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The Cable Franchise Board is a board of public works, which “shall exercise all authority and responsibility” established by the Cable TV Ordinance, Chapter 851 of the City Code. This ordinance “should facilitate and encourage orderly and responsible development of systems which will provide the people of the city with cable programming services which are versatile, reliable and efficient, which are responsive to the needs and interests of the community; and which provide the widest possible diversity of information sources and services to the public.”
The Cable Franchise Board is responsible for overseeing its administrative arm and the designated Local Franchise Authority (LFA), the Cable Communications Agency, which is headed by Rick Maultra. The Board’s authority includes regulating rates as allowed by law, monitoring cable franchise contract compliance including payment of franchise fees, negotiating franchise agreements, renewing franchise agreements, facilitating public, education and government (PEG) access TV, and establishing and enforcing cable TV customer service standards. The Board oversees a significant non-tax source of revenue to the City, as it negotiates the franchise fees cable operators pay for using public rights-of-way to lay their cable. The franchise fees are expected to reach approximately $7.5 million in 2005. The Board is also responsible for advising local government in the formulation and implementation of policies related to - Cable communications;
- Public, education and government (PEG) access issues; and
- Maximizing related civic participation and input
In addition, the Board is authorized to advise and assist in - The formulation of policies for the appropriation of funding for PEG access television, including content creation, production facilities, and “education of the public;” and
- The “creation of a nonprofit public, educational and governmental access corporation to promote and develop maximum community involvement in and use of cable television for public, educational and governmental and other nonprofit purposes and to administer use of access channels.”
Whenever the Cable Franchise Board has an issue that goes beyond the authority of the Cable Communications Agency or the Board, including questions of public policy, the issue may be referred to the Rules and Public Policy Committee of the City County Council. Board Membership The five members of the Cable Franchise Board are appointed to staggered two-year terms. Two members of the Board are appointed by the Mayor, and three members of the Board are appointed by the City-County Council. One of the Council’s appointees serves as Chair of the Board. The current members appointed by the Council are Peter Blum (Chair), Kent Burrow and Beth Harriman; Daniel Lynch and Robin Winston are the Mayor's appointees. Chair Peter Blum is profiled in the current issue of The Right-of-Way and the other members will be profiled in future issues. Meetings The Cable Franchise Board holds a monthly public meeting during which there is an opportunity for public comment at the end of each meeting. A number of monthly reports are presented during these meetings, including programming and in-kind services reports from the government access and education access channels. The Cable Communications Agency reports on all relevant cable-related issues such as FCC rate filings, customer complaints, and franchise fee audits. Both Indianapolis cable operators, Bright House Networks and Comcast, give monthly reports that include information on the numbers and types of subscribers, customer service metrics, system outages, and complaints. These meetings are usually held on the third Monday of each month, and two meetings a year are usually held in the evening to facilitate public participation. Andrea Price is Board President of Public Access of Indianapolis, Inc. Additional Resources Cable Franchise Board meeting minutes Cable Franchise Agreements Cable Operator Reports Cable Communications Agency Reports Government Access TV (WCTY, Channel 16, and Government TV-2) Reports FCC's Cable TV Customer Service Obligations by the Buske Group |
