PEG Programmers Hope Indie Inquiry Is First Step in IPG Channel Listings Fix

Cable subscribers often can't see public, educational and governmental channel listings on their interactive program guides (IPG), PEG allies have said. The programmers hope the FCC inquiry into that and other issues faced by independent and diverse programmers (see 1602180044) translates into some kind of tangible agency or lawmaker action on the problem. But action is unlikely this year given other FCC priorities, such as the set-top box proceeding, said President Mike Wassenaar of PEG channel advocacy group Alliance for Community Media. "Hopefully it plants a seed for the next administration."

Lack of channel and program information on IPGs means far more difficulty finding programs and setting DVRs to record, NATOA President Steve Traylor said. "It's not a bells-and-whistles kind of situation, it's like tires for your car," he said. "If you can't tell your viewers what's on and when it's on, that really handicaps services for your community."

Both PEGs and the cable industry agree a fix is doable, though not easy. "Is it because the [cable] provider doesn't want to be hassled with it? Perhaps," Traylor said, saying that causes PEG frustration: "Folks throw up their hands over it and say, 'Why can't we be listed like everyone else?'"

"We don't think there are technical reasons," Wassenaar agreed, adding the cable industry seems more focused on "maximizing commercial relationships" than local communities' programming. Stifling viewership also would lead to cable companies having a stronger position at carriage contract negotiations for PEG concessions such as demanding the return of some capacity, he said.

While cable companies surely face logistics complications dealing with dozens or more PEG programmers in a state, they aren't insurmountable, especially since cable should be providing PEG and commercial programmers with commensurate platforms, said Eric Dresser, executive director of Cape Cod's Hingham Community Access & Media. The next major telecom or cable bill hopefully will include legislation on the PEG IPG issue, Dresser said. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn spearheaded the indie programming notice of inquiry, which singled out IPG issues as a particular question for PEG programmers to address. She didn't comment.

The hyperlocal nature of PEG programming is why the programmers' channel program guide information is handled differently, NCTA said in a filing last week in the indie programming NOI docket, 16-41. Providing specific program titles for each PEG channel "would necessitate providing each franchise area within each county with its own dedicated channel map, NCTA said, and that would mean "significant -- and costly -- changes to the typical system architecture." NCTA also said FCC rules don't govern provision of PEG channels anyway; so addressing IPG matters is best done "in the context of specific local operations, rather than in the context of any FCC rulemaking."

Cox Communications buys guide services from a third party, and programming guide information "crosses jurisdictional boundaries because commercial channels have a single line-up for a market or region," it told us in a statement. "In places where a single PEG channel covers an entire market, we have connected the PEG programmer to the company that aggregates guide information from various programmers and sells it to video distributors like Cox. But in most cases PEG channels are programmed by individual jurisdictions, such as a town or school district, and each has a different programming lineup. We have encouraged PEG programmers to work together to build the same programming lineups across all jurisdictions, but that cooperation is difficult to accomplish." Other cable companies, including Charter Communications, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which is being bought by Charter, didn't comment. Third-party IPG companies, including Rovio and Tribune Digital, also didn't comment.

Not all PEGs nationwide have IPG problems, PEG officials and allies said. They said some locales have good relationships with cable companies that see their information included on IPGs, but other locales have much harder times. Often in communities with strong relationships between the local franchise authority and the local cable provider, "the thing is just done," Wassenaar said. Conversely, in communities with state franchise authorities, "there's no one to negotiate anything with anybody," he said. Traylor agreed local franchise authorities and local control often lead to better relationships with cable providers that address the IPG issue. Conversely, he said, cable now operating under a presumed effective competition regime (see 1506020060) which result in the problem worsening.

The problem isn't new to the FCC, with PEG organizations raising many similar complaints specifically directed at AT&T's U-verse in a 2009 petition (see 0902020147) and echoing them in criticizing AT&T's now-approved takeover of DirecTV (see 1409180017). "I think the complaint will outlive U-verse," Wassenaar said. He said feedback from the FCC indicated the agency, while sympathetic, doesn't necessarily have a way to address it.