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Seattle Municipal Archives Finding Aids

0800-00. Office of Cable Communications

 Record Group
Identifier: 0800-00
The Office of Cable Communications was established in 1974 as a unit of the Board of Public Works. Its purpose was to review Federal Communications Commission regulations, insure compliance, and to promote the City’s interests in relation to cable television. An ordinance passed in 1976 mandated City procedures and regulations that cable companies must follow. In 1978, the Office was transferred to the Executive Department and a penalties and enforcement section was added to the Cable Communications ordinance. In 1988 the Office was abolished as an independent office and its function transferred to the Department of Licenses and Consumer Affairs; the cable franchising function was subsequently moved to the Department of Administrative Services in 1992. In 1997 the Executive Services Department was created, assuming most of the operations of the DAS, including the cable franchising function. With the creation of the Department of Information Technology in 2000, cable matters were reorganized into the Office of Cable Communications, a unit of the Internet and Cable TV Division.

Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:

Cable Communications Coordinator Records

 Series
Identifier: 0800-02
Scope and Contents note

Working papers of Jim Hurd, cable communications coordinator when the office was part of the Board of Public Works. Includes correspondence, reports, reference materials, and citizen comments concerning the CATV ordinance, municipal ownership and other issues relating to the development and regulation of cable television in Seattle.

Dates: 1969-1976

Office of Cable Communications Subject Files

 Series
Identifier: 0801-01
Scope and Contents note

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and reference materials relating to cable television issues. Includes files and reports from the City's National Telecommunications and Information Administration grant project. Records are primarily from the years Frank Grief was OCC director, but also include materials from the years that the office was part of the Board of Public Works.

Dates: 1972-1986

Office of Cable Communications General Correspondence

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 0801-02
Scope and Contents note

Correspondence to and from the Office of Cable Communications. Arranged chronologically.

Dates: 1965-1985

Cable Company Correspondence

 Series
Identifier: 0801-03
Scope and Contents note

General correspondence to and from the various cable companies operating in Seattle.

Dates: 1972-1985

Office of Cable Communications Rate Increase Records

 Series
Identifier: 0801-05
Scope and Contents note

Requests to the City by cable companies for rate increases. Includes correspondence, studies, reports, and notes. Also included are investigations of unauthorized rates being charged between 1976-1980.

Dates: 1975-1984

Cable Utility Construction Permits

 Series — Box 1
Identifier: 0801-06
Scope and Contents note

Applications and permit copies for construction of cable lines in Seattle. Includes name of applicant and proposed locations. Also included are two folders of correspondence, reports, legal documents, and testimony regarding rents paid for attaching cable lines to City Light poles.

Dates: 1967-1983