, 4:46 PM

WASHINGTON -- Comcast Corp. apologized today for the way it handled a proposed shift of community access programming in Michigan that would force customers to get converter boxes or new TVs to continue to watch local government meetings and high school football games.

Today's Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee Hearing, "Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) services in the Digital TV Age", was called by Rep. John Dingell (MI) in response to Comcast's actions in Michigan. Comcast had unilaterally announced that PEG channels in many municipalities would be bumped from analog cable carriage to obscure digital channels in the 900 range. The move would mean that 'basic' cable subscribers would no longer have access to the local PEG channels, in fact they would need to subscribe to more a expensive digital cable service tier and pay for an additional charge for a digital cable set-top box.

A sampling of the nationwide impact of State Cable Franchising:

Channel Changes (removing from analog carriage)
AZ: Tucson Likely to Have Less Public Access Channels
http://saveaccess.org/node/813

MI: Comcast pushes public access into digital tier
http://saveaccess.org/node/1920

MI: Public access channel change riles officials
http://saveaccess.org/node/1880

MI: Legislators fight cable channel switches

from: MultiChannel News

Comcast's Cohen To Issue PEG Apology To Congress
Will Admit Fumbling Plan Concerning Public, Educational, and Government Channels
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 1/29/2008 4:38:00 AM

WASHINGTON – In a contrite statement, Comcast Corp. executive vice president David Cohen is planning to apologize to a House subcommittee Tuesday afternoon for fumbling a plan that required thousands of Michigan subscribers to obtain at least one digital set-top box to view local public, educational, and government (PEG) channels.

from: The Street Insider

Cable Competition, Prices, and Service Rated 'Very Poor'

January 29, 2008 8:10 AM EST

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the law firm of Howard & Howard Attorneys, P.C. issued its inaugural "Cable Competition Index" for the State of Michigan. Howard & Howard's Cable Competition Index considers the status of wireline video competition in the state, the level of customer service provided by cable operators, and the relative pace of cable price increases.

from: WBHS9

How will AT&T's Legislation affect Channel 9?

Dear Editor:

Your recent article regarding AT&T’s proposed legislation stirred a response from Paul Stinson, Manager of Regulatory and External Affairs for AT&T. On January 7th, a meeting was held with Mr. Stinson, Mr. Keidel, a concerned parent and me. After the meeting I sat down and composed a list comparing the status quo with what AT&T has proposed for Access channels like WBHS9.

from: Broadcasting and Cable

House Schedules Hearing 'Pegged' to Comcast Move
'Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) Services in the Digital TV Age' Set for Jan. 29
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/24/2008 11:21:00 PM

The House Energy & Commerce Committee's Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee set the witness list for a Jan. 29 hearing on on “Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) Services in the Digital TV Age.”

Note: Though the subcommittee hearing is likely to focus on PEG issues (particularly because of Comcast's dim behavior in Michigan), it could also be worth repeating a quote of Cohen's from 2006: