I Want My MTV.
I want my MTV: municipal television. At least that seems to be the rule imposed on my cable company by the city.

Comcast is doing another song and dance about enhanced product offerings. What their recent mailing means, though, is that a few channels are being moved from the most-basic version of programming packages to the next-up level. No big deal; I've got both basic and extended basic.

But to take this post back to public policy, what struck me about the new channel guide that came with the announcement was the number of government-focused channels. I'm not talking merely of CNN, Fox, and the two C-SPANS, but the public access channels. We have (reading from the channel line-up):

• Metro regional access
  
• Local programming
  
• Public Access Too!
  
• Public Access
  
• City access
  
• Educational access
  
• Community TV schedule
  
• Community showcase

I pay for 80 channels. Ten percent of that is taken up by the channels in the list above.

And what do I get? Nothing much. How many times can even the most civic-minded individual watch a meeting of the city council? How about a low-budget production of a concert? If your child graduates from high school, by all means go to the commencement exercise. But watch it again on TV? Yawn.

Ditto for for local parades. (I've probably been caught on camera once or twice. Oh yeah, some obscure guy walking down a street handing out football schedules with the name of a local politician on the other side. Zzzzz.)

Some of the channels show their schedule of upcoming programs more than the programs themselves.

Meanwhile, some community access channels routinely gripe about the low-budget nature of their operations. Just perhaps the low budgets are a clue that there's not a lot of demand for this kind of TV, and that Municipal TV ought to surrender some of its space. There are a lot of new possibilities for cable TV these days, but in some cities, space on the lineup is at a premium. One reason is the must-carry provision of municipal contracts with cable companies.

Actually, I'd rather be without my MTV. Both of 'em. (permalink)