PhillyCAM Seeks More Money for Public Access TV

PhillyCAM studio. Photo via PhillyCAM

Turn the channel to Comcast Cable 66/966 or Verizon Fios 29/30 and you won’t see the latest period drama or superhero origin story. Instead you’ll see regular Philadelphians, on-air and speaking their minds.

They might be talking about local politics on Speak out Philadelphia, singing and dancing on Philly on the Rise, or explaining how they serve the city in Go Philly Service.

All of these shows appear on one of Philadelphia’s two public access stations, which are public channels where anyone can produce their own programming on the cheap, either by submitting completed video or producing a program in the PhillyCAM studio space at  699 Ranstead St. in Old City.

But Philadelphia’s public access channels are at uncertain juncture. As the City enters into talks with Comcast Cable about the terms of its next 15-year cable franchise agreement, the future of public access is up in the air.

What is a cable franchise agreement? It’s a set of terms that a cable provider agrees on with a local government in exchange for running its cables and infrastructure through public lands. Under Federal Communication Commission rules, franchising authorities may require that the cable provider give cable space and sometimes operational funding to local government, schools and the public for programming.

After a long fight spanning nearly three decades, Philadelphians got its public access channels in 2009, nearly a decade after the last cable franchise agreement was passed in 2000.  PhillyCAM, a nonprofit designated by the City to manage the stations, now receives $500,000 each from both Verizon and Comcast annually. The future of that funding is the nonprofit’s most pressing concern going into the negotiations.

“Worst case scenario is that our operating support is cut and that we lose channels,” said Gretjen Clausing, executive director of PhillyCAM.

A Needs Assessment Report released last year by the City outlines some of PhillyCAM’s growing needs. These include making programming available in high definition, creating some on-demand capacity so viewers can watch shows outside of regular scheduling, and upgrading equipment and facilities at the studio.

“We are seeking additional operating support because we’re getting sort of maxed out in what we’re able to do here, and if we had more support, we could go deeper into neighborhoods,” Clausing said. “There are a lot of areas that we’re not reaching.”

The last franchise agreement afforded five public access stations to PhillyCAM, but it is only using two currently due to lack of capacity. With more funding, it could expand into these channels.

“There is not a lot of space for the public to have the opportunity to express themselves with any kind of depth or from their unique perspective,” Clausing said.

“So when you’re looking at things like what has been happening this year in Ferguson and Baltimore, you really can see the importance of having these types of spaces where people can come together and show alternative views and aren’t just narrowed down to sound bites.”

DISCLOSURE: Generocity.org is a PhillyCAM member.