Section 36-76-8. Public, educational, and governmental programming under a state franchise

   (a) No later than 12 months after receipt of a written request by a municipal or county governing authority, the holder of a state franchise shall designate capacity in its network to allow for the airing of noncommercial PEG programming required by this Code section.

(b) (1) Subject to the usage criteria 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) Any PEG channel capability provided pursuant to this Code section that does not comply with the usage criteria 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.

(c) Upon request by a municipality or county that does not have an activated PEG channel, the state franchise holder shall provide access to one nonexclusive PEG channel for the purpose of providing public, educational, and government programming. This nonexclusive channel shall be available as an additional option to municipalities and counties and shall not eliminate the requirements of subsection (b) of this Code section.

(d) In the event that the provision of video service and cable service is federally mandated to be digitally provided, the franchise holder shall be entitled to satisfy the PEG obligations by locating the channels on any channel provided in the basic subscription service offered by the provider.

(e) Municipalities, counties, and cable service providers and video service providers shall cooperate in the sharing of channel capacity to provide PEG access for municipalities and counties served by the cable service provider or video service provider.

(f) The holder of a state franchise shall designate capacity on its system sufficient to allow the provision of the same number of PEG access channels that a municipal or county governing authority has activated under the incumbent service provider's franchise agreement as of January 1, 2008.

(g) The operation of any PEG access channel provided pursuant to this Code section and the production of programming thereon, including all capital costs and costs of production, shall be the responsibility of the municipality or the county receiving the benefit of such channel, and the holder of a state franchise shall only have the responsibility to transmit such channel to subscribers. If the holder elects not to seek interconnection with the incumbent under subsection (i) of this Code section or if the incumbent service provider and the holder of a state franchise cannot reach mutual agreement on interconnection terms, the holder of a state franchise shall be responsible for providing one location of connectivity to each PEG access channel up to the first 200 feet from the holder's activated wireline video programming distribution facility located in the holder's designated service area.

(h) The municipality or the county shall ensure that all transmissions of content and programming provided by or arranged by them to be transmitted over a PEG channel by a holder of a state franchise are provided and submitted to the cable service provider or video service provider in a manner or form that is capable of being accepted and transmitted by such cable service provider or video service provider over its system without further alteration or change in the content or transmission signal and which is compatible with the technology or protocol utilized by the cable service provider or video service provider to deliver its cable services or video services. The provision of PEG content to the cable service provider or video service provider shall constitute authorization for such cable service provider or video service provider to carry such content on the PEG channel of the municipality or county including, at the cable service provider or video service provider's option, providing such content beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of the municipality or county to the extent permitted by federal law.

(i) Where technically feasible, the holder of a state franchise and an incumbent service provider shall use reasonable efforts to interconnect their systems on mutually acceptable and reasonable terms for the purpose of providing PEG programming. Interconnection may be accomplished by direct cable microwave link, satellite, or other reasonable method of connection. Holders of a state franchise and incumbent service providers shall not unreasonably withhold interconnection of PEG channels.

(j) A holder of a state franchise shall not be required to interconnect for or otherwise transmit commercial PEG programming content or PEG content that is branded with the logo, name, or other identifying marks of another cable service provider or video service provider, and a municipality or county may require a cable service provider or video service provider to remove its logo, name, or other identifying marks from PEG content that is to be made available to another provider.

Code 1981, § 36-76-8, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 719, § 1/HB 227.