February 24, 2000

  

2000-R-0220

CABLE TV PUBLIC ACCESS REQUIREMENTS

 

By: Kevin E. McCarthy, Principal Analyst

You asked how the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) sets public access requirements for cable TV companies, particularly with regard to the facilities and equipment a company must provide. You wanted to learn the role of the cable advisory council in this area. Finally, you wanted to know (1) if a company placing its editing equipment in its central office violates its franchise and (2) if there is a definition of "good quality production of video equipment."

SUMMARY

State law and regulations impose many specific requirements on cable TV companies with regard to the provision of public access programming (CGS Sec. 16-331a and Conn. Agencies. Regs. Sec. 16-333). DPUC determines precisely how each company will meet these requirements when it renews a company's franchise or approves a franchise transfer. The company's advisory council is entitled to participate in this proceeding and many are actively involved, according to DPUC staff. The law provides for reviews of the company's performance during the franchise term and allows DPUC to enforce the franchise requirements, including those pertaining to public access. The law also assigns several responsibilities regarding public access programming to the advisory council during the franchise term.

The issue of whether placing editing equipment in the company's central office violates the company's franchise depends on the terms of the franchise. DPUC regulations contemplate this arrangement, and if it is allowed under the franchise DPUC cannot unilaterally require the company to move its editing facilities during the term of the franchise.

Neither the statutes nor DPUC regulations define "good quality of production equipment," although the regulations use this phrase several times. DPUC does not have written policies on this issue, and makes its determination of whether a company's equipment meets the requirements of the law on a case-by-case basis.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The law requires each company, in consultation with its advisory council, to provide "facilities, equipment, and technical and managerial support" to enable the production of "meaningful" public access programming (CGS Sec. 16-331a). The law also allows a non-profit organization, with DPUC approval, to assume these responsibilities with the company continuing to pay for the costs of public access.

DPUC regulations specify in great detail the types of support that a company must provide, with specific requirements for facilities and equipment, staffing, training, and outreach (Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 16-331a-11). All companies must provide facilities and equipment sufficient to enable production of live and taped programs of commercial quality. Each company must adopt procedures, in consultation with its advisory council and access users, on how to make equipment and facilities available when the company's offices are closed for business. The procedures also must cover equipment and facility maintenance standards and sanctions for late returns or damage of equipment.

Under this regulation, each company with fewer than 50,000 customers must make the following equipment available for public access programming:

All of the above, other than the character generator and the cable-casting equipment, must be portable. Each company with more than 50,000 customers must provide one additional set of all of the portable equipment for each additional 25,000 customers or fraction thereof.

Each company with more than 3,500 customers must also provide an equipped studio. For companies with fewer than 25,000 customers, the studio must be at least 200 square feet; for larger companies it must be at least 400 square feet. Under Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 16-333-33a, the studio must have production, control, and editing rooms.

This regulation also specifies the type of equipment that must be provided for these rooms. (These requirements are in addition to those described above.) The production room must include:

The ceiling in the production room must be high enough to mount lighting equipment needed for good quality production of video programming.

The control room must contain cable-casting equipment adequate to enable the good quality production and effective showing of video programming. This equipment must include at least three color video tape recorders, each with a video output jack and a minimum of 240 lines of horizontal resolution. Each recorder must be capable of recording at least 60 minutes of tape and have at least two audio tracks. At least two of the recorders must be capable of forming an edit system with the controller. The control room must contain two monitors with at least nine-inch screens, switching equipment, and a 16-page character generator. The control room must be separate from the production room with adequate sound insulation between the two.

The editing room must be large enough and adequately equipped to permit effective program editing and it must be separate from the production room. It also must be separate from the control room, unless there is enough room in the control room to allow editing and control functions to be performed simultaneously.

Under Conn. Agencies. Regs. Sec. 16-331a-12, DPUC can reduce these requirements based on a review of such factors as the number of customers served by the company, the length of time it has held the franchise, the effectiveness of the public access program, and the demographics of the franchise area.

PUBLIC ACCESS REQUIREMENTS AND THE FRANCHISING PROCESS

DPUC sets the specific public access requirements for each company in the franchising process. The company proposes its level of support for public access programming in its application. If the proposal is not specific, DPUC and other parties to the franchising proceeding obtain more specific information (for example, the capacities of individual pieces of equipment) by issuing interrogatories. Under CGS Sec. 16-331, the quality of the company's public access programming is one of 14 factors that DPUC must consider in determining the length of the company's franchise. In this review, DPUC must consider the company's compliance with the public access provisions of state and federal law and its existing franchise. DPUC must consult with the advisory council before renewing a franchise.

By law, each applicant for a franchise renewal or approval of a franchise transfer must pay for a community needs assessment (CGS Sec. 16-331). The assessment must be conducted by an independent consultant under DPUC's supervision. The assessment is designed by a collaborative effort of the DPUC, the advisory council, the Office of Consumer Counsel, and the company. The assessment must analyze the future cable needs of the franchise area. It also must help the department analyze the company's past performance. These requirements do not apply if the company is subject to effective competition, as defined by federal law (e.g. if there is more than one company serving the area).

ACCESS REQUIREMENTS DURING THE FRANCHISE TERM

DPUC can review the provision of public access programming during the second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh year of the franchise term. DPUC must conduct the review if the Office of Consumer Counsel or any interested party request it during the first six months of any of these years.

DPUC can enforce the terms of the franchise at any time. But, since the franchise is a contract DPUC cannot unilaterally change it. Thus, if a company agreed to provide specific equipment as part of its franchise but failed to do so (or failed to replace broken equipment), DPUC could order the company to comply. If the company disobeyed the order, DPUC could impose various sanctions, including fines and franchise revocation. However, if a company's franchise required it to provide a single editing suite and the company complied with this requirement, DPUC could not require the company to provide additional editing facilities.

The advisory council also must review all complaints regarding public access programming. In addition, each company must annually review its public access rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. The review must include a consultation with the advisory council, a period for public comment, and a public meeting.

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