Laserfiche WebLink
Page 5 <br />PUBLIC DOCUMENT-TRADE SECRET DATA HAS BEEN EXCISED <br />Proposal for Formal Franchise Renewal <br />December 20, 2013 <br />provide the vendor with detailed program listings for inclusion on the digital <br />channel guide. The costs and labor involved in providing the program <br />information is the responsibility of the NSAC. <br />Further description of PEG access and channel capacity are discussed in <br />Section V. Comcast's objections to the NSCC Staff's demands for more PEG <br />access than what Comcast offers here can be found below in the section titled <br />"Legal Issues and Objections Regarding the Staff Report and RFRP." <br />B. Comcast proposes reasonable PEG financial support based on <br />legal limits, actual needs and interest, and customer impact. <br />The Cable Act provides for "adequate" PEG capital costs. Since 1984, the Cable <br />Act has prohibited LFAs from demanding PEG financial support beyond <br />capital needs (facilities and equipment), and all PEG operating support must be <br />applied toward the 5% franchise fee cap. Section 621(a) (4) of the Cable Act, <br />moreover, only allows an LFA to require "adequate assurance that the cable <br />operator will provide adequate public, educational, and governmental access <br />channel capacity, facilities, or financial support." (Emphasis added.) <br />Buske failed to ask customers about cost. The NSCC and its experts failed to <br />make any effort to determine community willingness to pay for PEG. The <br />Buske Group told participants in its "focus groups" about the many things that <br />Buske believed subscribers could get from the cable company regarding PEG <br />programming. At no time did the Buske Group ask PEG users, cable customers, <br />or community members generally, how much they were willing to pay for PEG <br />programming. <br />Customers do not want to pay anything for PEG programming. Comcast asked <br />customers what they were willing to pay for PEG programming. The median <br />amount that respondents wanted devoted to PEG access was "zero," and they <br />did not place any priority on additional and costly features for PEG <br />programming: <br />• 67% of respondents said making PEG programming in HD format was <br />not important; <br />• 80% of customers said they should not have to pay any amount for <br />HD PEG-access programming; <br />• 63 % of customer said making PEG programming in an on-demand <br />platform was not important. <br />