Charter Cable’s (Spectrum) application to merge with Cox Cable to create the nation’s largest cableco is in front of the last regulator that needs to approve the transaction – California’s Public Utilities Commission.
The CPUC has now issued two proposed decisions approving the merger with significant mitigations. Among them are significant relief for governmental, educational and public access cable stations (PEG), which are community benefits mandated by the 1984 Cable Act.
The public benefit channels have suffered greatly from the replacement of local franchising with statewide franchising and nonexistent enforcement of funding and transmission requirements.
But those days may be coming to an end in California. Media Alliance intervened in the merger proceeding to represent the interests of the public channels. And it was a very successful intervention.
Both proposed decisions provide for the following:
- Injunctive relief requiring listing of the non-commercial channels in channel and navigation guides in an equilateral manner to that provided for commercial channels.
- Injunctive relief requiring broadcast of noncommercial content in high definition when the cableco receives it in high definition
- Injunctive relief immediately terminating invoicing of noncommercial stations for broadcast services
- An audit of all public benefit channels in the merged companies signal area and the services they are receiving.
An additional proceeding R.23-004-006 is examining customer service standards for the cablecos and may be poised to expand the terms of injunctive relief statewide later this year.
Below are copies of the testimony and briefs we filed as an intervenor to secure these mitigations.