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www.themorningsun.com...
By MICHAEL SPENCE
Sun Special Writer
Local public access television is being threatened by a bill introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The bill, co-sponsored by senators John Ensign, R-Nev. and John McCain, R-Ariz., will eliminate a requirement for telecommunications companies to pay franchise fees to local municipalities. These fees are required as compensation to the community for use of the public right of way through which the companies route cables and utilities.
Charter Communications, the cable provider in the 12 municipality area, currently pays a franchise fee of five percent of its total revenue to remain the sole service provider in the area. That five percent is then split between the municipalities and the consortium.
Jan Howard, Executive Director of the consortium, said that by eliminating the franchise fees, the bill will eliminate the only source of funding that the public access provider receives.
Originally posted by djohnsto77
There's absolutely nothing but crap on public access, I certainly won't shed a tear to lose it if it shaves a couple bucks off my bill and/or replaces these useless channels with something I'll actually watch.
Originally posted by djohnsto77
Seriously, it's just crazy stuff here that looks like it's filmed by teenagers living in the projects by day and adult ads by night.
Originally posted by djohnsto77
There's absolutely nothing but crap on public access, I certainly won't shed a tear to lose it if it shaves a couple bucks off my bill and/or replaces these useless channels with something I'll actually watch.
"We need local access for television because the major networks aren't going to cover city hall. They don't care, that's why a local municipality is needed to provide information.“
The league has estimated that nationwide, municipalities will face a cut of $3 billion annually as a result of the bill.
Originally posted by Relentless
Nothing but crap? Do you realize what the public access includes?
"We need local access for television because the major networks aren't going to cover city hall. They don't care, that's why a local municipality is needed to provide information.“
Your Town Board and School Board meetings! Do you want to lose that? I see this having a major impact on the public's ability to know what is going on in their community.
Originally posted by RANT
Yes, outside NY it's actually a very valuable service.
Originally posted by Relentless
You must mean NY City. My thoughts actually were prompted by my experiences in a Town one hour north of there.
Originally posted by RANT
Maybe the Republicans need to visit the sticks they claim to represent a little more and get a sense of the values important to America.
(1) reasonable uptime;
(2) installation intervals;
(3) repair intervals; and
(4) suitable voice quality.
(b) Additional Standards- The Commission shall establish reasonable maximum intervals for the performance of different classes of incumbent local exchange carriers.