For example, the cable access agreement for your community may require the cable company to provide a studio for television production, access to video cameras and portable equipment, and access to instruction on how to produce cable television shows. Some companies provide intensive training for individuals seeking to be certified access producers, and then those individuals may use the company s equipment to produce programming to be aired on the public access channel. Cable programming can be a fun, inexpensive, and powerful way to reach the community. For example, debates for local offices could be filmed and disseminated through the cable public access channel. Discussions about matters of public concern, such as a school board referendum or expansion of a highway could be aired through the cable access channel.
Citizens are free to disseminate all kinds of noncommercial information on the cable channel.
With one exception, the cable operator is not allowed to exert editorial control over the contents of this programming. The company may screen the video to ensure that it is for noncommercial purposes and that it does not contain obscenity, the one restriction on content that cable operators may enforce. Cable companies may also have regulations dictating the procedures for using cable television to air your program. Several communities have organized cable consortiums to procure better cable service for cable subscribers and their results have been remarkable. For example, these groups have managed to reduce the time a subscriber is placed on hold when calling a cable service operator or the time in which the cable company has to respond to a subscriber s complaint.