Government-access_television

Government-access television

Government-access television

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In the United States, Government-access television (GATV) is a type of specialty television channel created by government entities (generally local governments) and broadcast over cable TV systems or, in some cases, over-the-air broadcast television stations. GATV programming generally deals with public affairs, board meetings (i.e. municipal council, county commission, and school board), explanation of government services, and other public-service related programming such as public service announcements and longer public information films.

Members of the Seattle City Council interviewed on "Civic Cocktail" on the government-access television Seattle Channel, March 30, 2015.

In the United States, laws regarding GATV are contained in the US Code, title 47, section 531 (47 U.S.C. § 531), and are enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. Since cable systems are privately owned entities (unlike broadcast television), the must-carry requirement for GATV channels is often drawn out in local franchising agreements for the municipality or county it operates in.

GATV is often associated with public-access television, such as with the term PEG channels.

Statewide government access channels

See also



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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Government-access_television, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.