Public-access television is the availability of one or more television channels to the general public. This includes the availability of broadcast, equipment to tape and record, studio, and staff. The channel is generally managed by a local cable broadcasting company and is considered one of the greatest displays of the First Amendment Rights from the Constitution as the cable company cannot screen what is broadcast on the channel.
Public Access Television is often associated or grouped with similar access television stations including educational, and government. The types of programs are commonly called PEG for short. Each category displays its own type of shows. For example, Public Access has programs that are generally focused on politics and religion.
Educational Access is focused on educating the community, whether through upcoming events or broadcasting educational programs. Finally, Government Access broadcasts upcoming elections or political events for the local and State government, while allowing local officials to use the channel as well. This service is great as it keeps the community connected on each of these three very distinct yet important issues.
It is quite evident, when examining the evolution of mass media, that media privileges were never in favor of the working or common man. As the mass media grew in society it became more and more restricted to the very elite of American society. Some quote the first ever documentary “Nanook of the North” as the initial interaction the public had with television. This is because Robert J. Flaherty allowed Nanook to have say in some of the directing of the documentary.
However, what is better stated as the development of Public-Access Television is the attempt by New York’s own Fred Friendly, a television advisor to the Ford foundation and the chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Task Force on CATV and Telecommunications. In 1968 Friendly wrote a report advising the creation of two channels set aside by cable companies for use by the public for a small fee.
In 1970, controversy emerged as other influential figures argued that the fee restricted the use of the channels by minorities. However, the fee was soon dropped as a requirement and two companies, the Sterling Information Services and the Teleprompter corporations signed the agreement, listing four channels available for use, two for the government and two for the public.
In July 1971, a year after signing the contract, public-access television went live for the first time in the United States in Manhattan, NY. The potential audience was estimated at around 80,000, the number viewers subscribed for cable in Manhattan. Shortly after launching, public-access television was broadcasting approximately 200 hours of programs per week.
An influential figure in the planning programs and raising awareness of this public service was Theadora Sklover. One of her most famous quotes regarding the creation of this service describes that their “biggest problem lies in informing the public that they can go on television…. People are used to thinking of TV as something someone else does, not as something they do.”
This highlights a key aspect of public-access television that not many people knew about its services. As part of her efforts, Sklover contacted members of the community and created local cable committees where people were trained to use video equipment. She recruited over 200 professional producers, directors, writers, camera specialists, and technicians who volunteered their services to train local members of the community.
In the same year, a man by the name of George Stoney founded the AMC, the American Media Center at New York University. This is considered to be the biggest stepping stone for public-access television with Stoney as the godfather. The creation of AMC allowed citizens the opportunity to raise concerns and fix conflicts they had with local political leaders. AMC also founded the Federation of Local Cable Programmers (FCC), which has been a very important public access advocacy organization.
Since the 1970s, public access television has grown to be included not just in the United States and Canada, but in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia.