Alliance for Community Media

Alliance Invited to House Sub-Committee Hearing

Our “Keep Us Connected” campaign has resulted in an invitation to testify at an upcoming House Sub-Committee hearing.   Congressman Jose Serrano (NY) , chair of the Appropriations Committee’s Financial Services & General Government Subcommittee, called the hearing after Alliance members from New York made visits to their Representatives’ and Senators’ offices during the Alliance Conference in July.

The purpose of the hearing is to explore whether PEG programming is in danger of declining or disappearing in our communities as a result of cable television’s current regulatory and business environment.

In the invitation to the Alliance, PEG programming was described as “essential to our communities as an outlet for free speech, local information and opinions, and emergency communications.  This hearing will help policy makers gain knowledge of what is necessary to protect this important programming.”

Barbara Popovic, from Chicago Access Network Television, will represent the Alliance to present a national perspective, and Michael Max Knobbe from BRONXNET will provide testimony from the local access perspective.  The committee has also requested testimony from FCC staff and the cable industry.

Hearing Details

Date:  September 17, 2008
Time:  10:00 AM
Location:  2220 Rayburn Building

Thanks to the Public Policy Work Group for their work designing the campaign, and to the Alliance members from New York for telling our story so persuasively.  Great work, all!

Deborah Vinsel
Interim Executive Director
Alliance for Community Media

For Immediate Release
July 16, 2008
Contact: Matt Schuster
502-262-4986

Deficiencies in the U-Verse PEG system confirmed by AT&T

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 16, 2008) — AT&T met with representatives of the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) on Thursday, July 8, to demonstrate the company’s U-Verse system. The demonstration confirmed multiple problems with U-Verse which were acknowledged by AT&T’s representative, Chris Boyer. These include a delay in accessing PEG programming, inferior picture quality, lack of DVR functionality, and no support for closed captioning or second audio programming.

As reported by blogger, Geoff Daily, Boyer “admitted that the reason all PEG channels are lumped under channel 99 is because of technical limitations.” ACM Board Chair, Matt Schuster states “The channel 99 limitation is a result of a business decision by the company, not because of technological limitations.” Schuster adds, “Instead of engaging in damage control after the fact, AT&T should have worked with community access stations prior to rollout. AT&T’s sub-par system makes it unnecessarily difficult to view local community programming.”

Cable systems both large and small have historically carried PEG channels in an equivalent manner with commercial and other non-commercial channels. As a new competitor to cable, Verizon has done the same. Only AT&T’s U-Verse system has failed to meet the needs of local programmers.

Schuster said, “This degradation of PEG services reduces the benefit to many communities of the diverse, local programming provided through PEG channels. That contradicts the 1984 Cable Act goals that franchises be responsive to the needs and interests of the local community.”

The Alliance for Community Media is a national membership organization representing more than 3,000 PEG access centers across the nation. Local PEG programmers produce 20,000 hours of new programs per week, and serve more than 250,000 organizations annually through the efforts of an estimated 1.2 million volunteers.

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While in Washington, D.C. for a meeting of the National Board of Directors, a small group of board members were invited by  AT&T to attend a demonstration of AT&T’s U-Verse product and related PEG application.

Those who attended saw that there are a number of serious issues with AT&T’s treatment of PEG channels on their U-Verse system.  The channels are treated in a sub-standard and inferior manner to all other commercial and non-commercial channels on the system.  PEG channels are the only programming provided through a sub-menu system on Channel 99.   This system design is slow, and it takes much longer to access PEG channels than other channels.  AT&T’s PEG product  also presents PEG programming at an inferior quality to other channels, cannot support closed-captioning or second audio programming, does not support DVR-recording, does not include PEG programming in the digital program guide, and prevents viewers from “surfing” to PEG channels.

It’s important to note that AT&T’s PEG product does not meet the requirements of some state video franchise laws, such as the “similar” or “equivalent” to commercial channels requirements of California and Illinois law. This disadvantages, rather than serves, local communities.

This degradation of PEG services reduces the benefit to many communities of the diverse, local programming provided through PEG channels. This outcome directly contradicts the purpose stated in the Cable Act of 1984, that franchises be responsive to the needs and interests of the local community.

While added functionality of interactive features can enhance the provision of PEG programming, this must not be at the expense of the fair and equitable treatment of PEG programming.  Other programming, including other non-commercial public affairs programming like C-SPAN, is not being treated in this inferior manner on AT&T’s U-Verse system.

Those attending the demonstration from AT&T recognized that its PEG product is flawed and said that they were working on improvements.  It was not clear to us if, or when, improvements can be made to address the problems.  In the meantime, the localism and diversity on PEG channels nationwide must be preserved.

Matt Schuster
Chair, ACM Board of Directors

The Alliance for Community Media today is asking the Platform Committees of the Democratic and Republican National Committees to embrace policies protecting local cable franchising authorities’ ability to require PEG access channels and adequate mechanisms for supporting them within their franchise agreements.  From the Alliance’s Platform Statement:

In summary, the ACM proposes a national policy of “community reinvestment” through Public, Educational, and Government access organizations which includes funds and bandwidth and/or spectrum that will be used for public purposes by:

• Allowing the local community which owns the public right-of-way to franchise and determine the best use of the community’s property. This principle must be protected by Federal law.

• Dedicating ten percent of the public airwaves and capacity on communication facilities that occupy public rights-of-way to PEG use for free speech, diverse points of view, local programs, community based education and political speech.

• Mandating funding of five percent of gross revenues from all infrastructure and service providers and spectrum licensees to support PEG equipment, facilities, training and services.

• Making PEG access universally available to any consumer of advanced telecommunications services capable of full-motion video.

The Alliance strongly encourages its members and all other community media advocates to actively engage and insist upon, at every available opportunity, these “Keep Us Connected” policy goals - at every meeting of every appropriate local, state, regional, and national policy-considering body — Democratic, Republican, and otherwise.

Assessing the Damage 

Survey shows that state video franchise laws bring no rate relief while harming public benefits  

About the Survey

In May 2008, the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) initiated an online survey regarding the impact of state video franchise laws. Members of ACM and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) from around the country participated in this survey.

There were 204 respondents from 33 states, representing public, educational and governmental (PEG) access television centers. Of those respondents, 140 (from 18 states) now have a state video franchise law in effect. This summary focuses on the responses from those with state video franchise laws.

Companies applying to operate under new state laws

• 68% of survey respondents report that new entrants (AT&T and Verizon) have applied for state franchises.
• 52% report that their incumbent cable providers have applied for state franchises.

Impact on PEG Facilities and Services

Since the recent passage of state video franchise laws, many PEG centers already see a negative impact on their funding and operations, and a decrease in related services or benefits.

• About 20% of respondents report PEG funding decreases since the advent of statewide franchising (including communities in CA, FL, IA, IN, KS, MI, MO, NC, OH, TX and WI), while cable operators report record earnings.  In many communities, PEG funding that had been available for all PEG-related costs is now
restricted to capital purchases.

• Respondents from 17 communities in 8 different states report loss of access to PEG facilities managed by cable operators soon after state video franchise laws removed local obligations from those companies. In addition, Comcast used state franchise law as the excuse to close all of its PEG facilities in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan in September of 2007, prior to distribution of this survey.

• 26% of respondents that had public cable drops in locations like libraries, schools and other public centers, and 41% of respondents in communities that had an Institutional Network connecting government facilities, educational institutions, and PEG facilities report the loss or reduction of those benefits (including communities in CA, CT, FL, GA, IN, MI, MO, NC, OH, TX and WI).

Impact on Quality and Functionality of PEG Channels 

About two-thirds of affected survey respondents from 13 states report that new state franchise service providers deliver PEG channels with impaired signal quality and functionality.  For example, AT&T’s “U-verse” system:
• takes up to a minute or more to tune in a PEG channel
• presents PEG at inferior quality compared to commercial channels
• cannot support closed captioning or second audio programming
• does not support DVR recording (like “TiVo”) of PEG channels
• strips away PEG channel number identity
• prevents viewers from channel surfing to and from PEG channels

Impact on PEG Channels Carriage

Since the passage of state video franchise laws, PEG centers report reductions and threats to their existing channels. Operating under recently-adopted state rules, many new entrants and incumbents quickly took steps to limit PEG channel capacity and placement.

• Nearly 25% of respondents said they lost or expect to lose channels since the advent of statewide franchising (including communities in CA, FL, GA, IN, KS, MI, MO, NC, OH, TX and WI).

• Respondents from 29 communities in 12 states report PEG channels being moved by incumbent cable operators to “digital only” channels, decreasing accessibility & visibility and increasing costs for subscribers

• Respondents from 8 states report that they must purchase special hardware and pay significant monthly fees to deliver PEG channels to new state franchise service providers.  Such carriage fees were never required previously under local franchises, and are not paid by local commercial and public broadcast stations.

Impact on Cable Rates

Survey respondents confirm what has been widely reported elsewhere:  relief to the consumer from skyrocketing cable rates — the major reason for adopting state video franchise laws — has not occurred.

• Two-thirds of respondents said basic cable rates have increased in their communities after a state video franchise law was adopted and a new competitor arrived.

• Only 1% said that rates have gone down.

Preliminary Conclusions

Even in the early stages of adoption and implementation, the negative fallout from the state video franchise laws has been substantial and will continue to mount.  As incumbents and new entrants apply to operate under these new franchises, more communities will experience the cutbacks and degradation of PEG services reported in this survey, leaving many communities in the nation without the diverse, local programming provided through PEG channels. This outcome directly contradicts the purpose stated in the Cable Act of 1984, that franchises be responsive to the needs and interests of the local community.

It’s important to note that where PEG Access has greater protection in the state video franchise laws, AT&T is ignoring requirements to provide PEG at “similar” (CA law) or “equivalent” (IL law) signal quality and functionality as commercial channels.  This disadvantages, rather than serves local communities.

It is our hope that the information drawn from this initial survey of communities affected by state video franchise laws will inform proactive legislative and regulatory action to preserve the localism and diversity of programming that emerges from PEG channels nationwide.

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The Alliance for Community Media is a national membership organization representing more than 3,000 PEG access centers across the nation. Local PEG programmers produce 20,000 hours of new programs per week, and serve more than 250,000 organizations annually through the efforts of an estimated 1.2 million volunteers.

For survey information, contact ACM Public Policy Committee member, Barbara Popovic
(312) 738-1400, bpopovic [at] cantv [dot] org

download report summary (pdf) here

Hello Friends,

This morning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit turned down a petition by the Alliance for Community Media, Alliance for Communications Democracy, NATOA, National League of Cities, National Association of Counties and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and by other PEG organizations, local governments and cable operators seeking to overturn regulations adopted by the FCC in March 2007 designed to ease the ability of telephone companies to get cable franchise.

We are very disappointed with the court’s decision which represents a loss for the public interest served by PEG and local franchising.  We will be consulting with our allies in the proceeding to determine what next steps may be advisable.  There are a couple of relatively small bright spots in the decision, however. While the decision affirms the FCC’s finding that capital costs required by a franchise to be paid for PEG access facilities are exempted from the definition of franchise fees (as to which a maximum 5% of gross revenues can permissibly be charged), the court makes clear that such capital costs are not limited to the construction of facilities but may also include equipment.  The court’s decision also makes clear that nothing in the FCC’s order prevents local franchise authorities from increasing PEG obligations upon renewal of incumbent franchises.

Here is a link to the court’s decision: http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/08a0230p-06.pdf.

Deborah Vinsel, Interim Director
dvinsel [at] allliancecm [dot] org

Washington, D.C. (June 23, 2008) – The Alliance for Community Media (ACM) recognizes three individuals for their outstanding contributions to the field of community media.  The ACM National Board of Directors selected the recipients for this year’s awards to be presented on July 12, 2008 at the ACM National Conference and Trade Show in Washington, D.C.

The ACM presents the Buske Leadership Award to Tom Bishop, Executive Director of Media Bridges in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The Buske Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated commitment to the mission and goals of the Alliance for Community Media, leadership within the organization within the last three years, a high degree of involvement in the organization nationally, regionally and at the chapter level, and continuing service to the ACM.   Tom Bishop is recognized for his long-standing and personal commitment to the mission and values of the ACM, his willingness to work with the broad constituency represented within the organization, and his leadership within the organization for over 13 years.  Mr. Bishop has served in leadership roles at all levels of the organization, including his service as Chair of the National Board of Directors.

The George Stoney Award for Humanistic Communication is presented to Margie Nicholson, a tenured faculty member in the Arts, Entertainment and Media Management Department at Columbia College Chicago.  The George Stoney Award for Humanistic Communication is given to an organization or individual who has made an outstanding contribution to championing the growth and experience of humanistic community communications.  As an independent consultant and founder of Public Service Media & Marketing, Ms. Nicholson managed the program of support for media centers at the MacArthur Foundation for nearly ten years, served on grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Technology Opportunities Program, and organized conferences on nonprofit communications and leadership with the Donors Forum of Chicago, Executive Service Corps, and Community TV Network. Her handbook, Cable Access: Community Channels and Productions for Nonprofits, was published by the Benton Foundation.

Margie Nicholson was instrumental in the launch of Chicago’s cable access channels, CAN-TV Network, while serving as that organization’s vice president and chief operating officer. She has served as a board member and chair of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers (now the ACM) and currently serves on the editorial board of Community Media Review.

The ACM presents the Jewell Ryan-White Award for Cultural Diversity to Graciela Rivera Oven of Germantown, MD.  This award recognizes those persons who show an outstanding contribution to a process that encourages, facilitates, or creates culturally diverse and/or non-mainstream community involvement in the field of community media.  Graciela currently co-produces and hosts a local Latino TV show on Access Montgomery, “Revista Semanal Montgomery”.  This program presents information relevant to Montgomery County’s growing Latino and Hispanic population with topics ranging from national to local issues.  Most programs are designed to allow viewers to take advantage of services available in the county.  Ms Oven has continually worked for equal opportunity and social justice and now uses community media as one of the tools to achieve her goals.

The Alliance for Community Media is a nonprofit, national membership organization founded in 1976, the Alliance represents over 3,000 Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) access organizations and community media centers throughout the country. It also represents the interests of millions of people who, through their local religious, community and charitable groups, use PEG access to communicate with their memberships and the community as a whole.

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2008 Hometown Video Awards Winners - (click here)

Results received as of May 31, 2008 - several categories are unreported

PLATINUM

Telvue Virtual Television Network/Princeton Server Group

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

Compix Media
NAPS
Research Channel
Rushworks

Nominations are now being sought for the three ACM 2008 Leadership Awards. Nomination forms can be downloaded here. Please complete the form in its entirety, and return to:

Alliance for Community Media
c/o Concord TV
170 Warren Street
Concord, NH 03301
EXTENDED DEADLINE: Friday, May 9, 2008

George Stoney Humanistic Communication Award

The George Stoney Award is given annually to an organization or individual who has made an outstanding contribution to championing the growth and experience of humanistic community communications.

Buske Leadership Award

The Buske Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated commitment to the mission and goals of the Alliance for Community Media, leadership within the organization within the last three years, a high degree of involvement in the organization nationally, regionally and at the chapter level, and continuing service to the ACM.

Jewell Ryan-White Cultural Diversity Award

The Jewell Ryan-White Award for Cultural Diversity is given annually to those persons who show an outstanding contribution to a process that encourages, facilitates, or creates culturally diverse and/or non-mainstream community involvement in the field of community media.

Previous winners of these awards are listed here.

Hot off the Presses: ACM 2008 Conference & Exhibition Final Brochure

Download pdf file here