CityCable5

CityCable 5 at a glance

CityCable 5 is what residents turn to for accurate in-depth coverage of what goes on within Spokane local government. CityCable 5 has been serving the citizens of Spokane since 1977. CityCable 5 is the City of Spokane's government access cable channel (found on Comcast Cable Channel 5) and a service of the City's Communications Department. CityCable 5 provides live televised coverage of the Spokane City Council and other public meetings that shape our community and our quality of life. We also produce a variety of original programming showcasing the events and activities of the City of Spokane.

What Is It?

Channel 5 is a function of the City of Spokane Communications Department designed to produce programming for the City's government access channel. This channel is reserved under the City of Spokane's cable communication franchise and pursuant to the City's Cable regulatory ordinance, SMC Chapter 10.27. The facilities of Channel 5 are owned, operated and staffed by the City of Spokane.

What is the Purpose?

The purpose of Channel 5 is to present programming on government issues and services to the public and to perform related video communication services for City departments. The cable franchisee has no control over the content of government access programs.

How does the CityCable 5 Differ From Public or Educational Access?

The City cable franchise and related ordinance define three forms of access requirements, consistent with the 1984 Federal Cable Communications Act. These are [P]ublic, [E]ducational, and [G]overnment or “PEG” access requirements. Currently, the City uses one government access channel, to provide information to the public. An independent public access channel is not reserved, but the City's cable franchisee, Comcast, operates a community access Channel (Channel 14) for members of the public. Persons desiring to air programs of community interest who are neither governmental or educational access users may submit items through Comcast's Community Access Program. There are also five educational access channels (located on Comcast Cable Channels 15-19) which are currently managed by the Spokane [C]able, [A]dvisory [B]oard for [L]earning [E]ducation or “C.A.B.L.E.” C.A.B.L.E. is a consortium of local educational institutions serving the community's educational access user needs, with resources supplied by the member schools, Comcast and other contributors.

Programming on CityCable Channel 5 All programming on CityCable 5 is administered under the authority of the City of Spokane Communication Department. The Department has final authority on individual programming decisions. The Department determines qualifications and eligibility of individual government access users. Arrangements for government access programming requests should be made by contacting the Department during regular City business hours at 509.625.6355. In general, submittals not initiated by Channel 5 must have a government entity as a sponsoring access user. Arrangements are subject to the Department's discretion, considering the purpose of the government access channel, the quality of the materials submitted, and assessment of the public or viewer interest and public informational value, programming schedule considerations, and CityCable 5 equipment, facilities and staffing resources and limitations.