Cable flips channel on public access TV

A new California law allows Time Warner to close 12 studios that provided community programming in Los Angeles. Critics say a valuable 1st Amendment platform is lost. A provision of a law passed by the Legislature in 2006, which took effect Thursday, allows cable television providers the option of dropping their long-standing obligation of providing free studios, equipment and training to the public. In return, providers must pay a substantial annual fee and continue to provide a minimal number of public education and government channels. The new law is designed to make it easier for phone companies to enter into the lucrative cable market by relieving them of certain money-draining contractual obligations.