URGENT ACTION
NEEDED --- PLEASE SEND THIS LETTER IMMEDIATELY
((((Cut and Paste into a new email to the addresses of State Representatives and Senators
who are considering an amendment to 2006 PA 480 regarding PEG channels)))
-------Letter
template for subscribers to adapt and send to their State Senators and State Representatives----
January 4, 2008
State Senator/State Representative
Lansing office
Dear Senator / Representative:
400,000 Michigan Comcast
cable subscribers will no longer be able to view their public, educational and government access channels should a plan go
through to move these channels to a place on the lineup requiring subscribers to rent a digital cable set-top box or
purchase equipment with digital tuners for each television set in the home.
I would like to extend our
community’s wholehearted support and enthusiastic appreciation to you for your consideration of supporting proposed
legislation amending the Michigan Uniform Video Services Local Franchise Act to keep our public access, educational and government
(PEG) access channels at current positions on our cable dial.
Prior to enactment of the
Public Act 480, communities crafted mutually beneficial local franchise agreements with cable providers
to maintain local control, preserve mutual benefits therein, and keep our channels at their current locations--positions
that the local PEG channels have enjoyed for more than 25 years. An unintended consequence of Public Act
480 has stripped those legal agreements and given video providers, in some cable providers' view, the authority
to move PEG channels without prior approval of municipalities, townships and villages.
In addition to requiring basic
tier customers to obtain a digital converter box to view PEG programming, we believe that Comcast’s planned channel
mov, originally set for Jan. 15, 2008, would result in added costs, inconvenience and confusion with respect to viewers,
your constituents, who wish to view PEG programming. We believe this measure negatively affects poor, elderly
and socio-economically challenged residents.
Upon learning of the
planned channel moves, numerous communities' councils and boards across the state of Michigan approved resolutions requesting the preservation of existing channel locations for PEG channels. The
resolution also asks video providers to agree that the channels will not be changed in the future without the written consent
of the government entity or entities that provide programming on the affected channels. The resolution also asks the legislature
to immediately amend Public Act 480.
I respectfully ask you
to support proposed legislation to preserve PEG channel access.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Address
