The further adventures of the disappearing public access channels

You may have noticed a change in the new Spectrum cable channel lineup. Public Educational and Educational Channels have been moved to a much higher tier where they will be more difficult to watch. Unless you still had analog cable service in which case you already lost these channels without a digital converter.  Then you would have to find it on channel 97.1 2 or 3. If you want to watch a town board meeting you will have to make an effort to do so.

This type of maneuver is called channel slamming. Cable operators eager to free up space for new HDTV services are exiling channels designed to serve the public interest to cable Siberia. They thumb their nose at the public.

Cable TV was not supposed to be like that. Back in the early 1970's when cable owners sought expansion of cable services from a mere retransmitter of network signals to multichannel systems. They espoused what was called a blue skies outlook. In place of the scarcity of network broadcast channels it was going to provide an abundance of channels and greatly expanded menu of choices. Long before the digital age cable was promoted as an electronic superhighway, but cable was also supposed to be different. it was to provide on the one hand a menu of hyper local services, in order to give communities that had little voice on the network-based system, and it was to provide interactive, educational informational and even entertainment programming that was not going to be modeled on the network frame. Central to those aims were the establishment of Public Educational and Governmental channels which were meant to provide local content produced by and for the local community. They were also the result of a long struggle going back all the way to establishment of the radio broadcasting system, to provide a voice for ordinary citizens who could never afford to compete financially with the large established corporate networks. The facilities equipment and operating funds to run these channels was supposed to be provided by the cable companies from franchise fees paid by these companies to local municipalities.

There is a lot more I could say about the development of public access but for the purposes of this blog what is important is the stipulation that these local channels were supposed to be carried on the first tier of cable channels. Originally that meant the first 13 channels. The idea was that the local access channels run by and for the local community were supposed to be given priority. They were to be easily accessible to all subscribers. Companies were not allowed to bump channels up to a higher l level.

 All that has changed. Cable companies quickly abandoned their commitments to public service and the promise to create an alternative to network television. In order to build audiences, they filled their channels with old reruns of network shows and followed the network model. Once cable became a big industry original pioneers who were more like small business visionaries, were bought up and ownership became concentrated in the same corporate behemoths that cable was supposed to supplant. Public access instead of being welcomed became something to marginalize. They took up space that could be used for profit If the cable companies couldn't get rid of access they could do all they could including chronic underfunding and channel slamming to make it seem useless.

 Still there were some limits. New York state cable regulations still dictate that public access channels be carried on the lowest possible tier. Section 895.4 of the regulations of the PSC states "Channels designated for PEG use shall be included in the lowest level of service offered by the cable television franchisee,"

That seems straightforward. however, the notion of what constitutes the lowest tier had been redefined over the years.  Several years ago, when access channels disappeared from the analogue service I asked the PSC about this. All sudden the notion of "basic service" was defined as the first 99 channels and not the 2-13 or 2-16 as it has been done in the past. They didn't ask any of us about that or even inform us. Other municipalities in the state protested, Not Rochester. In addition, to get access channels on the analogue service you had to have a converter box which while free at first included a charge later on.

Still when access channels suddenly switched to the 1300 tier it seemed hard to find a way to see these as first tier channels. So, I decided to call the PSC and find out. That turned out to be a mistake.

 The first thing you are told at the PSC is to contact your cable company about your complaint. They really don't want to hear form the public or be bothered by them. I had to explain that my question had to do with PSC regulations, Since the cable company didn't seem to be abiding by them I needed to talk to the regulators. So I got over that hoop. But when I told the staff person I was asking about PEG regulations she didn't know what I was talking about. I had to explain to her that the term meant Public Educational and Governmental Programming. You would expect someone in a regulatory body to know that. She didn't know the answer to my question about carrying peg channels on the lowest tier, so she put me on hold to get an answer. I never got to talk with a commissioner or anyone who specialized in telecommunications. After being on hold I got what I consider to be either an ignorant answer. I was told that the only local cable channel required on the first tier was the spectrum local news channel?

 As you might imagine I was nonplussed. This was a brand new even unique interpretation of these requirements. Even when I talked to the PSC several years ago they cited the idea that such channels must be on the lowest tier -- they just reinterpreted it. I told the staff person as politely as I could that this did not seem to be consistent with the PSC own regulations and explained to her my earlier interactions with the PSC. That didn't get me anywhere. My only option is to petition for a ruling at the PSC.  But this never leads to a resolution in favor of consumers.

 It is frustrating when the regulators who are meant to serve the public interest are ignorant of their own regulations and constantly reinterpret the rules to favor the groups they are supposed to be regulating. It undermines faith in the governments ability to protect the public interest. But this should not be surprising. Many academics who study consumer regulation and protection, speak of something called regulatory capture. Agencies that are set up to protect the consumer or the public from dangerous or illegal practices, often become captured by the very interests they set out to regulate. There is a big financial incentive for this. Once regulators leave their position, their knowledge of rules and regulations and the ways to circumvent them are in demand by regulated interests, they can get a big payout becoming lobbyists for these industries if they keep in line when they serve as commissioners.