HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-AOC-2021-03-02 1 MINUTES Access Oversight Committee (AOC) (as approved April 6, 2021) Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 5 PM
The AOC met by ZOOM Conferencing (thanks to Paulette Rosa, Clerk, Town of Ithaca). Present: chair Rich DePaolo, Gossa Tsegaye, secretary Wayles Browne, Common Council liaison Rob Gearhart, vice chair Wies van Leuken; Access Studio Coordinator Lauren Stefanelli; employees of Charter: Mike Montesano (Sr. Manager, Programming,
Charter Communications), Lauren Kelly (Director of Government Affairs - Finger Lakes Region, Charter Communications); member of the public Tony Ingraham. 01. Call to Order 5:03 by DePaolo.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments: Patrick Pinney submitted his request for live streaming in writing with additional information as requested at the last meeting. It is attached below.
04. Comments by AOC members. Tsegaye: a personal observation on his long history
with Public Access, ca. 40 years. Has lived his professional life in a culture of respect and civility. He volunteered for his position at the AOC. The tone of our meetings is sometimes outside of civility. All deserve respect and civility, not bullying. I could leave, but want to bring my perspective. I ask: acknowledge each other's humanity and
presence, without interrupting.
DePaolo: I agree. We should keep the tone proper, despite the adversarial subjects we deal with. 05. Approval of Minutes of the February 2, 2021 Meeting. DePaolo: one correction to a
name. Minutes moved by van Leuken, seconded by Tsegaye, approved 5-0.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report. Submitted in writing by Montesano; attached.
a. Charter’s Equipment Purchase Report for 2020. The report was not submitted. Montesano: Charter will provide an annual report including this and recommendations
by June 30. Van Leuken explained that this annual report is a requirement of the
Franchise Agreement and that the AOC must report this particular information also annually to the City of Ithaca. Also budget proposals should be submitted well before June 30th, because the municipalities need time for their review. Montesano: wants to understand what's expected. DePaolo: We'd like to see the
proposals by April so that AOC can present them to the municipalities in timely fashion.
Tsegaye asks about past practices. Van Leuken: our yearly schedule says March, report on spending; April, recommendations. DePaolo asks for the whole report by April. Montesano: will look and update AOC. b. PEGASYS’ operations during the COVID-19 pandemic – update. DePaolo:
have there been any changes? Stefanelli: cameras and new laptops are being checked in and out; still working on getting studio producers to transition to virtual work. Van Leuken: can we open the studio for people who are vaccinated? Stefanelli: we follow State and County guidelines. DePaolo: Charter’s guidelines have been more restrictive than those of the State and County. Can we harmonize Charter policy with
the State guidelines? Lauren Kelly: have not heard anything. Stefanelli: one department at Charter is preparing rules. Gearhart: Last June New York State issued guidelines for media productions which Ithaca College is using. Charter could consider these.
2 DePaolo: Charter folks, please keep us up to date. Kelly: asks DePaolo to send Montesano a link to the NYS guidelines. DePaolo will send it.
Gearhart: It would be good to hear from studio producers. DePaolo to Stefanelli: are
producers suffering under the present limits? Could you reach out to producers? Stefanelli: It has been a while since I was in touch with producers. Tsegaye: difficulties with Wi-Fi and Internet are a good reason to open the studio as soon as possible. c. Report on collected Subscriber Fees for 2020 ($0.15/Mo/Subscriber). Kelly has
sent figures for 2020 (e-mail dated Feb. 4 attached). Van Leuken asks if the AOC could
get this information in the previously used format that shows updated revenues and expenses over the time of the Franchise Agreement. Kelly: I am not familiar with that format. Stefanelli will send Kelly a sample of previous years. d. Charter’s Compliance with Section 15.9 of Franchise Agreement - report. §15.9
calls for information about Public Access to be provided to subscribers annually. Kelly:
language consistent with other municipalities has been submitted to Charter's bill printer; should be printed on the back of subscribers' bills soon. DePaolo: we hope to see it; we will put this on next month's AOC agenda. e Inclusion of PEG Channels on Spectrum App - report. Kelly: we are in compliance,
there is nothing further forthcoming.
f. Charter’s disclaimer bookending public access programs – report. DePaolo asks about the slide disclaiming Charter's responsibility for programming [attached]; is it only on channel 13, or on all channels? Montesano: on 13 only. It is not placed in a producer’s timeslot. It runs for 15 seconds before the start of a program's time slot (e.g., it runs from
7:59:45 to 8:00:00) and again only after the end of a block of programs. DePaolo: Charter is
already indemnified by federal and state laws and producers sign documents that they themselves are responsible for their programs, so why is it needed? Montesano: viewers might not know. DePaolo: Does Charter run it on its other channels? Montesano: I can only speak for Public Access. DePaolo: I don't see disclaimers on commercial channels, so why
would our channels be different? This seems to be an unnecessary divide, a sort of taint to
the programming. I'd like to see it dropped. Gearhart agrees: if it's not on CBS News, why here? DePaolo: is it in all PEG channels in all markets, or just in Ithaca? Does it come from you or from higher up at Charter?
Montesano: It is in all locations. Not my decision.
Van Leuken: It actually does cut into my—or someone else's—time slot when the program length is shorter than the timeslot. We used to have a similar notice on the Bulletin Board—a better place. I urge you to remove it. DePaolo: disclaimers on other Networks are used for specific content to warn viewers prior to a program.
Tsegaye notes that the FCC controls networks better than it controls local channels. — He
also asks about the word "aired" on the slide, when it's really "cablecast." Ingraham: also objects to the slide. Tsegaye: asks Charter to revisit this practice. DePaolo: the AOC does not see the benefit of this notice. We are requesting its removal; let's put it on next month's agenda. Kelly: will try
to look into it ("It's above our pay grade").
07. Member Reports a. AOC’s 2020 Equipment Purchase Report to City: AOC has asked Charter for the report, see 06a.
b. Release of Producer’s Contact Information - discussion. Montesano and Kelly:
nothing new to report. DePaolo: suggests limiting the info given out: only a producer's e-
3 mail, not phone or address. Van Leuken: this is an item in the Manual; we'll propose a change in it next month.
c. Charter’s PEG Rules and Guidelines document. Montesano has sent this
document with some of the new suggestions redlined. Some members had trouble opening it. DePaolo: I was expecting a version of the existing Ithaca document now in force, with suggested changes indicated in red. He asks Montesano to summarize the substantive changes. What's not working in the current document? There's no rush; we
will revisit this at next month's meeting.
d. Charter’s Used Equipment Donation Agreement for crashed Nexus. DePaolo has modified the language and Kelly has sent the result to her legal department. It introduces the AOC as one more party that's covered (freed from liability). DePaolo will send a red-lined version to Kelly.
Tsegaye repeats concern that too much unnecessary equipment might be donated to
the studio. DePaolo: but in this case we're donating an item from the studio. Van Leuken: who can sign for AOC? DePaolo: all members? Or we authorize one member after due discussion? Van Leuken: City committees are seen as advisory in nature and usually don't sign but direct the Mayor to sign agreements. DePaolo feels
AOC is already covered by the authority the City has delegated to us. Gearhart: It would
be helpful to have a vote of AOC authorizing the Chair to sign. For next month's agenda.
e. Publicity and Outreach - Ithaca College Meeting. Gearhart: will ask again about involving IC students in
PEG. Maybe it can be done in the fall semester. This is the kind of course that's often
given in summer session. - International programs: Tsegaye asked about this last month. They would add to diversity. DePaolo asks if foreign programs are available. Stefanelli: A local person would need to request such a program and submit it or give me a link. Also the Alliance
for Community Media has a site with available programs, granting permission to
producers elsewhere to use it. DePaolo: for next month. f. Bulletin Board, TBA and Archive Programs - update. Van Leuken: Charter issued criteria for use of archive programming. Previously it has been at Stefanelli's discretion to fill empty slots (presently about 6 hours per day) per the directions in the
Manual. DePaolo: Are there policies in place now that don't fit our rules? Montesano: we
wanted more time for the bulletin board that previously played only between midnight and 6AM to have a balance between bulletin board and archive programming. We wanted more access for promoting events during the day. DePaolo asks: what is the consequence of this for producers? Van Leuken: I see hours of bulletin board during the
day. I don't see any short programs during the day, just repeats of the same block of
programs. I would like to hear what new criteria Charter is using. Montesano: Stefanelli has some short items this month, archive programs about 3x per week. She has complete control. She picks programs to run. Van Leuken: She could run a 3-year-old program? Montesano: Yes. DePaolo asks Stefanelli if she can address Montesano's
observations. Stefanelli: Go to the website and you'll see a grid of both series programs
and archive programs and one-time programs. Programming is mapped out further into the future. DePaolo asks: So the schedule is improving? Stefanelli: There is a system in place to balance archive shows vs. gaps in the schedule.
DePaolo: If there are shortcomings, can Stefanelli bring them to AOC's attention?
Montesano: Of course. If there are individual shows that viewers are looking for, just reach out to her.
4 DePaolo: Is there a template for how much archive programming there is vs. bulletin board? Montesano: see the website.
08. Old Business a. Franchise Agreement. DePaolo: I have nothing new. Kelly: Amanda Lanham will have a draft of a proposal this week. b. AOC’s Letter Re “Notice of Violations” and c. I-Net “end equipment”
maintenance cost shift – update: DePaolo has a draft being considered by the City
Attorney. After vetting, he will circulate it. 09. New Business. Tsegaye is interested in how up to date the bulletin board is. How often does Stefanelli update it? Montesano: Stefanelli maintains it. It has some
evergreen items and some fresh ones.
10. Next meeting: 5 PM, Tuesday, April 6. 11. Adjournment 6:40.
================ Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common
Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207. Contact information for AOC members:
City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>. City of Ithaca: Rob Gearhart, Common Council liaison 2019- <rgearhart@cityofithaca.org>. City of Ithaca: member Gossa Tsegaye <gossavision@twcny.rr.com>, <tsegaye@ithaca.edu>. Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <rd@richdepaolo.com>, <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>.
Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>. Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules:
https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 phone (607) 272-7272
fax (607) 277-5404 PEGASYS staff: studio manager Lauren Stefanelli Lauren.Stefanelli@charter.com
5
Charter
COMMUNICATIONS
Lauren Stefanelli
PEG Coordinator
Access Oversight Committee Meeting
PEG Coordinator Report 3/02/2021
Equipment Maintenance/Repair Issues:
WRFI radio simulcasts have resumed on Channel 13.
Equipment Recommendations:
There are no new recommendations this month.
PEG Rules and Guidelines:
A document making suggestions to update the current Policies and Procedures manual was
submitted to the Access Oversight Committee.
Cablecast Common Council/Other Meetings Monthly Summary:
02/03- Ithaca Common Council Meeting- Prepared for playback on Gov. Access Channel by
Charter staff.
02/17- Planning and Economic Development Committee Meeting- Prepared for playback on
Gov. Access Channel by Charter staff.
02/24- City Administrator Committee Meeting- Prepared for playback on Gov. Access Channel
by Charter staff.
Non-Resident Summary:
• Current balance for PEG Usage Fees as of February 25, 2021 is $499.00.
PEGASYS Fees Report: Rees Collected and Spent in 2021
Total Balance 2020 $479.00
Name Municipality Period Amount Status
Andy Finkle Town of Dryden Jan-June 2021 $20.00 PAID
Total Fees Collected 2021 $20.00
Authorized Payments To For Payments Date
Total Payments 2021 $0.00
Total Balance 2021 $499.00
519 W. State St. | Ithaca, NY 14850 P (607) 272-7272 Lauren.Stefanelli@charter.com
6
Kelly, Lauren E
Thu 04-Feb-21 17:29
• To: E Wayles Browne; Rich DePaolo <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>; Paul M Van
Leuken;rgearhart@cityofithaca.org; gossavision@twcny.rr.com; Gossa Tsegaye
<tsegaye@ithaca.edu>; 'pmv4@cornell.edu Cc: Montesano, Mike D <Mike.Montesano@charter.com>
Rich and AOC Members,
To follow-up on Tuesday’s call, the $0.15 per Subscriber fund amounts for 2020 that were escrowed are:
Cayuga Heights $1,057.05
Town of Ithaca $3,915.90
City of Ithaca $4,847.70
Best,
Lauren
Lauren Kelly | Director, Government Affairs – Finger Lakes 585.340.8188 (O) | 585.797.5395 (M)
100 Town Centre Drive | Rochester, NY 14623
E: lauren.kelly@charter.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Charter Communications' disclaimer slide placed before and after Public Access programs (item 6f),
provided to AOC by M. Montesano (e-mail 2 March 2021):
7
Proposal to Charter for a Simulcasted Channel 13
Introduction
My name is Patrick Pinney and I am a graduate student of IC and now resident of Ithaca NY. I am
reaching out to you on behalf of elected officials, professors, and content creators in Ithaca. Due to the
changing nature of television, more and more people are opting to get their television through internet
streaming opposed to cable tv. With this in mind, many of my contemporaries, (college students and
twenty somethings) have no way of accessing the public access channel on Channel 13. Since many of
us are mere tenants in buildings that we do not own, it is neither logistically possible nor feasible for us
to get cable television. Therefore, we have no way of accessing public access TV. Consequently, most of
us are completely oblivious to its existence. Simply put, public access is not fulfilling its intended goal of
giving the community a platform because most of the community does not have access to it. It’s for this
reason that I would like to propose setting up an internet based simulcast for Channel 13.
1. The Method
The first method is relatively simple. It would involve creating a YouTube Channel that would simulcast
the content of Channel 13 on a livestream. Jim Blizzard plans to use an Elgato Game Capture device to
simulcast the cable tv stream onto the internet. It is easy and painless.
2. Business and Cultural Opportunity
A live streamed public access channel, could be the means by which Business and Culture could
be revived in Ithaca. Tourism is an industry that benefits from programs about local history or natural
wonders like Ithaca’s Gorges. Additionally, Ithaca has a long tradition of film making and video
production, thanks in no small part to the Park School of Ithaca College. With a live-streamed public
access channel, the young producers of Ithaca would be inclined to make content for the channel.
There are also events that I am a part of such as Ithacon, the nation's second longest running
annual comic book convention, which brings in writers and artists from the general NY area. Due to the
pandemic it will be run as a virtual event this year. This is a perfect example of an event that would
benefit from being simulcasted. It has a demographic that consists of both College Students as well as
older attendees who have been going since 1975. A simulcasted Channel 13 would be able to live stream
the event to the younger generation, while still airing on traditional cable for the older demographic.
Perhaps most importantly, putting the public access channel online would be an opportunity to
expand the horizons of TV. As I’m sure you are well aware, we are in a transitionary state for media. As
more and more people are “cutting their cord” companies such as yours are finding ways to adapt to
the times. Giving communities the ability to participate in the broadcast of internet based media, in the
spirit of interaction that is present in social media, would be a way to engage new subscribers.
3. Good Press
The pandemic has dramatically changed our lives. Many of us are socially isolated, financially
depressed, and politically divided. We are in large part, confined to our homes and not able to engage in
public forums the way we used to. I believe that a live streamed public access channel would be a way
to unite everyone that lives in this town. It would give everyone in this community the opportunity to
express themselves or to get their message out there. I have been trying to get this project off the
ground for a few months now and plan to go to the local press to help promote the idea. This could be
an opportunity for Charter to take on the role of a benefactor who helped revitalize a sense of
community. You would be seen as a courteous organization who provided a platform for people, during
trying times.
Patrick Pinney
Phone: (201) 995-3744
Email: ppinney@ithaca.edu