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Government-access television

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

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.

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

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Caption text
U.S. state Network
 California The California Channel
 Connecticut Connecticut Network
 Florida The Florida Channel
 Illinois Illinois Channel
 Michigan Michigan Government Television
 Montana TVMT
 New York NY-SCAN (defunct)
 Ohio The Ohio Channel
 Oregon The Oregon Channel (defunct)
 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Cable Network
 Washington TVW (Washington)
 Wisconsin WisconsinEye

See also

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