General Information on Public, Education, and General Information on Public, Education, and Government(PEG) Access on Cable Television

Public, Educational, and Governmental ("PEG") Access television channels on cable TV serve a wide range of community organizations, including churches, synagogues, Lions and Rotary Clubs, local political party organizations, high schools and colleges. PEG access centers exist because local franchise authorities provide for capacity, services, facilities, and equipment as compensation for the cable companies' use of state and local rights-of-way.

The three components a 'PEG' station serve a specific purpose. The "Public" component requires that the station's resources, facilities, and programming are available to the public. The "Educational" component is two-fold. It encourages the training of individuals in television production through production courses. It also stresses the importance of educational programming, such as literacy training. The last component is "Governmental". A PEG station is committed to increasing the public's awareness and knowledge of local government issues and processes.

Through PEG access centers, thousands of community groups and over one million individuals produce more than 20,000 hours of new local programming each week -- more than all programs produced by NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and PBS combined. Based on a 1992 survey, an estimated 15 percent of American communities are currently served by PEG access services.