PEG Access Centers Closing at Alarming Rate

[Commentary] Benton and our friends at the Alliance for Communications Democracy (ACD) wanted to get a feel for the state of public, educational and government (PEG) access across the nation. ACD and the Buske Group set out to gauge the health and well-being of PEG access. The results of their study are in and are disheartening to say the least. Since 2005, PEG access centers in 100 communities have closed. The overwhelming majority of these are public access centers, rather than educational or government channels seen on local cable systems. California has been particularly hard-hit, with 51 closures throughout the state. Nearly half of those survey respondents who provided financial information for the five-year period of the study (2005 -2010) reported an average funding decrease of nearly 40 percent. Also, 20 percent of those who reported in-kind support from their cable operators reported that in-kind materials and services had been cut back or eliminated during this five-year period.