Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Cable and low-power television files #4473, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Joseph M. Martin, Jr., of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in December 1986, through Gifts and Exchanges, Davis Library, UNC-CH.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, May 1987

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Dawne Howard Lucas, January 2022

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Cable television--North Carolina.
• Cablevision of Raleigh (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Low power television--North Carolina.
• Martin, Joseph M.
• Spectrum Communications (Pittsboro, N.C.)
• Television broadcasting policy.
• United States. Federal Communications Commission.

SUBCOLLECTION 1. CABLE TELEVISION

In 1982, the 15-year agreement between the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Cablevision of Raleigh, Inc., to install and operate a cable television system in that city was scheduled to expire. Anticipating this, the city council began studying the cable television industry to identify cable system options for the area.

Fuqua Associates, a cable television engineering firm, was commissioned to report on the cable system then in use and to make suggestions about a future system. Joseph M. Martin, Jr., and Alan Land Julich of Spectrum Communications, Inc., were hired to serve as consultants. Information from metropolitan areas across the country was compiled. The Raleigh Cablevision Steering Committee was established to assist the Law and Finance Committee of the city council in determining and codifying the city's cable access needs.

The franchise competition between Cablevision of Raleigh and Future Cable Communications of Raleigh, Inc., erupted into controversy when the question arose of whether or not the city council had the right to award an exclusive cable contract to one company. A heated discussion of the issue was carried on both in the press and in the city council.

SUBCOLLECTION 2. LOW-POWER TELEVISION

Low-power television involves transmitting signals at powers up to 100 watts VHF or 1000 UHF. The low power of these signals limits the reception area to an average of 10 to 15 miles from the transmitter, as opposed to 40 to 60 miles for conventionally transmitted signals.

Because equipment requirements are significantly less than in conventional stations, low-power television was envisioned as a relatively inexpensive way of getting low-cost, community-based television stations or networks of such stations on the air.

These papers were collected by Joseph M. Martin, Jr., of Spectrum Communications, Inc. As they treat two distinct subjects, they have been divided into two subcollections, one relating to cable television and the other to low-power television.

The cable television papers reflect the activity of Martin and his company as consultants to the Raleigh City Council on the cable television issue. Included are subject files, information on cable systems outside Raleigh, and volumes, all relating to the Raleigh cable television study and controversy; and printed matter on the general subject of cable television.

The low-power television papers consist of photocopies of applications to the Federal Communications Commission from groups wishing to establish low-power stations in North Carolina, and printed matter on the general subject of low-power television.