birmingham area cable board

What birmingham area cable board does

The Birmingham Area Cable Board (BACB) is a volunteer citizen cable regulatory body formed by inter-local agreement among four Michigan municipalities: the City of Birmingham and the Villages of Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, and Franklin. Its mandate is to advocate for cable quality and value on behalf of residents, mediate subscriber complaints against providers, monitor cable-related legislation, and administer Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) programming. The organization operates with a single paid Executive Director, a volunteer board, and standing committees covering cable action, PEG oversight, and personnel.

BACB's core product surface consists of two PEG television channels - BAMA Live (municipal access on Comcast Channel 15) and BAPA Live (public access on Comcast Channel 18) - distributed additionally on AT&T U-verse (Channel 99, since September 2009) and WOW (Channels 10 and 18). Supporting services include a Video on Demand archive spanning 2016-2026, cable complaint processing and provider liaison work, studio and mobile HD production truck access through a contracted partnership with Bloomfield Community Television (BCTV), a show production program for residents, volunteer camera training workshops, and the "Ask The Cable Lady" community Q&A service. BCTV produces roughly 500 programs annually, split between studio and on-location productions, with 39 regularly scheduled municipal meetings and 34 BAPA programs reported in a typical reporting period.

BACB's revenue model is fee-based and non-commercial: it receives 40% of a 5% franchise fee and a separate 2% PEG fee remitted by member municipalities from cable providers (Comcast, AT&T, WOW) operating in the four communities. PEG fees are restricted by statute to PEG equipment and services. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, but the volunteer-driven cost base and small geographic footprint imply a low-six-figure to sub-$1M annual operating budget. The organization also distributes grants (e.g., to Birmingham Public Schools and Baldwin Public Library) for cable-related infrastructure, extending its role as a programmatic funding intermediary rather than a commercial operator.

Name

birmingham area cable board

Legal name

Birmingham Area Cable Board

Website

https://birminghamareacableboard.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Birmingham Area Cable Board is a volunteer citizen regulatory body formed by inter-local agreement among four Michigan municipalities, overseeing cable franchise agreements, mediating subscriber complaints, and administering Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) television programming on behalf of residents of Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, and Franklin.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Media Services

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (51612)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAIAOAI

Communications, Media & Spectrum Regulators

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/Regulatory Agencies & Licensing (Cross-sector)

Keywords

• Public access television
• Cable franchise oversight
• PEG programming
• Cable complaint resolution
• Community media services

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Franchise Fees: BACB receives 40% of the 5% franchise fee collected by member municipalities from cable providers (Comcast, AT&T, WOW) for use of public rights of way
2. PEG Fees: 2% PEG fee collected by municipalities, restricted for Public, Educational and Governmental equipment and services exclusively

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Birmingham Area Cable Board is a volunteer citizen cable regulatory authority that oversees cable franchise agreements with Comcast, AT&T, and WOW in four Michigan member communities (City of Birmingham, Villages of Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, and Franklin). It operates Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) television channels (BAMA Channel 15 for municipal access and BAPA Channel 18 for public access), facilitates community access to studio and mobile production facilities at Bloomfield Community Television, and processes cable subscriber complaints as a liaison between consumers and providers.

Product overview

The Birmingham Area Cable Board (BACB) is a volunteer citizen body formed by inter-local agreement between the City of Birmingham and the Villages of Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, and Franklin, Michigan. BACB provides a portfolio of community media services centered on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) television programming. The core offerings include BAMA Live (municipal access television on Comcast Channel 15) and BAPA Live (public access television on Comcast Channel 18), which broadcast government meetings, community programs, and locally-produced content. Supporting services include Video on Demand archives spanning 2019-2026, studio and mobile production truck services at Bloomfield Community Television (BCTV), cable complaint processing between subscribers and providers, show production assistance, and volunteer training workshops. Content is distributed across multiple platforms including Comcast (channels 15 and 18), AT&T U-verse (channel 99), and WOW (channels 10 and 18).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BAMA Live: Channel 15 - Municipal Access TV for government access programming
• BAPA Live

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Bloomfield Community Television (BCTV)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBCTC provides contracted studio facilities and staff for community access television production. Residents of member communities can use the BCTV studio to produce their own programs. The studio is located at Telegraph Road and Long Lake in Bloomfield Township.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bloomfield Community Television (BCTV): BACB's contracted production partner serving adjacent Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills with PEG programming, studio facilities, and a mobile HD production truck. Operates the same community-based public, educational, and governmental television model in an immediately neighboring jurisdiction.
• Community Television Network of Ann Arbor (CTN): Michigan-based PEG channel operator serving Ann Arbor with public, educational, and governmental programming. Directly comparable community-based PEG operating model with a similar franchise-fee-derived funding structure and municipal access channel footprint.
• Dearborn Government Television (DGTV): Dearborn, Michigan's municipal access television operation. Broadcasts city council meetings and community programming over local cable channels under a comparable franchise-fee-funded PEG model in a southeast Michigan municipality.

Others

• National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA): National industry association representing local government cable and telecommunications regulators. Provides the broader institutional, policy, and advocacy framework in which entities like BACB operate, but is not a direct operating peer or competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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