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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLECOMM-1997 9 I w....,.. ; Ss b �l ICCC Meeting January 9 , 1997 , 7 : 30 pm. , City Hall Present: Jean Finley (Chair) , Richard Entlich, Harvey Gitlin, Phil Smith (TWC) , Lauren Stefanelli (TWC) , Mike Ives (TWC) , Rick Gray (Common Council) , Jim Blizzard (TC) . Attachments : Agenda, 1996 PEGASYS Cablecasting Statistics, PEGASYS Report to ICCC 11/23-1/9/97 , TWC Open Letter to Subscribers . Call to Order: 7 : 59pm. Public Comment: 1 . Beth Rea , Town of Dryden. Commented that the Pirate TV progrm was obscene and that the moratorium took away the need for public outcry. Thought that there was no way to block channel 13 if no converter box ( Finley stated that TWC can block the channel even with no converter box) . 2 . Robin Palmer . Thanked TWC for the moratorium. Commented that the ICCC is "the problem", and wished the ICCC a happy new year . 3 . Mike Angley. Commented that he did not consider Pirate TV to be obscene . Commented that it showed only nudity and not violence . Also stated that the show was a one-time event, and wished the ICCC a happy new year . Finley asked Smith how many calls were received regarding Pirate TV. Smith reported: 103 at TWC, 44+ at Mayor' s office, also many at IPD, District Attorney, and Congressman Hinchey' s office . TWC Report: PEGASYS Report was distributed. PEGASYS Cablecasting Statistics was distributed. Smith reported that channel change information was distributed to subscribers . Subscribers were notified before 1/1/97 that WWOR would be removed from lineup and Turner Classic Movies, TCM, would be put in its place . (TWC did not receive enough notice in order to inform subscribers one month ahead of time . ) E ! will now remain on Basic Tier . Smith reported that some complaints, less than 5, were received regarding the removal of WTVH . It was reported that Stefanelli has been working with the Access Capital Budget committee . Smith introduced Mike Ives, the new Technical Operations Manager at TWC . Gitlin asked Smith regarding the possibility of adding WVIA to lineup. TWC will consider . Entlich commended TWC on efforts to publicize WWOR removal and asked about the opportunity to slim down the Basic Tier . Smith reported that the IMCC county document had requested a 24 channel Basic Tier . ICCC' s relationship with the IMCC was discussed. Discussion of Adult Programming on PEGASYS : The recent events and TWC' s proposed guidelines were discussed. Also discussed was possible copyright violations . More discussion took place . A resolution was passed that the ICCC approves of the concept of a late-night, enforceable safe harbor period and will work with TWC cooperatively to work out the details of a permanent policy for. such . Finley- Entlich, P. Unan . Meeting Adjourned: 10 : 08 pm. Next Meeting: Thursday, February 6, 1997 , 7 : 30pm. , 2nd floor Conference Room, City Hall . Ithaca City Cable Commission May 10, 1997 Third Floor Conference Room AGENDA 1. Call to Order. 2. Public Comment. 3. Agenda Adjustments. 4. Approve/revise minutes from last meeting. 5. Revisit Future ICCC meeting schedule; next meeting; Commission communications procedures. 6. Time Warner Report. 7. Time Warner Request on Access policies. 8. To-do list for Commission work for the remainder of the year(carried over from previous meeting). 9. A resolution to request that Common Council take an appropriate action to (re)create the Access Advisory Board, perhaps with a different name and changed charter, as discussed and voted on last month. (Carried over from last meeting.) 10. A resolution, following Jill's suggestion, to request Common Council action to expand the membership of the Commission to 7 members. (Carried over from last meeting.) 11. Adjourn. Minutes of the July 3, 1997 meeting of the Ithaca City Cable Commission (ICCC) Convened: 7:40 PM Location: The meeting was moved to the 3rd floor conference room after the door to the 2nd floor conference room was found to be locked. Commissioners present: Dick Cogger(chair), Jean Finley (vice-chair), Jill Brantley, Richard Entlich (minutes taker), Harvey Gitlin Common Council Liaison: Rick Gray Time Warner Cable (TWC)representative: Tom Doheny,Marketing Manager 1. Public Comment a. Harvey Fireside, a TWC customer and resident of the City of Ithaca, voiced concern over the disappearance of WQXR-FM from the TWC FM cable. It was acknowledged that TWC had no control over the timing or nature of the loss of WQXR-FM from satellite distribution. However, there was strong sentiment from Mr. Fireside for TWC to do whatever it could to restore WQXR-FM (if it becomes available again) or to substitute another quality classical music service such as WFMT-FM, Chicago, in its place. Concern was expressed that the loss of WQXR-FM not be seen as simply an opportunity for TWC to utilize another FM cable frequency for other services. Tom Doheny, representing TWC said that TWC had received about a dozen calls regarding the loss of WQXR. The Cable Commission requested a full report from TWC on the status of efforts to restore WQXR-FM or an equivalent classical music service to the FM cable for its August meeting and that TWC hold off making a final decision at least until that meeting. b. A letter was received by the Cable Commission from Ruth Breen, a TWC customer and resident of the City of Ithaca, also about the loss of WQXR-FM from the TWC FM cable. She pointed out that other classical services on the FM cable (specifically,WSKG-FM and WCNY-FM) were not adequate substitutes for WQXR-FM and suggested that TWC should make an effort to restore the service. She said that doing so would be something that TWC "could point to with pride." 2. Agenda adjustments: Move discussion of WQXR-FM and its possible replacement by WFMT-FM up to just after the TWC report. Add request from H. Gitlin to renew his Alliance for Community Media membership Add item from J. Finley regarding WSKG/WEOS battle for local hearts/minds/frequency assignment. 3. Approval of Minutes from previous meeting (June 5, 1997) Minutes were approved with the following changes: a. Strike the word DRAFT at the very top. b. Change Finely to Finley in la. 4. TWC report a. Regarding WQXR-FM, Tom Doheny said TWC was informed May 1, 1997 that WQXR would no longer be available after May 31,but that the signal actually disappeared on May 23. WQXR, when contacted, said they would try to be back on satellite soon, but the cost may be high due to the small number of cable franchises willing to share the cost of carriage. Mr. Doheny also made an informal offer 1 to provide two additional FM services on FM cable (Basic cable) if the City would relinquish the franchisal requirement that the audio of four premium video services (HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Disney) be carried in stereo on the FM cable. This was not taken up by the Commission at this time. b. TWC went to 24 hour-a-day cablecasting of the Playboy Channel following final Supreme Court action on Section 505 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires complete scrambling of Adult Video Services if they are to be cablecast between the hours of 6 AM and 10 PM. TWC believes that its current degree of video and audio scrambling on the Playboy Channel qualifies as "complete scrambling" under federal law and is therefore eligible for 24 hour/day cablecasting. c. Regarding missing information about FM cable and the senior citizens discount in TWC informational mailings to customers, Mr. Doheny said TWC was putting together the FM lineup information. (Further action on this topic appears later in these minutes). d. Regarding use of Public Access for campaign fundraising,Mr. Doheny said that TWC had sent a letter to Tom Isabella of the NYS Public Services Commission, and was still awaiting a reply containing some clarification of policy on this matter. This has apparently been passed on to PSC staff attorney John Grow. 5. PEGASYS report The June, 1997 PEGASYS report was distributed by Tom Doheny. A brief report was made on the fact that a public access producer extended a live cablecast outside the PEGASYS facility out into the parking lot and onto the sidewalk and streets, in violation of PEGASYS rules and regulations. A memo was sent to all producers reiterating regulations regarding studio production and a note of apology was sent by TWC to residents in the immediate vicinity of the PEGASYS studio apologizing for the disturbance. 6. WQXR/WFMT The issue was discussed in some detail during the TWC report and no additional substantive discussion took place at this point in the agenda. 7. WEOS/WSKG (WSQX) J. Finley reported on a proposal to place the signals of WSQX and WEOS as audio background to the PEGASYS Bulletin Board on channels 13 and 57 in order to expose the community to the two services, which are competing for the same FM radio spectrum location (90.1 Mhz.). TWC is considering the request, though it is having difficulty getting a clean RF signal from WSQX. There was no Commission action, as this item appears to be beyond the Commission's jurisdiction. 8. To-do list R. Entlich reported that the main progress on the to-do list was with regard to the status of ICCC meeting minutes at City Hall (see item#10, below). He also suggested adding "dealing with disruptive behavior" to the Meeting Process section of the to-do list. 9. Review of resolutions before Common Council a. The resolution requesting re-establishment of the Access Advisory Board(AAB) was tabled by Common Council,pending clarification of the meaning of the state regulation requiring intermunicipal control of access facilities under certain circumstances. Council also discussed the role of the AAB and how much power they would have. The City Attorney (Mariette Geldenhuys)rejected making the AAB a "chartered" body, which would have required a change to the City Code. b. Council supported the request to increase the size of the Cable Commission from five to seven members. Suggestions for new members should be passed along to the Mayor. The new members are supposed to be voted on at the August Common Council Meeting. Regardless of whether new members 2 are appointed then, the quorum for ICCC meetings will rise to four starting with the August, 1997 meeting. 10. Review status of old minutes R. Entlich passed out a list of what ICCC documents are on file at the City Clerk's office and also what he has in his own files. There are some gaps. ICCC members were asked to check their own files for any of the missing documents. 11. ACM membership Harvey requested that the ICCC ask for funds for renewal of his Alliance for Community Media membership. A resolution was placed on the floor by J. Brantley to request funding in the range $43-$85 for an organizational membership and was seconded by J. Finley. It passed unanimously. R. Gray will follow up. 12. Missing information in TWC mailings A resolution was placed on the floor by R. Entlich (see RESOLUTION ON INCLUSION OF REQUIRED INFORMATION IN INFORMATIONAL MAILINGS, 7/3/97, attached), amended, seconded as amended by J. Brantley, and passed unanimously. 13. State Theater as possible location for satellite access studio (new agenda item) J. Finely reported that H. Gitlin will meet with Ed Franquemont of the State Theater and Lauren Stefanelli of PEGASYS to evaluate the existing State Theater facility as a possible location for a satellite access studio. 14. Safe Harbor R. Entlich reported that some controversy was generated when a replay of Michael Angley's Pirate TV public access program was shown at 3 PM. According to Entlich's telephone conversation with Lauren Stefanelli, Angley rejected the opportunity to replay his show at 11:30 PM on channel 57 because he believes channel 57 suffers from low viewership. R. Cogger pointed out that there was some conflict between the requirement that at least one replay show in non-prime-time (3 PM - 6 PM and 11 PM on) and the encouragement that "adults only" material be shown after 10 PM, since most of the time the studio is open after 10 PM is considered prime time. He suggested as possible remedies a) paralleling the output of channel 57 on channel 13 when late night material is on channel 57 in order to overcome objections about channel 57 viewership and b) redefining non-prime time for 2nd reruns of"adults only" material to include everything from 10 PM on. It was agreed to discuss this item again at the next meeting. Entlich said he would do some investigating into making the safe harbor provision more enforceable. 15. Use of public access for campaign fundraising R. Entlich mentioned that when the ICCC decided to request that the prohibition on use of access for campaign fundraising be temporarily set aside, it was thinking only about use by local candidates. But since access facilities in NYS are required to run tapes carried by residents living within the service area, fundraising tapes by national, state and local candidates from other jurisdictions could also be submitted. J. Finley contended that this was OK and that many public access stations had carried Jerry Brown for President solicitations during the 1992 presidential election campaign. No action was taken, awaiting a ruling from the PSC. 16. Executive session 3 The Commission went into executive session at this point to discuss the hiring of a consultant for franchise renewal. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:02 PM. Next meeting: The next meeting of the ICCC will be Thursday, August 7, 1997, at 7:30 PM in the 2nd Floor conference room of City Hall. Attachments: RESOLUTION ON INCLUSION OF REQUIRED INFORMATION IN INFORMATIONAL MAILINGS, as amended and passed on 7/3/97 WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable requires the provision of "complete written information concerning all services and rates available" to each subscriber at least annually and WHEREAS information concerning FM cable service, the FM cable lineup and senior citizen discount rates has been absent from informational mailings to subscribers for at least two years and WHEREAS several Time Warner Cable general managers and acting general managers have been asked to provide the missing information during this time period NOW,THEREFORE be it RESOLVED, that the Ithaca City Cable Commission requires that Time Warner Cable create an informational flyer, formatted to fit in an upcoming regular monthly bill,containing the following information • A description of FM cable service including what service tier it accompanies, what extra equipment is needed to utilize it, extra costs (if any) of getting a hookup,both at time of other service installation or thereafter, and a listing of FM cable services and their frequency on the FM cable • A description of the senior citizen discount including eligibility criteria, any required proof of eligibility, amount of discount, and to what services the discount applies. and RESOLVED that Time Warner Cable shall include this informational flyer in the monthly bills for all customers no later that September, 1997 and RESOLVED that the same information described above shall be included in the information distributed to all prospective and new subscribers by September, 1997, if it is not already present there and RESOLVED that the same information described above shall be included in the regular informational mailing to all subscribers by the time of the next regular mailing. and also WHEREAS many subscribers may not be aware of filtering options now therefore be it further RESOLVED that the Ithaca City Cable Commission requests that Time Warner Cable include full information on any available filtering options in the same mailing. Minutes of the July 3, 1997 meeting of the Ithaca City Cable Commission (ICCC) 4 s Minutes of the September 4, 1997 meeting of the Ithaca City Cable Commission (ICCC) Location: 2nd Floor Conference Room, City Hall Commissioners present: Dick Cogger(chair),Jean Finley (vice-chair), Richard Entlich (minutes taker), Harvey Gitlin Common Council Liaison: Rick Gray Time Warner Cable (TWC)representative: Phil Smith,General Manager 1. Call to Order At 7:35 PM 2. Public Comment No members of the general public were in attendance. 3. Agenda adjustments J. Finley requested addition of a discussion item regarding the procedure for formulating the capital budget for access. 4. Approve/revise minutes from last meeting. Minutes taker from the August 7, 1997 meeting, H. Gitlin,reported that completed minutes are not yet available for distribution. 6. Review progress of resolution on the Access Advisory Board. D. Cogger distributed a draft cover letter to TWC general manager Phil Smith requesting that TWC consider accepting a change in its existing franchise with the City of Ithaca. The proposed change is embodied in a resolution passed by Common Council which revises the structure of section 14.9, regarding TWC's role in the creation and maintenance of an Access Advisory Board. Discussion ensued regarding some problems with the wording of the resolution as passed by Council including a) it refers to a previously existing "Public Access Board" while the language in the franchise is "Access Advisory Board" which dealt with educational and governmental access as well,b) it is not clear whether the proposed "Cable Access Advisory Board" will deal only with public access or with educational and governmental access as well and c) item#9 under the RESOLVED should specify that it refers only to channel capacity for access purposes. Resolution: Fix spelling errors in draft letter(appologise-->apologize, adgenda-->agenda and months -- >month's), remove "DRAFT" and send on to TWC. Moved by Finley, seconded by Entlich, passed unanimously. P. Smith suggested that the cover letter and resolution as passed by Common Council be forwarded to TWC from the City Clerk via registered mail so that TWC could begin formal review of the proposal. Note: The cover letter as amended and Common Council resolution are attached to these minutes. 5. TWC report(started out of sequence due to late arrival of TWC representative P. Smith) P. Smith passed out three press releases: 1) "Time Warner Cable Welcomes WFMT of Chicago to Ithaca Community" 1 2) "Free Telecast of HBO's Faces of Addiction_Three-Part Series 3) "Time Warner Cable Hosts Visit by C-SPAN School Bus" He also passed out the PEGASYS Report for August 1997. In response to an ICCC resolution passed at the July, 1997 meeting requiring TWC to distribute information to subscribers detailing FM audio service on Basic cable and the senior citizen's discount for City residents, P. Smith passed out a flyer containing information on both subjects. One side lists the current FM cable lineup (13 radio signals and the audio of four premium video channels) and the other details the senior citizen discount. The flyer is sized to fit in the standard TWC billings and is supposed to go out in the next two billing cycles. J. Finley pointed out that the wording of the section describing the senior citizen's discount might lead people to believe that they had to own property in order to qualify. She suggested changing "...those City of Ithaca Senior Citizens who qualify for real property tax exemption." TO "...those City of Ithaca Senior Citizens who meet the income guidelines for real property tax exemption." P. Smith said he would consider the suggestion. 7. Review progress on expanding Commission membership. D. Cogger reported that Jill Brantley has resigned her seat on the Cable Commission siting insufficient time. Suggestions for her replacement, as well as candidates to fill other vacancies were put forward. By J. Finley: Larry McGill, Jean Fadula By H. Gitlin: Margie Hodges, Jim Blizzard, Ben Fan, Ben Nichols R. Entlich again suggested holding public hearings as both appropriate at this time given many recent controversies and pending franchise renewal and also possibly useful as a recruitment tool for Cable Commission members and Cable Access Advisory Board members. It was informally agreed to put planning for holding one or more public hearings on the agenda for the October ICCC meeting. Entlich agreed to do some background work on this topic. 8. Time Warner minority employment status J. Finley pointed out that Section 17 of the City's franchise with TWC requires TWC to adhere to local, state and federal law regarding affirmative action and equal opportunity in hiring. P. Smith said that TWC follows applicable laws and files the required FCC reports on a regular basis. The City's copy is probably sent to the City Clerk's office. He also said that the office coordinator does a lot of outreach in the hiring process. 9. Procedure for formulating the capital budget for access J. Finley reported that Pauline Layton has been working on the access capital budget for 1998 and wishes to know how to proceed. It was informally agreed that she should continue with the existing process with the assistance of J. Finley, H. Gitlin and possibly R. Gray. 10. Access for Campaign Fundraising (review) Nothing has been heard from the state Public Service Commission on this matter. J. Finley reported that she has not telephoned John Grow to follow up on previous communications. 2 r 11. Safe Harbor(continued from last meeting) R. Entlich had nothing new to report on this topic. He also said that he was doing some research on the subject of community standards, including investigating some policies which are being tried in Austin , Texas. P. Smith said that Lauren Stefanelli was a good resource on this subject. H. Gitlin said that the Alliance for Community Media mailing list archive and web site are also good resources. 12. Set next meeting and adjourn. The next meeting of the ICCC will be on Thursday, October 2, 1997 at 7:30 PM in the 2nd floor conference room in City Hall. H. Gitlin moved for adjournment, seconded by J. Finley and passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:20 PM. Attachments: From: Richard Cogger, Chair, Ithaca City Cable Commission To: Phil Smith, General Manager,Time Warner, Ithaca Re: Cable Access Advisory Board(CAAB) Date: September 4, 1997 Dear Phil, This letter requests that Time Warner consider a proposed revision of the franchise agreement in place with the City, with the aim of restructuring the Access Advisory function between Time Warner and the City. This request follows action by the City Common Council represented by the attached resolution. I want to apologize for bringing this to you in such an advanced form without a substantial prior discussion. I expect you are aware that the Commission has been working since early this year to expand the Commission membership and to establish a viable access advisory structure, as it has been discussed several times at Commission meetings and reported in minutes. Until late in the process, the Commission had viewed the needed action as really an internal City matter of organizing effective City processes, and as such didn't see it as an issue to negotiate with Time Warner. Particularly, as Time Warner had raised no objections over the months of discussion and distribution of drafts, we assumed it was not a matter of contention. I hope that was a reasonable interpretation. In any event,the City Attorney decided the best framing for the restructuring would be an amendment to the Franchise, so clearly it is now an issue we need to work together on, if you agree it is a reasonable direction. I or other members of the Commission will be happy to discuss the proposal at your convenience. If you wish, we can make it an agenda item for next month's meeting. Sincerely, Richard Cogger 18.2 Resolution Approving Amendment of Section 14.9 of the City of Ithaca's Franchise Agreement with Time Warner Cable Regarding the Cable Access Advisory Board WHEREAS, the Ithaca City Cable Commission must deal substantively with a considerable variety of issues; and 3 WHEREAS, issues involving Access have regularly consumed a disproportionate amount of Commission time and attention; and WHEREAS, section 14.9 of the City of Ithaca's franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable provides for the establishment of an access advisory board; and WHEREAS,the Public Access Board was formed at one time pursuant to this section; and WHEREAS, this former structure,for various reasons, did not prove fully viable as evidenced by the collapse of the Public Access Board; and WHEREAS,the Commission resolved in January 1997 that "a body with significant authority" should be created to deal with Access issues; now, therefore,be it RESOLVED, That the Common Council approves the amendment of section 14.9 of the City of Ithaca's franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable regarding the Cable Access Advisory Board(CAAB) in the following manner and directs the Cable Commission to transmit the proposed amendment to Time Warner Cable for its consideration: 1. The CAAB shall have seven voting members and shall meet at least monthly; four voting members shall constitute a quorum. 2. At least four members shall be residents of the City. Up to three members may be residents of other municipalities served by the system. At least one,but not more than two, members shall also be a member of the City Cable Commission; at least one,but not more than two, members shall also be a member of the Tompkins County Intermunicipal Cable Commission. Time Warner Cable shall be entitled to appoint a non-voting,ex-officio member. 3. The voting members shall be named by the Cable Commission subject to the approval of Common Council. In order to select the non-City resident members, the Cable Commission shall solicit nominations from the other municipalities served by the system. 4. Members shall be appointed to two-year terms and shall take an oath of office before the City Clerk of the City of Ithaca. 5. A chair and vice-chair shall be elected at the first meeting in each calendar year from among the voting members. 6. The CAAB shall serve in an advisory capacity to Time Warner Cable on all matters pertaining to Access operation including,but not limited to; policies and procedures; studio hours; expenditure of the capital budget; and purchase and distribution of equipment. 7. Time Warner Cable shall consult with the CAAB on the above-referenced issues and shall provide quarterly reports to the CAAB on the purchase and maintenance of equipment, the schedules of access staff, and the use of studio time. 8. The CAAB shall coordinate with government and educational access communities in making its recommendations. 9. Time Warner Cable shall consult with the Cable Commission on the allocation of additional channel capacity. 4