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from: St. Petersburg Times

Florida County Joins Cable Challenge

October 23, 2007
By Barbara Behrendt

Hernando County commissioners Tuesday joined the chorus of other central Florida officials who are considering legal action to keep local government and educational programming on basic cable television.

from: Tampa Tribune

City Weighs Cable Company Lawsuit

October 19, 2007
By Ellen Gedalius

The city is laying the groundwork to sue Bright House Networks, the latest attempt by area governments to keep public access, education and government channels at their existing spots on the television lineup.

from: TBO.com

Judge Won't Force County To Fund Public Access TV Channel For Now

By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Oct 4, 2007

TAMPA - With its funding eliminated and a judge's ruling against it, a public access television network is unable to allow county residents to produce programming, at least for the time being.

from: MultiChannel News

Public Access TV Group Sues Fla. County

Tampa Non Profit Cites First Amendment in Suit Over Funding Dispute
By Kent Gibbons -- Multichannel News, 10/1/2007 10:55:00 AM

The non-profit corporation that operates a public-access channel called Speak Up Tampa Bay is suing Florida’s Hillsborough County for cutting channel funds, saying the county used budget woes as a pretext to censor constitutionally protected speech.

Note: another case of state franchising eliminating PEG from analog and basic cable channel offerings. Basic cable, still regulated until competition is proven, is the most accessible cable package for senior and low income residents who often benefit most from the locally orientated and service related PEG TV offerings.

from: WMNF Radio

from: Hernando Today

Are public access TV channels on the way out here?
By JOHN HERBERT
Published: Sep 24, 2007

Whenever we have an opportunity to grab something for "only" about one dollar a month, our anticipated reaction to most bargain-basement offers is usually to say, "yes, please."

from: Fox Tampa Bay

Public Access Loses Battle in Hillsborough County

September 21, 2007

An ongoing battle over public access television ended Thursday night at the meeting of the Hillsborough County Commission on balancing the budget. The cable channel lost all its public funding from the county, but those with their own shows are trying to stake a claim on the cable programming.

from: Tampa Tribune

Florida Shows Face Finale on Public Access

September 20, 2007
By Anthony McCartney

After two decades of broadcasting, a pair of Tampa television stations say they’re in danger of losing their local flavor.

Budget cuts threaten Hillsborough County’s annual stipends to The Education Channel and Tampa Bay Community Network/Speak Up Tampa Bay, a combined $874,433.

from: News Press

Crist lauds AT&T climb into cable, Internet ring
By Jim Ash
news-press.com Tallahassee Bureau
Originally posted on September 20, 2007

TALLAHASSEE — Communications giant AT&T of Florida announced today it is investing $750 million to bring high-speed Internet and video to customers it hopes to lure from traditional TV cable companies.

Note: an email received at saveaccess.org. Florida is
reeling with cuts to PEG as a result of the recently passed
state video franchise. While community members will likely
strike back at their municipalities, we want to remind
everyone to reserve a good dose of anger for the phone
companies who were the cause of this situation in the
first place.

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