City Policy: Public Access to Receive Fifteen Percent

In 1993, the City of Atlanta passed Ordinance 93-O-1790, which set aside twenty-five percent of cable franchise fees for public access television. However, the ordinance specifies that sixty percent of this fifteen percent shall be allocated to People TV, Inc., the independent non-profit responsible for public access in Atlanta.

• “Sixty percent (60%) of said funds shall be used to fund the operations of People TV, Inc., the independent non-profit responsible for public access in Atlanta, pursuant to an agreement setting out the terms and conditions of such funding,”
• “The remaining forty percent (40%) of the CATV Programming Fund shall be placed in a separate set of accounts and used to fund the City of Atlanta operated, government access channels as determined by the Office of Marketing & Communications,”

According to the ordinance, the City of Atlanta should have allocated 15% of the $1,156,969.27 in cable franchise fees received in 1993 to People TV, Inc. for public access operations, which amounts to $173,545.39.

What Are Cable Franchise Fees?

Cable franchise fees are fees charged by a local government to private cable companies as compensation for using the public right of way. In Georgia, municipalities are entitled to cable franchise fees up to a maximum of five percent of gross revenues derived from the operation of the cable system.

Cable franchise fees are ultimately paid by cable subscribers, not cable companies. For example, if your monthly cable bill is $100, you will be billed an additional $5 as a cable franchise fee.

2020 Audit of Comcast Franchise Fees

In 2020, Atlanta’s Audit Department audited Comcast cable franchise fee payments for the three-calendar year period, 2017-2019. The total revenue received during this period was $16,524,392. According to City of Atlanta Ordinance 93-O-1790, if the funding for People TV, Inc. were calculated at 15% of $16,524,392, it would have totaled $2,478,658. However, the City of Atlanta appropriated only $863,125 to People TV, Inc. for fiscal years 2018 to 2022.

1995 Funding

In January 1995, the City of Atlanta entered into a cable franchise agreement with GCTV Sub 2 Corporation and negotiated a new contract with People TV, Inc. City of Atlanta Resolution 95-R-1346 authorized the mayor to enter an agreement with People TV, Inc. for five years, with an option to renew up to two additional five-year terms. The agreement authorized the cable operator to provide People TV with funding for operations, equipment, and facilities as follows:

500,000 dollars annually, increased quarterly for inflation;

900,000 dollars for initial equipment and facilities renovation;

650,000 dollars for replacement equipment in 1998. The nearly one million dollar capitalization of Atlanta’s public access TV station in 1995 was the last significant investment in the studios, equipment, or software necessary to operate a community television channel and media training facility.

Current Funding Situation

In April 2022, Comcast remitted cable franchise fees for the first quarter of the year, totaling $1,245,594.82 to the City of Atlanta. This exceeds the total franchise fee revenue received for the entire year in 1993. If the City of Atlanta appropriated funding for public access TV operations today as in 1993 based on Ordinance 93-O-1790, People TV, Inc. would receive a quarterly payment of approximately $187,000, instead of the annual payment of $180,000. In short, the City is underfunding People TV per its own policy, by approximately 75 percent. People TV is woefully underfunded also in comparison to other jurisdictions. Washington, DC funds DCTV with $1,849,574 annually in operating support; Cambridge, Massachusetts funds CCTV in the amount of $916,174 annually; and Charlotte/Mecklenburg, North Carolina funds TV Access in the amount of $523,661 annually.