Office of Cable Communications Subject Files, 1972-1986

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.