The Cable Television Franchise and Public, Educational, and Government Access Program (CATV) began on July 1, 2020 when it took over program responsibilities from the Marin Telecommunications Agency (MTA).
CATV’s primary obligations include collecting franchise fees and public, educational, and government access fees (“PEG fees”) from cable providers in Marin County, distributing franchise fees to its member agencies, and overseeing its contract with the Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM, the “designated PEG access provider”), which administers the community, educational, and governmental cable channels as well as community media programs and classes.
Members of the CATV Program include the County of Marin and the cities/towns of Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Mill Valley, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, and Tiburon. Unlike many of MGSA’s programs which are funded by member jurisdiction dues, CATV is funded by cable franchise fees. Fees are collected by MGSA, and then what is not needed for Program operations is distributed to member agencies.
Background
The MTA was formed in 1997 to oversee local cable television franchise agreements. In the early years, MTA was considered a potential telecommunications policy and operations oversight agency. In 2006, the State of California passed the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act (“DIVCA”), which eliminated local cable television franchises and created the existing state franchise system. Additional changes to state and federal law have continued to erode local government regulatory control and oversight of telecommunications facilities.
Given the changes at a State and federal level, in 2020 the MTA and MGSA Boards decided that MGSA was able to take on the responsibilities of MTA with fewer financial and human resources and MTA was dissolved as a government entity.
Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM)
MGSA contracts with CMCM, a non-profit, to provide public, educational, and government public access to cable. CMCM provides residents of Marin County with access to communication technologies, media training, and the latest digital tools to create original content for cable TV and online media.
CMCM operates Marin TV, Marin County’s own non-commercial community, educational, and governmental cable channels. Marin TV is available on Comcast (channels 26, 27, & 30) and AT&T U-Verse (channel 99), reaching more than 70,000 Marin households. Marin TV programming is also viewable online via live streams.
CMCM also offers special organizational services and fee-for-service production assistance for schools, non-profits, and government agencies.
Contact Information
View the Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM) Website
Michael Eisenmenger, Executive Director of CMCM
(415) 721-0636
Adam McGill, Executive Officer of MGSA
(415) 798-6073
Quarterly Cable Franchise Fee Payments to Member Jurisdictions and PEG Fee Payments to CMCM
2nd Fiscal Quarter 2024 Franchise Fee Payments
1st Fiscal Quarter 2024 Franchise Fee Payments
1st Fiscal Quarter 2024 PEG Payments
Key Documents
Designated PEG Access Provider (DAP) Agreement
Franchise Agreements: Comcast, AT&T, and Horizon
DIVCA – Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act
PEG Public, Educational, and Government Access Fee Ordinance
Historical MTA Board Meeting Materials – Agendas, Staff reports, and Minutes are archived with MGSA. Please email MGSA at mgsastaff@marinjpas.org for copies or questions.