The Biggest Free Speech Soap Box this Community Has Ever Seen

The Biggest Free Speech Soap Box this Community has ever seen
Bringing PEG Access to the Fresno Area
By Mike Rhodes

The effort to bring Public, Education, and Government (PEG) channels, a Community Media Center (CMC), and Institutional Network (I-NET) to the Fresno/Clovis area took a step forward recently with the renewal of a contract between the City of Fresno and The Buske Group. The Buske Group is a consultant for the City of Fresno and Clovis in cable franchise agreement negotiations with Comcast, the areas cable provider. Having The Buske Group as a consultant levels the playing field between Comcast and the local government entities that are working in the public interest to bring PEG access, CMC, and I-NET to this region. Renewal of The Buske Group contract was unanimously supported in a 6-0 vote before the Fresno City Council on Tuesday, September 27, 2005.

In an interview on listener sponsored free speech radio station KFCF 88.1 FM Sue Buske, president of The Buske Group, explained that the local franchise agreement between Comcast cable and the Cities of Clovis and Fresno and Fresno County are up for renewal. The original agreement is decades old and it expired in December of 2004, but it was extended for a year to December 2005 and will be extended again to accommodate negotiations. Buske said "This renewal process presents certain opportunities to the community...to negotiate for channels and bandwidth for community use and also the opportunity to negotiate for and receive funding to support the community’s use of that bandwidth in the form of resources that can help fund a community media center." In addition, Buske said "along with the community media center and bandwidth dedicated for video programing on the PEG side there is also the opportunity to make sure public buildings, schools, libraries, and community centers are connected together with fiber for video voice and data and that is what is called and Institutional Network (I-NET)."

Locals governments have the ability to to negotiate a franchise agreement that can provide these services to the community because the cable company uses public property to deliver their services. Cable companies lay fiber optic cable under streets, use easements underground, and are using above ground poles they do not own to deliver their signal to homes in this area.

Many communities have a franchise agreements that includes PEG access, a CMC, and I-NET. Buske said in the KFCF interview that she believes Comcast may be out of compliance with the existing franchise agreement because they are not providing PEG access. According to Buske, he City can remedy that problem and receive appropriate support for PEG access through a settlement associated with the franchise renewal process.

What Is PEG Access, a Community Media Center, and the I-Net?

The public channels typically provide programming produced by community groups and individuals. A program on the public channel could be about tenant rights and produced by Central California Legal Services or it could be a cultural presentation of Hmong dancers. An individual could produce a show about local politics, a local church can cablecast a worship service, or you could see Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now on public-access TV. In short, locally produced, independent, and alternative video will have a home on the cable network.

The education channels will be used primarily by the schools for education and distant learning purposes. If you tune in to channel 96 you will see the beginning of the local education/government channel. Channel 96 is the forerunner to PEG. In an agreement reached last year between Comcast, the schools, and the City of Fresno, it was agreed to set up this channel. Right now, you can see coverage of Fresno Unified School Board meetings, Electronic Field Trips, Dr. Mehas' "Speaking of Education" program, University of California programming (UCTV), the NASA Channel, the Annenberg channel and the entire Fresno City Council session each Tuesday. It is expected that more local education and government programming will be on this channel soon.

The government channels will have the capacity to broadcast the complete City Council, Board of Supervisors, planning commission meetings, and more. The government channels will be the community’s window into what is happening in government. There will likely be permanent video cameras in government spaces, which will be turned on when public meetings are taking place. Interviews with elected officials and city-sponsored events will be available on this channel.

A community media center is where much of the programming for PEG channels is produced. Funding to operate such a community media center will come from the cable company as a part of the franchise agreement. Included will be video cameras, editing equipment, studios, and training. All of this will be provided to the community at no cost as a part of the franchise agreement.

The Institutional Network or I-Net is a part of many franchise renewal agreements. An I-Net provides a high-speed connection between government, educational, and community entities. This connection can be used for accessing the Internet, providing two-way video, and point-of-origin TV production. The I-Net can establish locations throughout the community where live TV production can take place. Some examples would be to have an I-Net site at City Hall so we can see what is going on in local government; at a school so we can see musical or theatrical productions; or at a community center where a live cultural event could be shown throughout the community.

Negotiating a New Franchise Agreement

A 2002 franchise agreement between Comcast and the cities of Lompoc/Santa Maria resulted in PEG access channels, a CMC, and I-NET. The agreement gives an initial grant of $828,000 and ongoing support of $355,000 a year during the life of the 12 year contract. Lompoc/Santa Maria had about 25,000 cable subscribers when the franchise agreement was signed. You can read about this and the results of other franchise agreements at The Buske Group’s webs site: < http://www.buskegroup.com/ >.

There is a big difference between the number of cable subscribers in Lompoc/Santa Maria and Fresno/Clovis, which has about 84,000 cable subscribers. Many observers close to the negotiations expect Fresno/Clovis to negotiate a much better contract than the Lompoc/Santa Maria agreement. While the cities of Fresno and Clovis expect a franchise agreement that includes many benefits for area residents, the County of Fresno which has over 12,000 cable subscribers is on the verge of settling an agreement with Comcast that does not include a Public channel or a community media center. John Navarrette, director of general services for Fresno County, says the agreement will be presented to the Board of Supervisors in the next month or two.

Navarette says that the County wants a Government channel that will show the entire Board of Supervisors meeting every Tuesday. The Fresno County franchise agreement might also include an Education channel, but Navarette says they do not plan on include funding for a public channel or a community media center in the agreement. "The cable company would pass on the cost of these services to subscribers and that would be an unfair burden on County residents," who Navarette says have lower incomes than city residents. Sue Buske, city of Fresno and Clovis consultant, says this is not true. "There are Cities and Counties that have an agreement which includes PEG access, a CMC, and I-NET where cable subscribers actually pay less than communities without these services." Buske says that the prices charged by cable companies are market driven. "Cable rates are determined more by what the competition, like the satellite networks are charging, than by a franchise agreement," Buske added.

With the renewal of The Buske Group contract, Fresno and Clovis are anticipating face to face meetings with Comcast to start around the first of the year. Buske said we will know soon how serious Comcast is in negotiating an agreement that would be acceptable to the community. She added that this is a difficult time to get cable companies to settle these franchise agreements. There is new legislation in Washington, D.C. (HR 3146 and S 1349) that would take the franchise process out of local control and into the hands of the Federal Government. This legislation could be the ruin of PEG access, funding for CMC’s, and I-NET’s throughout the country. Backers of HR 3146 are claiming that it will increase competition and give consumers more choice. Buske said none of the cable companies are rushing into franchise agreements right now because they are waiting to see what happens with this legislation.

Local congress member George Radanovich (R-Mariposa), who is a member of the Telecommunications sub-committee, has not signed on as a co-sponsor of HR 3146. When contacted about the legislation, Radanovich responded "while I support the removal of
unnecessary regulatory barriers I believe there may be a different way to go about insuring consumers a choice."

A broad coalition of community members, The Buske Group, & the Cities of Fresno and Clovis have been working hard to lay the foundation for a successful contract with Comcast. The current process started about 28 months ago and has included a review of the current contract, community needs assessment meetings, and the establishment of a Citizens Franchise Renewal Task Force that includes prominent community members. Recently, a board of directors and nonprofit organization has been established that will oversee the PEG channels and Community Media Center once they are up and running.

A good franchise agreement between local government entities and Comcast will provide this area with the biggest free speech soap box that has ever existed. Everyone that has an opinion or something to say will have the tools they need to get their message out to a large audience. Ethnic groups can tell their stories without the message being filtered by Comcast. Residents can hear news and other information in a language they understand. Community groups can speak directly to their constituents and the broader community about the issues that they are interested in. Churches, artists, musicians, schools, and individuals will all have a voice on the cable system if a fair franchise agreement is reached. If you are interested in this issue, you might want to contact your elected representatives. Contact information for local elected officials is available here:

http://www.co.fresno.ca.us/0110a/default.asp

http://www.fresno.gov/city_officials/districts/

http://www.ci.clovis.ca.us/