House Bill 346
By: Representatives Parsons of the 44th, Carson of the 46th, Seabaugh of the 34th, and Barton
of the 5th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 76 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
expedited franchising of cable and video services, so as to prohibit municipalities and
counties from using public, educational, and governmental programing (PEG) channels for
political purposes; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 76 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to expedited
franchising of cable and video services, is amended in Code Section 36-76-8, relating to
public, educational, and governmental programming under a state franchise, by revising
subsection (b) as follows:
"(b)(1) Subject to the usage criteria <ins>and restrictions</ins> set forth in this subsection, a
municipal or county governing authority that does not have PEG access channels
activated under the incumbent service provider's franchise agreement as of January 1,
2008, may request a sufficient amount of capacity on its network to support up to three
PEG channels for a municipality in this state having a population of 50,000 or more
according to the United States decennial census of 2000 or any future such census or an
unincorporated area of a county which is located in a county in this state having a
population of 50,000 or more according to the United States decennial census of 2000 or
any future such census or up to two PEG channels for a municipality in this state having
a population of 50,000 or less according to the United States decennial census of 2000
or any future such census or an unincorporated area of a county which is located in a
county in this state having a population of 50,000 or less according to the United States
decennial census of 2000, and the cable service provider or video service provider shall
designate such sufficient amount of capacity. No cable service provider or video service
provider shall be required to provide more than three PEG access channels on its network
within a municipality or unincorporated area of a county if there does not exist at the time
of the state franchise more than three active PEG channels in such municipality or
unincorporated area of the county.
(2) To qualify for the first PEG channel on the basic or analog tier of service, the written
request of the municipality or county shall include a certification that it has produced at
least 15 hours of nonduplicative original programming for production in the first month
of operation and that the municipality or county shall continue to produce at least 15
hours of nonduplicative original programming for each month that the channel is
provided.
(3) Alternatively, to qualify for the first PEG channel on the basic or analog tier of
service, two or more municipalities or counties may collectively include a certification
that they have produced at least 15 hours of nonduplicative original programming for
production in the first month of operation and that the municipalities or counties shall
continue to produce at least 15 hours of nonduplicative original programming for each
month that the channel is provided.
(4) To qualify for a second PEG channel on the basic or analog tier of service, the
municipality or county shall certify that the first channel is being substantially utilized,
and that upon activation, the second PEG channel shall also be substantially utilized. For
purposes of this subsection, PEG channels shall be considered 'substantially utilized'
when 12 continuous hours of content are programmed on that channel each calendar day.
In addition, at least 75 percent of the 12 hours of programming for each business day over
each calendar quarter, on average, shall be nonduplicative programming. Nonduplicative
programming shall include the first three broadcasts in a day of a meeting of an elected
government body.
(5) To qualify for a third PEG channel, a municipality in this state having a population
of 50,000 or more according to the United States decennial census of 2000 or any future
such census or an unincorporated area of a county which is located in a county in this
state having a population of 50,000 or more according to the United States decennial
census of 2000 or any future such census shall certify that the channel shall be
programmed for at least eight continuous hours of nonduplicative content per day. The
third PEG channel shall only be available on the nonbasic digital tier.
(6) Any municipality or county that has not obtained a second PEG channel on the basic
or analog tier may qualify for a second PEG channel on the nonbasic digital tier by
certifying that the channel shall be programmed for at least eight continuous hours of
nonduplicative content per day.
(7) <ins>No PEG channel capability provided pursuant to this Code section shall be used by
any municipality or county for political purposes, including, but not limited to,
broadcasting partisan political programming or content that is associated with the
campaign of any candidate for public office.
(8)</ins> Any PEG channel capability provided pursuant to this Code section that does not
comply with the usage criteria <ins>and restrictions</ins> set forth in this subsection or is not
substantially utilized by the municipality or county shall no longer be made available
after reasonable notice is provided to the municipality or county but may be programmed
at the franchise holder's discretion. At such time as the municipality or county certifies
to the franchise holder that it shall meet the usage criteria for that particular channel, the
cable service provider or video service provider shall restore the previously lost channel.
However, the franchise holder shall be under no obligation to carry that channel on a
basic or analog tier."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.