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John Foust -
Public Access Television

 

Public Access Television in Jefferson

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Jefferson doesn't know what it's missing!  It's missing something that you'll find in Fort Atkinson, Watertown, Lake Mills and even Cambridge - its own public access television channels on the cable system.  These channels are often called "PEG" channels - short for "public, educational and governmental." PEG channels are a great way for a community to stay informed about local events.

They have tremendous reach. Of the estimated 2,500 households in Jefferson, about 2,000 subscribe to Charter cable. It's sad but true that Jefferson news and events rarely appear on Madison and Milwaukee television, and then only for tragedies. PEG channels can change that.

Five percent of every Jefferson cable bill is a franchise fee. Charter collects it and pays it to the City, like a tax, as payment for its use of the City's right-of-way and poles.  In 2002 and 2003, the City receives about $60,000 from Charter. So far, the money has been added to the general revenue fund.  This also means that Charter collects about a million dollars a year from Jefferson's cable viewers, and that the average monthly cable bill is about $44.  For basic $15 a month cable, the fee is 75 cents, for expanded $44 service it is $2.25, for digital $55 service it is about $2.75.

I think it is time to consider that some of this money should be used for these channels. After all, the PEG channels have been part of the City's cable plan for almost twenty years. No one has ever stepped forward to create them. Now the City is addicted to the money.  In many cities, most if not all of the franchise fee supports their PEG channels.  As you can see, five percent of cable revenue is a lot of money.  In Watertown, for example, they collect $183,000 a year but return $100,000 to the PEG channels.

In 2002, a failed attempt

In 2001, the Council placed $50,000 in the 2002 budget for the creation of the PEG channels.  In early 2002, the City Council appointed a Cable Television Local Access Commission to consider the creation of the PEG channels.  They developed a plan to hire a new full-time Video Production Manager and several part-time students.  The budget consumed Jefferson's entire franchise fee plus $3,800 per year from Sullivan's franchise fee.  Here are the proposed budget and the job description.  Later in 2002, a series of events led to the downfall of this proposal.  One, the Personnel Committee acted slowly to approve the new position description.  Two, the state budget crisis didn't help.

At the December 3, 2002 meeting, Alderman Dale Opperman put forth a resolution to move the budgeted 2002 funds to a special fund for use in the future.  It was defeated five to three, with Ald. Johann, Ald. Stewart, Ald. Wagner, Ald. Coffman and Ald. Gang voting nay, with Ald. Opperman, Ald. Carnes and Ald. Stevens voting for it.  After this failure, a second resolution removed the funding from the 2003 budget.

A simple approach

I think the 2002 proposal failed because it was too much, too soon. Sadly, the baby went out with the bath water: there was no fall-back plan to simply activate the PEG channels.  

I propose starting small and proving the value of the PEG channels to the community before asking for more money. It costs nothing to ask Charter to install the two access channels. The franchise agreement requires them to set up two channels at two locations at no cost.  We just need the Council to ask Charter to do this.

One channel could originate from City Hall. The Jefferson School District is eager to host the other channel. It is a great way to leverage its video and computer systems as well as enhance the curriculum. Again, Jefferson doesn't know what it's missing - in most other districts, the high school produces at least one video news program. In Sun Prairie, their KIDS-4 channel has been operated by elementary school students for more than twenty years!

Studio space might be allocated in the now-empty and unused basement of City Hall. The new Middle School already has a room earmarked as a video studio.

I think that we can start small and grow later. Forget the full-time employee for now. Let's just get it started!  At first, both channels would show just a simple slideshow of announcements of coming events. Imagine seeing school lunch menus, park and recreation schedules, and information about fundraisers and charitable events sponsored by civic groups like the Kiwanis, Rotary, Chamber and Optimists.

Technically, each channel requires not much more than an ordinary PC running Powerpoint, equipped with an adapter to convert the computer's video to television signals. I think this first step can be accomplished very quickly with donations and volunteer labor.

Equipment grants

Money is available for expansion, too. Charter will provide a $30,000 equipment grant to start a community access channel. If we ask for this money, they are allowed to pass it along to consumers on the cable bills over the course of the franchise agreement, or until 2012.  This would add about a dollar a year per subscriber.

After the channels expand to play video, imagine seeing football, softball, soccer and Little League games, live or as reruns. Imagine watching the out-of-town games. Imagine the Tomorrow's Hope ceremonies and the Gemuetlichkeit Days parade and ball on television. Imagine election debates and City Council meetings. The County Board meetings are already playing on the PEG channels in other cities, but not in Jefferson. 

Churches are often great supporters of public access channels. Their volunteers record the church services and replay them during the week. The PEG studios can also be used to produce public service announcements that Charter can broadcast on other channels on the cable system, too.

My company, goJefferson.com, will step forward to make the first donations of hardware, software and a web site. I will volunteer, too. I spent a decade in the video industry. There are volunteers and teachers at the School District ready to help.   Let's hope the City Council has the wisdom to ask Charter to activate these channels for the betterment of Jefferson.

Update - Council Approves Cable Access Channels

July 1, 2003 - I'm pleased to announce that the Jefferson Common Council approved a resolution to create a cable committee and then to activate the two public access channels.  Ald. Carnes amended the original resolution, asking that the committee be appointed before activating the channels. This amendment passed on a tie vote. On the final amended resolution, the vote was 5-3. 

In discussion of the resolution, several council members opposed it due to the threat of future obligations of funding. Carnes stated he believed the franchise fee should not be used for general revenues, and that it was intended for public access television.

Coffman said he was concerned that I have been critical of the City in the past and voiced my opinion using every form of media available (including cyberspace) and worried that I'd use these channels in the same way.

Here is the statement I read to the Council in the public participation section of that meeting.

July 29, 2003 - The Jefferson Common Council approved the appointment of a new Cable Commission, composed of former Alderman Dale Oppermann, School District Technology Director David Pierce, Town of Sullivan chair Craig Schacht, Ald. David McGrath and Ald. David Carnes, with myself (John Foust) as an ex-officio (non-voting) member.

September 9, 2003 - The Cable Commission met for the first time.  Dale Oppermann was voted chairperson and the decision on a secretary was deferred.  David Pierce had resigned from his position as School District Technology Director, but John Orcutt and Katherine Doar attended to represent the School District.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the City Council need to do to start the PEG channels?

First, the Mayor needs to re-appoint members to the Cable Television Local Access Commission.  (Frankly, I think it needs a new, catchy name, like the PEG Channels Commission.)  The Council needs to approve these appointments.

Second, the Commission will need to meet to hear this plan and prepare a proposal for the Council's approval.  The proposal could be as simple as "We hereby ask Charter to activate and install the public access channels, as allowed by section 21.19(2) of the Jefferson Municipal Code and the franchise agreement, at locations in City Hall and the Jefferson Middle School."  No funding is necessary.

How much will it cost to activate the two public access channels?

It costs nothing to turn them on.  As described in section 21.19(2) of the Jefferson Municipal Code, Charter is required to configure "two dedicated, non-commercial access channels, including wiring, insertion equipment and the return path needed to connect to the cable system" at up to two locations within 180 days of the City's request.  This stems from Federal law that allows the City to require that its cable franchise provide channels for public, educational or governmental use.

There are other costs, of course.  As a first step, I propose a single used computer at City Hall and the Middle School.  For software, each could run Microsoft PowerPoint or an image slideshow program.  For hardware, we'd need an adapter that converts the computer monitor style of video signal to the RF video signal needed by the equipment installed by Charter.  At first, that's all that's needed.  This system would not be able to play videotapes, but it would function as a community bulletin board. 

If we ask Charter for the $30,000 grant for capital equipment, will our cable bills increase?

Yes, Charter is allowed to recoup this expense.  They could amortize the cost over the term of the franchise agreement, which ends in 2012.  If the full grant were taken in 2003, cable bills would increase about ten cents per month.  Once the grant recouped, the surcharge ends. 

The capital equipment grant is described in the 1997 franchise renewal.

Will the PEG channels cause an additional burden on City staff?

At first, I believe that the channels can be operated by volunteers from the public and the School District.  Many other cities with established channels have worked up the ladder, starting with volunteers, then to paid hourly assistants, then to part-time employees, then to full-time staff.

I think it should be obvious that the PEG channel will benefit the City staff and enhance city services.  The information in every newsletter, every mailing, every brochure could become part of the rolling slideshow of information on the City Hall channel.  Entering the info into the computer is an no-cost opportunity, not a chore.  Information about Park & Recreation programs, garbage pickup, swimming pool hours, park info, building inspection and permits, etc. could all be part of the channel.

Does recording a meeting place an extra burden on the City to provide typed transcripts?

Probably not.  The reverse is clearly true: Wisconsin's open records law in Stat. ยง19.35(1)(c) states that if an audio recording of a meeting is made, the City may provide a transcript instead of copying the tape.  If someone actually requests a transcript of a recording, the City could charge a fee "which may not exceed the actual, necessary and direct cost of reproduction and transcription of the record."  This is equally true for the copying of paper documents.

There's also the question of whether the City would actually be doing the taping.  Anyone can already videotape any public meeting.  If it was done by PEG channel volunteers and not City staff, there is no question of open records or City responsibility.

What can the City do with the franchise fees?

There are no requirements.  In theory, the fees offset the costs of Charter using the City's right of way, or the cost of negotiating the cable franchise agreement.  In 1997, the City hired a consultant to help with that task, for example.  They hired Dr. Barry Orton, a UW-Madison telecommunications professor with a national reputation for negotiating cable agreements.

Are the franchise fees a tax, or tax relief?

It's clearly a tax.  Opponents of the cable access channels call it tax relief.  The fees have been added to the general revenue fund for all these years.  Certainly cutting $50,000 from the City's budget might mean the loss of some services or even an employee position.  However, weaning the City gradually from this pork might be possible: take little or no money in the 2004 budget, but plan to use 25% for the PEG channel the next year, and 50% the next.

To me, it doesn't seem quite fair to use the cable fees as general tax relief.  If you want true tax relief, don't collect the tax in the first place and don't spend the money.  The City need not ask for its full five percent.  I don't see the logical connection between taxing 2,000 cable subscribers and spreading the relief to the other 500 households who don't subscribe.  Why not use the money to benefit those who use the cable service?  Cable subscribers pay more into the general revenue fund than citizens with DirecTV satellite dishes.

For twenty years, the city's franchise agreement described the installation of the two public access channels and the $30,000 capital grant. The size of the grant - and whether future grants are offered - are part of the franchise negotiation process.  For example, a future franchise agreement could demand a donation of used video equipment.

Does Charter's Internet service contribute to the franchise fee fund?

No, it does not.  Recent rulings of the FCC declared that cable modems were an information service unrelated to television service, so those fees do not contribute to the franchise fund.

What's the politics behind the story?

Some City Council members don't want their faces on television.  Some people aren't comfortable speaking in public to begin with, and cameras could make them more nervous.  There is some danger in televising meetings.  It will change the dynamic of meetings and elections.  The camera exposes poor behavior.  It could show Council members who were sleeping, inattentive, clueless or inebriated. Council members could play to the camera, making longer rhetorical speeches and campaigning for their next election.  Members of the public could grandstand during the public participation section of the meeting.

On the other hand, there will be positive benefits.  Recorded meetings will memorialize kooky statements, cronyism, positions on issues, and promises to the public.  It can demonstrate when it's obvious that the Council was illegally building consensus on issues before meetings and limiting public discussion.  Council members may be more likely to give explanations for their votes, absences and abstentions.  It would increase accountability and reduce plausible denials.

No Council member wants to be known for cutting services or increasing taxes.  By redirecting the franchise fees, it does reduce the City budget for other operations.  Using the franchise fees for other purposes is far easier when there is no public access channel and therefore no one to argue for funding it.  However, many Council members in the past have used the promise of starting the public access channels in their campaigns.  It's a populist sort of issue.  However, not one has made it happen.

Why can't we show video?

Even at first, the slideshow could be interrupted by hand.  A volunteer could press "play" on an ordinary VCR and feed the signal into the cable system.  Of course, this manual operation is cumbersome.

The next logical enhancement is the automated playback of video.  At most studios, this involves a bank of several special VCRs.  Each can be controlled by a central computer that instructs them to play at a specific time.  The slideshow is automatically interrupted. The tape plays.  Afterwards, the slideshow continues.  The tape is rewound.  Hours or days of programming can be prepared in advance.  With new technologies like video hard disks, hundreds of hours of programming could be stored for easy automated playback.

What sort of programming might play on the channel?

There are a number of programs produced in other nearby communities that could play on the Jefferson channel.  As the studio grows, it could produce its own new programs, too.  The County Board of Supervisor meetings are already taped by the County.  The schools could produce their own shows.  

The channels can also make other national connections for free or low-cost public programming, like Discover Wisconsin from the State of Wisconsin, educational material from the US government, non-profit educational consortiums, NASA and many other providers of pre-made material.

Who will be in charge of what appears on the PEG channels?

The City already has a Cable Access Commission.  For now, they can approve the announcements, or give that responsibility to the volunteers.  Other communities have already developed guidelines for determining which programs can be aired and what type of announcements can be made.  As Jefferson's channels grow mature, we can copy what others have already done.  Many PEG channels have their guidelines available on the Internet.  We can copy what we like.

How much do other communities collect and spend on public access television?

City  Pop. House- holds Sub-
scribers
Franchise
Fees Collected
PEG Chs? Annual
Budget
Watertown 22,327 9,004 13,312 $183,000 1 $100,600
Whitewater  13,693        1 $57,000
Fort Atkinson  11,859 5,111   $106,500 1 $0
Jefferson  7,315 2,500 2,000 $59,000 0 $0
Lake Mills
City and (Town)
4,902 (1,976)     $42,000
($11,000)
1 $43,200
($8,700)
Johnson Creek  1,639     $16,342 0 $0
Cambridge  1,144       1 $???

How much money has the City collected, and how much has Charter made?

This graph shows Jefferson's franchise fee revenue from 1990 to 2005:

In 2004, $63,293 was collected. From 1990 to 2004, the City has collected more than $478,000 in franchise fee revenue, and $385,000 of it since 1998.

In 1997, only $14,817 was collected. The City renegotiated Charter's franchise agreement in 1997, extending it to a 15 year contract.  The large jump in 1998 is due to Charter's upgrade of their cable system, and the subsequent increase in rates, and an increase in the franchise fee percentage requested by the City.  

Minutes of the Cable Television Local Access Commission

Click here to see the minutes of the Cable Television Local Access Commission from 1997 and 2002.

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