Since 2005 I have been asking the above question. The reason that this issue resonates with me is because I moved here from Alexandria, VA where I was involved with the public access operation in Fairfax County, Virginia (www.fcac.org). Down there they have a facility where private citizens can not only produce cable television content, but they can also learn the latest editing software and much more. Fairfax County is able to provide this service because their County government collects the franchise fee from Cox Cable. Here is an example that is a bit closer to home. Did you know that Carroll County has a public access television facility? Check them out at www.carrollmediacenter.org to learn more. Their operation is almost completely funded by the collection of the franchise fee. I know this because I spoke to two of their Executive Directors.
What is a franchise fee? Good question…Every municipality in the United States has the right to charge a cable operator, which in our case is Comcast, a franchise fee of no more than 5% of that operator’s annual gross revenue. This is according to the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, Title IV, Part III, Section 622. So, not only can the municipality charge the cable provider no more than 5%, but that provider can then pass that cost on to the customer.
Dear Subversive reader, if you live in the City of Frederick (not the County) and if you are a Comcast Cable Television customer, do what you have to do to look at your Comcast itemized monthly bill. Do you see a line item that says, “Franchise Fee”? Is that amount about $5.00? If you do, that means that the City of Frederick is charging Comcast the fee and Comcast is passing a portion of that cost to you. That is Comcast’s cost of doing business within the borders of the City of Frederick. How many Frederick City Comcast subscribers do you think that there are? How much revenue do you think that the City of Frederick collects from Comcast every year? Ok…so, if the City of Frederick collects the fee and if there is not actual public access television facility…Where does that revenue go? The General Fund? I dunno…
I’m cautiously optimistic that this money is probably going to something meaningful, like trash pickup or snow removal. Maybe it’s going to fund the future bulk trash pickup program.
I literally have no idea.
What I do know is that every time I have this conversation with someone, they inevitably say something like, “If you want to shoot a video, just use YouTube.” Yes, the internet is the future of media and public access television seems to be a relic of the 1970s and 80s. However, who is providing the internet to you? My guess is that it’s probably Comcast. The irony is overwhelming.
If you want to see what we have for public access (after you have checked out the above two websites that I provided) go to Channel 99 and see what we have. That’s it ladies and gentlemen.
The City of Frederick seems to enjoy the use of volunteer citizens for committees, ad hoc work groups, working groups…etc. Therefore, here is my honest opinion…of which I have a few. This may be a bit of a curve ball, but just open your mind and take this journey with me…
The City of Frederick, which seems to be in the throes of a reflective analysis of its artistic vision for the City, should use a portion of the collected franchise fee to upgrade the Weinberg Center for the Arts. Upgrade the projection system to a state of the art 4K system and upgrade the sound system. Then, get the rights to play first-run independent films. Is there any legal reason that would suggest that those collected funds cannot be used for this purpose? I would guess that our area restaurants as well as the organizers of the 72 Hour Film Fest would support this idea. If you look at the Weinberg’s calendar, you will see plenty of room for film programming. This is but one example of how the City of Frederick can truly support the Arts.
The City of Frederick has a Public Art Committee which only meets in reaction to some sort of request, which is almost never. Why not act as a more proactive group which can intelligently look into the prospect of a Weinberg Center upgrade? Isn’t the Weinberg somehow connected to the City? The Weinberg is literally on the City’s website.
I have nothing against The Terminator or Waiting for Guffman, but I believe that the Weinberg is positioned to make a make a significant impact in the Arts by showing first-run independent films and that will require an upgrade. I cannot be the first one to suggest this.
-Dewey Stewart
