5/03 UPDATE: The City Council approves an amended franchise. 4/18 UPDATE: City Council considers changes to Comcast deal. The Seattle City Council's March 30 hearing on the Comcast cable franchise lasted nearly three hours, as scores of local residents stepped up to weigh in on the city's proposed new 10-year deal with the cable provider. A substantial majority of those who spoke at the hearing were there to advocate for funding for extending arts and cultural programming on local public, educational and government (PEG) channels.

Many comments supported the "Arts Zone" side agreement which would give the city-run Seattle Channel millions in new funding for arts production. Many more spoke in favor of increased support for community TV channel SCAN. Other speakers at the hearing complained about Comcast's lousy customer service and asked for enforceable labor standards for service providers like Comcast. Few had anything positive to say about the actual terms of the new proposed franchise.

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