HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLE-1993-02-24 Cable Access Advisory Board
Minutes of February 24, 1993
Present: Harvey Gitlin, Rick Gray, Eloise Greene, David Huff, Mary Milne,
Joe Powers, Lauren Steffanelli, Matt Ryan, Jim Blizzard (public) and
Raymond McCabe (ACC General Manager).
1. Meeting called to order at 7:07 PM.
2. Joe Powers was designated as minute taker. Minutes of January 27, 1993
were approved.
3. Amendments to Agenda/Announcements: ACC General Manager Raymond McCabe and
ACC Plant Manager David Huff were introduced to CAAB members.
4. Access Coordinator's Report: Lauren Steffanelli distributed copies of the
coordinator's report to board members and discussed briefly the contents of
the report. Lauren announced that David Huff was appointed by ACC to the
CAAB. A sample ACC bill stuffer was presented to CAAB members for access
promotion. Lauren gave Eloise Greene the information mentioned in her report
about the HBO series of educational programs. Eloise said that IC would be
interested in the programs if access did not want them.
5. Public Comment: Jim Blizzard asked if a tbc located in ACC's hub would
work on the Tompkins County's signal. Joe Powers said that it would work
but advanced sync could not be supplied to the vtr(s) and added that it
would not be an ideal situation. Jim added that there would be no access
to the tbc adjustments. Jim also raised questions about the I-Net and
Rick Gray responded by saying that the questions should be directed to the
City Cable Commission.
6. Discussion with Raymond McCabe: Raymond McCabe gave an overview of his
background in cable, he said that he had some experience with access at his
former system in Monroeville, PA. He added that although access was similar
in Monroeville they did not have a franchise commitment to access like
Ithaca's "2%". Rick asked if access bill stuffers could be done periodically
and Ray McCabe responded that it would be a possibility. Eloise suggested
that it could be done twice a year.
Cross channel promotion was discussed and Ray McCabe added that it would
cost ACC ad revenue if it were to be done. Ray suggested doing an "Access-
Week", promoting access awareness. Ray was very open to promotional ideas
for access. Matt Ryan said that each producer should have the sole responsibility
for promoting his or her own show and that ACC should promote access in
general. CAAB members seemed to agree with this. Jim Blizzard also mentioned
the need to promote the I-Net. Ray McCabe suggested an "I-Net open house"
be held at ACC to present it's capabilities and allow the opportunity for
potential users to learn more about it. Ray McCabe passed around a map of
the I-Net and briefly discussed the I-net's set up. He said that of the 14
I-Net locations only 5 are activated.
Rick Gray talked about the City's and CAAB's understanding of the City/ACC
franchise access commitment. Rick added that the City has released a list
of the franchise violations. Rick mentioned that it is the City's determination
as to the need for the 9 access channels and that ACC must provide them.
Concerns regarding ongoing negotiations between ACC and the City were brought
up. Ray McCabe essentially said that the CAAB is not involved in the actual
negotiations and neither was he directly. He added that if there were
concerns or problems with the way in which the negotiations were going he
would bring them up with the Time Warner corporate people. Ray further
stated that in general the matter was in the hands of the attorneys for
both parties. Harvey Gitlin said that there may be things such as equipment
maintenance that may not be currently a part of negotiations even though
it should be.
The appropriate number of plays for programs was discussed. Ray said that
he did not have a problem with the specific number of plays. It was felt
that guidelines need to be evaluated and a better limit set for the number of
repeats allowed. Rick talked about playback equipment configuration and he
distributed his proposal for reconfiguration of the multichannel switcher
equipment to better meet needs, ie. , 3/4" capability. Rick added that he
may be able to get a 3/4" vtr from BOCES. It was agreed that further review
and perhaps changes were appropriate to the switcher package. In closing,
Ray McCabe said that access costs each ACC subscriber $1.29 per month and
reminded the CAAB that access represents a major investment. He added that
there is a need to make sure that the money is well spent and utilized so
as to provide real value to ACC subscribers.
7. Meeting adjourned at 8:59 PM. Minutes submitted by Joe Powers.