HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLE-2007-06-19Cable Access Oversight Committee Minutes
Date of Meeting: The Committee [AOC] met at Ithaca Town Hall on Tuesday, June
19, 2007, at 5 pm.
Present: AOC members Will Burbank, Wayles Browne, Elizabeth Field (Bauchner),
Shane Seger [chair], Wies van Leuken; studio manager Lauren Stefanelli; producers
Doria Higgins, Barbara Smith (Finger Lakes Forum), Gary Tracy (That Damn Gay
Show).
Notes by W. Browne as AOC secretary.
1. Minutes of May 1 meeting approved with minor change.
2. Public comment.
D. Higgins: Time Warner Cable says studio opening hours will be cut from 20 down to
15 or 10 hours /week in September. City of Ithaca Common Council [CC] should deal
with this. If CC raised franchise fee from .5 % up to 1 %, that would yield $20,000. Steve
Thayer, comptroller, says this can be done but requires approval by CC. I want this
group to - before CC's July meeting - tell CC to do something before September.
B. Smith agrees, speaking for producers and for people who want to be producers:
"YouTube" can never replace a local medium in giving a sense of community. There
should be space for people to show "better ideas." I'd like to see I -Net coming from
various sites. We need to reward Lauren Stefanelli for her efforts. Higgins: Cuts have
taken the studio from 5 employees down to 1 half -time one. G. Tracy: I often hear that
not enough people take advantage of the facilities, but how can they, with the reduced
hours? $20,000 is not a large sum for the community to provide. Smith: There's no
budget for promoting the service to the public. Seger agrees: it is AOC's responsibility to
inform CC of problems. CC is aware of negative pressure from TWC. Should we just
cave in to TWC's demands by giving $20,000 (to a large commercial corporation)?
Another point: Why should only the City provide it, out of the 3 municipalities
(City, Town of Ithaca, Village of Cayuga Heights)? It might not be easy to get the other
members of CC to agree to giving $20K every year. Higgins: It's more important to solve
the immediate problem - the cuts planned for Sept. Burbank: I have been trying to alert
the Town Board to the danger threatening cable access here and around the U.S.; I
think it's not about money but about squeezing access in general. I doubt any of the 3
municipal bodies will accept the proposed increase in the percentage of the fee. Even if
all 3 did, I suspect other cuts and restrictions would continue. Smith: 4 [or more] years
ago a task force considered 2 options: keep the present system, or form a not - for - profit
organization. History shows not - for - profits are unstable. Stefanelli: Tom Doheny (TWC
manager) has repeatedly suggested upping the percentage. Smith asks the length of
the franchise. (Answer: until 2013.) Not - for - profits raise legal issues about content. - Will
look for papers from the task force. Jean Finley was involved. Seger: will be happy to
take the message to CC the first week in July, but CC members won't act in July. CC
can act only if I introduce a resolution. Higgins suggests e- mailing it to them now to let
them know, saying a possible solution is to raise the percentage. Seger: nothing can
happen till the Communications and Emergency Services committee meets the 2nd
week of July. Burbank: Previously the city's subscribers paid for the whole access
studio; when the franchise was renegotiated, the town and village joined
in. Seger: I'll be out of town for the first CC meeting July 5 (Thursday), but
I'll get someone to pass on the message at that meeting. Van Leuken: we should pass a
resolution saying cutting studio hours below 16 /week is a serious blow to access.
Browne proposes:
Resolution opposed to the cuts in Public Access Studio Hours
Moved by Browne, Seconded by Field
Whereas Time Warner Cable has indicated a strong possibility that they
will be cutting Public Access Studio hours in September; and
Whereas the Access Oversight Committee is concerned that Time Warner
Cable's planned cuts in Access Studio hours will be harmful and detrimental to the
quality and quantity of programming available on the Public Access channel; and
Whereas cuts to the Public Access Studio hours may mean having to turn
away producers who currently depend on studio time to make their programming for
public access; and
Whereas turning producers away will mean fewer independent voices and
independent programs which address local issues in an increasingly consolidated news
and media market; and
Whereas Time Warner Cable justifies this cut in hours by language in the
Franchise Agreement that says staffing levels shall be tied to funding provided by
municipalities; and
Whereas the Access Oversight Committee believes that these cuts are in violation of
the spirit of the Franchise Agreement as they would keep present producers from
creating programming; now therefore be it
Resolved, the Access Oversight Committee requests that the Common Council of the
City of Ithaca make a formal request of Time Warner Cable to maintain current hours of
operation and that Common Council and the Mayor of the City of Ithaca, in partnership
with the Access Oversight Committee, work with Time Warner Cable to find a
permanent solution to the funding and staffing of the Public Access Studio.
Carried Unanimously
Ayes: (5) Browne, van Leuken, Field, Burbank, Seger
Nays: (0)
Higgins reiterates the urgency of the matter.
3. Committee Member Reports: none.
4. Capital Budget updates: the City of Ithaca CC, the Town of Ithaca
Board, and Cayuga Heights have all passed our proposed 2008 budget.
5. Studio Manager's Report (attached; also included list of equipment
repaired and updated budget for the present year, 2007). Burbank asks why channel 16
has shown IC's view of the lake so much of the time lately. Stefanelli: The Access
Education New York (NY state) program should be on, but the dish (specially provided
by AENY to TWC for receiving the new AENY digital signal) is down at present. A TWC
engineer is working on it.
6. Brief report on trip to the New York State Strategy Session for the Future of
Community Media & Media Justice, Troy, NY. Burbank: the meeting was held at a
nonprofit community media organization. Stefanelli: ... whose studio in Troy is entirely
furnished with donated equipment.
Burbank: A bill proposed by NY State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D- Dutchess
County) would eliminate local franchise agreements for cable TV, but maintain the
funding stream for PEG channels [and allegedly increase the number of PEG channels,
see the summary at http: // assembly .state.nV.us /leq / ?bn= AO14231.
7. Next meeting: no meeting in July, but come to CC Communication and Emergency
Service Committee meeting in CC chambers July 11.
Next meeting: August 14, 5 pm.
8. The meeting adjourned shortly after 6:30 p.m..
Access Coordinator Report to AOC
June 19, 2007
PEGASYS Center
• AOC Reports: PEGASYS equipment repair log attached.
• Capital
The Syracuse engineer in charge of doing our capital budget submission has
found additional cash by getting good rates for computers, so I modified the budget a
little bit to take advantage of this, while leaving the approved amount and the functional
goals the same. Due to these economies, we were able to add a laptop computer to
serve both as a digital field recorder and a take -home editor. This will help reduce
capturing time for people covering long events and increase editing time for those
limited by our hours. We were also able to upgrade our copies of Adobe Premiere
editing software to the current version [Premiere CS3, 4 versions newer than the ones
we own] for the 2 studio computers as well purchase new software for the laptop.
Premiere CS3 has integrated DVD creation [Encore] and live capturing software [On
Location] built in. Bundled as well for one computer will be Photoshop, After Effects,
Soundbooth and Illustrator. Software can only be capitalized as part of a new computer
package, so this is the time to do this. We can also add wireless mice and keyboards
to both linear and non - linear editors, which people struggling with our over - stretched
wired mice will appreciate. Finally, I was able to get a couple items from the 2008
budget into the 2007 budget — I chose the camcorders for Cooperative Extension, as
they are struggling to continue their programming with the barely functional camcorders
they have now. [draft attached] Our engineer said he has made submission of our
budget his top priority for this week.
• Notable Public Access Productions
Mike Brutvan did several innovative projects this month. In conjunction with the Ithaca
Festival, he had several PEGASYS camcorders documenting the CSMA event in which
30 Artists had 60 minutes to start and complete a painting. The action was sped up
using digital editing techniques and a compilation video was played in the Night and
Day windows during the festival. The art and interviews with the artists have been
shown on PEGASYS. More recently, he has been doing live performance editions of his
video programs in several venues, including Castaways and Lost Dog's "Art in the
Heart."
Finally, Mike has been holding a special course at the Alternatives Community School
teaching kids to do video art. Sheldon and Kim Gosline are new PEGASYS producers
who just produced an event [Story Tango, a tango narrative held at the Kitchen Theater]
and then documented it with 6 cameras. Sheldon has completed editing the 2nd
of 3 parts of the performance. Digital editing has made synching up the 6 versions easy
even for this beginner.
Institutional Access
• LACS: LACS has resumed cablecasting on channel 16. In May, they submitted a
5 hour version of the Middle East Debates, featuring LACS students playing all
principles of the Mid -East conflicts. In July we will show 5 90- minute programs featuring
students final projects.
2007 PEGASYS Capital draft
Category Item Description Quan Vender Price Total
1. Studio
Panasonic camera cable 1 Univ. $572.00 $572.00
Model # WVCA26U 15
Consumer DVD Recorder 1 local $195.00 $195.00
2. Editing
Adobe Premiere Computer
2
Dell
$654.99 $1,309.98
workstations
Adobe Premiere Laptop w. case
1
Dell
$1,000.00 $1,000.00
wireless keyboards and mice
4
local
$50.00 $200.00
Photoshop CS3 upgrade from CS2
1
Univ. $199.00 $199.00
Adobe Premiere Production
1
Insight$1,699.00 $1,699.00
Studio Premium
Adobe Premiere CS3 upgrade
2
Insight
$299.00 $598.00
Misc Drives [10, each 120 GB]
1
Global
$832.25 $832.25
3. Portable
Steadycam Jr.
1
Univ. $711.00 $711.00
Sony NP -QM91 Li Batteries
4
Univ. $100.00 $400.00
Sony VCT 870 -RM Tripods
4
Univ. $120.00 $480.00
Sennheiser ME66 Shotgun Mic
1
Univ. $450.00 $450.00
Sony Memory Stick
4
Univ. $15.11 $60.44
Fishpole Tech -Nec MFP -6
1
Univ.
$61.11 $61.11
4. Playback /Dubbing
Knox RSII Y/C Switcher
1
Univ.
$2,130.00 $2,130.00
Consumer DVD Recorder
1
local
$195.00 $195.00
5. A.C.S. Long -term Loan
Sony DCR -HC96 Camcorders
2
Univ
$699.44 $1,398.88
Battery NPF50
2
Univ
$40.00 $80.00
Sony UWPC2_6264 Wireless
1
Univ
$466.67 $466.67
Mic Sys
Fishpole Tech -Nec MFP -6
1
Univ.
$61.11 $61.11
Anchor Audio BP200 Beltpak
1
Univ.
$155.56 $155.56
Anchor Audio H2O0 Headset
1
Univ.
$155.56 $155.56
6. I. H. S. Long -Term Loan
Sony EV1 D70 P /T /Z Camera
3
Univ.
$827.78 $2,483.34
Vaddio 535 - 2000 -205 Wall Mount3
Univ.
$44.44 $133.32
video cable spool 1000' & connectors1
TWC
$400.00
7. Cooperative Extension Long -term Loan
Sony DCR -HC96 Camcorders
2
Univ
$699.44 $1,398.88
Battery NPF50
2
Univ
$40.00 $80.00
Subtotal $17,906.10
10% tax & freight $1,790.61
Total $19.696.71