Local Governments Support PEG Caption-Filing Carveout

Several local governments support an FCC proposal that would exempt video programmers whose content is shown exclusively on a public, educational and government (PEG) channel from requirements to file contact information or captioning compliance with the agency, according to a filing in docket 05-231 Tuesday from Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and Bowie and Howard County, Maryland. The Texas Coalition of Cities for Utility Issues also signed onto the filing. PEG channels are already exempt from captioning requirements, the governments noted. “Exempting registration and captioning compliance certifications by individual programmers of exempt PEG programming does not prejudice the Commission’s pursuit of ensuring the accessibility of all video programming,” the filing said.