When is Public Access Television Coming to Fresno?

When is Public Access Television Coming to Fresno?
By Mike Rhodes

Community media advocates attended the Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, March 28, where a proposed agreement to bring Public, Education, and Government (PEG) access channels to the Fresno cable system was discussed. The proposed franchise agreement, presented by staff, would have provided one government and two education channels. The proposed agreement did not specifically designate a public access channel, although staff said the board would have the ability to establish one in 2009, or even earlier, if Comcast’s transition to digital conversion moves faster than expected.

The problem, as explained by General Services Director and chief county negotiator John Navarrette, is that “Comcast has a limited number of channels available.” Navarrette said that with the current analog system, “Comcast can only provide the County with three channels.” Sue Buske, who is a consultant working for the City of Fresno and Clovis in their efforts to negotiate a contract with Comcast disagrees and says the cable provider has the bandwidth to provide more than three channels for PEG access. Buske said “I just negotiated 5-7 channels in Humboldt County with a significantly smaller number of subscribers and a cable system that is not quite as technically advanced as the one serving Fresno. This is all about Comcast just not wanting to give up any more channel capacity for PEG.”

The Buske Group, of which Sue Buske is the president, settled a franchise agreement earlier this month in Humboldt county, which is in Northern California. In addition to the 5-7 channels for PEG access, the cable service provider is giving the community $750,000. This money will be used for video and digital editing equipment, a Community Media Center (CMC), and the other items needed to produce locally originated programs. In contrast, the Fresno County agreement would have provided the government channel with only $150,000. There was no funding for the education or public channels in the proposed Fresno County agreement.

Why would the staff for the County of Fresno propose an agreement they know is inferior to the franchise agreements being negotiated in other counties? Supervisor Judy Case provided part of the answer when she expressed her concern that cable consumers would have to pay more for their cable service if the county franchise agreement provided additional funding for PEG and a CMC. In the proposed franchise agreement, the county of Fresno agreed to allow Comcast to add a line item to the customers bill, showing they were charging an extra 25 cents to cover the expense.

Buske says cable service providers don’t always bill their customers for providing PEG & CMC funding. “The decision about how much to charge is driven by the market,” Buske said. Cable providers are in competition with Satellite companies and will make decisions about how much to charge based on market conditions. “If a cable company buys a new fleet of trucks they may or may not raise their customers rates,” Buske said. The same thing is true when a cable service provider gives a grant to a community for PEG access channels or a CMC. Some franchise agreements, like the one in Humboldt County, specifically prohibit the cable company from billing customers for the grant. Fresno County staff has agreed to permit Comcast to bill county customers for the grant.

Another concern expressed about PEG access is that a public access channel might provide the public with the opportunity to criticize county government. Supervisor Bob Waterston brought this issue up three months ago when the item came before the board. At Tuesday’s meeting he mentioned it again, saying he doesn’t want to be responsible for allowing some hard core group to be on the air. Waterston specifically mentioned being concerned that a racist group, someone who would criticize Fresno County, or a religious group that is “anti-this or anti-that” might get on the channel. This concern resonated with supervisor Case who said she would be comfortable with a group like CSUF or the Fresno County Office of Education (FCOE) being in charge of who has access to putting programs on the PEG channels.

Randy Reed, who is the chairperson of the board of the newly formed Community Media Access Collaborative (CMAC), spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing. Reed encouraged the board to extend the current agreement for 90 days and to specifically include a public access channel in the agreement. Other speakers called on the board to include a “most favored nations” clause in the agreement. This clause would ensure that the county of Fresno would receive the same benefits any other government entity received in their franchise agreements if they negotiate a better deal.

In an email sent after Tuesday’s hearing, Reed wrote that while he was pleased with the outcome, community media advocates face a real challenge based on the proposed Fresno County franchise agreement’s inherent weaknesses. Reed summarized the CMAC’s goals as:

* Dedicated Access channels for Public, Education and Government use;
* Two-way connectivity from PEG origination sites to Comcast for delivering program signals
* County participation in and/or support for a shared Community Media Center
* Cable service to schools and other public buildings
* Most Favored Nations clause ensuring that any enhanced benefits negotiated by City of Fresno, City of Clovis or other jurisdictions within Fresno County are also made available to County residents.

The CMAC, which includes representatives from community, education, and government groups has just incorporated as a nonprofit 501 c3. The CMAC has been established, after years of work, as the body that would like to oversee PEG and CMC operations. The city of Fresno and Clovis are represented on the board and the county of Fresno has been invited to join.

Supervisor Henry Perea was very supportive of including a public access channel in the county agreement. Perea made the motion to extend the current franchise agreement for another 90 days and directed staff to include language that mentions making a public access channel a part of the agreement. The motion passed unanimously. Perea also suggested using some of the funding from the 5% franchise fee that the county of Fresno receives from Comcast to pay for the PEG channels. The county receives this money, which is 5% of Comcast’s gross revenues in the county, as a part of the current franchise agreement.

At the end of the hearing, Supervisor Case wanted to know what was going on with the City of Fresno’s negotiations with Comcast. Bob Hendricks, Chief Information Officer for the city of Fresno, was at the meeting and said negotiations were underway with Comcast and that “great progress is being made.” Hendricks agreed with Navarrette’s assessment that there was a limited number of channels available for PEG access, and cited this as the reason all of the agencies (Fresno County and the cities of Clovis and Fresno) needed to collaborate in the negotiations. He said meetings with these agencies have been set up and that a 90 day extension of the current contract would be helpful in coordinating these efforts. Hendricks said that “the City of Fresno has a very aggressive schedule for negotiating this franchise agreement and we are hoping to have a signed agreement before July 1.”

For more information about the effort to bring PEG access to Fresno, see:

http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/pegcableaccess.htm
http://www.buskegroup.com/
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/11/1704611.php
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/10/1698275.php
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/08/1691557.php