Proposed Legislation May Affect Future of Public-Access Television

[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Felicia Lee]
For every hour of "Desperate Housewives" on ABC, the nation's 3,000 public-access television channels present hours of local school board meetings, Little League games and religious services. But the future of the channels deemed "electronic soapboxes" in 1972 by the Federal Communications Commission is uncertain, as proposed legislation about how the telecommunications industry is regulated winds its way through Congress. The main concern for public-access advocates is that the law preserve the ability of municipalities to negotiate franchise agreements for cable television. Those agreements pay for the public-access programs and allow municipalities to determine how many channels they want and allow public access programmers to train nonprofit groups to produce their own shows. The proposed legislation varies in its specifics, but several bills aim to allow more video-services competition -- easing the way for telephone companies to compete for the franchises -- and minimize regulations for franchises. Advocates of the legislation say that the fears of the demise of public access are exaggerated and that some local control of franchises is written into the bills. "There has to be some portion of the system open to public use, which has public revenue supporting it," Anthony T. Riddle, executive director of the Washington-based Alliance for Community Media, said of his advocacy of public access. The group represents 1,000 media centers nationwide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/08/arts/television/08cabl.html
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