ACTION ALERT: THE FCC IS PROPOSING RULES THAT WOULD REDUCE OR TAKE AWAY FUNDING FOR PUBLIC ACCESS!
We need you to Take Action and make your voices heard to the FCC!
On September 24th the FCC voted to change the rules on how cable franchise fees are calculated. The new rules would allow all "cable-related, in-kind contributions," other than PEG capital costs and build out requirements, to be treated as "franchise fees."
This means the city of Philadelphia would lose much of its income from the cable franchise fees which would result in a big drop in the amount of funding PhillyCAM receives from the city to provide Public Access TV programs.
The franchise agreement money given to PhillyCAM by the city allows us to facilitate community access to equipment, affordable media production classes, and platforms to distribute local non-commercial programming. If these rules are adopted by the FCC it will put at risk critical funding for Public Access stations like PhillyCAM.
Before adopting new rules and regulations the FCC invites the public to give comments on their proposed new policies. This means we have the opportunity to tell the FCC how these proposed rules would negatively impact Public Access stations like PhillyCAM. That is why we must TAKE ACTION and MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!
What can you do to help?
FILE COMMENTS with the FCC opposing the proposed new rules.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/savepcam and file an express comment on the FCC website opposing the proposed new rules for cable franchise fees.
Comments are due on or before December 14, 2018.
Instructions for filing comments:
- Go to the URL above for the FCC's express comments form.
- Write in 05-311 in the "Proceeding" part of the form.
- Enter your name and contact information.
- In the "Brief Comments" part of the form tell the FCC who you are, why we need funding for public access, and how PhillyCAM has positively impacted you.
- Continue to review screen and submit comments.
Share information on social media regarding the proposed rulemaking using the hashtag #SaveCommunityMedia and tag @PhillyCAM