TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to allocate Public, Education, and Government fee revenue equally among the three categories of cable access providers, each receiving one-third of the total available; and increase appropriations in the General Services Fund (IS 385) and the Technology and Innovation Department (TI) by $1,018,773. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The enactment of the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (DIVCA) marked a major change in the regulation of video service providers in California. Essentially, DIVCA replaced the local franchising process with a State process under the authority of the California Public Utilities Commission. DIVCA changes included the enabling of the PEG fee permitted under the federal Communications Act and the elimination of the requirement that a local cable operator provide Public Access facilities and support.
In September 2007, the City Council adopted an ordinance setting the City’s PEG fee at 1.04 percent of the cable providers’ gross revenue. Under the federal Communications Act, the fee is required to be used to support PEG channel facilities and is restricted to be used for spending on capital items. The fees cannot be used for operational expenses such as staffing. If PEG funding is used for any activity other than purchasing capital items, the local cable/video providers may deduct that amount from franchise fee payments made to the City.
PEG Fee Revenue Allocation
On August 18, 2015, the City Council approved equal distribution of 2014 PEG revenue to all three-cable access categories: Public (“P”), Long Beach Community Action Partnership (LBCAP) that operates Public Access television (PADNET); Education (“E”), California State University Long Beach, Long Beach City College, and Long Beach Unified School District; and Government (“G”), City access channel, LBTV. The City has received reports from the recipients on how the funds were spent and has determined that the expe...
Click here for full text