Council Votes To Support Local Television

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[April 22, 2009]

Council Votes To Support Local Television

Apr 22, 2009 (Grunion Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- At the beginning of the year, public access television in Long Beach went dark.

Under the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (DIVCA), cable companies no longer were required to pay for such operational expenses as facility maintenance, rent and staffing at public access studios, according to Curtis Tani, technology services director for the city of Long Beach.

On Jan. 2, Charter Communications closed its public access studio in Long Beach. By the middle of May, community television could receive a financial boost to help get it back on air.

After about an hour of discussion and public comment regarding the distribution of fees collected from cable companies for PEG (public, educational and governmental) programming, the City Council voted 7-1 (Gary DeLong, Third District, voted no) in favor of allocating 80% of those fees, or $480,000, to public access for the first year. According to federal law, these PEG funds can only be used for capital expenses such as equipment and not operational expenses, Tani said.

"The key challenge here for continuing public access ... is finding operating dollars to keep public access going," said Fourth District Councilman Patrick O'Donnell. "...This is an opportunity to experiment with the delivery process of public access, but we cannot experiment with public dollars." The PEG fees, which are set at slightly more than 1% of the companies' gross revenues from the area, are collected from Charter and Verizon quarterly.

The city conducted a community meeting to discuss distribution options last month. With representatives from the Long Beach Community Television Producers Association, the Long Beach Unified School District, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach City College and the city, among other entities, it was determined that an equal allotment of the approximately $600,000 in PEG revenues for each of the three access categories was fair, according to Tani.

With 80% of PEG revenues going to public access the first year, the City Council-approved motion, however, means that government and education will split the remaining 20% of PEG revenues. The second year, public access stands to receive 50%, with 25% going to government and the remaining 25% to education, Tani said.

"There are a 100 producers for public access television that have been standing out there in limbo, waiting for something to happen," said Eighth District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich. "...They've been cut off at the knees. So, if we truly want to support free speech, public access, which I think is an art form in itself, that this is an opportunity to do this. Not for always, just for the first year." Of the three PEG categories, community television has been the only division negatively affected by the DIVCA, as education and government programming continue to be broadcast. The government-access city channel, for example, uses separate funding from such departments as advertisement and promotion to help pay for its operations, Tani said.

Tuesday night's approved motion allows city staff to begin the RFP (request for proposals) process. The city seeks a nonprofit organization to oversee public access by managing the staffing, training and the playback of any original programming developed, among other aspects. The RFPs should be released by the end of the week, and proposals will be due May 22, Tani said. Once selected, the nonprofit will be up for approval by the City Council.

"The reason that public access is kind of in this state is because there, up to this point, has not been a way to pay for the operation of the public access operation," he said. "So that's why we are looking at issuing an RFP to give the community an opportunity to develop a business plan and identify partners to create the resources to operate public access." According to the DIVCA, Charter and Verizon would be required to provide a channel for public access as long as a minimum of eight hours of programming were provided per day, Tani said.

To see more of the Grunion Gazette or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazettes.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Grunion Gazette, Long Beach, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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