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Why South Florida Municipalities Trust Full Moon Creative for PEG Channel Management

Florida law sets a use-it-or-lose-it standard for PEG channels. Fall short of 10 programmed hours a day for two quarters and the cable provider can take the channel back. Here is what professional PEG channel management covers, and why more than 25 South Florida cities have trusted ours since 2005.

Miami Shores council chamber outfitted with broadcast cameras and displays for PEG channel coverage of public meetings Cover Image

Full Moon Creative has managed PEG channel operations for South Florida municipalities since 2005: live commission meeting production, channel programming, head-end delivery to the cable provider, and the quarterly utilization records Florida law requires. More than 25 cities across Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Pinellas counties have used our team to keep their government channel on the air and their residents informed.

What Is a PEG Channel?

PEG stands for Public, Educational, and Governmental access. These are cable channels reserved for local community use under the federal Cable Act of 1984. Florida moved cable franchising to the state in 2007, but municipalities kept the right to the PEG channels they had activated, and a city without one may still request up to two channels from the provider serving its area under Section 610.109, Florida Statutes.

The statute draws a sharp line of responsibility: the cable provider only transmits the channel. The city operates it, originates the programming, and must deliver content in a format the provider can carry without alteration. That operational burden is what professional PEG management exists to absorb.

What is a cable head-end? The head-end is the central facility where a cable provider receives, processes, and distributes channel signals to subscribers. For a PEG channel, head-end coordination means delivering the city's broadcast to the provider, such as Comcast or AT&T, in the correct format so it reaches residents reliably on the assigned cable channel.

Can a City Lose Its PEG Channel?

Yes. Under Section 610.109, a PEG channel must be "substantially utilized": programmed at least 10 hours per day on average, with at least 5 hours of nonrepeat programming, measured quarterly. Static bulletin-board screens do not count toward those hours. If the channel falls short for two consecutive quarters, the cable provider may reprogram it at its discretion.

This is the fact that surprises most city managers. A channel that airs one commission meeting a month and a community-calendar slideshow the rest of the time is not compliant, and a reclaimed channel is difficult to win back; the statute only obligates the provider to work in good faith on future carriage after the city can show the standard will be met. We keep client channels above the threshold with a full programming schedule, replays structured to satisfy the nonrepeat requirement, and quarterly broadcast logs that document compliance before anyone asks for it.

What Does Professional PEG Channel Management Include?

End-to-end management covers everything between the council chamber and the resident's screen:

What Do the ADA's New Web Rules Mean for Meeting Video?

Meeting videos a city posts online are covered by the Department of Justice's 2024 rule under ADA Title II, which requires state and local government web content to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Governments serving 50,000 or more residents must comply by April 26, 2027; smaller cities and special districts have until April 26, 2028.

For video, the practical requirement is captioning that is actually accurate, which auto-generated captions routinely fail on names, agenda items, and legal terminology. We build captioning into the production workflow rather than bolting it on afterward, and we add translation where a city's residents need it.

Why Cities Hire Full Moon Creative

Ready to put your channel in expert hands? Explore our government solutions or contact us to discuss your city's needs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is PEG channel management and why does my municipality need it?

PEG channel management is the full-service operation of a city's public, educational, and government access television channels. It covers live production of public meetings, channel programming and scheduling, delivery to the cable provider's head-end, video archiving, and the utilization records Florida law requires. Under Section 610.109, Florida Statutes, the municipality, not the cable provider, is responsible for operating the channel, so a channel without dedicated management is a channel at risk.

What happens if our PEG channel is not substantially utilized under Florida law?

Section 610.109, Florida Statutes deems a PEG channel substantially utilized when it averages at least 10 programmed hours per day, including at least 5 hours of nonrepeat programming, measured quarterly. Static bulletin-board screens do not count. If the channel falls short for two consecutive quarters, the cable provider may reprogram it at its discretion. Full Moon Creative schedules programming above the statutory threshold and maintains quarterly broadcast logs documenting compliance.

How much does PEG channel management cost for a South Florida city?

Pricing depends on broadcast volume, meeting frequency, and scope of services. Most South Florida municipalities find that outsourcing PEG operations to Full Moon Creative costs significantly less than maintaining in-house staff and equipment, which can exceed $90,000 annually when salary, benefits, and hardware are combined. We provide custom proposals based on your city's meeting schedule and programming needs.

Which South Florida counties and cities does Full Moon Creative serve?

Full Moon Creative serves municipalities across Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County, and Pinellas County. We have served over 25 cities including communities in Davie, Parkland, Hallandale Beach, Lauderhill, Hialeah, Miami Gardens, Miami Shores, Miami Springs, Cooper City, Southwest Ranches, El Portal, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Sunrise, and surrounding areas.

Can Full Moon Creative stream city commission meetings live on YouTube?

Yes. In addition to cable PEG channel delivery, Full Moon Creative simultaneously streams city meetings live on YouTube, the city's website, and social media platforms. After each session, we edit and upload archived recordings with agenda-item chapter markers so residents can quickly find specific discussions. Multi-platform distribution is standard in all of our PEG channel management packages for South Florida municipalities.

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