As we move forward over the next few years, communications and our society in general, seems destined to evolve in a wide variety of ways. The nature of this evolution will be guided by its participants. It appears that Public Access, Educational and Governmental media centers will have an opportunity to play an increasingly important role.

With the birth of the PEG channel came the promise of locally created and distributed media, pertinent to individual communities… a medium by and for the people. While the grand vision is still in its relatively early stages even after several decades of existence, the importance and breadth of its influence are about to come of age.

Even though PEG media has been hampered by a historic lack of proper funding, the quality and quantity of programming produced is phenomenal! Those of us that have worked in this community not only learned the mysteries of video production, but also received an invaluable education in economics… and prudent business practices. Tasked with daunting goals and very limited resources, we quickly learned how to “make a silk purse from a sow’s ear”… (along with many novel uses for bailing wire and chewing gum.) When faced with project goals and budgets that would make a commercial production company cringe, PEGs boldly plow ahead with a “can-do” attitude that has become one of the cornerstones of the community.

Media Consolidation
The last decade has seen an amazing consolidation of broadcast television, radio and newspaper ownership. Five companies now control the vast majority of these outlets. Combined with economic and technological pressures, the challenge of creating pertinent, locally-oriented media via these old means has never been greater. Cost and regulatory barriers of entry have long since severely limited new diversity via broadcast distribution. Even access to available cable channels for media distribution has taken a somewhat alarming tone in the last two to three years.

Media Needs

Public Access
The rising need for locally-pertinent programming and the lack of alternative traditional media sources create a notable void that must, and will be filled. Where can one find detailed local news? High school sports, arts, entertainment, health, fitness… etc., all lack an appropriate showcase venue. Nature abhors a vacuum!

Educational
The educational community has been faced with a growing set of challenges for many years. The current administration has stated that education will be a top national priority in an effort to address its varied operational and systemic problems. This change in policy should help struggling educational channels and has the potential to boost television and online learning solutions.

Governmental
We are now entering into a long-overdue trend toward increased governmental transparency and accountability. These powerful themes are taking root both nationally and locally and will blossom into enhanced public awareness and participation… with the potential to dramatically transform our future.

The Solution
When we combine these needs with the experience / expertise of public access, educational and governmental media personnel, we find a “perfect storm-type” scenario. The entire PEG community is uniquely positioned to help address these challenges in a wide variety of ways!

P) Public Access facilities have the potential to efficiently fill the void in local programming in ways that broadcast media cannot… or will not. Seasoned television, radio and newspaper reporters now fill the job and retired market, creating a vast national wealth of available talent and experience. Many Public Access facilities are underused and can spring to life given the opportunity. These facilities have the capability to fill the void in local media. Online television and radio technologies can now provide the depth and breadth of community, sports and special interest news… even entertainment… for a small fraction of the cost of traditional distribution.

E) The creation and distribution of quality media and programming must be a large part of any educational reform. The sharing of high-quality information via video has been (and will continue to be) an integral part of any efficient educational program. Many schools now have powerful production capabilities and excellent student and staff talent. They have simply lacked a coordinated creation and distribution program. The next few years will likely see a revolution in education, and electronic media will play a pivotal role.

G) Video programming is one of the best tools to demystify the workings of government, engaging our representatives and citizens as never before. On-demand Internet access to specific segments of public meetings and hearings has elevated community awareness to new heights. This technology is being increasingly implemented nationally and provides a whole new dimension of government transparency and participation. As our citizens become more involved, government programming will lead the charge.

How Do We Fund It?
Certainly, to realize these potentials, PEGs must become an ever-increasing segment of local media creation and distribution. Hopefully, additional support from government and viewers will be forthcoming, making the necessary growth and enhancement possible. However, such support may or may not arrive in a timely manner or in adequate levels.

To deal with compressed budgets and expanded goals, some PEGs are investigating support/sponsorship opportunities. Local groups and businesses are prime potential supporters. Some PEGs are considering dedicated “Supporter” web pages that make viewers aware of local groups that provide funding for their channel(s). As novel ways are developed which include such supporters within a PEG’s website and/or productions, the long-standing budget challenge may be alleviated.

Consider the current advertising challenges of local business. Where can a local restaurant, tire store, hardware store or service company afford to advertise today? Newspaper readership is down, yet prices are up. Radio and broadcast television advertising may or may not reach the targeted audience… and typically exceeds most budgets. Local businesses are desperate for a cost-effective advertising solution! If we combine this need with the blossoming national consumer movement to ”buy local” in order to support our communities with commerce, we find a growing, receptive audience and sponsors.

Access to Programming
Historically, a PEG’s viewing audience has been limited to local community members with cable television. The growing popularity of direct-to-home, satellite-delivered programming has eliminated a sizable portion of cable and PEG audiences. Though viewers of broadcast television never had access to most PEG offerings, the advent of DTV may attract even more viewers away from cable and PEG as a cost-saving alternative.

As cable includes more and more HDTV programming, we are seeing cable’s bandwidth limitations start to squeeze out some standard-definition programming. In this light, the cable companies seem keen to recover the bandwidth and channels allocated to PEG channels. AT&T’s U-verse approach is one of the first examples. By combining all community PEG channels onto channel 99, with individual stations available there for selection, AT&T can recover some much-needed bandwidth and many channel slots. Watch for similar solutions to be implemented on other cable systems, once AT&T proves the technique successful.

Fortunately, even as the size of potential cable audiences is decreasing, the Internet provides access to PEG programming to the entire online world. The expense of Internet media streaming has been reduced by over 80% in the last 10-years. The increase in potential audience size and participation far outweighs the almost-negligible cost of Internet distribution. Streaming media adds the convenience of on-demand programming, plus the ability to search and access specific program segments via indexing. In addition, the Internet delivers a much larger potential audience than any broadcast station!

Over the next few years, PEGs will have an opportunity (and perhaps, the responsibility) to become the centers for local media creation and distribution. There’s a media revolution in the wind… and the dawning of a new age. I’m sure the PEG community is up to the challenge!

Photo: Sunrise…Sunset? courtesy of Andrew Larsen

Cliff Johnson is the founder and CEO of EarthChannel and one of the pioneers in digital streaming media. PEGChannels.org is honored that agreed to be our first guest author and contribute an article for us.

For more information on Cliff and his company EarthChannel, visit them online at http://earthchannel.com