Public Access Funding Future Highlighted At San Jose Conference

By Gary Martin

Executive Director, Access Sacramento

Funding for access centers in California is complicated. In the next several years, it likely will become even more complex according to experts at the Alliance for Community Media - Western Region Conference in San Jose last weekend.

By 2017, many of the rules about how cable TV non-profit organizations like Access Sacramento are funded will need to be reviewed and renewed. Now is the time to prepare.

Here's an easy lesson. All the money to support community access centers comes as a direct fee on your cable bill. The money pays for Public, Educational and Government (PEG) channels and in our area is allocated by the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission.

The primary fund can be computed as 5% of your cable bill and is called a Franchise Fee. It's a rental payment for permission to use the right of way when Sacramento County's cable companies, Comcast, SureWest and AT&T U-Verse, connect wires to your home as a way to distribute programming to their subscribers.

Most of this money is unrestricted, so politicians on the Commission give it back to the cities and county to repair roads and provide essential services like police and fire.

The Commission also allocates a small portion of that fund to televise government meetings, to televise for-credit educational classes or to pay for other public access expenses like salaries and the operational costs of running cable channels 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18.

A second fund, the PEG Access Fee, is worth an additional 1% of the cable bill and must be spent to support community access centers and specific equipment or leases defined as "capital expenses."

Both of these funds come from DIVCA: the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act.

This law was passed in 2006 and was envisioned to smooth the transition as telephone companies maneuvered to also begin delivering video services, just like cable companies who had begun offering telephone services.

Prior to DIVCA, local cable companies negotiated with local government to get permission to lay cable to your home, tailoring services to the needs of the local community. After DIVCA, the law tried to tried to mold a "one size fits all" approach with a "statewide" cable franchise agreement.

The law has resulted in the death of more than 50 community media centers in California since DIVCA, Assembly Bill 2987 was approved.

The main reason is the restriction on PEG Access Fee funding to only capitol costs. After DIVCA passed, many public access centers were provided with PEG Access dollars only, but no Franchise Fee dollars.

The result: no staff to buy nor manage the use of the equipment, to handle playback of programming or provide training classes--so the center died--and the community's voice on issues of public importance disappeared.

However, Access Sacramento has great support from the politicians on our commission who decide how to allocate Franchise Fee and PEG Access Fee dollars. This allows us to have the staff and resources to create great programs for Sacramento County like Hometown TV parades and concerts, election debates and community forums, and Game of the Week.

By 2017 though, the politicians, and possibly the courts, will be involved significantly in the future funding rules for Public, Educational and Government cable channels. Information sharing is the start as we work hard to continue to maintain a strong community voice in Sacramento County.

The Alliance for Community Media conference in San Jose provided great information and opportunities for networking with other PEG supporters from all over California.

Thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Access Sacramento's mission: making a difference, one voice at a time.

By Will James

Access Sacramento

Heavy drama is rapidly developing in the power-laden Delta River League, where Access Sacramento is focused on contending teams charging down the home stretch of the regular season; including Friday's key Jesuit vs. Sheldon match-up on the Home Town Sports Game-of-the-Week as part of the frantic dash toward the upcoming Sac-Joaquin Section Football Playoffs.

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. On Access Sacramento, Comcast / SureWest Cable Ch. 17 and AT&T U-Verse Ch. 99.  It's streamed live on the web from AccessSacramento.org Push Watch 17.

The current CIF playoff structure automatically awards two playoff berths to each conference, then disperses 24 additional at-large berths based on team records and strength of schedules.  This puts teams in the powerful Delta River League in a major bind.

Four of the top 11 teams in the latest "Dimino's Dozen" high school football rankings -- #1 Folsom, #2 Pleasant Grove, #5 Oak Ridge, and #11 Jesuit -- all play in the Delta River League.

The two automatic bids will be awarded to Folsom and Pleasant Grove, which remain undefeated, tied for the top spot, and destined to meet in a dramatic #1 vs. #2 confrontation in Week-10 to determine the DRL championship.  5th-ranked Oak Ridge and #11 Jesuit remain in the hunt for an at-large berth.

As a result, visiting Jesuit (1-2, 6-2) is in a must-win situation to enhance the attraction at-large consideration.  Despite last week's tough 28-23 loss to Pleasant Grove, Marlon Blanton's Marauders remain a top-notch ball club.  QB Jason Elenberger is a versatile run/pass playmaker, and RBs Ben Parietti and Beau Bisharat lead a potent ground attack.

Sheldon may have other ideas. Herbie Berry's upset-minded Huskies (0-3, 3-5) have run the brutal DRL gauntlet against the best teams in the area. They are not in the playoff hunt and have no pressure on them as do the Marauders. Moreover, the Huskies have firepower that commands respect. QB Nolan Merker has passed for 25 touchdowns and more than 2000 yards for an offense that averages 30 points per game.

The Christian Brothers Falcons went on the road to Fair Oaks to meet up with the Del Campo Cougars in a Capital Valley Conference match- up. The game ended in a grand fashion with a score of 38-36.

Access Sacramento's Will James and Jim Dimino narrate video highlights. See the video here: Game of the Week. 

The game started off a little rough with turnovers coming from both teams leaving the first quarter of the game scoreless.

Christian Brothers, C. Mitchell-Ford runs the ball for a touchdown.

Del Campo, Austin Brown uses his offensive line to score a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, the game play started to heat up. The DC Cougars was down two touchdowns, when running back, Austin Brown scored to bring the cougars within a touchdown after the extra point kick.

Romeo Lopez catches a pass during the fourth quarter.

However, the Christian Brothers Kicker  Hayden Jones hits a 27-yard field goal after a well-organized drive from the Cougar's Offense to win the game, 38-36.

Are you in the mood for a really cool band you can sing along to? If so, Whiskey & Stitches is for you. This band has 6 very talented members and they will not let you down. James Wilson rocks the mandolin while Steve MooreWeathers jams on the accordion along with traditional rock instruments including drums played by Jay Raney and guitar and vocals by Mike McCarrick and Pete Barker and Doug Vincent on the bass. Their music is a mix of punk and Irish mixed together.

For more information about Whiskey & Stitches log on to www.WhiskeyandStitches.com

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Audio expert David Losko

Audio experts David Losko and Greg Agalsoff will talk about how to get great sound in pre-through-post production.  We'll look at post-production sound effects and music and how to record on-location audio. Dave will review how to fix audio problems in post, show us a few plugins that enhance audio, and we'll look at true audio levels compared to what your meters show.  

Cinematographer Tim Walton

Photoshop Tricks in Your Video Production with Tim Walton, "Bringing Photos Alive".  Have you ever seen a 2-dimensional photograph in a program in which it looks like the camera is moving freely through the photo?  Believe it or not, the effect is relatively easy to master. Tim will show how to use this surprisingly simple 3d trick and present other tips to bring 2d photos and illustrations alive.