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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987 City of Ithaca Cable TV Petition for Special Relief to FCC Correspondence - - ` APR 2 7198. - ACC I DEPARTMENT OF AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION - - April 27, 1987 H. Matthys Van Cort, Director Planning and Development, City of Ithaca 108 E. Green St. Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 Dear Thys: Your letter of April 15 asks for clarification of what is and is not our formal proposal for a renewed franchise. Please consider the cover letter and Pages 1L15 of the notebook (the front section on yellow paper) to be our ma proposal . All other material in the notebook has a in response to specific questions asked by the City, but is not part of the formal proposal . I understand that your office is arranging a negotiating meeting for the second week of May. Once a date is set, I 'd like to meet with you to arrange an agenda so that we can have available any materials which might be necessary for our discussions. Please note that I will be out of town May 4,-8, though I will be available by phone should you have any questions. Please ask for Carolyn when you call our office. Your letter also raised two points which I feel must be clarified. First, ACC did put forth a proposal that would have given us additional time to prepare our proposal without shortening the time the City felt it needed to review the proposal . We suggested a twoL month period to prepare our proposal and agreed to provide the City with three months to review the document; our proposal was rejected. Your letter also says that no report on past performance was expected. This is the first time that information has been passed on to us . Other correspondence from the City has requested information from us for that expressed purpose. Our position on the other documents remains as stated in the proposal; the Cable Act gives us access to all documents prepared by the City as part of the refranchising process so that we have full opportunity to respond to all comments and requests contained within them. I 'm looking forward to our first negotiating session. Should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Since ely(� , �CA- Michael M. Withiam t �' General Manager 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 Renewal Provision date of such regulations. Such regulations shall not apply to any rate while (by sate or lease)a device by which the subscriber can prohibit viewing of a such rate is subject to the provisions of subsection (C). particular Cable service during periods selected by that subscriber (2) For purposes of rate regulation under this subsection, such reguta- (6) Subparagraph(A)shalt take effect 180 days atter the ettecuve date tions shah — of this title. (A) define the circumstances in wnleh r cable system is not subject to (e) The Commission may establish technical .standards relating to the effective competition; and facilities and equipment of cable Systems which a franchising authority may (8) establish standards for such rate regulation. require in the franchise. (3) The Commission shaft periodically review such regulations, taking (fxl) Any Federal agency. State, or franchising authority may not impose into account developments in technology,and may amend such regulations. requirements regarding the provision or content of cable services. except as consistent with paragraphs (1) and (2). to the extent the Commission deter- expressly provided in this title. mines necessary. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to — (c) In the case of any cable system for wnicn a franchise has been granted (A) any rule, regulation, or order issued under any Federal law, as on or before the effective date of this title,until the end of the 2-year period such rule,regulation,or order(i)was in effect on September 21. 1983.or(ii) beginning on such effective date,the franchising authority may,to the extent may be amended after such date if the rule,regulation,or order as amended provided in a franchise — is not inconsistent with the express provisions of this title: and (t) regulate the rates for the provision of basic cable service, including (8) any rule, regulation, or order under title 17, United States Coda multiple tiers of basic cable service; Modification of Franchise Obligations (2) require the provision of any service tier provided without charge Sec. 625. (ax1) During the period a franchise is in effect,the cable opera- (disregarding any installation or rental charge for equipment necessary for to may obtbin from the franchising authority modifications of the require- receipt of such tier); or i mentS in such franchise — (3) regulate rates for the initial installation or the rental of one set of the (A) in the case of any such requirement for facilities or equipment. minimum equipment which is necessary for the subscriber's receipt of basic including public.educational,or governmental access facilities or equipment. cable service. if the Cable operator demonstrates that(i)it is commercially impracticable for (d) Any request for an increase in any rate regulated pursuant to subset- the operator to Comply with such requirement. and i the tion(b)or(C)for which final action is not taken within 180 days atter receipt of (a rule because by the such request by the franchising authority shall be deemed to be granted, cable operator for modification of such requirement is appropriate because of commercial impracticability; of unless the 18"ay period is extended by mutual agreement of the Cable (8) in the Case of any such requirement lox services, it the cable operator and the franchising authority. operator demonstrates that the mix,quality. e 1 In addition to an other rate increase which is subject to the g ty,and level of services r after by ( x ) y M approval the franchise at the time it was granted will t>a maintained atter such of a franchising authority, any rate subject to regulation pursuant to this modification. section may be increased atter the effective date Of this title at the discretion (2) Any final decision by a franchising authority under this subsection of the Cable operator by an amount not to exceed 5 percent per year it the shall be made in a public proceeding.Such decision shall be made within 120 franchise(as in effect on the date of the enactment of this title) does not days after receipt of such request by the franchising authority. unless such specify a fixed rate or rates for basic cable service for a specified period or 120-day period is extended by mutual agreement o1 the cable operator and periods which would be exceeded if such increase took effect. (2) .Notting in this section shaft be construed to Emit provisions of a the franchising authority. franchise which permits a cattle operator to increase any rate at the opera- (0x1) Any cable operator whose request for modification under may obtain for's discretion• however, the aggregate increases per year allowed under modi(a)has been denied by a final decision of a franchising authority may obtain paragraph(1)snail be reduced by the amount of any increase taken such year section kation of such franchise requirements pursuant to :the provisions of section 635. under such franchise provisions. (2) In the case of any proposed modification of a requirement for (r) Nothing in this title shall be construed as prohibiting any Federal agency. facilities or equipment,the court shall grant such modification only if the cable State or a franchising authority, from prohibiting — operator demonstrates to the court that — (1) discrimination among customers of basic cable service, or A it is commercially im a pe ply ( ) y Or cticable for Me operator to tom with (2) requiring and regulating the installation or rental of equipment which such requirement; and facilitates the reception of basic cable service by hearing impaired individuals. (8) the terms of the modification requested are appropriate because (g) Any State law in existence on the effective date of this title which of commercial impracticability. provides for any limitation or preemption of regulation by any franchising authority(or the Stale or any political subdivision or agency thereof)of rates (3) In the case of any proposed modification of a requirement to services, the court shall grant for cable service shall remain in effect during the 2-year period beginning on m modification only if the Cable requiter such effective date, to the extent such law provides for such limitation or demonstrates the court that thee mix-quality,and level of services required preemption.As used in this section.the term"State*'has the meaning given it DY the franchise at the time it was granted will be maintained after such modification. in(n�r of later v)than 6 years after the date of the enactment of this title, the (c) Notwithstanding subsections(a)and(b),a cable operator may,upon 30 Commission shaft prepare and submit to the Congress a report regarding rate rays' advance notice b the serfravice authority, rearrange. replace. a remove a particular cable service required by the franchise if — regulation of cable services, including such legislative recommendations as 9 n9 9 (1) such.service is no longer available to the operator; of the Commission considers appropriate. Such report and recommendations (2) such service is available to the operator only upon the payment of a shall be based on a study of such regulation which Ina Commission shall royalty required under section 801(bx2)of title 17, United States Code which conduct regarding the effect of competition in the marketplace. the cable operator can document — Regulation of Services. Facilities, and Equipment (A) is substantially in excess of the amount of such payment required Sec. 624- (a) Any franchising authority, may not regulate the services. on the date of the operator's offer to provide such service, and facilities. and equipment provided by a cable operator except to the extent (8) has not been specifically compensated for through a rate increase Consistent with this title. or other adjustment. (d) Notwithstanding subsections(a)and(D).a cable operator may take such (b) In the Case of any franchise granted after the effective date of this title. the franchising authority,to the extent related to the establishment or opera- actions to rearrange particular service from one cable service tier t another,or otherwise offer ter the service,it the rates for an cable of the service tion of a cable system — tiers involved in such actions are not subject to regulation under section 623 (1) in its request for proposals for a franchise (including requests for renewal proposals, subject to section 626), may establish requirements fa qu a cable operator may not obtain modification under this govef of any facilities and equipment, but may not establish requirements for video pro- requirement loll services relating to public. educational. or goverrv+hentat gramming or other information services: and access. (q For purposes of this section, the term commercially impracticable (2) subject to section 625. may enforce any requirements contained means.with respect to any requirement applicable to a cable operator.that it within the franchise — is Commercially impracticable for the operator to comply with such require- (A) for facilities and equipment; and meat as a result Of a Change in Conditions which is beyond the Control of the (8) for broad categories of video programming or other services operator and the nonoccurrence of which was a basic assumption on which (c) In the case of any franchise in effect on the effective date of this title. the requirement was based. the franchising authority may, subject to section 625. enforce requirements contained within the franchise for the provision of services. facilities. and Renewal equipment,whether orinot related to the establishment or operation of a cable Sec. the (a) Owing the 6-month period which begins with the 36tH on now wn before the franchise expiration, the franchising authority may s on system. (dxt) Nothing in this title shall be construed as prohibiting a franchising initiative.and shall at the request of the cable operator,commence proceed authority and a cable operator from specifying. in a franchise or renewal ings which afford the public in the franchise area appropriate notice and thereof,that certain cable services shall not be provided or shall be provided participation for the purpose of — Subject to conditions, it such cable services are obscene or are otherwise (1) identifying the future cable-related community needs and interests. unprotected by the Constitution of the United States and (2XA) in order to restrict the viewing of programming which is obscene (?) reviewing the performance of rive tante operator under the tranChse or indecent.upon the request of a subsu.ni.rr. a cable operator shvt provide during the then current IranChrse terra ( (bNl) Upon completion of a proceeding under subsection (a), a cable (1) at lair market value, determined on the basis of the cable system Operator Seeking renewal OI a franchise may.On is own initiative Or at the valued as a going concern but with no value allocated t0 the franchise its retluest of a franchising authority, submit a proposal for renewal. or (2) Subject to section 624,any Such proposal shall contain Such material (2) in the case Of any franchise existing on the effective date 01 this title. as the franchising authority may require, including proposals for an upgrade at a price determined in accordance with the franchise if Such franchise of the cable system. contains provisions applicable to such an acquisition or transfer. (3) The franchising authority may establish a dale by which such propos- (b) If a franchise hold by a cable operator is revoked for cause and the al shall be submitted. franchising authority acquires ownership of the cable system or effects a (cxl) Upon submittal by a cable operator of a proposal to the franchising transfer of ownership of the system to another person,any such acquisition authority for the renewal of a franchise,the franchising authority shall provide or transfer shall be — prompt public notice of such proposal and.during the 4-month period which (1) at an equitable price, or begins on the completion Of any proceedings under subsection(a).renew the (2) in the case of any franchise existing on the effective date of this title. franchise or,issue a preliminary assessment that the franchise should not be at a price determined in accordance with the franchise if such franchise renewed and, at the request of the operator Or on its own initiative. com- contains provisions applicable to such an acquisition or transfer. mence an administrative proceeding after providing prompt public notice of Part IV — Miscellaneous Provisions such proceeding in accordance with paragraph (2) to consider whether — Protection of Subscriber Privacy (A) the cable operator has substantially complied with the material Sec. 631. (axl) At the time of entering into an agreement to provide any terms of the existing franchise and with applicable law; cable service or other service t0 a subscriber and at least once a year (B) the quality of the operator's service including signal quality. re- thereafter, a cable operator shall provide notice in the form of a separate. , sponse to consumer complaints, and billing practices, but without regard to written statement to such subscriber which clearly and conspicuously informs the mix,quality.or level of cable services or Other services provided over the the subscriber o1 — system, has been reasonable in light of community needs. (A) the nature of personally identifiable information collected or to be (C) the operator has the financial,legal,and technical ability to provide collected with respect to the subscriber and the nature of the use of such the services.facilities,and equipment as set forth in the operator's proposal; information; and (B) the nature, frequency,and purpose of any disclosure which may (0) the operator's proposal is reasonable to meet the future cable- be made of such information, including an identification of the types of related community needs and interests, taking into account the cost of persons to whom the disclosure may be made; meeting such needs and interests. (C) the period during which such information will be maintained by the (2) In any proceeding under paragraph(1). the cable operator shall be cable operator; afforded adequate notice and the cable operator and the franchising authority, (0) the times and place at which the subscriber may have access to or its designee,shall be afforded fair opportunity for fun participation,includ- such information in accordance with subsection (d); and ing the right to introduce evidence(including evidence related to issues raised (E) the limitations provided by this section with respect to the eollec- in the proceeding under subsection(a)),to require the production of evidence, tion and disclosure of information by a cable operator and the right of the and to question witnesses. A transcript shall be made of any such subscriber under subsections (f) and (h)to enforce such limitations. In the proceeding. case of subscribers who have entered into such an agreement before the (3) At the completion of a proceeding under this subsection,the franchis- effective date of this section,such notice shall be provided within 180 days of -ing authority shall issue a written decision granting or denying the proposal such date and at least once a year thereafter. for renewal based upon the record of such proceeding.and transmit a copy (2) For purposes of this section,the term'personally identifiable informa- 1 of such decision to the cable operator.Such decision shalt state the reasons tion'does not include any record of aggregate data which does not identify therefor. particular persons. (d) Any denial of a proposal for renewal shall be based on one or more (bxl) Except as provided in paragraph(2),a cable operator shall not use adverse findings made with respect to the factors described in subparagraphs the cable system to collect personally identifiable information concerning any (A)through(0)o1 subsection (cx1),pursuant to the record of the proceeding subscriber without the prior written or electronic consent of the subscriber under subsection(c).A franchising authority may not base a denial of renewal concerned, on a failure to substantially comply with the material terms of the franchise (2) A cable operator may use the cable system to collect such informs- under subsection(cx1xA)or on events considered under subsection(cX1XB) tion in order to — it;t;?ic?! in any case in which a violation of the franchise or the events considered (A) obtain information necessary to render a cable service or other under subsection(cxtxB)occur after the effective date of this title unless the service provided by the cable operator to the subscriber; or franchising authority has provided the operator with notice and the opportuni- (8) detect unauthorized reception of cable communications. ty to cure, or in any case in which it is documented that the franchising (cx1) Except as provided in paragraph (2). a cable operator shall not authority has waived its right to object, or has effectively acquiesced. disclose personally identifiable information concerning any subscriber without (ext) Any cable operator whose proposal for renewal has been denied by a the prior written or electronic consent of the subscriber concerned. final decision of a franchising authority made pursuant to this section.or has (2) A cable operator may disclose such information it the disclosure is— been adversely affected by a failure of the franchising authority to act in (A) necessary to render, or conduct a legitimate business activity accordance with the procedural requirements of this section, may appeal related to,a cable service or other service provided by the cable operator to such final decision or failure pursuant to the provisions of section 635. the subscriber; (2) The court shall grant appropriate relief if the court finds that — (B) subject to subsection(h),made pursuant to a court order authoriz- (A) any action of the franchising authority is not in compliance with the ing such disclosure,if the subscriber is notified of such order by the person 10 procedural requirements of this section; or whom the order is directed; or (B) in the event of a final decision of the franchising authority denying (C) a disclosure of the names and addresses of subscribers to any the renewal proposal,the operator has demonstrated that the adverse finding cable service or other service, if — of the franchising authority with respect to each of the (actors described in (i) the cable operator has provided the subscriber the opportunity subparagraphs (A) through (0) of subsection (cxt) on which the denial is to prohibit or Omit such disclosure, and based is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, based on the (ii) the disclosure does not reveal. directly or indirectly, the — record of the proceeding conducted under subsection (c). (1) extent of any viewing or other use by the subscriber of a cable (t) Any decision of a franchising authority on a proposal for renewal shall service or other service provided by the cable operator, or not be considered final unless all administrative review by the State has (11) the nature of any transaction made by the subscriber over the occurred or the opportunity therefor has lapsed. cable system of the cable operator. (g) For purposes Of this section,the term'franchise expiration' means the (d) A cable subscriber shall be provided access to all personally identifiable date of the expiration of the term of the franchise, as provided under the information regarding that subscriber which is collected and maintained by a franchise, as it was in effect on the date of the enactment of this title. cable operator.Such information shall be made available to the subscriber at (h) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) through.(g) of this reasonable times and at a convenient place designated by such cable opera- section. a cable operator may submit a proposal for the renewal of a for. A cable subscriber shall be provided reasonable opportunity to correct franchise pursuant to this subsection at any time,and a franchising authority any error in such information. may,after affording the public adequate notice and opportunity for comment. (a) A cable operator shall destroy personally identifiable information if the grant or deny such proposal at any time(including after proceedings pursuant information is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected C to this section have commenced).The provisions of subsections(a)through and there are no pending requests or orders for access to such information (g)of this section shall not apply to a decision to grant Or deny a proposal under subsection (d) or pursuant to a court order. under this subsection. The denial of a renewal pursuant to this subsection (1x1) Any person aggrieved by any act of a cable operator in violation of shall not affect action on a renewal proposal that is submitted in accordance this section may bring a civil action in a United States district court. with subsections (a) through (g). (2) The court may award — Conditions of Sale (A) actual damages but not less than liquidated damages computed at Sec. 627. (a) It a renewal of a franchise hold by a cable operator is denied the rale Of$100 a day for each day 01 violation or S1.000.whichever is higher. and the franchising authority acquires ownership of the cable system or (B) punitive damages; and effects a transfer of ownership of the system to another person, any such (C) reasonable attorneys' fees and other litigation costs reasonably acquisition or transfer Shall W — incurred. SS UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X AMERICAN TELEVISION & COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, a Delaware corporation, d/b/a AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION, Plaintiff, V. ANSWER TO FIRST CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AMENDED COMPLAINT a New York municipal corporation, Civil Action No. Defendant and 87-CV-145 Third Party (Judge Munson) Plaintiff, V. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Third Party Defendants. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X The Defendant City of Ithaca, New York, a New York Municipal Corporation as and for an Answer to Count I of Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint herein alleges as follows: 1. Admits all the allegations of Paragraph 111" of the complaint herein. 2 . Admits all the allegations of Paragraph 112" of the complaint herein. 3 . Admits all the allegations of Paragraph 113" of the complaint herein. 4 . Admits all the allegations of Paragraph 114" of the complaint herein. 5. Admits all the allegations of Paragraph 115" of the complaint herein. 6. Lacks knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of all the allegations of Paragraph 116" of the complaint herein. 7 . Admits all the allegations of Paragraph 117" of the complaint herein. 8 . Admits all the allegations of Paragraph 118" of the complaint herein to the extent that they quote portions of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 out of context, and denies the interpretation of said quoted portions contained therein. 9 . Admits the allegations of Paragraph 119" of the complaint herein to the extent that they quote portions of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 out of context but denies that the City of Ithaca is not authorized to regulate rates for the provision of cable service pursuant to its franchise agreement or otherwise as determined by law. 10. Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1110" of the complaint herein. 11. Admits the allegations of Paragraph "11" asserting specific rule making actions of the FCC but denies the interpretation of said actions contained therein.. 2 12 . Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1112" alleging regulations adopted by the FCC but denies the broadcast signals of the four stations listed can be clearly viewed in the City of Ithaca and/or all communities within Tompkins County. 13 . Lacks knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of all the allegations of Paragraph 1113" of the complaint herein. 14 . Deny each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1114" of the complaint herein. 15. Admits that the Plaintiff announced the alleged rate increase and that Common Council of the City of Ithaca authorized its attorney to pursue legal action to prevent implementation of the rate increase. Denies each and every other allegation in Paragraph 1115" of the complaint herein. 16. Admits each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1116" of the complaint herein. 17 . Denies each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1117" of the complaint herein. AS AND FOR A FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 18. The complaint fails to state a claim against defendant upon which relief can be granted. 3 AS AND FOR A SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 19. That the parties hereto entered into a revised Franchise Agreement on or about March 27, 1984 , by which Plaintiff agreed to make no increase in the monthly service for basic cable services beyond $8. 00 per month on or before January 20, 1988 . AS AND FOR A THIRD AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 20. Realleges the allegations contained in Paragraph 1119" of this answer as if more fully set out herein. 21. That Plaintiff as part of said agreement further agreed that it would make no increases "notwithstanding any federal or state law, rule, regulation or ruling which permits or authorized any increases thereof to the contrary during this period" . 22 . Upon information and belief Plaintiff was aware of the possibility of an Act of Congress affecting its ability to make increases in rates for basic service during the term of i the agreement at the time said agreement was made and Plaintiff waived its right to make any increases prior to January 20, 1988, except as authorized by the franchise agreement. 4 AS AND FOR A FOURTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 23 . Realleges the allegations contained in Paragraphs 111911 11201 , 1121" and 1122" as if more fully set out herein. r 24 . That the Defendant agreed to substantial rate increases with Plaintiff in the said Agreement effective January 20, 1984 (from $5. 50 per month to $7 . 00 per month) and January 1, 1986 (from $7 . 00 per month to $8. 00 per month) . 25. That said negotiated increases were above any increases required by law or the said Agreement and were agreed to based upon Plaintiffs promise not to increase rates from January 1, 1986 through January 20, 1988. 26. That Plaintiff is estopped from making any increases prior to January 20, 1988, or otherwise according to said Agreement. i AS AND FOR A FIFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 27 . Realleges the allegations contained in Paragraphs 111911 1120111 112111 , 1122111 1123111 1124111 1125" and 112611 . 28. That if Plaintiff is allowed to make its proposed rate increase in contravention of the agreement it will be unjustly enriched by the rate increases granted and accepted by Plaintiff in 1984 and 1986. 5 AS AND FOR A SIXTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 29. That the FCC's definition of "effective competition" upon which Plaintiff relies in its complaint is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the Cable Act generally for the following reasons: (a) The FCC defined "effective competition" to apply only to basic cable service and not to the entire range of cable systems services. (b) The FCC further defined basic cable service for purposes of determining "effective competition" to consist of local broadcast signals only. (c) The FCC further defined reception of such local broadcast signals to be assumed based upon the theoretical availability of any three television f' signals anywhere within the county where a cable franchise community is located without reference to the actual clarity of signals received in the actual franchise area. w L (d) The effect of the aforementioned FCC regulations was to exempt virtually all cable systems nationwide from rate regulations. i (e) The FCC regulations place the burden on the local franchise to do expensive field strength testing to refute the regulatory assumption that signals are 6 clearly received based upon the established theoretical criteria. (f) The FCC regulations exempt cable systems in non- competitive markets from rate regulation for a one- year period following the transition of the local market from competitive to non-competitive status. (g) The FCC regulations authorize cable operators in non- competitive markets to impose rate increases in addition to those provided in the Cable Act. AS AND FOR A SEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 30. That the FCC' s definition of "effective competition" upon which Plaintiff relies in its complaint is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the Cable Act as applied to Defendant for the following reasons: (a) Realleges the allegations contained in Paragraph 1129" of the Answer as if more fully set out herein. ` (b) The City of Ithaca has one of the oldest cable networks I in the country based on the historical inability to f receive over the air broadcasts. (c) The particular topography in the immediate area of the City of Ithaca and between it and the local over the air broadcasters provides significant reception problems in the franchising area which is not reflected by the FCC criteria. 7 (d) The particular topography in Tompkins County in which the City of Ithaca is situated may result in signals being received in some areas of the county which are unreceivable in a substantial area of the City of Ithaca. AS AND FOR AN EIGHTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 31. Realleges the allegations contained in Paragraphs 1129" and 1130" of the Answer as if more fully set out herein. 32 . That within the City of Ithaca the Plaintiff cable system is not subject to effective competition as defined in the Cable Act and Plaintiff is subject to regulation by the Defendant as defined in the Cable Act. AS AND FOR A NINTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 33 . That the City of Ithaca has duly authorized expenditures to prepare field strength measurements made in accordance with Section 76. 686 of the FCC rules to establish that the Plaintiff cable system is not subject to effective competition as defined in the FCC regulations. AS AND FOR A TENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 34 . Realleges the allegations contained in Paragraphs 1129", 1130111 "31" , 1132" and 1133" of this Answer as if more fully set out herein. 8 35. The Federal Communications Commission and United States of America are necessary parties to this action. AS AND FOR AN ELEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 36. Realleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1129111 1130111 "31" , 1132" and 1133" of this Answer as if more fully set out herein. 37 . That upon information and belief the Plaintiff is a subsidiary of Time Incorporated. 38. That there is presently pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Case No. 84- 1666 (and consolidated cases) entitled American Civil Liberties Union, Petitioner vs. Federal Communications Commission and United States of America, Respondents; Eagle Telecommunications, Inc./ Colorado, et al, Interveners. 39. That said case includes the claims raised in Defendants Sixth Affirmative Defense herein and Time, Inc. is a party intervenor to said proceeding. 40. That oral argument was conducted in said case on January 23, 1987. 41. That any decision in said case on the claims raised in Defendant's Sixth Affirmative Defense would have res judicata and/or collateral estopped effect against Plaintiff herein. 9 WHEREFORE, .Defendant demands judgment against the Plaintiff either cumulatively or in the alternative as regards Count I of Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint. (1) Dismissing the complaint of Plaintiff; (2) Declaring the Plaintiff is bound by the contractual terms of its current franchise agreement with the Defendant and cannot raise its rates without compliance therewith; (3) Declaring the subscribers under the franchise agreement between Plaintiff and Defendant are entitled to refunds of the increase in cable rates established in 1984 and 1986 under said agreement; (4) Declaring that Plaintiff shall not be entitled to raise rates for basic cable service from $8 . 00 to $8. 50 until after January 20, 1988, and only as provided by law and enjoining Plaintiff from raising said rates during said period without otherwise complying with applicable law; (5) Declaring that the FCC regulations upon which Plaintiff relies in its complaint are invalid and Plaintiff is not entitled to any rate increase thereunder; (6) Declaring that within the City of Ithaca the Plaintiff cable system is not subject to effective competition as defined i the Cable Act and enjoining Plaintiff from raising basic cable services except in accordance with the Cable Act procedures for non-competitive areas. (7) Enjoining the Plaintiff cable system from raising basic cable services except in accordance with the Cable Act 10 yr 11a I, 1v1111, ♦—VII.. V. JJ.: nrrlLnvll yr rr.naVINnL 3r1nvl%.r1 being duly sworn, deposes and says that deponent is not a party to the action, is over 18 years of age and resides at That on the clay of 19 at No. deponent served the within upon the herein, by delivering a true copy thereof to h personally. Deponent knew the person so served to be the person mentioned and described as follows: ❑Male ❑White Skin ❑Black Hair ❑ 14-20 Yrs ❑Under 5' ❑Under 1(10 Lbs. ❑Female ❑Black Skin ❑Brown flair ❑White Hair 1121-35 Yrs. ❑5'0"-5'3" ❑ 100-130 Lbs. ❑Yellow Skin ❑Blond Hair ❑Balding ❑36-50 Yrs. ❑5'4"-5'8" ❑ 131-160 Lbs. ❑Brown ❑Gray Hair ❑51-65 Yrs. ❑5'9"-6'0" ❑ 161-2(N)Lbs. ❑Red Skin ❑Red Hair ❑Over 65 Yrs. ❑Over 6' ❑Over 2(x)Lbs. Other identifying features Sworn to before me, this day of 19 Signature of Server c c0i H 3 O u r, O �4 ^� H '! U a) QQ Y z � ° o z ro W 3u V A CnV ° 4J E-4 x ° n° uizo i i � O cH U0 �• Ur rd . i < ua [ I i +•) 4J (1) •H m CO u 11 H fd 'I H y U t11 O F w 34 U) O O U -u E-4 O J21 4-) G 141 >1d) 3 z :D U U W b LL cad u' a O 0 tc C U ° °) ?. >, a. .a Gam. w o Gam. cUC ❑ C/] •L d _ z ° � No o w Z 3 w O w z 00 C +� u w C c4 y 3 c •a p >. a> w � i procedures for non-competitive areas until such time that the FCC determines Defendant's application adversely and such determination is finally sustained by law under Section 73 . 686 of the FCC rules or other lawfully approved rules. (8) Awarding such other and further relief, including attorneys' fees and cost, as the Court deems just and proper. The Defendant City of Ithaca, New York, a New York Municipal Corporation as and for an Answer to Count II of Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint herein alleges as follows: 42 . Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1119" of the complaint herein. 43 . Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1120" of the complaint herein. 44 . The allegations of Paragraph 1121" have been responded to i previously herein. 45. Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1122" of the complaint herein. 46. Admits the existence of the Cable Act provisions alleged in Paragraph 1123" of the complaint but denies plaintiff's interpretations of them. 47 . Admits the existence of the Cable Act provisions alleged in Paragraph 1124" of the complaint but denies plaintiffs interpretations of them. 11 48 . Admits the existence of the Cable Act provisions alleged in Paragraph 1125" of the complaint but denies plaintiffs interpretations of them. 49 . Admits the existence of the Cable Act provisions alleged in Paragraph 1126" of the complaint but denies plaintiffs interpretations of them. 50. Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1127" of the complaint herein. 51. Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1123" of the complaint herein. 52 . Admits the language quoted from the RFRP alleged in Paragraph 1129" but denies plaintiffs interpretation of them as "entirely open-ended" . 53 . Admits the allegations in Paragraph 1130" that the City has engaged on outside consultant, but denies each and every other allegation of said paragraph. 54 . Denies each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1131' of the complaint herein. 55. Denies each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1132' of the complaint herein. 56. Admits the allegations contained in Paragraph 1133" of the complaint herein. 57 . Denies each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1133' of the complaint herein. 12 AS AND FOR AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE AND COUNTERCLAIM ALLEGES: 58. That the City of Ithaca is lawfully entitled to request reimbursement in its RFRP disputed by Plaintiff in this claim. WHEREFORE, Defendant demands judgment against the Plaintiff either cumulatively or in the alternative as regards Count II of Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint: (1) Dismissing Plaintiffs Count II; (2) Declaring that the City is lawfully entitled to request reimbursement in its RFRP as disputed by Plaintiff; (3) for such other and further relief, including attorneys fees and costs, as the Court deems just and proper. The Defendant City of Ithaca, New York, a New York Municipal Corporation as and for an Answer to Count III of Plaintiffs Firs Amended Complaint herein alleges as follows: 59. The allegations of Paragraph 1136" have been responded to previously herein. 60. Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1137" of the complaint herein. 61. Admits the allegations of Paragraph 1138" of the complaint herein. 62 . Denies each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1139' of the complaint herein. 63 . Denies each and every allegation contained in Paragraph 1140' of the complaint herein. i 13 AS AND FOR A FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE ALLEGES: 64 . That the City's actions complained of are within the scope of its legitimate legislative activity and entitled to immunity from legal suit thereby. AS AND FOR A SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE ALLEGES: 65. That the City' s actions complained of are within the scope of discretionary functions and did not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights and are entitled to a qualified immunity from monetary relief. WHEREFORE, Defendant demands judgment against the Plaintiff either cumulatively or in the alternative as regards Count III o Plaintiff' s First Amended Complaint: (1) Dismissing Plaintiffs Count III ; (2) and for such other and further relief, including attorneys fees and costs, as the Court deems just and proper. DATED: April 30, 1987 Ratphip. Nash, Esq. Corpo ation Counsel for the . City of Ithaca 108 East Green Street Ithaca, New York 14850 14 } ACCJJN 1 219K AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION June 11, 1987 RECEIVED JUN 15 1987 Matthys Van Cort, Director Planning and Development City of Ithaca 108 E. Green Street Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 Dear Thys: Enclosed is the following information: 1. ACC' s responses to the additional clarification questions submitted by the City. 2. A copy of the data services survey worked out with Cornell. 3. Access equipment replacement and operational support 4. Access insurance revision 5. Local origination clarification 6. Copy of letter tp Jean Rice re non-payment procedures. A draft signal leakage ordinance will follow shortly. Pat and I met with Cornell officials this afternoon. We will be providing Cornell with some technical specifications and recommendations for interfacing a full sub-split system into Cornell' s computer network. We will provide Cornell with that information by June 25 and meet with them shortly thereafter for followup discussions. We also expect to have research data and other information available at that time, which should make financial projections feasible. I 'd also like thank you for the copy of Rice Associates' evaluation of our proposal. While there were a number of conclusions drawn about our proposal within that document that were either inaccurate or speculative, it appears we have clarified those issues during the course of our negotiating sessions. This should do it for now. If you have any questions, give me a call. Sincerely, Michael M. Withiam General Manager enclosures 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 CITY OF ITHACA Response to additional clarification questions June 5, 1987 Consumer Practices 1 . Are requests for repairs made during Saturday office hours responded to on Saturday? Yes. In addition the service technician on duty checks with our answering service during mid-afternoon on Saturday to see if any additional service requests have been received, then responds. 2. The proposal indicates that system maintenance, upgrades or related planned outages are conducted at periods of lowest customer inconvience. Please indicate what specific time periods are utilized? There are two classes of planned maintenance activities that must be considered, those which require technicians to be climbing poles or doing other aerial work, and those which don' t. Planned maintenance that requires aerial work is generally completed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. We perform aerial work whenever possible during daylight hours strictly for safety reasons. Planned maintenance which does not require aerial work, generally indicating hub or head end wiring projects, is generally completed between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. 3. The proposal indicates that there are currently eight active phones lines with two more planned by which customers may. reach office personnel. The proposal indicates that 20 phone lines are available in all. Please clarify the number of active lines and their use. Since the proposal was submitted, the two additional phone lines have been activated. Because of the number of specialized functions within ACC, we have designed a phone system that makes it possible for a customer to directly dial the department he or she wishes to reach, as well as dedicating a number of lines as in-coming only to avoid congestion. We currently have 22 total phone lines, configured as follows: 1 r �w 12 active phone lines dedicated to only in-coming calls for customer service for installation, service and billing wM 7 are in-coming only direcly to our business office for orders, installations, billing and information. (1 of these lines is actually a payyperpview PPV line; we expect pay-per«view call volume to eventually require an automated answering device and will use this line to support that function) w« 1 800-WATS number for the same purpose for Candor and Newark Valley customers WN 2 in«coming only lines for service calls W« 1 2-wAy line for service used only by ACC field personnel and dispatchers to keep customer service lines open ww 1 2-way line dedicated to support the direct sales function �w 1 2-way line for public access w« 2 2«way lines for advertising and commercial production «« 4 2«way lines for news «« 3 2Wway lines for administration 4. Please explain the procedures used when ACC is suspicious of unauthorized service in a residential household. There are two primary classes of unauthorized service: unauthorized drops and unauthorized additional outlets. Our approach to any customer we suspect is receiving an unauthorized signal is to make every effort to convert that customer to a paying customer. Unauthorized drops are usually identified when a technician or sales representative can trace a drop from the pole to the house and we show no record of active service at the address. In that case, the technician or sales rep will knock on the door, explain our concern and offer to establish an account. If the customer is not home, we leave a door hanger explaining our concern and ask the customer to contact our office to establish an account. If the customer does not contact us within 2y3 days, we order a physical disconnection of the drop. Please note that situation is relatively rare within our system. During the New York State Cable Commission-ordered grounding work from 1984«86 we in effect conducted a complete tap audit and have put procedures in place that make it difficult for an individual to receive unauthorized service without physically damaging our equipment. 2 We generally discover unauthorized outlets as the result of a service request (and quite often, the service request is the result of an individual poorly connecting a splitter or other equipment to the cable system in order to receive unauthorized service) . As a standard practice, we verify service levels on all service calls. When unauthorized service is discovered, we offer to add the additional service to the customer' s account. If the offer is accepted, the problem is resolved. If the customer does not allow us to add the unauthorized service to his or her account, we disconnect the equipment making reception possible. This type of unauthorized service will no longer be a problem because our proposal will eliminate additional outlet charges. We keep records on both individuals and addresses where unauthorized service is discovered. Repeat offenders are referred to the district attorney' s office for prosecution. It is also worth noting that the procedures outlined above were developed in cooperation with the district attorney so that we can make effective use of New York State penal law regarding receipt of unauthorized service. ACCESS DAMAGE WAIVER POLICY As I noted during our last meeting, our research has turned up a model for reducing liability for damage to access equipment that uses an annual payment rather than a per-use payment structure. We would like to modify our proposal to incorporate this model. The policy we propose is as follows: An annual payment of $30 will reduce the volunteer' s total liability for equipment damage and repair to $500 for each individual use of the equipment. An annual payment of $50 will reduce the volunteer's total liability for equipment damage and repair to $250 for each individual use. We have discussed the level of liability reduction internally, with considerable input from Gene Katz and Lauren Stefanelli, our programming staff, and feel that the limits strike a reasonable balance between our need to create an awareness of responsibility for the equipment and the volunteer' s fear of damaging equipment which they simply cannot afford to replace. 3 ACCESS EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT FORMULA ACC currently plans to assign on an annual basis an amount equal to at least one (1) percent of subscriber-derived revenues from the City of Ithaca as capital funds which will be designated for. replacement and upgrade of the public access facility. Subscriber revenues shall be defined as listed in the pro forma provided with the proposal. Our present public access facility is equipped far in excess of the minimum requirements in the current franchise, and the equipment has been regularily replaced and updated. We have projected, based on past expereince and the expected useful life of video equipment, with adjustments for inflation, a replacement schedule for public access equipment outlined on pages 51a"f in the responses to the City's questions (projection attached) . The total capital we expect to spend in support of public access on a systemwide basis over the next 15 years is more than $828,000. Assigning one third of that cost to the City of Ithaca, then dividing by 15 years produces an average capital expenditure to be assigned to the City of $18,400. As a percentage of revenue, $18,400 is 1.04 percent of the expected subscriber revenues derived from the City in 1987. We plan to use the 1 percent figure as the benchmark for capital support of public access throughout the life of the franchise. ACCESS OPERATIONAL SUPPORT During our first two meetings we have discussed the possibility of municipal access and the assignment of franchise fees to the support of public access. The Cable Act limits the right of the City to require payments of any kind that totals more than 5 percent of subscriber revenues. ACC will provide operational funds to support PEG access. However, without an agreement to support PEG access through the application of a portion of the City' s franchise fees, ACC will not formally commit to any dollar level. Without such an agreement, ACC forsees spending annually an amount equal to 1 percent of our subscriber revenues for the operational support of PEG access. We have calculated this amount based upon past history and our expectations for future needs. This amount may increase or decrease depending upon the resources needed to support the access facilities and functions that we have indicated we will provide. Based on the projections included in the pro forma, a 1 percent expenditure would provide a base of $18, 700 during 1988 for the operational support of public access, approximately 25 percent of our projected total PEG expense for the system. 4 ACC expects to spend $6570,000 during 1987 for the administration of the public access facility for our entire system. In future years the operational costs of maintaining a mobile unit, further use of the access facility and possible additional staff will increase our total costs steadily. The City has stated a strong desire to see public access continue to grow, and has now added an expressed desire for the development of municipal access. Rather than require ACC to carry an additional financial burden, a burden which will certainly be passed along to customers, we suggest that the City invest some or all of the additional franchise fee payments it is requesting in the further development of PEG access. LOCAL ORIGINATION PLANS The City has requested a breakdown separating the production of our local news program and other types of local origination programming in our pro forma. ACC currently produces a number of local origination programs, primarily of a public service nature, plus our news program. In addition, we provide a community bulletin board service. Some of the programs we currently provide are listed on page 51a of the response to questions submitted with the original proposal. ACC currently has plans to develop local origination programming more fully in the future, and will do so based on community desire for types of programming and the business viability of producing additional programming. The pro forma we have provided includes anticipated costs for the support of local origination programming, including the news program, throughout the life of the franchise. The development and continuation of local programming, including news or any other program, will be based on the community response to and the business viability of the program or programs developed. LEAKAGE ORDINANCE need help here -- will talk to Hines INTERNATIONAL SIGNALS The City asked for information on the addition of programming from international sources. Because we are more than 75 miles from the Canadian border, Federal regulations prevent us from carrying Canadian broadcast signals. Further, international agreements between the Canadian and American governments prohibit the general transfer of satellitegdelivered programming between 5 the countries (there are some instances where U.S. signals are viewed in Canada, but very little original programming is produced for satellite-transmission in Canada) . It is possible that current free trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada might relax these restrictions (telecommunications policy is part of the discussion) , and we would consider the addition of Canadian broadcast signals if quality reception was possible. It is impossible to receive satellite delivered programming for cable purposes from Europe at this time, and other delivery mechanisms for such programming are both expensive and of poor video quality. 6 DRESNER-SYKES & ASSOCIATES May, 1987 r 168 Fifth Avenue -- 3rd Floor New York, NY 10010 Date: COVER SHEET ATC/ITHACA FACULTY MEMBERS Study No. 1387 Telephone No. Interviewer: Hello, my name is and I'm with the National Phone Center. How are you tonight? We're doing a survey on home computer use among residents in your area and I'd like to speak to (READ NAME OF RESPONDENT) Are you the male or female head or joint head of the household? Yes.......................( ( -1 No*............ ......... -2 1. (FROM OBSERVATION) Sex: Male...............0......(10( -1 Female...................... .. -2 2. Do you currently subscribe to cable television? Yes. ... ... . ....... -1 No....... ................ ..... -2 Not sure...................... -3 3A. Are you currently affiliated with Cornell University as a faculty member or a professional staff member? CORNELL Yes, faculty member.......( 12( 3 AFFILIATED Yes, professional staff member -4� (ASK Q.3 B) CORNELL1 No............................_ UNAFFILIATED lNot sure.*.**.*****...... .... D ( 'NK & TERMINATE) 3B. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.3A) Will you be returning to Cornell as a faculty member or professional staff member next year? Yes. ......................(13( -1 (ASK Q.4) No.......................... .. -3 Not sure............. ......... -4, (THANK & TERMINATE) 4. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.3B) Do you or does anyone in your household currently own a personal computer? Yes, I do. ................(q ( -1 (SKIP TO Q.6) Yes, someone in household..... -2 (ASK TO SPEAK TO THAT PERSON. IF UNAVAILABLE, MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.) No............................ -3 (ASK Q.5) Not sure................... ... -4 (ASK Q.5) Study No. 1387 - 2 - ATC/Ithaca 5. (ASK IF "NO" OR "NOT SURE" IN Q.4) Within the next six months, how likely are you to buy a personal computer? Are you: (READ LIST) Very likely...............(IS ( -1 Likely........................ 2 (SKIP TO Q.16) Not very likely...... ......... -3 (THANK & TERMINATE) OR: Not likely at all............. -3 (THANK & TERMINATE) . (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... -4 (THANK & TERMINATE) 6. (ASK IF "YES, I DO" IN Q.4) What type of personal computer do you own? (DO NOT READ LIST) Apple Macintosh/Mac Plus. .(/6( -1 Apple IIC (2C)/IIE (2E)....... -2 Commodore 64 or 128. .......... -3 Commodore Amiga..........—:o -4 IBMPC, AT or XT......oo.00— -5 IBM compatible clone.......... -6 CPMcompatible................ -7 Other (SPECIFY). ... -8 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... -X 7A. (ASK IF "YES, I DO" IN Q.4) And, how often would you say you use your computer? Do you use it: (READ LIST) • Several times a day.......( 17( -1 • Once a day.... ..000—000.. -2 • Every other day............... -3 • Once or twice a week.......... -4 • Once or twice a month. .. ...... -5 (DO NOT READ) -- • Less than once/twice a month.. -6 (DO NOT READ) -- • Don't use (VOL)............... -7 (DO NOT READ) -- • Not sure...................... -8 7B. (ASK IF "YES, I DO" IN Q.4) When you log on to your computer, how long do you generally stay on before you log off? (DO NOT READ) 15 minutes or less. .......(1$( -1 16 - 30 minutes...o....... -2 31 - 45 minutes. ...... ..... -3 46 - 60 minutes (1 hour)...... -4 1 hour+ - 2 hours............. -5 2 hours+ - 3 hours............ -6 3 hours+ or more.............. -7 Not sure.............o...... -8 8. (ASK IF "YES, I DO" IN Q.4) Do you own a telephone modem for your computer? That is, a device which allows your computer to communicate with another computer via the phone line? Yes........ -1 (ASK Q.9) Not sure....... : ure....... . _g (SKIP TO Q.10) Study No. 1387 — 3 — ATC/Ithaca 9. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.8) The modem for your computer allows it to communicate at a certain speed, which is called the baud rate. What is the maximum speed of your modem? (DO NOT READ LIST) 300 baud..................(( -1 1200 baud.............. -2 2400 baud........--.o... -3 4800 baud..................... -4 Other (SPECIFY). .............. -5 (ASK Q.10) Not sure........--o—o—oo -Y 10. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.4) Do you ever access Cornell's computer system? Yes.......................(yl( -1 (ASK Q.11-15) No............................ -2\ (SKIP TO Q.16) Not sure....................•.. -3 11. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.10) And do you use it from home, from campus, or both? (DO NOT READ LIST) From -1 From campus.............. .... -2 Both. ....................... .. —3 Not sure... 00000. —4 12A. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.10) How often would you say you use Cornell's computer? Do you use it: (READ LIST) • Several times a day.......()3( -1 • Once a day.................... -2 • Every other day.......... ..... -3 • Once or twice a week.......... -4 • Once or twice a month... ...... -5 (DO NOT READ) ---- Less than once/twice a month.. -6 (DO NOT READ) ---- Don't know................. ... -7 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... -8 12B. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.10) When you log on to Cornell's computer, how long do you generally stay on before you log off? 15 minutes or less. ...... .(11( -1 16 - 30 minutes............... -2 31 - 45 minutes. ....... ....... -3 46 - 60 minutes (1 hour)...... -,4 1 hour+ - 2 hours. ............ -5 2 hours+ - 3 hours............ -6 3+ hours or more...........oo. -7 Not sure...................... -8 13. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.10) While on-line to Cornell's mainframe, have you ever experienced any problems with your connection such as telephone noise or "garbage" which results in error or loss of carrier? Yes.......................( ( -1 (ASK Q.14) No. ................ ........... -2 (SKIP TO Q.15) Not sure...................... -3 (SKIP TO Q.15) Study No. 1387 - 4 - ATC/Ithaca 14. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.13) How often have you experienced these problems? Would you say it was: (READ LIST) Very often................(( -1 Often—........oo....0....... -2 OR: Not often at all.............. 3 (ASK Q.15) (DO NOT READ) --- Not sure...................... -4 15. (ASK IF "YES" IN Q.10) How satisfied are you with the baud rate, or speed, in which you communicate with Cornell's mainframe? Are you: (READ LIST) Very satisfied............(,�J( -1 Satisfied..................... -2 Dissatisfied..........o.o.o... -3 OR: Very dissatisfied............ -4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... 5 16. (ASK ALL) How important is it for you to have access to Cornell's computer? Is it: (READ LIST) Very important............(a.J( -1 Important................ ..... -2 Not very important............ -3 OR: Not important at all.......... -4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure.. .................... -5 17. American Community Cablevision and Cornell University are considering offering a service which would enable you to access Cornell's computer from your home using the cable television line and your personal computer. The types of services available to you would be: • Word processing • Statistical analysis • Graphics • Data base management • Access to Tymnet, Telenet, or other similar services • Electronic mail • Transferring information from one computer to another • Compilers, interpreters and higher level languages Using the cable line would allow you to communicate with Cornell's computer at a significantly higher speed, 9600 baud, than using the telephone line and would virtually eliminate connection errors. How interested are you in having this type of service in your home? Are you: (READ LIST) Very interested...........(}"( 71 Interested.................... 2 (ASK Q.18-22) Not very interested....... ..o. 3 OR: Not interested at all -4�(SKIP TO Q.23) (DO NOT READ) --- Not sure..................... . -5 Study No. 1387 - 5 - ATC/Ithaca 18. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.17) And how much would you be willing to pay on a monthly basis for this service? (SP ECIFY). ................(1�( -1 Nothing (VCL)................. -X Not sure............o......... -Y 19. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.17) And if the fee for this computer service was $17.50 per month, how likely would you be to subscribe to this service? Would you be: (READ LIST) Very likely...............(3l( -1> (ASK Q.20) Likely........ ................ -2 Unlikely...................... -3 OR: Very unlikely................. -4�(SKIP TO Q.21) ---(DO NOT READ) -- Not sure....... ............. .. -5 20. (ASK IF "VERY LIKELY" OR "LIKELY" IN Q.19) If it were necessary to purchase A special piece of equipment in order to receive this service at a cost of $700 and you were also charged a monthly fee of $17.50, how likely would you be to subscribe? Would you be: (READ LIST) Very likely...... ........ .(3)( -1 Likely........................ -2 Unlikely.. ... ....... ... .. ... .. -3 (ASK Q.21) OR: Very unlikely............ ..... -4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure... ................... -5 21. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.17) And if a comparable computer service that offered the same speed, the same quality of connection and the same cost were offered by the telephone company, which service would you be more inclined to subscribe to: the service offered by American Community Cablevision or the service offered by the telephone company? (DO NOT READ LIST American Community Cablevision.(33( -1 Telephone Company.................. -2 Neither (VOL). ..................... -3 Either (V OL)..................... .. -4 Not sure. ............... ........... -5 22. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.17) And what if either the cable company or telephone company offered the service at a cheaper rate? Would that influence your preference? Yes. ..................... .... .. (�j�( -1 No................................. -2 Not sure................ ......... .. 3 i Study No. 1387 - 6 - ATC/Ithaca 23-25. (ASK ALL) So far we have been discussing a computer service offering off-campus access to Cornell's computer network. The next group of, questions pertains to a different computer network, one that would allow you access to services not offered by Cornell. Instead, the services would be offered by American Community Cablevision. I'm going to read you a list of three possible services that could be offered by American Community Cablevision. After I read each description, please tell me whether you would be very interested, interested, not very interested or not at all interested in the service. (READ LIST Not Not Very Very at All START AT (X) Inter- Inter- Inter- Inter- Not ested ested ested ested Sure ( )23. A home financial service that would allow you to perform banking transactions from home, such as checking your balances and transferring money between accounts. ...*.............*.....(35( -1* -2* -3 -4 -5 ( )24. An interactive computer service would allow you to access a computer-based community bulletin board. While connected to this bulletin board, you could parti- cipate in public conferences, send electronic mail and data to other users, review a list of community events, and exchange public domain software packages.($( -1** -2** -3 -4 -5 ( )25. A local connection service to popular data services such as Compu-serve, Dow Jones News Retrieval and The Source. This local access capability would save you the cost of the telephone call connecting you to these data services. You'd still be charged by the data service company for the use of their service................( 31( -1*** -2*** -3 -4 -5 INTERVIEWER NOTE: IF RESPONDENT ANSWERED: *"VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.23, ASK Q.26A & 26B **"VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.24, ASK Q.27A & 27B ***"VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.25, ASK Q.28A & 28B Study No. 1387 - 7 - ATC/Ithaca 26A. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.23) How much would you be willing to pay on a monthly basis for the home financial service that would allow you to perform banking transactions from home? (SPECIFY). ................(3t( -1 (ASK Q.26B) Not sure.................... .. -Y 26B. (ASK IF' "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.23) If the monthly charge for the home financial service were $17.50 a month, how likely would you be to subscribe to it? Would you be: (READ LIST) Very likely...............(11( -1 ASK Q.29 Likely....................... -2 Unlikely...................... -3 OR: Very unlikely..........o....o. -4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... -5 27A. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.24) How much would you be willing to pay on a monthly basis for the interactive computer service that would allow you to access a computer-based community bulletin board? (SPECIFY). ................(` 0( -1 (ASK Q.27B) Not sure............... ..... .. -Y) 27B. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.24) If the monthly charge for the computer-based bulletin board were $17.50 a month, how likely would you be to subscribe to it? Would you be: (READ LIST) Very likely............ ...(gl( -1 ASK Q.29 Likely............ ............ -2 Unlikely......o.......oo.....o 3 OR: Very unlikely................._-4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... -5 28A. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.25) How much would you be willing to pay on a monthly basis for the local connection to popular data services such as Compuserve, Dow Jones News Retrieval and The Source? (SPECIFY). ............ ....(y),( -1 (ASK Q.28B) Not sure.................... .. -Y Study No. 1387 - 8 - ATC/Ithaca 28B. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.25) If the monthly charge for the connection to popular data services were $17.50 a month, how likely would you be to subscribe to it? Would you be: (READ LIST) Very likely...............(�3( -1 Likely... ..................... -2 ASK Q.29 Unlikely...................... -3 OR: Very unlikely............... .. -4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure... 5 INTERVIEWER NOTE: IF RESPONDENT ANSWERED "VERY LIKELY" OR "LIKELY" IN Q.26B, 27B, OR 28B, ASK Q. 29 ALL OTHERS SKIP TO Q.30 29. (ASK IF "VERY LIKELY" OR "LIKELY" IN Q.26B, Q.27B, OR Q.28B) To access any of these services, you would need a special piece of equpment. If the cost of the equipment were $600 in addition to the monthly charge of $17.50, how likely would you be to subscribe to the service(s) you previously were likely to get? Would you be: (READ LIST) Very likely......... ... ...gq( -1 Likely...........o......o.... -2 Unlikely...........oo—o—o .. -3 OR: Very unlikely......oo—...oo.. -4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... -5 30. (ASK ALL) There is one other service that American Community Cablevision might offer and it would not require a personal computer. It is an automatic burglar and fire alarm that monitors emergencies in your home and dispatches the police or fire department, if necessary. How interested are you in this type of service? Are you: (READ LIST) Very interested—........ .(�S( -1 Interested....o..o.o.0000.o... -2 (ASK Q.31 & 32) Not very interested....... .... -3 OR: Not interested at all......... -4 (SKIP TO Q.34) --(DO NOT READ) Not sure........oo—.. .....oo -5 31. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.30) How much would you be willing to pay on a monthly basis for this service? (SPECIFY). ............. ...(` 6( -1 Not sure................. ... .. -Y Study No. 1387 - 9 - ATC/Ithaca 32. (ASK IF "VERY INTERESTED" OR "INTERESTED" IN Q.30) The monthly charge for this service would be $17.50. How likely are you to subscribe to this service? Are you: (READ LIST) '1 Very likely...............('{1( -l> (ASK Q.33) Likely.............. .......... -2 Unlikely... ................... 3 .... OR: Very unlikely............. -4>SKIP TO Q.34) (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure. .................... -5 33. (ASK IF "VERY LIKELY" OR "LIKELY" IN Q.32) And if you had to pay a one time installation fee of $500 in addition to the monthly rate of $17.50, how likely would you be to subscribe? Would you be: (READ LIST) Very likely.... ...........(if( -1 Likely..................... -2 Unlikely........ -3 OR: Very unlikely................. -4 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure... .. -5 34-35. (ASK ALL) Do you own a: 34. VCR, that is, a video Yes No Not sure � — cassette recorder. .... ..... .... .... ...( ( -1 -2 -3 35. CD player, that is a compact disc player. ............ .. ..... .(( -1 -2 -3 36. Would you mind telling me your age? (IF "YES" PROBE WITH: Into which of the following age groups do you fall?) 18-20..... ....... .........(51 ( -1 21-24......... .. ........... .. _-2 25-29....... .. .... .......... .. 3 30-34......................... -4 35-44............. .. .......... S 45-54..... .................... -6 55-64*.*...... ............ .... -7 65 and over. .................. -8 Not sure/Refused.............. -9 37. Into which of the following income ranges do you fall? (READ LIST) Less than $7,500..........(SY( -1 $7,500414,999. ............ ..._-2 $15,000-$24,999......... ...... -3 $25,000-$34,999. .............. -4 ' $35,000449,999............... -5 $50,000 or more............. .. -6 (DO NOT READ) ---- Not sure...................... -7 (DO NOT READ) ---- Refused..........o...000...... -8 Those are all the questions I have. (VERIFY TELEPHONE NUMBER, ASK NAME AND ZIP CODE) Study No. 1387 ' - 10 - ATC/Ithaca/Faculty 38. (FROM OBSERVATION) Zip code: -1 1...(5¢( -1 1...(55( -1 1...(56( -1 1...(57( 71 2....... -2 2....... -2 2....... -2 2....... -2 2....... -2 3....... -3 3....... -3 3....... -3 3....... -3 3....... 3 4....... -4 4......._-4 4....... -4 4.. ..... -4 4....... -4 5....... -5 5....... -5 5....... -5 5....... -5 5....... 5 6. ...... -6 6. ...... -6 6. ...... -6 6. ...... -6 6. ...... -6 7....... -7' 7....... -7 7....... -7 7....... -7 7....... -7 8. ...... -8 8. ...... -8 8. ...... -8 8. ...... -8 8. ..0.0. -8 9....... -9 9..000.. -9 9....... -9 9....... -9 9....... -9 0. .00060 -0 0. ...... -0 0. ...... -0 0. ....00 -0 0. ...... -0 Thank you very much for your help. 39. (FROM OBSERVATION) Phone exchange: 257.... ...................(50( -1 272...... ................. .... -2 273.*...*o*... 3 277. .... .............. ....... . -4 RECEIVED JUL 13 1987 d C" CABLE-RELATED DOCUMENTS LIST 10/28/85 JRA PROPOSAL to Provide Consulting Services to the City of Ithaca, New York. 2/7/86 JRA LETTER to HMVC from Don C.Williams of Jean Rice Associates and revised contract with the City w/approximate completion dates, etc. 3/8/86 HMVC DRAFT ASSESSMENT: Organizations and Associations to be contacted by Rice Associates in Community Needs Assessment for the City of Ithaca. 3/26/87 CRD MEMO: Review of ACC Technical Performance. 10/10/86 JRA Consumer Market SURVEY for the City of Ithaca,N.Y. w/findings and conclusions (Section 5). 11/19/86 JRA DRAFT of Institutional Ascertainment report. 12/8/87 JRA DRAFT of Request for Proposal 1/3/87 JRA INSTUTIONAL ASCERTAINMENT for the City of Ithaca,N.Y. From Section VI(conclusions): "Two-thirds of the respondents reported that they would like utilize closed circuit channels for communications over the cable system". 1/19/87 ACC/GG LETTER to Ray S.re: N.Y.S. Penal Law for Theft of Services. 1/21/87 ACC/GG LETTER to City and Ithaca Cable Commission members announcing increase in rate for basic service and rate reduction for premium package subs. 1/26/87 ACC/GG LETTER to Dan Hoffman objecting to statements of D. Lytel concerning proposal for JRA testing of over-the-air television reception in Ithaca. Includes unqualified reception study results. 1/28/87 JRA LETTER to HMVC and memo re: "...information on the work that 1 Wed,Jul 8, 1987 would be required to determine if the City could petition the Federal Communications Commission regarding rate regulation". Included are cost estimates for various phases of the technical study. 2/9/87 ACC "FRANCHISE RENEWAL NOTEBOOK"containing "information regarding the franchise renewal process for the City of Ithaca" [blue binder]. 2/18/87 ACC/GG LETTER to City and cable commission members announcing application to Federal District Court in Syracuse for a declaratory judgment on the City and ACC's respective rights under the Cable Act of 1984. 2/23/87 JCG Incendiary LETTER to ACC/GG stating City's position on interpretation of basic rate regulation provisions of current franchise. 2/26/87 JRA DRAFT RFP: Request for Proposal for the City of Ithaca,N.Y. (final draft for action by Common Council). 3/3/87 HMVGJRA MEMO and DRAFT Technical Assessment of ACC. Indicates no substantial issue for franchise revocation proceeding. 3/10/87 BWC MEMO covering JRA draft letter in response to ACC's Franchise Renewal Proposal. 3/19/87 HMVC LETTER to Common Council members urging action on funding for JRA participation in franchise contract renewal negotiations through finalization of the new franchise agreement. Includes attachment outlining JRA proposed responsibilities. 3/25/87 JRA ANALYSIS of Financial Position [ACC] Ithaca, N.Y. "Based on the above factors and the technical analysis,it is reasonable for the City to expect cable system and service improvements in ACC's refranchising proposal". 3/30/87 HMVC LETTER to ACC/GG re: ACC's request to revise the financial pro formas provided in the Request for Proposal. Conditions relating to the proposed changes are enumerated. 2 Wed,Jul 8, 1987 4/6/87 ACC/GG LETTER to HMVC covering the appended franchise renewal materials and announcing GG's departure and Mike Withiam's ascendancy to ACC GM.Attached is a copy of the billing enclosure(over MMW signature)describing the refranchising process and the possibilities for expanded future services. Complaint re: "...failure of the City in providing ACC certain materials...". 4/6/87 ACC/GG PROPOSAL:Cable Franchise Renewal Proposal submission (proposal dated 3/25/87). 4/7/87 HMVC LETTER to Common Council members announcing receipt of ACC's franchise renewal proposal. 4/15/87 HMVC LETTER to ACC/GG advising that the City "cannot yet treat the submission as a complete proposal",etc. Complaints regarding the City's allocation of time for ACC's preparation of a Reply to the RFP are addressed. 4/21/87 HMVC LETTER to CNC confirming meeting with Jean R.for 4/30. 4/27/87 ACC/M1VIW LETTER to HMVC re: sections of the franchise proposal in hand to be considered part of formal proposal. 4/30/87 HMVC AGENDA for meeting w/Jean R. 5/1/87 HMVC LETTER to ACC/N ff re:failure of ACC proposal to comply with the City's RFP. 5/5/87 HMVC/RWN Cover LETTER and Ralph N. STATEMENT re: open meetings law, keeping of minutes in executive session,public availability of same, etc. 5/5/87 JCG/SUB Cover LETTER re: COMPLAINT(s)of L. Hall regarding ACC. Concerned with, among other things,extra charges for remote control and channel programming duplication. 5/5/87 JCG/SUB Cover LETTER re: formal GRIEVANCE filed by J. Abish in the matter of failure of ACC to inform subs that pay-per-view event would later be shown on HBO. 3 Wed,Jul 8, 1987 w 5/6/87 DAL LETTER to Cornell Vice Provost Ken King re:criticisms of draft survey on interactive services. 5/11/87 ACC/NLMW LETTER to HMVC re:clarification of ACC,/MMW letter of 4/27/87. Position restated to include responses to City's questions as part of the formal proposal. 5/14/87 HMVC AGENDA for 5/14 negotiating session to members of CNC. 5/14/87 HMVC QUESTIONS re:ACC's PROPOSAL. Covers: weekend repairs, specific time periods for upgrades affecting customer service, number of proposed active phone lines and procedures to be used when "ACC is suspicious of unauthorized service in a residential household". 5/18/87 DAL Copy of ARTICLE from Multichannel News entitled"ATC Sues Birmingham Over Franchise Renewal Costs". Details ATC move to prevent Birmingham from soliciting outside bids for "greatly expanded"franchise and to prevent application of franchise renewal charges against the existing franchisee. 5/18/87 ACC/1VLMW REPLY LETTER to J.D. Abish of Ithaca re: failure of ACC to list the HBO(delayed)presentation of the Hagler/Leonard prizefight. A more-or-less adequate explanation of the situation with assurances from ACC's manager to the effect that the situation will(probably) not recur. 5/18/87 ACC/MMW REPLY LETTER to L.L.Hall of Ithaca re:concerns over remote control option and programming duplication. 5/19/87 HMVC MEMO outlining items identified at the negotiating session of 5/14/87 as needing further investigation,clarification,etc. 5/20/87 HMVC MEMO to CNC confirming meeting with consultant and reps from ACC for 6/2/87. 5/21/87 SUB COMPLAINT from Martin C.Jorgensen requesting consideration of ACC as a public service utility to be so regulated and offering various opinions on signal carriage. 4 Wed,Jul 8, 1987 5/22/87 JRA EVALUATION:Proposal Submitted by American Community Cablevision to the City of Ithaca,N.Y.With cover letter. 5/22/87 ACQMMW LETTER to HMVC confirming the agreement reached between ACC and the City to extend the deadline for the City's acceptance or rejection of ACC's proposal to 8/5/87. 5/29/87 HMVC MEMO re:information on senior citizens'discounts (from C. Holcomb). 6/1/87 ACQMMW INVITATION to an "information meeting"to be held on June 24 at La Tourelle. 6/1/87 ACC/MMW LETTER detailing responses to questions raised in the May 14 meeting.Includes equipment list for possible municipal facility and copies of statements of liability insurance policies pertaining to two typical(?)cable systems. 6/2/87 HMVC AGENDA(s)for negotiating session of 6/2/87 and CNC discussion. 6/5/87 HMVC MEMO to CNC re:confirmation of dates agreed to at the previous (6/2/87) negotiating session. 6/9/87 HMVC Cover MEMO to CNC w/Jean R. letter of 6/4/87 outlining the items to be provided by the City and by ACC as agreed to at the previous meeting. 6/9/87 HMVC REPLY LETTER to M.Jorgensen re: franchise renewal process. 6/10/87 ACC/MMW LETTER to JRA re: current procedures for collection of delinquent accounts and termination of service. 6/11/87 ACQMMW ACC's RESPONSE to additional clarification questions submitted by the City, a copy of the data services survey worked out with Cornell, access equipment replacement and operational support, access insurance revision,local origination clarification and a copy of ACC's letter to Jean R.re: non-payment procedures. 6/11/87 JRA DRAFT(s)of the Franchise Agreement and a Cable Communications Ordinance. 5 Wed,Jul 8, 1987 6/19/87 JRA REVISED DRAFT(s):Franchise Agreement and proposed Ordinance. 6/22/87 RWN MEMO to HMVC re:comments on initial proposed Franchise Agreement and Ordinance.Request for update on City signal strength tests. 6/22/87 HMVC Further CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS for ACC. Covers: subscriber drop replacement criteria,performance characteristics for two-way system paths, headend construction costs and possible"other sources"funds transfers to other ATC subsidiaries. 6/23/87 HMVC AGENDA for CNC meeting of 6/23/87 4:00 PM. Discussion of Ordinance and Franchise,update on two-way/I-net and review of minimum requirements. 6/25/87 JRA Cover LETTER to HMVC and[draft] City of Ithaca Access, Termination and Programming Appendix Proposal for CNC review. 6/26/87 HMVC MEMORANDA: Schedule of Upcoming Meetings and[starting times for] Cable Negotiation Meetings. 6/26/87 ACC/MMW LETTER to HMVC re: "...serious concerns regarding the City's decision to submit a proposed franchise renewal agreement and ordinance at this time." 7/1/87 HMVC MEMO re: Items To Be Provided[by ACC] (information and/or draft language on selected items from the proposed Ordinance and Franchise Agreement). 7/2/87 HMVC Cover LETTER and attached Access,Termination and Programming Appendix PROPOSAL(draft version). 7/6/87 HMVC LETTER to ACC/MMW re: City's decision to submit a proposed Franchise and Ordinance, and "...lack of progress ACC is making on providing specific financial and technical information on two-way at Cornell". 6 Wed,Jul 8, 1987 ACCJUL 1 41987 ,.. AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION MNNI IG&DEV�I t, July 13, 1987 Dr. Ken King Vice Provost for Computing 223 Day Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY. 14853 Dear Dr. King: Enclosed is a copy of the formal analysis of the survey of Cornell=affiliated faculty, staff and students regarding their interest in access to Cornell computing facilities through a data service offered by ACC and/or Cornell University. The methodology and survey document were developed cooperatively by ACC and representatives of Cornell University and provides both parties _ with insight into the likelihood of success of such a project. I would direct your attention to the charts and information provided on pages 18-23. These results indicate that there is a high interest among the Cornell community in access to Cornell computing , facilities , but that this interest is very price sensitive. The interest in subscription to such a service, even among those expressing high interest in the servive , drops significantly when price tested at $17 .50 per month. When the purchase , of a modem, price tested at $700 , is added to the equation, the likelihood of subscription to the service drops dramatically lower. The survey results indicate that a two-way data service providing access to Cornell computing facilities is a high-risk venture in the traditional business sense. We will continue to look at alternative financial structures in an effort to develop two-way data services as a cooperative effort between Cornell and ACC. As you know, members of our Corporate and local staff will meet with representatives from Cornell and Zenith (the most likely equipment vendor should we construct a two-way system) on July 16 to discuss the technical and support issues in anticipation of developing a financial model for this service. The information enclosed in the survey should be helpful to us at that time. 519 West Slate Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at 272=7875. Sincerely Michael M. Withiam General Manager enc. cc: Al Personius John Rudan Matthys Van Cort (w/out enc. ) l Ztmn UM ACC OF AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION July 16, 1987 Mr. Thys Van Cort, Director Planning and Development City of Ithaca 108 E. Green St. Dear Thys : At the close of our negotiating session on Friday, July 10, the City requested that ACC review the list of 14 outstanding issues that we jointly developed and outline items we might be willing to "trade" in order to come to an agreement with the City of Ithaca on a franchise renewal document. Many of the issues remaining before us are questions that affect ACC' s legal rights or are important operating issues. We are unwilling to discuss "trades" on issues affecting our legal rights under any Federal or State law which is currently in effect or which may be in effect in the future, and we believe the operating issues which are before us are better discussed face-to-face than in a written document . A discussion of such issues in writing could harden bargaining positions unnecessarily. We are willing to fully discuss any of the issues before us and we are open to any suggestions the City may have which might help us come to a successful conclusion of our negotiations. Please recognize that there are some issues on which we have greater flexibility than others , but we would prefer to discuss those in a face-to-face negotiating session. One concern we have that could hamper the successful conclusion of our negotiations during the next week is the City' s continual need to discuss our proposals privately and as a committee. I would hope that the City will be prepared during next week' s negotiating sessions to designate a spokesperson who can sepak with full authority to commit the City to an agreement. I would like to once again point out that are negotiating . a franchise renewal agreement between ACC and the City, rather than an ordinance for the City of Ithaca. We fully recognize the City' s right to pass a cable television ordinance, but we will 519 West State Street Ithaca,New York 14850 607-272-3456 not sign a franchise agreement that incorporate an ordinance which includes clauses and provisions to which. we have not specifically agreed. We urge the City to recognize our concerns and to take any input we have provided on language and the various issues before us as input into the development of a franchise renewal document. We have reviewed the second draft of the ordinance and the first draft of the franchise agreement the City has submitted and we continue to have serious concerns over many of the provisions included in those documents. We are in the process of drafting a franchise agreement with language acceptable to us. We expect to have that document ready for the City to review by Thursday morning, July 23, 1987. We hope to be able to discuss the remaining issues before us during negotiating sessions on Monday and Tuesday and work through final contract language for a franchise renewal agreement during the sessions on Thursday and Friday. We are fully prepared to discuss any options which the City might have on the issues before us that would recognize our concerns and meet the needs and desires of the City of Ithaca. I look forward to our negotiating session on Monday, July 20. incerely, r Michael M. Withiam General Manager cc: Jean Rice MMW/fw X&MIV ED JUL-3 t 19&1 ACC --- AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION July 30, 1987 TO: Sohn Gutenberger Common Council Cable Negotiating Committee FROM: Mike Withiam General Manage RE: Cable franchise negotiations ---------------------------------------------------------------- Enclosed is a copy of a letter to Matthys VanCort expressing ACC' s disappointment over the apparent impasse in negotiations toward a renewal of American Community Cablevision' s franchise. As you evaluate the proposal for a renewed franchise put forth by ACC, I hope that you will feel free to call upon me with any questions you may have. My office number is 272-7875, and I can be reached at home at 272-3315. 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 ,AC-C AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION July 30, 1987 Matthys Van Cort, Director Planning and Development City of Ithaca 108 E. Green St . Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 Dear Thys : It is most unfortunate that our negotiations to renew American Community Cablevision' s franchise appear to have reached an impasse . We are still unclear exactly how the City came to believe that we had pledged an additional $160,000 in capital support for access and an equipment replacement formula based on 1 percent of total system subscriber revenues including revenue earned outside the City of Ithaca, but I can unequivocally state that ACC at no time agreed to such terms in the franchise . I want to stress that ACC is available at any time to continue discussion and negotiation of a renewed franchise . Before the City votes on our proposal for a renewed franchise on August 5 , it is important for the City to consider that ACC ' s proposal complies with the minimum requirements set forth in the City' s Request for Franchise Proposal . We have successfully negotiated agreements on all but one issue relating to the proposal . On the lone issue on which we appear to not be in agreement -- public access -- ACC pledged 9 PEG channels and a significant facilities upgrade worth $100 ,000 in its proposal and, during negotiations , offered an equipment replacement formula based on 1 percent of City-only subscriber revenues ; committed to an additional rix dedicnted return pnthn for six access origination sites within the City (for a total of 9) ; and committed to significant on-going operational support of access , including minimum staffing levels and government programming requirements . As part of the total package we have negotiated, ACC offered to settle the pending lawsuit with relation to the payment of franchise fees . We had also put forth a proposal for a negotiated end to the portion of the lawsuit relating to price regulation. An opportunity to resolve our differences out of court could be passing us by. 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 I am also disturbed by the City' s novel definition of "access . " The City has defined this term to include two-way capability on the cable system. "Access" has always meant public, educational , governmental and commercial access programming, and the Cable Act uses "access" only to describe this type of programming. At no time during any discussion of access facilities or support did the City in any way indicate to ACC that two-way capabilities were part of our discussion of "access . " The inclusion of two-way capabilities under the guise of access is both inappropiate and misleading. Further, we have agreed in our negotiations that any activation of the two-way capabilities of a rebuilt system would be contingent upon a major institutional user agreeing to use such capabilities at a level that would eliminate or substantially reduce our financial risk. Without such a user, it is impossible for ACC to comply with the City' s RFP and provide two-way services that will not impact basic cable prices . We made it clear in negotiations that we would provide the City with one downstream and one upstream channel to use as it pleased for data or other transmissions if active two-way services become available during the term of this franchise. We have provided Cornell University with a proposal that we hope will make active two-way services a reality in the very near future. All of these issues are secondary to the primary service we provide our customers within the City of Ithaca, and the expenses we incur in providing any of these additional services are ultimately passed along to the consumer. We believe that the City has overlooked the package of services that the 8,100 customers in the City of Ithaca would receive under our proposal . In addition to a 60-channel system that would provide greatly, expanded programming offerings and a channel alignment that would offer additional cable programming services to our customers , we had negotiated stringent technical and construction standards for the development and maintenance of the cable system. We had also negotiated consumer protection and customer service clauses that provide the City with objective standards by which to measure our overall performance and consumers with remedies should they feel that ACC had damaged them in any way. Included in this package . was an offer by ACC to eliminate charges for additional outlets and remote controls , an agreement to offer customers the option of renting or buying converters and remote control units , and an agreement to offer customers the option of owning the internal wiring within the customer' s home. We continue to object to the City' s plan to pass an ordinance, and to then incorporate that ordinance into the franchise. We have nonetheless agreed to accept this approach provided that the ordinance was acceptable to us and that the City would "grandfather" the ordinance into the franchise, essentially freezing the terms of the ordinance on the date of approval of the franchise. We have some remaining specific concerns with the language currently in the ordinance, which we unfortunately did not have the opportunity to discuss on Monday and Tuesday. In all, the negotiated franchise that ACC has indicated it would accept goes far beyond the minimum requirements set forth in the City' s Request for Proposal . Should the City vote to deny renewal of our franchise on August 5 , it must do so based upon one of the criteria outlined in Section 626 of the Cable Act, which are : A) whether the cable operator has substantially complied with the material terms of the existing franchise and with applicable law; B) whether the quality of the operator' s service, including signal quality, response to consumer complaints , and billing practices , but without regard to the mix, quality, or level of cable services or other services provided over the system, has been reasonable in light of community needs ; C) whether the operator has financial , legal and technical ability to provide the services , facilities and equipment as set forth in the operator' s proposal ; and D) whether the operator' s proposal is reasonable to meet the the future cable-related community needs and interests , taking into account the cost of meeting such needs and interests . It is obvious that ACC' s proposal meets these standards . Should the City vote to deny renewal on August 5 , ACC will request an adminstrative proceeding as provided for in the Cable Act. ACC remains willing to work toward a negotiated agreement for a renewed franchise. However, at no time will ACC forfeit any legal rights under the Cable Act or other applicable Federal or State law or regulation. It is most frustrating and disappointing to come so close to an agreement and suddenly find ourselves once again at odds . I hope that the City will recognize that ACC ' s proposal meets the minimum requirements as outlined in the RFP and that Common Council will vote to renew our franchise based on this proposal on August 5. Sincerely, L. C� �1' A, -- Michael M. Withiam General Manager cc: Negotiating Committee John Gutenberger Common Council RECEIVED AUC 3 1987 d CITY OF ITHACA 108 EAST GREEN STREET ITHACA, NEW YORK 14650 DEPARTMENT OF TELEPHONE:272-1713 PLANNING &DEVELOPMENT CODE 607 H.MATTHVS VAN CORT,DIRECTOR MEMORANDUM TO: Negotiating Committee FROM: H. M. Van Cort DATE: July 31, 1987 RE: Negotiations Attached for your review is a copy of a letter dated July 23 from Mike Withiam. This morning Jean Rice and I had a long conversation with Mike which led me to believe that there is a real possibility that ACC may want to come back to the table with the intent of settling before the August 5 Council meeting, Mike said that his July 23 letter with attachments listed some of the concerns that they may want to bring up in future negotiating sessions. I asked Mike to send us a letter on Monday with a list of items they feel still need to be negotiated. We have tentatively set Tuesday afternoon or evening for a negotiating session. It appears that Ray has a scheduling problem in the afternoon and we would probably have to go to Tuesday evening if this session does come together. My office will try to reach you on Monday if there is a need to get together Tuesday. HMVC:eh Attachment i An Blual Oppo,lunily Employer with an Afhn,alrvr Ach-t P... m ALL IACC A 23 AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION July 23, 1987 H. Matthys VanCort, Director Planning and Development City of Ithaca 108 E. Green Street Ithaca, NY. 14850 Dear Thys: As we approach the August 5 deadline for the City to reach a decision on ACC' s franchise renewal proposal , I think it may be useful for the City to have in hand actual contract language that ACC would be prepared to accept if the City grants a renewal pursuant to the proposal . It has always been our mutual understanding that the City' s acceptance of ACC' s proposal would necessitate the drafting of formal franchise language. Rather than attempting to reduce ACC' s proposal itself to a franchise contract with appropriate "boilerplate" and legal language , we have elected to use the language drafted by the City and to indicate herein those portions of the City' s documents that we deem consistent with ACC' s proposal . Since the City' s representatives created and have had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with these documents during the negotiations conducted over the past several weeks , we believe the City should be able to take them readily into account in reaching its August 5th decision. Since the City has indicated its desire that no actual drafting be done by ACC, we have restricted ourselves to straightforward modifications of the City' s documents consisting of deletions and minor changes in wording. Most of the deletions involve sections which are either cumulative or inconsistent with other provisions of the City' s documents or applicable law. While some of the deleted material might be acceptable to ACC in the context of a negotiated renewal , for purposes of aiding the City' s August 5th decision we have opted for simplicity over completeness . This is consistent with our belief that ACC' s proposal itself meets all requirements for renewal under the Cable Act. Also included is proposed access language. 1 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 In submitting acceptable contract language, it is not ACC' s intent to short-circuit or otherwise interfere with on-going renewal negotiations that, in our view, have been productive. As I have previously reminded you, however, those negotiations are proceeding parallel to, but separate from, the procedures provided by the Cable Act. In participating in those negotiations , consistent with Section 626(h) , ACC has not waived any of its rights under the Act, and it is for purposes of the Cable Act proceeding that the enclosed materials are submitted. Should a negotiated renewal be concluded prior to August 5, these materials will be of no further force or effect. For purposes of the negotiations, ACC' s position and concerns are as previously stated and the following material should not be understood to reflect any change therein. With the following changes the City' s proposed Cable Communications Ordinance, Draft 112, July 8, 1987, would be acceptable to ACC as consistent with its renewal proposal: Delete in their entirety, sections 1 , 3.4, 4. 7, 4.8, 4.13, 4. 14, 4. 15, 4. 16, 4. 17E, 4.17G, 4. 17I, 5. 2(7) , 5.2(9) , 5.2(10) , 5.4, 5.6, 5. 7, 5.8, 5.9(c) , 5.12, 5.17 , 5. 20, 5. 21 , 5.24, 6 . 1B(2) , 6. 1(D) , 6.1E, 6.2E, 7 . 7, 7.8, 7 . 11 - 7. 16, 7. 18, 7 . 19, 7. 20, 7 .21 , 11 .2E(4) - (6) , 11 . 2F(2) , (5) , 11 .3B, 12. 6, 12. 7 . Delete from the following sections only the words indicated: 3 all definitions not actually used in the Ordinance 4. 5 "herein or" 4.14 "and any failure" to end 4. 17A "sold,"; ''and then only" to end 4. 17B " , or transfer of, or acquisition by any other party of,"; "is not limited to major stockholders but" 5.2(4) "The City is hereby" to end 5. 16 "in addition to any remedy set forth in section 5. 7" 5.25 "Grantee shall provide" to end 5.28 "Renewal"; "Discretionary"; "in its sole discretion" 6. lF-K all references to letter of credit 6.6B "No recovery by" to end (done 7/20) 2 7 . 1 "Grantee shall notify" to end 7 .5 "the business office to legal holidays ," and "Grantee shall add" to end 7 . 10 "At the time of entering" to end 7 . 17 "which in no way" to end of first paragraph; and first sentence of second paragraph. 8.13 "including engineering drawings , if required" 8.15 "to all dwelling units and commercial establishments" ll . 1A "and manage all" to end of sentence 11 .2B "Such report shall also" to end 11 .2D "and all policies of insurance required by this Ordinance, or certified copies thereof" Change the following sections by inserting or substituting the words underlined below: 3 .21 "as specified in the Franchise, of the Grantee' s gross annual revenues earned from all sources within the City 3.37 "addressed to either party" 4.1C "other person an identical Franchise" ; "Cable Communications System serving tTie entire City" 4. 1D "Franchise shall control" 4. 13 "are now applicable" 4. 17B "fifty percent (50%) cumulatively" 4. 17C "information reasonably requested" 5.2(5) "it reasonably deems necessary" 5.9 "shall have thirty (30) days" ; "after separate written notice thereof" 5.27 "Grantee' s Cable Communications System" 6. 1B(1) "all lawful orders 3 6. 1E "all lawful orders" 6.6A(1) "contribute, to the extent of such contribution." 6.6A(2) "invasion by Grantee, its agents, servants or employees," 7 .5 "business during normal business hours from Monday" 7 . 19 "Grantee shall allow subscribers, to purchase or rent remote control uits 8.10 "less than seven (7) days" With the foregoing modifications to the City' s proposed Ordinance, ACC would accept a Franchise Agreement in the form attached. Our modifications to the City' s draft Franchise Agreement are similar in nature and scope to the Ordinance changes. The Franchise Agreement as modified, incorporates the Ordinance, as modified, by reference and would make all of its terms binding as a matter of contract as well as municipal law. I note, however, that all the terms of the Ordinance document might better be included directly in the Franchise Agreement. This would leave the City free to adopt a regulatory Ordinance more closely attuned to the City' s police powers. Sincerely, Michael M. Withiam General Manager MMW/fw 4 t f ACC/City of Ithaca Access Proposal In order to develop community access programming, the Franchisee hereby agrees to provide the following: A. Studio. Franchisee shall maintain a local programming studio in the city of Ithaca. The Franchisee shall adopt business hours which shall provide for the use of the studio from Monday through Friday at a minimum of forty (40) hours a week between the hours of 9am and llpm. The Franchisee may offer additional weekday or weekend hours based on community needs. The Franchisee shall establish rules to insure that the access studio and equipment are available equitably to the governmental , educational and public sectors on a first come, first serve basis, at no usage charge to any individual , asssociation or organization desiring to utilize them; provided however, that the Franchisee may deny the right to use such facilities for commercial purposes. B. Staffing and Training. The Franchisee shall provide adequate staffing for the maintenance of the access studio as set forth in the above provision. This staffing level will be reviewed on a yearly basis by the Franchisee with input from the Access Advisory Board to determine that community needs are being met. The Franchisee will provide monthly access volunteer production and editing training classes providing community interest of five or more residents in any given month exists. C. Repairs and Equipment Maintenance. All access equipment shall be properly maintained by the Franchisee and the Franchisee will provide a regularly scheduled maintenance program. All equipment shall be repaired or replaced in a timely manner to remain consistent with good operating practices. D. Outreach. The Franchisee will provide, at a minimum, each subscriber Public Access information via bill inserts or the cable guide twice yearly. The Franchisee will also include newspaper advertisements, facility tours and a speaker' s bureau as part of its access outreach commitment. E. Government. The Franchisee will cablecast the monthly Common Council meetings and two (2) of the five (S) Standing Committees of Council meeting on a rotating monthly basis so that each committee is cablecast twice in a five (S) month period. F. Advisory Board. The Franchisee will support the creation and maintenance of an Access Advisory Board, to consist of nine members; three (3) city residents (two to be appointed by the city, one to be appointed by ACC) , two (2) non-city residents (one to be appointed by the city, one to be appointed by ACC) , two representatives of institutional access users and one (1) ACC representative and one (1) city representative. This board may 1 r review access policies but will remain advisory in nature. The ACC and city representatives will be non-voting members. G. Access Damage Waiver Policy. (to be discussed) 2 DFTJ� . . FRANCHISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK, a municipal corporation, AND AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION, a division of AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION Dated as of , 1987 Introduce: ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE granting a cable communications system franchise to American Community Cablevision, a division of American Television and Communications Corporation, to operate and maintain a cable communications system within the City of Ithaca. BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Ithaca, New York: Section. 1 Pursuant to Ordinance No. , passed by the City Council of the City of Ithaca on the Franchise between the City of Ithaca, New York, and American Community Cablevision, is hereby authorized and approved and the Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to execute said Franchise on behalf of the City. Section 2. That this Ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publication according to law. Introduced by: Approved as to Form and Legality: City Attorney FRANCHISE AGREEMENT THIS AGREEMENT is made and entered into as of this day of , 1987, by and between the City of Ithaca, New York, a municipal corporation, hereinafter referred to as "City," and American Community Cablevision, a division of American Television and Communications Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "ACC") with its principal place of business at 519 West State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. WHEREAS, the City is authorized to grant one or more nonexclusive, revocable franchises to operate and maintain a cable communications system within the City; WHEREAS, the City received an application for renewal of the existing Franchise from ACC; and WHEREAS, the City, after due evaluation, has determined that it is in the best interest of the City and its residents to renew the Franchise of ACC for a twenty (20) year term. NOW, THEREFORE, IN CONSIDERATION of the mutual promises and covenants contained herein, the parties do mutually agree as follows: I. GRANT OF FRANCHISE A. ACC is hereby granted for itself and its successors and assignors, subject to the terms and conditions of this Franchise, the right, privilege and authority to operate and maintain a cable communications system within the streets,alleys and public ways of the City. ACC shall provide a modern, state-of-the-art cable communications system to the residents and institutions of the City in accordance with this Franchise. i • B. The Franchise is subject to Ordinance the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference, and to other municipal ordinances and state and federal laws, rules or regulations now in effect or hereafter made effective. Nothing in this Franchise shall be deemed to waive the requirements of the various codes and ordinances of the City regarding permits, fees to be paid or manner of construction. C. For the purpose of operating and maintaining a cable communications system in the City, ACC may erect,install, extend, repair,replace and retain in, on,over, under or upon, across and along the public streets, alleys and ways within the City such wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, appliances, pedestals, attachments and other property and equipment as are necessary and appurtenant to the operation of the cable communications system in conformance with the City's specifications. Prior to any extension, relocation or alteration, however, ACC shall file plans with the appropriate City agencies and utility companies and receive written approval before proceeding. II. RIGHT OF CITY TO ISSUE FRANCHISE ACC acknowledges and accepts the legal right of the City to issue a Franchise. M. EFFECTIVE DATE OF FRANCHISE; EFFECT UPON EXISTING FRANCHISE Immediately upon the taking effect of this Franchise, the prior Franchise granted to ACC on by the passage of Ordinance No. shall be superseded and of no further force and effect; provided, however, that vested rights relating to billings and the City's rights to accrued Franchise fees shall not be affected thereby; and provided, further, that any criminal proceedings commenced under or pursuant to said Franchise shall in no manner be affected. -2- IV. TERM The term of the Franchise shall be for a period of twenty (20) years from the date of issuance of a Certificate of Confirmation of this Franchise by the New York State Commission on Cable Television, unless sooner terminated as provided herein, at which time it shall expire and be of no further force and effect. V. FRANCHISE NONEXCLUSIVE This Franchise shall not be construed as any limitation upon the right of the City to grant to other persons rights, privileges or authorities similar to the rights, privileges and authorities herein set forth, in the same or other streets,alleys or other public ways or public places. The City specifically reserves the right to grant at any time during the term of this Franchise or renewal thereof, if any, such additional franchises for a cable communications system as it deems appropriate, provided that no such additional franchise shall contain terms more favorable to the grantee than those contained herein. VI. INCORPORATION OF PROPOSAL BY REFERENCE The Franchise renewal proposal submitted by ACC to the City of Ithaca shall be deemed to be embodied in this Franchise, and the express terms of this Franchise shall prevail over conflicting or inconsistent provisions of the proposal. -3- VII. COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAW At all times during the term of this Franchise, Grantee shall comply with all laws, rules or regulations of the City, State or federal governments, their regulatory agencies or commissions which are now applicable or may be applicable hereafter to the construction and operation of the cable communications system, including without limitation, all laws,ordinances or regulations now in force or hereafter enacted. Nothing herein shall be deemed a waiver of ACC's right to challenge the validity of any such law, rule or regulation. VIII. DEFINITIONS [INCORPORATE DRAFT ORDINANCE DEFINITIONS] IX. SERVICE AREA ACC shall offer full cable communications service to all residents in the Franchise area, which shall be the corporate limits of the city of Ithaca, including all territory thereafter annexed to the City. -4- X. SYSTEM DESIGN AND CAPACITY A. The parties understand and agree that ACC shall operate and maintain in the City of Ithtfca a cable communications system spaced to permit a minimum of 450 MHz operation, capable of using state-of-the-art home terminals and other devices. [Two way discussion to be added.] In constructing, operating and maintaining the system, ACC shall at all times comply with all applicable laws, construction standards, safety codes, government requirements and FCC technical standards. B. Equipment used for the distribution system, headend and reception facilities shall be serviced and repaired on a regular basis and shall at all times be of equal or better quality than the equipment listed in Appendix A attached hereto and incorporated by reference. C. Emergency Alert. ACC shall provide an all-channel audio emergency alert I system to the City. The initiation site for emergency messages shall be [ ]. D. Interconnection. Upon the request of the City, ACC shall negotiate in good faith to interconnect the access channels of the cable communications system with neighboring cable communications systems in the future. E. Converters. ACC shall construct its system utilizing state-of-the-art converters. F. Internal wiring. ACC shall install and/or maintain internal wiring for subscribers. ACC may own the internal wiring or, at the subscriber's discretion, the subscriber may own the wiring. ACC shall allow subscribers to have other vendors install, own and/or maintain internal wiring. G. Remote Controls. ACC should make remote control units available to subscribers upon request. ACC shall provide detailed information written in "plain English" to consumers and all sellers of remote controls on the items necessary for compatibility with ACC's cable communications system -5- H. Performance Testing. ACC shall perform all necessary system tests and maintenance procedures as required by state and federal laws and regulations. I. Construction. Any construction, extension or installation performed pursuant to this Franchise shall be in conformance with all applicable federal, state and local laws, codes and regulations. ACC shall at all times comply with the standards set forth in its manual of construction practices, in addition to the National Electrical Safety Code, the National Electrical Code, the Bell System Code of Pole Line Construction, and the NCTA Code of Construction Practice. XI. SYSTEM SERVICES A. Residential Subscriber Services and Programming. ACC shall maintain, at a minimum, the mix, quality and level of programming set forth in Attachment A, attached hereto and incorporated by reference. B. Cable Drops and Monthly Service. ACC shall provide free cable drops to locations already provided with free drops. The first tier of service and the closed circuit channels shall be provided free of charge to all of these locations. C. Handicapped Services. All closed-captioned programming retransmitted by the system shall include the closed-captioned signal. XII. ACCESS AND INSTITUTIONAL SERVICES In order to develop and promote public, educational and government access programming for the system's access channels and institutional services, ACC hereby agrees to provide the following: [Dependent on negotiations; public and municipal access -6- XIII. SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION AND POLICY A. At the time an installation or service agreement is to be signed, ACC shall furnish to each subscriber a simple, but thorough written explanation of all services offered; the fees, charges, terms and conditions of such services; information regarding billing, service calls; complaints; information regarding the availability of parental control devices; and a complete statement of the subscriber's right to privacy in conformance with 47 U.S.C. Section 631. Thereafter, ACC shall provide subscribers with such privacy statement at least once a year, and other service-related information at any time upon request. B. Employee identification. ACC shall provide a standard identification document to all employees, including employees of subcontractors, who will be in contact with the public. Such documents shall include a telephone number that can be used to verify identification. In addition, ACC shall use its best efforts to clearly identify all personnel, vehicles and other major equipment that are operating under the authority of ACC. XIV. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ACC agrees that it shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, national origin, age, marital status, or sexual orientation or affectional preference. In the employment of persons, ACC shall fully comply with the Ithaca Municipal Code, and applicable state and federal law, and shall take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, disability, national origin, age, marital status or sexual orientation or affectional preference. -7- XV. FRANCHISE RENEWAL This Franchise may be renewed by the City in accordance with the provisions of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984. XVI. POLICE POWERS In accepting this Franchise, ACC acknowledges that its rights hereunder are subject to the police powers of the city to adopt and enforce general ordinances necessary to the safety and welfare of the public and it agrees to comply with all applicable general law and ordinances enacted by the City pursuant to such power. XVII. FRANCHISE FEE A. Franchise Fee Payment. ACC shall pay to the City five percent (5%) of its annual gross revenues during the period of its operation under the Franchise. B. Not a Tax. Payment by ACC to the City of the Franchise fee and other fees set forth herein shall not be considered in the nature of a tax, but shall be in addition to any and all federal, state and local taxes, which are separate and distinct obligations of ACC. XVIII. COOPERATION The parties recognize that it is in their mutual best interests for the cable communication system to be operated as efficiently as possible in accordance with the requirements set forth in this Franchise. To achieve this, parties agree to cooperate -8- with each other in accordance with the terms and provisions of this Franchise. Should either party believe that the other is not acting timely or reasonably within the confines of applicable regulations and procedures in responding to a request for action, that party shall notify the agent designated for that purpose by the other. The agent will use its best effort to facilitate the particular action requested. XIX. CUMULATIVE PROVISION The rights and remedies reserved to the city and ACC by this Franchise are cumulative and shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other rights or remedies which the City or ACC may have with respect to the subject matter of this Franchise, and a waiver thereof at any time shall have no effect on the enforcement of such rights or remedies at a future time. XX. CAPTIONS Captions to sections throughout this Franchise are solely to facilitate the reading and reference to the sections and provisions of the Franchise. Such captions shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of the Franchise. XXI. ACTS OR OMISSIONS OF AFFILIATES During the term of this Franchise, ACC shall be liable for the acts or omissions of its affiliates while such affiliates are involved directly or indirectly in the construction, installation, maintenance or operation of the cable television system as if the acts or omissions of such affiliates were the acts or omissions of ACC. -9- XXII. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE Time is of the essence of this Franchise. Whenever the Franchise shall set forth any time for an act to be performed, such time shall be deemed of the essence and any failure to perform within the time allotted shall always be sufficient ground for the other party to invoke an appropriate remedy. XXIII. NO JOINT VENTURE Nothing herein shall be deemed to create a joint venture or principal agent relationship between the parties, and neither party is authorized to, nor shall either party, act toward third persons or the public in any manner which would indicate any such relationship with the other. XXIV. ENTIRE FRANCHISE This Franchise and all attachments hereto represent the entire understanding and agreement between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, supersede all prior oral negotiations between the parties, and can be amended, supplemented, modified or changed only by mutual agreement in writing. XXV. SEVERABILITY If any section, sentence, paragraph, term or provision of this Franchise is determined to be illegal, invalid, unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction upon final adjudication or by any state or federal regulatory agency having jurisdiction thereof, such determination shall have no effect on -10- r` the validity of any other section, sentence, paragraph, term or provision hereof, all of which will remain in full force and effect. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Franchise to be executed as of the day and year first above written. ATTEST: CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK, a municipal corporation City Clerk Mayor AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION, a division of American Television and Communications Corporation Witness President (SEAL) -11- ACC AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION August 1987 Dear Government Official : We are pleased to send you this first issue of "Cable Currents", a monthly newsletter for local officials to keep abreast of news from American Community Cablevision. So that you may keep back issues of "Cable Currents" for future reference, we are providing this three-ring binder for your convenience. "Cable Currents" will discuss important cable television issues on the local as well as national level . Your comments about any topic mentioned in "Cable Currents" will always be welcomed. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerel 0a, Li Mike Withiam General Manager 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 Vol. 1, No.1 August, 1987 AC-: :r-rauSIS014"k Welcome to Cable Currents — a newsletter designed to keep American Community Cablevision franchise authorities abreast of news from our company. We will issue Cable Currents each month with information covering system activities, important cable television issues, refranchising, and our system rebuild. Your comments about any topic mentioned in Cable Currents will always be welcomed. Please phone or drop a note anytime to ACC General Manager, Mike Withiam. —ed. ACC's "Letter Home" to Customers Earlier this month, ACC subscribers throughout all our franchises received the following letter from Mike Withiam regarding the issues surrounding the City of Ithaca's denial of ACC's franchise renewal proposal. The letter appears in its entirety for your information. Dear Customer: As you have probably heard through the communications system for a City media, ACC's proposal for a renewed "government information center." franchise was denied by the City of Ithaca on If ACC were to provide this equipment to August 5. While we are disappointed with the the City, the cost of the equipment and the City's decision, we remain optimistic that we associated expenses to operate it would be will eventually obtain the renewal we have borne by you, our customers. The facilities sought. Without a renewed franchise we will requested by the City could add as much as be unable to rebuild and modernize our cable $1.00 per month to the cost of basic cable system, and will therefore be unable to service for City residents. provide the additional programming choices Despite the current impasse, it's important and other services you have requested. to recognize that we have reached an Please note that the terms of our franchise agreement with the City on a wide range of with the City of Ithaca do not affect our 18 issues. These agreements, however, are other franchises in Tompkins and northern contingent on the resolution of the remaining Tioga counties. ACC may choose to begin issues. Among the items tentatively agreed to revamping our cable system in areas outside are: the City of Ithaca should we be unable to come to terms with the City. The total rebuild • A 60-channel, two-way capable system of our 35-year-old system is scheduled to start that will allow ACC to provide in Spring 1988, and should be concluded by customers with exciting new services. the middle of 1991. • Elimination of duplicated channels in In negotiations with the City, ACC has the basic tier lineup and expanded tier reached an impasse over two issues: financial service that would offer customers at support for public access television equipment least twice as many cable-delivered and financial support for two-way cable programming choices as are now communications.At the heart of the dispute is available. (See the anticipated the City's demand for$240,000 in support for programming lineup on the following these activities beyond ACC's original page.) franchise renewal proposal. Our proposal • Additional cable outlets at no extra offered a significant upgrade to the public charge to customers. access facility, costing about $100,000. The • Remote control units at no extra City has demanded an additional$160,000 for charge to customers. the purchase of public access equipment and • Customer option of owning converters an additional $80,000 to underwrite the and the internal cable wiring within development of a two-way computer their homes. ACC's customer service record received • Stringent technical and construction high ratings in two independent surveys, one standards for the development and of which was conducted under the direction of maintenance of the entirely new cable the City. Our high customer service standards system ACC would build at a total cost will be maintained and have been written into of almost $10 million. the franchise in the following ways: • Consumerrotection p provisions to • Specific customer service standards to provide customers with remedies be used to measure ACC's overall should they feel that ACC has performance. damaged them in any way. Anticipated Programming Line-up at System Rebuild: Basic Cable Services Broadcast Services * Arts &Entertainment (A&E) WIXT (ABC) + Black Entertainment WSTM (NBC) Television (BET) WTVH (CBS) + CBN Cable Network WCNY (PBS) C-SPAN WSKG (PBS) Cable News Network (CNN) WVIA (PBS) + Cable Value Network (CVN) WNYW (IND) + The Discovery Channel Premium Services + Electronic Programming + American Movie Classics (AMC) Guide (EPG) ESPN + Bravo FNN/Score Cinemax + Headline News The Disney Channel * The Learning Channel (TLC) Home Box Office (HBO) + Lifetime + NY Sports Channel MTV Public, Educational and + The Nashville Network (TNN) Government Leased Channels * Nickelodeon (NICK) 9 channels (at least 1 on the 12-channel USA basic service) + Video Hits-One (VH-1) 5 leased access channels The Weather Channel WOR * currently carried part-time; anticipate WPIX full-time carriage + new programming All of these changes require substantial new cable service. In order for ACC to purchase investment in the cable system. In addition, the additional equipment the City desires, and the new system discussed with the City of meet associated operating expenses, City Ithaca will also be more expensive to operate. customers may pay as much as an additional As a result,there will be an increase in the cost $1.00 per month for basic cable service. The of cable service for most of our customers. City's willingness to increase customers' bills Although none of our prices are firmly set, we by such an amount during franchise plan to restructure most prices. At present,we negotiations seems directly at odds with its anticipate a$1.95 increase in the cost of basic willingness to go to court to fight ACC's service with no charge for additional outlets. proposed 50-cents price increase earlier this We will continue to offer significant discounts year. for those customers who subscribe to higher We believe it is time for the City to accept levels of service. responsibility for its position and use some of The public access and two-way cable its own resources, such as the nearly$100,000 communications equipment demanded by the per year in franchise fees that it will collect City will increase the price you pay for basic from ACC during the term of a renewed franchise for the development of these programming. In addition to our public access facilities if the City believes they are truly facilities,ACC has also committed to produce needed. These City franchise fees, more commercially-supported local incidentally, represent 5 percent of the cost of programming. Currently we produce the cable service to City customers. The City has Cable NewsCenter 7 program as well as videos refused to use these franchise fees for any for the business community. Few cable cable related purpose, including public access systems of our size have local production and two-way communications services, facilities capable of providing the breadth of despite ACC's request during negotiations locally-produced programming available to that the City contribute a portion of them to our customers. the development of these services. The Two-Way Issue The Public Access Issue The impasse with the City of Ithaca also At the heart of the impasse in negotiations involves the City's belief that ACC should is the City's request for an additional provide two-way cable communications $160,000 in equipment for our public access services, whether or not such services are facility. This facility allows community financially viable. Our proposed new system residents who so desire to produce programs can be easily upgraded to provide two-way at no charge and is paid for through our services in the future,should the need for such charge to you for basic cable service. The services develop in our community. City's request for funds was in addition to So that you better understand the issue, ACC's original proposal, which pledges a here are some facts about two-way cable $100,000 upgrade of our current access communications. Two-way cable facilities to include three studio cameras, two communications allow video, audio or data portable cameras, a portable production signals to be transmitted in two directions. facility, a half-inch VHS editing system, and Traditional cable TV sends a one-way signal to video graphic generators. With this addition, your home. A two-way system allows the the total value of the equipment in our access return, or reverse, channels to be used for facility will exceed $250,000 and will be video or data transmission. An example of a comparable to the studio configuration of two-way service would be the live f� many small TV stations. Most of the City's transmission of local programming from sites requested additional $160,000 in access outside our studio. Most of the controversy equipment duplicates equipment already in about two-way services however, centers on place, or appears intended to support the City's desire to use these capabilities. functions that our proposed equipment The City, at the start of the franchise upgrade will already provide. renewal process, demanded that ACC explore Our proposal for a renewed franchise the development of two-way services and would also make available a total of nine make these services part of the cable system at public, educational and governmental access no additional cost to traditional cable channels. During negotiations, we offered an customers, if possible. The City also asked us access equipment replacement formula based to spend $80,000 to underwrite the on I percent of City-only subscriber revenues government information center. In addition (the City has asked that the formula be based the City has asked us to provide other on total system revenues from all 19 of our potential two-way services to customers at a franchises); committed to an additional six low rate. Our market research shows minimal access origination sites within the City (for a interest in such services, so low in fact that total of nine); and committed to significant two-way is not self-supporting. For two-way day-to-day operational support of public service to become viable, traditional cable access. Included in thiE operational support customers would have to underwrite the cost are minimum staffing levels; government of two-way service through higher basic programming requirements; equipment prices. maintenance and repair programs; limited There's one other way two-way service equipment damage liability options for could become a reality in Ithaca.We have told volunteers; first priority scheduling of the City that the provision of two-way production facilities for access volunteers; capabilities could be feasible if a major and the continuation of our training and institutional user would utilize two-way community outreach programs. services at a level that would cover the cost of ACC's proposed upgrade for public access providing them. Cornell University has will easily meet the needs of the community expressed interest in becoming such an members who produce Cable Channel 13 institutional user, and we have placed a formal proposal in the hands of Cornell and officials. We are hopeful that we can develop * Whether the operator's proposal is a plan with Cornell that will make some form reasonable to meet the future cable- of two-way communications a reality. We will related community needs and interests, not, however, provide two-way services if taking into account the cost of meeting these services adversely affect the price you such needs and interests. pay for basic cable service. Since the first three criteria were not at issue We have also made it clear to the City that during the negotiations, it appears that the ACC would provide the City with channel City's decision to reject our franchise space on a two-way system. The City could proposal agreement was based on the last use these channels as it pleased for data or reason listed. Yet our franchise renewal other transmissions if active two-way services proposal more than meets the future needs become available during the term of a new and interests of our customers within the City. franchise. In demanding more,the City's representatives It is unfortunate that the City appears to seem to have little concern for the cost,to you regard ACC and our customers as a source of and ACC, of providing the public access and unlimited funds for underwriting the two-way services for which there is no proven development of capabilities that are clearly use. the responsibility of city government. ACC will continue to work toward a Throughout the negotiating process, the City negotiated agreement for a renewal of our has asked ACC to incur unnecessary capital franchise with the City of Ithaca. However, and operating costs. It would be impossible to the vote to deny renewal on the 5th has keep your cable rates low and still provide the prompted us to request an administrative services that City representatives, and not hearing required by federal law. At this you, demand. formal legal proceeding, both ACC and the City will present evidence to support their What's Next? respective positions and will hear testimony In voting on August 5 to deny the renewal from individuals with an interest in cable of our franchise, the City was required by service. At the conclusion of the federal law to use at least one of the following administrative hearing, the Ithaca Common four reasons to justify its decision: Council will be required to vote again on * Whether the cable operation has ACC's proposal. If the Common Council substantially complied with the chooses to deny a renewal of ACC's franchise material terms of the existing franchise at this second vote, ACC would then have a and with applicable law; federal right to take legal action to renew its * Whether the quality of the operator's franchise. service, including signal quality, As we work to resolve our differences with response to customer complaints, and the City, we remain committed to providing billing practices, but without regard to the widest possible selection of entertainment the mix, quality, or level of cable and information programming for you and services or other services provided over your family. Our goal in negotiating a the system,has been reasonable in light renewed franchise is to provide additional of community needs; cable services to you at the lowest possible * Whether the operator has financial, price. It is our hope that the City's negotiating legal and technical ability to provide team will also carefully consider the costs that the services, facilities and equipment as its requests for additional services will impose set forth in the operator's proposal; on you, the cable customer. Sincerely, Michael M. Withiam General Manager ACC Cable Currents Regina Deschere, Editor AMERICAN COMMUNITY eABLavuwx ©1987 ACC RECEIVED SEP 25 1981 CITY OF ITHACA 108 EAST GREEN STREET ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850 DEPARTMENT OF TELEPHONE:272-1713 PLANNING&DEVELOPMENT CODE 607 H.MATTHYS VAN CORT,DIRECTOR MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and Commission Counc_il FROM: H. M. Van Cort I/X RE: Cable Television Petition for Special Reflief to FCC DATE: September 23, 1987 The above referenced petition has been submitted to the FCC. Copies have been distributed to the Mayor, the Cable Negotiating Committee, the Cable Commission and the City Clerk. The engineering study of over-the-air television reception in Ithaca conducted by Rice's consulting engineers found that less than three percent of Ithaca's population is served by three unduplicated signals. Rice and our committee are very pleased with the study results, and we are hopeful that, based on the lack of over-the- air competition, the FCC will grant the City the right to regulate basic cable television service. HMVC/lds "An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program" r an Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In re Petition of ) CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK ) For Relief Under Section 76.33 (a) (2) ) CSR No. of the Commission's Rules Pertaining to ) Conditions Under Which the Rates for ) Basic Cable Service May Be Regulated ) To the Commission: PETITION FOR SPECIAL RELIEF CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Joseph Van Eaton M. Anne Swanson ,. Spiegel & McDiarmid Suite 1100 1350 New York Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005-4798 ~" September 15, 1987 (202) 879-4000 i. r TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 II. THE COMMISSION SHOULD PERMIT A FRANCHISING AUTHORITY TO REGULATE BASIC CABLE SERVICE RATES WHEN THREE SIGNALS ARE NOT ACTUALLY AVAILABLE IN THE CABLE COMMUNITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 III. THE RESIDENTS OF ITHACA DO NOT RECEIVE THREE MEASURED GRADE B SIGNALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 IV. THE COMMISSION SHOULD GRANT RELIEF EFFECTIVE AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PETITION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 EXHIBITS 1 - Engineering Report of Silliman & Silliman 2 - Cable Franchise, City of Ithaca, New York 3 - Affidavit of H. Matthys Van Cort 4 - Affidavit of Donald Coley Williams 5 - Letter of January 26, 1987 from Georgia Griffith, General Manager of ACC to Daniel Hoffman, Budget Administration Committee, City of Ithaca - i - Before the .. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In re Petition of ) CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK ) For Relief Under Section 76.33 (x) (2) ) CSR No. of the Commission's Rules Pertaining to ) Conditions Under Which the Rates for ) Basic Cable Service May Be Regulated ) To the Commission: PETITION FOR SPECIAL RELIEF The City of Ithaca, New York, by its undersigned attorneys and pursuant to Sections 76.7 and 76. 33 of the Commission's rules, hereby petitions the Commission to grant the City relief from the provisions of 47 C.F.R. § 76.33 (a) (2) . In relevant part, Section 76.33 (a) (2) , 47 C.F.R. �. § 76. 33 (a) (2) (1986) provides: Only cable systems that are not subject to effective competition may be rate regulated. A cable system will be determined to have effective competition whenever at least three unduplicated signals serve the cable community. Signals shall be counted if they place a Grade B contour (as defined in S 73.683 of our rules) over any portion of the cable community . . . .The Commission may grant exceptions to this standard where the franchising authority demonstrates with engineering studies in accordance with § 73. 686 of the Commission's rules and other showings that such signals are not in fact available within the community. The City of Ithaca is exempt from the filing fee requirement imposed on parties seeking special relief under Section 76.7. [FOOTNOTE CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE] 2 - I. SUPIIMY. 1. Ithaca is requesting relief to the extent that Section 76. 33 (a) (2) may be interpreted to prohibit Ithaca from regulating basic cable service rates because the predicted Grade B signal contours of more than three television stations cover the City. As shown below and as demonstrated by the attached television field strength survey, the predicted contours do not accurately depict the actual availability of signals in Ithaca. No station casts a measured Grade B contour over the entire cable community, and approximately ninety-seven percent of the residents of Ithaca do not receive three over-the-air television signals. Indeed, the vast majority of the population cannot receive any over-the-air television signals. Ithaca therefore should be permitted to regulate basic cable service rates. Furthermore, as discussed below in Section III, to avoid overcharges to the citizens of Ithaca, the Commission should immediately order that the relief requested, if granted, will be made effective as of the date of submission of this petition. II. THE COMMISSION SHOULD PERMIT A FRANCHISING AUTHORITY TO REGULATE BASIC CABLE SERVICE RATES WHEN THREE SIGNALS ARE NOT ACTUALLY AVAILABLE IN THE CABLE COMMUNITY. 2. The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. § 521 St. sea. ("Cable Act"') , directs the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"') to "authorize a franchising [FOOTNOTE CONTINUED FROM PRECEDING PAGE] See Section 1. 1112 of the Commission's Rules, Appendix A, Report and Order (Gen. Docket No. 86-285) , FCC 86-562, released Feb. 17 , 1987. 3 - fA authority to regulate rates for the provision of basic cable service in circumstances in which a cable system is not subject to effective competition."' 2,/ In adopting its rule implementing the rate provisions of the Cable Act, the FCC determined that a City would be deemed to be subject to effective competition ^'whenever at least three unduplicated signals serve the cable community.ff 3 . The Commission established what is essentially a two-step process for determining when a signal should be counted as available in a franchise area. As an initial matter, the Commission stated that a signal would be counted as available if the predicted Grade B contour of the signal covered any part of the community. 4/ However, the Commission also made it clear that it would grant exceptions to this initial count when the franchising authority submitted studies showing the signals predicted to be available were not actually available. J 2,/ 47 U.S.C. § 543 (b) (1) . J 47 C.F.R. § 76.33. _4,/ Id. an also Report and Order (MM Docket No. 84-1296) , 58 R.R.2d 1, 50 Fed. Reg. 18637 (1985) . The Commission also stated a signal would be counted as "'available" if the signal was "significantly viewed"' in the county where the cable system was located. However, as discussed in Part II, and as shown in Exhibit 1, p. 1, all stations which are "'significantly viewed"' in Tompkins County are also predicted under engineering methodology to cast a Grade B contour over Ithaca, and therefore the signal strength of those stations was measured to determine whether the signals are actually available in Ithaca. V 1A 4 - 4 . Granting exceptions when signals are not in fact available should not be a matter of grace. The Report and Order adopting the "'effective competition' regulations indicates that the. Commission believed effective competition required actual signal availability. Thus, the Commission stated that it designed its regulations "'to ensure that franchise authorities are permitted to rate regulate in those areas where there is not effective competition."' The Commission recognized that there must be sufficient stations in a City to mallow viewers adequate and significant programming choices"' should the operator raise rates. These standards obviously cannot be satisfied unless signals are actually received. J While the present language of Section 76. 33 may be read to mean that communities are required to show three signals are not available in any part of the community, the discussion underlying the Commission's decision suggests the Commission was aware that effective competition requires more than availability of three signals in a sliver of a community. $/ Certainly, since the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in ACLU v. FCC, 2/ the Commission 58 R.R.2d at 29, 50 Fed. Reg. at 18651. J, 58 R.R.2d at 26, 50 Fed Reg. at 18649. $/ In noting the possible problems with reliance on predicted Grade B contours, the Commission observed that some communities initially might be deemed subject to effective competition when signals were not available and some cable companies would be subject to regulation "when in fact the majority of homes in the franchise area are receiving more than three broadcast signals., •- 50 Fed. Reg. 18651 (emphasis supplied) . 823 F. 2d 1554, 1573 (D.C. Cir. 1987) . The appeal involved (FOOTNOTE CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) 5 - must "'ensure that a signal is at least theoretically available .� over the entire cable community or at least a significant portion of the cable community" before the Commission may use predicted Grade B signals to determine, initially, which communities are subject to rate regulation. LV It follows that, when signals are not actually available in a substantial portion of a community, a franchising authority should be permitted to regulate basic service rates. Ithaca presents just such a case. III. THE RESIDENTS OF ITHACA DO NOT RECEIVE THREE MEASURED GRADE B SIGNALS. 5. Ithaca is located at the southern end of Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County in upstate New York. The surrounding countryside is characterized by steep hills which fall off into deep gorges. Most of Ithaca lies in the shadow of a series of ridges which encircle the city and rise as much as 1000 feet above the community. The area is remarkable for both its natural beauty and poor television reception. IV •- [FOOTNOTE CONTINUED FROM PRECEDING PAGE] challenges to the FCC's Report and Order in implementing the rate (and other) provisions of the Cable Act. The Court affirmed the FCC's order in part and reversed and remanded the order in part. IV Id. , slip. op. at 47. ;J/ Thus, it has been observed that Ithaca lies surrounded by "'sublime heights of rock or mountain top"; "[a]s far as geologists can ascertain, the region was the bottom of a great interior sea. ' H.E. Abt, Ithaca (1926) at 6-7. For a more recent description, $gg Exhibit 3, Affidavit of H. Matthys Van Cort. 6 6. Under the existing cable franchise in Ithaca, / the City has significant authority to regulate basic cable service rates of the cable franchisee, American Television and Communications Corporation (operating as American Community Cablevision and referred to below as "ACC"') . The City has considered this authority essential to protection of consumers, given the poor television reception in the area. 1,1/ 7. The City, however, does lie within the predicted Grade B contour of ten television stations, which collectively would provide four unduplicated signals if the signals could actually be received. JAI The cable company has asserted that, because of these predicted signals, basic cable service rates are not subject to regulation under the Commission's rules defining "'effective competition."' 1/ Given its concern over poor actual reception, in mid-1986, the City began to investigate what steps Attached hereto as Exhibit 2. Exhibit 3. / Engineering Report, attached hereto as Exhibit 1. Three of the stations are ABC affiliates, three are NBC affiliates, two are CBS affiliates, and two are PBS stations. The stations are located in Binghamton, Syracuse and Elmira, New York; there are no television stations licensed to Ithaca itself. According to ACC, there are no other stations which are 'significantly viewed" in Ithaca within the meaning of 47 C.F.R. § 76.54. ,ir& Exhibit 5, Letter of January 26, 1987 from Georgia Griffith, General Manager of ACC to Daniel Hoffman, Budget Administration Committee, City of Ithaca. ,egg also, Memorandum Opinion and Order on the Reconsideration of the Cable Television Report and Order, 36 F.C.C. 2d 326, 25 R.R.2d 1501 (1972) . �,5/ Exhibit 5. 7 - it should take to protect its authority to regulate basic cable service rates. l¢/ 8. As shown in Exhibits 1 and 3, in June, 1987, an engineering firm experienced in conducting broadcast field strength surveys performed a field strength survey in the City of Ithaca. In accordance with the requirements of FCC regulations, 17/ the engineers developed a grid covering the entire cable community in Ithaca and established appropriate test points. 18/ The firm measured and recorded field strength at each of the test points selected, also in accordance with FCC regulations. 1'9/ 9. The survey confirmed that adequate television reception is not available in the City. The study shows that not a single station actually casts a Grade B contour over the entire cable community; the predicted Grade B contours do not reflect actual signal availability. 2W In fact, the vast majority of the people in Ithaca cannot receive any off-air television / Exhibit 3. S. ee 47 C.F.R. § 76.33 and 73.686 (1986) . / 47 C.F.R. § 73.686(c) (1) sets forth the minimum number of test points at which measurements are to be made to determine whether television service is available in a specific community. Based on the 1980 U.S. Census, at least 17 test points must be established in Ithaca to comply with FCC regulations; in fact, signal strength was measured at 25 test points. Exhibit 1, p. 2. IV Exhibit 1, pp. 2-6. Q/ Exhibit 1. 8 - signals, and approximately 97 percent of the population receives fewer than three measured Grade B signals. 21/ 10. only three test points -- points 1, 2 and 7 -- fall .. within the measured Grade B contour of at least three broadcast stations. As shown in the attached study and affidavits, 22 very few people live anywhere near these test points. Point 2 is located near the edge of Cayuga Lake, in a parking lot in a city park. There are no houses in the park or anywhere near the measuring point. The park is not wired for cable television. Points 1 and 7 are located at the very western edge of the City boundary, high on a steep hill. By the most generous estimate, only approximately 3. 3 percent of the public resides within the measured Grade B contour of three television signals. 2,V 11. This case thus presents the classic example of a city in which the cable franchisee is not actually subject to effective competition and in which the franchising authority should be permitted to regulate rates. As described above, given the terrain surrounding Ithaca, the predicted Grade B contours cannot be relied upon as a measure of the presence of "'effective competition"' in the cable community. Following the Commission's regulations, Ithaca conducted studies which demonstrate that three signals are actually available only in the far western / Exhibit 4, Affidavit of Donald Coley Williams. / Exhibit 1, pp. 6-8; Exhibit 3, pp. 2-3 ; Exhibit 4, pp. 3-4. 9 - corner of the cable community, and thus are available to at most .. 3 . 3 percent of the City's population. There can be no "effective competition' from broadcast television under the circumstances because off-air television signals are not actually available in Ithaca. In accordance with the Commission's rules and the Cable Act, Ithaca's authority to regulate rates should be affirmed. IV. THE COMMISSION SHOULD GRANT RELIEF EFFECTIVE AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PETITION. 12 . The Commission's reliance on predicted Grade B contours to make initial determinations as to whether the cable franchisee in a community is subject to "'effective competition' creates at least one serious and unintended problem. Unless the Commission grants some form of interim relief, consumers in Ithaca may be required to pay unjust and unreasonable rates during the delay inherent in consideration of this petition for relief. This result is particularly inappropriate in this case, because the City has presented data which on its face establishes that the predicted signals are not actually available. 13 . There are several options for relief which are available to the Commission. The City proposes that the Commission rule immediately that any Commission determination that basic cable service rates in Ithaca may be regulated will be deemed to be effective as of the date this petition is submitted. Under such a ruling, the City would have the right to order refunds in the event that it prevails on this petition and determines the rates collected have been excessive. During the 10 - pendency of this action, the cable company could avoid the possibility of such refunds by voluntarily submitting any proposed increases to the City for consideration. The proposal therefore provides an incentive to the parties to cooperate while this petition is being considered by the Commission. `' 14 . The Cable Act is silent as to what steps the Commission may take to protect consumers during the pendency of any petition. While the Commission does not itself have authority to regulate basic service rates, 2V it does have the authority to 'establish standards for rate regulation."' 2/ •. Further, Section 4 (1) of the Communications Act gives the Commission authority to "perform any and all acts. . .not inconsistent with this chapter, as may be necessary in the execution of its functions" under the Communications Act. 26/ These provisions give the Commission all the authority it needs to act to protect consumers; exercise of such authority during the pendency of this petition is in fact necessary to effectuate the goals of the Cable Act. Absent exercise of such authority, an operator such as ACC which is not subject to "effective competition" would be able to raise rates to non-competitive / 47 U.S.C. § 543 (a) prohibits federal agencies from regulating cable rates "'except to the extent provided" in the Cable Act. The Cable Act does not give the FCC authority to regulate rates. 47 U.S.C. § 543 (b) (2) . �,¢/ 47 U.S.C. § 154 (i) . levels in anticipation of Commission action, and consumers would suffer precisely the harms the Cable Act seeks to avoid. 2 For the reasons stated above, Ithaca respectfully requests that its petition for relief be GRANTED, and that the Commission: (1) issue an Order immediately ruling that relief granted shall be effective as of the date this petition was submitted; (2) issue an Order finding that basic cable service rates in Ithaca are not subject to "'effective competition"; and •. (3) issue an Order granting such other relief as may be 2.7_/ Section 4 (1) has recently been interpreted to give the Commission expansive authority to take steps to protect consumers against rate overcharges. New England Telephone v. FCC, No. 85- 1087 (D.C. Cir. August 21, 1987) . The New England Telephone case was an appeal of a rate case involving common carriers, but Section 4 (i) is a general grant of authority to the Commission -' and is not applicable in common carrier cases alone. In fact, in the New England Telephone case, the question before the Court was whether the Commission had authority beyond the relevant common carrier provisions of the Act (Section 205) to issue an order protecting consumers by ordering refunds under Section 4 (i) . 12 - appropriate on the facts of this case to assure that Ithaca retains authority to regulate basic cable service rates, to the extent permitted under 47 U.S.C. § 543. Respectfully submitted, CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK 4y . ph Van Eaton M. Anne Swanson of Spiegel & McDiarmid Suite 1100 1350 New York Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005-4798 (202) 879-4000 Its Attorneys �- September 15, 1987 ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 5121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING, MD 20910 ` ITHNYI.T[20,0] r.. Ithaca, New York ENGINEERING STATEMENT I ABSTRACT This engineering statement has been prepared to report the results of a ten-station Grade B television field strength survey performed by Silliman and Silliman at Ithaca, New York, on June 8 through 11 and June 19, 1987. Silliman and Silliman was retained to perform this study to determine .� the number of Grade B television signals present at any point in the city of Ithaca. ►� Based on the standard Grade B field strength contour prediction methods for both VHF and UHF television stations detailed in Section 73.684 of the Federal Communications Commission Rules (FCC) , ten (10) Grade B television signals were predicted to be present over all of the city of Ithaca, New York. The Grade B signals predicted to be present in Ithaca are from the following stations. ` ASSIGNED NETWORK CALL LOCATION CHANNEL AFFILIATION �- WSTM-TV SYRACUSE, NY 3 (60-66 MHz) NBC WTVH SYRACUSE, NY 5 (76-82 MHz) CBS WIXT SYRACUSE, NY 9 (186-192 MHz) ABC r. WBNG-TV BINGHAMTON, NY 12 (204-210 MHz) CBS WETM-TV ELMIRA, NY 18 (494-500 MHz) NBC WCNY-TV SYRACUSE, NY 24 (530-536 MHz) PBS WMGC-TV BINGHAMTON, NY 34 (590-596 MHz) ABC WENY-TV ELMIRA, NY 36 (602-608 MHz) ABC WICZ-TV BINGHAMTON, NY 40 (626-632 MHz) NBC WSKG-TV BINGHAMTON. NY 46 (662-668 MHz) PBS Figure 1 of this exhibit is a portion of a United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1:500,000 scale topographic map detailing the licensed transmitter site and Grade B contour for each of the stations, tabulated above, that are predicted to provide a Grade B signal to the city of Ithaca, New York. -1- ENGINEERING REPORT L SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN S 121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING, MD 20510 Ithaca, New York II PREPARATION FOR MEASUREMENTS Section 73.686(c) (1) of the FCC Rules states that the number of locations at which measurements are to be made to determine television service in a specific community is found using the formula 0.1 times the square root of the population of the community and its suburbs (as listed in the latest United States Bureau of the Census. Census of Population) , and must be greater than fifteen (15) locations. The 1980 Bureau of the Census ., publication PC80-1-A34, Number of Inhabitants, New York, lists the population of Ithaca as 28,732 persons. Therefore, the minimum number of points at which measurements must be made to determine television service to Ithaca is seventeen (17) points . In order to obtain a representative sampling of the strength of television signals over all parts of the city of Ithaca, a rectangular grid, consisting of twenty-six (26) television signal strength measurement locations within the city, was prepared using USGS 7.5 �- minute (1:24,000 scale) topographic quadrangles. III MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE All measurements were made by Robert M. Silliman, a Registered ` Professional Engineer in the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, and a partner in the firm of Silliman and Silliman, and Susan N. Crawford, a Senior Staff Engineer employed by Silliman and Silliman since 1969. Upon arrival at each prospective grid measurement location shown on the topographic grid map of Ithaca, a final measuring point location, where either a 30.5 meter (100 feet) mobile run or spot measurements could be made, was selected as near as possible to the grid intersection point. The final measurement locations are detailed by point number on Figure 2-A of this exhibit, along with the grid intersection points and the city boundary of Ithaca. In two instances, at the grid location numbers 10 and 16 on Figure 2-A, it was not possible to select a measurement location near the grid intersection because either overhead wires and/or trees prohibited the safe erection of the antenna mast or the location was in a wooded area. Grid location number 10 was in a wooded area behind houses and there was no ` access near the grid location. There were no locations within 0.1 mile that were suitable for the erection of the mast; therefore, no television field strengths could be measured at grid location number 10 and this location was excluded from the survey. This omission is not significant because 1)there are several geographically similar points nearby that are accessible and do depict the number of television signals presnt in the area of Grid location 10, and 2) more grid locations than required were originally selected and this omission still leaves eight more points than required by the FCC. Grid location number 16 was located on Parker Street, a very narrow, one way street that was totally obstructed by wires and trees. Within 0.1 mile of -2- ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 5121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING. MD 20910 .� Ithaca, New York III MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE (CONT/D) grid location 16, there was a location in front of a park that was suitable for measurement purposes, and this point was selected as Point 16. Figure 2-B of this exhibit is a tabulation of the descriptions of the final measurement locations. The final measurement locations were such that 30.5 •- meter (100 feet) mobile runs were possible at each point used in the survey. Once the measurement location was selected, a mast, elevating the measuring antennas to a height of 9.1 meters (30 feet) above street level was erected; - the measuring antenna was oriented for each particular frequency; and, for each pertinent frequency with a visual carrier that was detectable and of sufficient magnitude at the measurement location, a 30.5 meter (100 feet) mobile run was made and signal strength data for that frequency recorded. Signal strength was recorded using a chart recorder, for the duration of the mobile run. All ten frequencies predicted to be ,.,. present, were checked at each measurement location and each signal strength was recorded unless the signal was not detectable, or was detectable but not of sufficient magnitude for measurement. The Tabulation of Recorded Data indicates instances where the signal was not detectable, or was detectable r.. but not of sufficient magnitude for measurement. �- IV EQUIP14ENT USED, MEASUREMENT METHOD AND CALIBRATION INFORMATION The following is a list of the major items of equipment which were used in the measurement project: ` (1) Potomac Instruments, Inc. Model FIM-71 Field Strength Meter, Serial No. 388, and its associated antenna elements and antenna cable. �- (2) Singer (Empire) Noise and Field Intensity Meter Model NF-105/M-126 and its associated antenna elements and antenna cables. (3)' Hewlett Packard UHF Signal Generator Model 612A, Serial Number 1201A08004. 1 (4) Esterline Angus Chart Recorder • The Potomac Instruments FIM-71 was last calibrated by Potomac Instruments on October 28, 1986. The Singer Instrument calibration depends on the complement of heads and main frame which were used. However, the calibration of this instrument was only used to set the gain level of the instrument to the -3- ENGINEERING REPORT ..` SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN E 6121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS_ SILVER SPRING. MD 20910 `' Ithaca, New York .. IV EQUIPMENT USED, MEASUREMENT METHOD AND CALIBRATION INFORMATION (CONT'D) same value for each measurement. The unit, itself operating the Esterline Angus Chart Recorder, was first set to a standard gain condition using its internal impulse generator calibration, and then directly calibrated (as a voltmeter) from the Hewlett Packard Signal Generator, in the field at the time of the measurement program. This calibration was repeated several times in the field during the measurements and was found to be constant and reliable. The HP 612A was given an incoming calibration check on August 5, 1987, by Potomac Instruments, Inc. , a manufacturer of UHF field strength meters and the VHF instrument used. The instrument was found to be accurate to within 0,55 dB over the range from -5 to -85 dBm (This is the range over which the instrument was used) . This instrument is maintained by the firm for the purpose of calibration of the Singer Instrument. ►� All UHF measurements were made using the DM-105-T3 which is part of the Singer NF-105/M-126 field strength meter. The antenna was set for a half-length corresponding to 573 MHz using the MHz ruler that is part of the Singer instrument. All VHF measurements were made using the antenna of the Potomac Instruments FIM-71 instrument. The antenna half length was set to 36 cm for the 187.25 MHz and 205.25 MHz measurements and to 140 cm for the 61.25 MHz and 77.25 MHz measurements. The manufacturer's antenna factor, the adjustment due to the use of the above lengths, and the total antenna factor used are tabulated below: Manufacturer's Adjustment Total Antenna For Length Antenna Frequency (MHz) Factor* Used Factor 61.25 5.8 2.5 8.3 77.25 7.9 6.5 14.4 187.25 17.0 0.0 17.0 205.25 17.8 0.0 17.8 I 495.25 25.4 -2.3 23.1 531.25 26.3 -0.2 26.1 591.25 27.4 -0.3 27.1 603.25 27.6 0.7 28.3 627.25 28.0 -0.3 27.7 663.25 28.7 1.0 29.7 * Including correction for measured cable attenuation -4- ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 8121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING. MD 20910 ` Ithaca, New York .� IV EQUIPMENT USED, MEASUREMENT METHOD AND CALIBRATION INFORMATION (CONTID) Photographs of the measuring antennas, in place 9.1 meters above street level, as well as situated on the car before mast erection, are included as Figure 3 of this exhibit. V ACCURACY OF MEASUREMENTS The matter of accuracy of measurement of field intensity for the VHF measurements is addressed in the Instruction Manual of the Potomac Instruments, Inc. FIM-71 field intensity meter and the material in the manual is relied upon as the source of this statement. Potomac Instruments states in the instruction manual that the field strength accuracy for measurements made at 30 foot height is + 3.0 dB. The instrument used was calibrated by Potomac Instruments on October 28, 1986 .. and found to be within the manufacturer's specifications. Hence, it is the opinion of Mr. Silliman that the measurement accuracy of the VHF measurements which were made with the FIM-71 instrument are within plus and minus 3.0 dB. .. Attention is invited to Figure 4, Tabulation of Recorded Data and to a number of measurements which were made in the "Average" position of the field meter. The reason for this was the presence of an unusual interfering signal consisting of very short duration pulses believed to be the result of some experimental transmission in the area. At these points the peak to average signal strength ratio was on the order of 20 dB rather than the usual value of approximately 4 dB. As a result, peak measurements were meaningless. These measurements should be considered as subject to an additional uncertainty of 1 dB. It should be noted, however, that the peak interference would have caused serious interference to reception of the signal on a TV receiver so that, regardless of the signal level at these points, it is doubted that TV reception would have been possible at these points on the frequency of measurement at the time of the measurement. Furthermore, the signal strength of all such measurements was less than Grade B. r The UHF measurements were based on calibrations which were made in Ithaca at the time of the measurement program directly from the Hewlett Packard 612A signal generator. This instrument was subjected to an incoming calibration by Potomac Instruments on Aug. 5, 1987 and found to be accurate -5- ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 5121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING. MD 20910 ` Ithaca, New York V ACCURACY OF MEASUREMENTS (CONTID) to within plus and minus 0.55 dB. It is considered that the accuracy of the calibration of the measurement antennas at UHF is more difficult and somewhat less precise than the calibration of the VHF instrument antennas . Hence, an additional uncertainty of one dB has been added for UHF. It is the opinion of Mr. Silliman that the UHF measurements are accurate to plus and minus 4 dB. :. VI DATA ANALYSES The recorded data for each station at each measurement location was evaluated and an average recorded chart value for each 30.5 meter mobile run was determined. A corresponding average field intensity value for the run was determined using calibration data for the field intensity meter being used. For the UHF measurements, calibrations were done for calibration corrections of 0 dB, -5 dB and -10 dB and the average chart field strength values shown in the tabulation of data were determined by reading directly .. from the calibration for the appropriate calibration correction. The average recorded field intensity value was then adjusted using the pertinent antenna factor, and a measured field strength at the measurement point resulted. This measured field strength for the station being evaluated was compared to .. the Grade B field strength for the station to determine if the station was providing Grade B signal strength at the measurement location. Figure 4, Pages 1 through 10 is a tabulation of the measured data. The mean and standard deviation of all measured field strengths are shown on this figure. Figures 5-A and 5-B are the VHF and UHF calibration runs used to determine the average chart field strengths shown in Figure 4. Figure 5-C is a sample of the chart recordings taken during this field survey. VII RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS One measurement location, Point 2, receives four (4) unduplicated Grade B signals. This point is located in a parking lot in Cass Park. The entire area within 0.4 kilometers of Point 2 consists of Cass Park and Allen Treman State Marine Park. There are no residences in the vicinity of measurement Point 2. Point 1 receives five signals but two of the five signals received are NBC affiliates, and two of the five are CBS affiliates; hence, only three signals are unduplicated. The same is true of Point 7. Both measurement point 1 and point 7 are located near the far western boundary of Ithaca, in residential areas where the terrain is approximately 91 meters •- (300 feet) higher than the terrain in the center of Ithaca. -6- ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 0121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING, MD 20910 Ithaca, New York VII RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS (CONTID) :.. One measurement location, Point 8, receives two (2) unduplicated Grade B signals. This measurement is also located in Cass Park where no people reside. Two measurement locations. Point 14 and Point 19, each receive one (1) Grade B signal. The remainder of the measurement points do not receive any Grade B signals from the ten stations being studied. P MW The final results for each measurement point are as follows. The elevation in feet above mean sea level is added in parentheses after the point number. ` POINT 1: (EL-715) Receives measured Grade B signal from WSTM-TV (NBC) , WTVH (CBS), WBNG-TV (CBS) , WMGC-TV (ABC) and WICZ-TV (NBC) . POINT 2: (EL-385) Receives measured Grade B signal from WBNG-TV (CBS) , WMGC-TV (ABC) , WICZ-TV (NBC) and WSKG-TV (PBS) . POINT 3: (EL-385) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 4: (EL-500) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 5: (EL-790) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 6: (EL-905) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 7: (EL-750) Receives measured Grade B signal from WSTM-TV (NBC), WTVH (CBS), WBNG-TV (CBS) , WICZ-TV (NBC), and WSKG-TV (PBS) . POINT 8: (EL-385) Receives measured Grade B signal from WSTM-TV (NBC) and WTVH (CBS) . POINT 9: (EL-388) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 10: (EL-427) Point not usable, obstructed by wires and trees. 1 POINT 11: (EL-790) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 12: (EL-815) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 13: (EL-639) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. -7- ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 0121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONBVLTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING. MD 20910 Ithaca, New York VII RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS (CONT'D) :. POINT 14: (EL-385) Receives measured Grade B signal from WTVH (CBS) . POINT 15: (EL-395) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. .� POINT 16: (EL-415) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 17: (EL-731) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. r POINT 18: (EL-860) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. .. POINT 19: (EL-497) Receives measured Grade B signal from WSTM-TV (NBC) . POINT 20: (EL-380) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 21: (EL-392) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 22: (EL-590) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 23: (EL-665) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 24: (EL-840) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 25: (EL-385) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. POINT 26: (EL-402) Does not receive any measured Grade B signals. :- VII METHODS EMPLOYED All computations and data contained herein or on which this exhibit has been based are in exact accordance with the pertinent requirements of the ECC Rules and standards of good engineering practice, unless otherwise specifically so stated. A draft copy of this report was submitted on July 7, 1987. The final report was submitted on September 11, 1987. r By: Susan N. Crawford Robert M. Silliman September 11, 1987 -8- ,© a •'� � _� 7-!�- ., I �`clit� •� ��� IG�✓•' .•�.+e.�!�:.�._.. ,. .�3�f►�`t�„r:- - •�uW�». GRADEWTVH(TV) GRADE B L 0 10 20 30 40 50 Kilometres , '•` �'i1"'I _ -, \'AZi ,1.,✓� 1� �, vFyI,C• 11, ' Via, `I `�4;–, 1^ "'�,Elm jj � ) ��� fjl(47 dBU) o� c1 . •' '/e FX t �_ Q,. � Q �� j w'Tti_��� ':L'�L7Z,•'L'SC��1� rt � IT li1'A� 1 � }� ��� .�!►`,��y �!1!�i�1r� '� \ \R�1; �;r� �:f;'As� ��;���/'��E11y''1��i5Yl�►\:"�, W –TV GRAD ICZ ,� \ .,j } r �� ri1111 .d %�1.�7• ,a �) .�� ` ,� /�''� ! \ `t!/ 1(F,�r r ��� ��"�. � �� , t � i _.•fir. �, ;I .-;. � ti __�. �, .�'�. �. c• � ,... A"` II �� �I! C •— eV� 1.� , GRADEr. h � ►r/' Vis.'► c�••.11� © .` ,� ��� s*�/L�M�� •� IP►, ��Y�� '�� Al .� v ►\ �. -��� � �� ���T�_�Ei .• n1 ►� {� I k' tN\\\\ 1 �J �tiy�, i -� i �'�.• '� 1 c j �D �/�1 �\� !y1 � ' ,i�/t;+ + 'g„?rte`RT311111•vfu.ra,i��Yii /��, ��11 ���19►'t' 1 �.:✓�®�: ft"'U, �IN �;�.0 w( ► `9' —`� l ,'� 1 ll'�!' �� :r Ij�� �,wl�i,/.; ,. wV�1 �� � .h - ���� �� .•- f .w. ,�, M, ITHACA – NEW YORK FIN /rfly/ Mill �W,O =: �� �' �s°�'� a`► m,r .t��iSTATIONS PROVIDING GRADE B COVERAGE OVER ITHACA �� sm , n r ( �..&I i WO �i 1 c:i r --tea: FR:� lk Al 1v lei �� � T '� J�AlpRAN.:���.a it i Q�`hti,� r►��;y 1.• � { 1 10, i til : / �_� „• A, ��� j, . /IF. a]� �.. 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'' _ '' A��\:`4'UII •r'��`"1 � �,�1,:} • �� �".lits t ,,a_.:J��F.U.-��--. 1 — .-r.- •—— ITx cA CITY iiounLARs `�� �' �� '� r a• sf^ � rte, t !y�,r � 1 Yt -ly, � e4 i �� tlli�i.� - (t' 1 � J.t"•. •'��,� �7 1b.Y�). A. \`1 tern, , ; 1 ., O eo 1 3 Uj'�'•i�"'�hy' ` I� .Ilt,l:tl`f�`@r ytr'4 '1 tot Y\ u., �; \ •?may. ' `'o•% 7`t <� '4i� _ i \` xt. auv Rrnwil k6-3 r.. .�\'`� , `\ ,ea ;r 1' Y i""„�,G'•ifi� tij,'�E � •a �o+.r :�l u r IV*,I{iawt.e,: `ti sa.,< a Psi ti �/^' .,. ' •'+ �..i'' .sry1•..s•.w< AY -`' '. ~ �o .>_• �,�! 'j plti", ry.r.ry.� . '.,�.,.}etl'�d 1,41 ((11( ry �•r♦ rr _ \ �� V'• 41'��e( � `•`•ii 'I j a 1..#w ', .r .�I��,r„r� "�'<,.,1 '�"{�r � , -, e'+iiY, „.•M-. ° 1t/•tir :L-l'�11 L ✓r.,�, 12,x,{ � , p ��` ,' Je, � � ,• r �." f � ji f t9rsM tr~ t�'`e i z��`��'�-i�J�� M., .. '• am 4c^ f ., f }. _ �i '� li' xilrt' -��n ��•IS 'Sts 7sY.rh V *-.4 -ls �.',�..�>.,'' r- �„��',/ ` /, ' t .•J 1°� 4 h ,:`.> ,+� '' ln.•' "'�r..rr.s.-e',rsd'W C2 X91 20 w nbt ej1��' Cem � S r 9+ o ,,,A.e l-./ < !'� si nn,;.<•u4lV a_,.^,,, �� ?!,'x„� .,�^ ' I !t� 26 IFAM �'t>r �.t vurr/ J try !/� �•���•,.� ,•---•�•- ; I I 1 �. 1 I �� tl.. �..fir. 'J `Y.ism 1'y,Jt �� 9 � •yrl �"� 'i`.y ! I ` �L\' `.� \, ♦, .fY,� r 1� Y ITrucA - NEW YORK t 1. � »!' LOCATION OF TELEVISION SURVEY MEASURING POINTS WITHIN TAE CITY OF ITHACA �tJ r ar JULY 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN /V ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SMIAMAN 5121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING, MD 20510 Ithaca. New York FIGURE 2-B r. MEASUREMENT POINT DESCRIPTIONS Point No. Description 1 In Front of #201 Campbell Road Nr Int. w/Brook Field Rd. 2 In Parking Lot in Cass Park. 3 On Pier Road in Front of Ithaca Fire Dept. Training Facility. 4 In Lake View Cemetery in Front of "Wright" Marker. 5 In Parking Lot of ATP (Alpha Gamma Rho) Frat. House on Wyckoff Road. 6 On Sisson Place Beginning at its Intersection w/Jessup Road. 7 In Front of 260 Westwood Knoll. 8 In Parking Lot in Cass Park. 9 In Lot on First St. at Intersection w/Adams Street. 10 Near intersection of Linn & Tompkins Streets. Point Not Usable - Could Not Safely Erect Mast - Overhead Wires & Trees . 11 In Front of Morrill Hall, Cornell University Central Avenue. 12 On Forest Home Drive. 13 Across From 210 Cliff Park Road at Intersection of Cliff Park Road & Cliff Park Circle. 14 In Back of Farmer's Market on Old Taughannock Blvd. 15 In Parking Lot of Immaculate Conception School on N. Plain St. 16 In Front of Park Across from 106 1/2 Linn St. 17* On College Avenue at its Intersection with Oak Avenue. 18 In Parking Lot Behind Cornell Univ. Laundry at 12126 Maple Ave. 19 In West Village Apts in Front of 669 Chestnut St. 20 In Nat's Floral Estates Trailer Park in Front of #45. 21 On S. Plain St. at Intersection with Titus Avenue. 22 In School Driveway/Parking Lot Across From 416 Hillview Place. _ 23 In Front of Water Filtration Plant on Water St. (Beside 1108 Water Street) . 24 In Front of 105 Homestead Terrace. 25 On Road in Southwest Park. 26 On Dirt Road Behind Charlie's Towing. 1 * Construction of new Cornell University Performing Arts Center is taking place all around this Point. Construction was in full swing when measurements were made on June 11, 1987 and construction equipment impulse noise required average measurements to be made instead of peak. There was no construction taking place during June 19, 1987 measurements and peak measurements were made. 'fie. I �i1;- �" •'.��7� �� /w, ,� ,; - ., sem• �M , � �(c:. t Jed s � 1 1 �'7a4 isv17'.—�•i t f I ZIP - '��_-".` :"`_ .•;fit �• '• ' i t 4k,' r.. �� •f- ' •.l 1. �.1 + •• •~,• f pop 4 L L- Ithaca, New York LFIGURE 4, PAGE 1 TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA LThe following weather conditions were present on the daces specified. Date Weather L6-08-87 Mostly overcast; intermittent thunder showers and periods of bright sun; humid; temperature in mid 70's. 6-09-87 Mostly cloudy; periods of bright sun; breezy; temperature in mid 6018. 6-10-87 Sunny, cloudless sky; breezy; temperature in mid 70's. 6-11-87 Sunny, light clouds; temperature in low 80's. 6-19-87 Sunny, slight haze; humid; temperature 90°. II 6"' MEASUREMENTS FOR 61.25 MH2 - VISUAL CARRIER OF CH 3, WSPM-TV AT SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - NBC AFFILIATION L Average Chart Antenna Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Exceed Point Recording Scale Correction cr Chert Strength Factor Adjustment Strength Grade aber Number (d B) (dB) Date Time Average Value (dB) (d B) (dB) (dB) B7 f `l 134 40 -10 6-11-87 1326 P -- 49.3 -6.5 +5.8 +2.5 51.8 Yee 2 123 20 -10 11 1212 A +4 35.2 -9.5 +5.8 +2.5 32.8 No 3 81 40 0 6-10-87 1251 P -- 24.2 -12.6 +5.8 +2.5 35.7 No 4 133 20 -10 6-11-87 1307 A +4 19.5 -14.5 +5.8 +2.5 27.8 No i 5 89 20 -10 6-10-87 1359 A +4 26.5 -11.9 +5.8 +2.5 30.4 No 15 90 40 0 1411 P 36.0 -9.3 +5.8 +2.5 39.0 No 4 148 40 -10 6-11-87 1416 P 28.5 -11.4 +5.8 +2.5 46.9 Yes 8 39 40 -5 6-09-87 1514 P -- 51.2 -6.1 +5.8 +2.5 47.2 Yes 9 77 20 -5 6-10-87 1208 A +4 41.5 -8.1 +5.8 +2.5 29.2 No 0 Point Not Accessible 1 100 20 -5 6-10-87 1505 A +4 47.0 -6.9 +5.8 +2.5 30.4 No 6.2 99 40 0 " 1453 P -- 47.5 -6.8 +5.8 +2.5 41.5 No 13 Not Measurable 14 Not Measurable 5 70 20 0 6-10-87 1113 A +4 37,5 -8.9 +5.8 +2.5 23.4 No 4676 20 0 " 1145 A +4 25.5 -12.3 +5.8 +2.5 20.0 No 7 111 40 0 6-11-87 1041 A +4 23.0 -13.3 +5.8 +2.5 39.0 No 8 112 40 0 11 1057 A +4 24.0 -12.9 +5.8 +2.5 39.4 No 19 38 40 -5 6-09-87 1500 P -- 54.5 -5.6 +5.8 +2.5 47.7 Yes 00 51 40 0 11 1624 P -- 48.0 -6.7 +5.8 +2.5 41.6 No 1 69 20 0 6-10-87 1056 A +4 34.0 -9.8 +5.8 +2.5 22.5 No 6 40 0 6-08-87 1700 P -- 24.2 -12.6 +5.8 +2.5 35.7 No -3 7 20 -10 11 1730 P -- 31.5 -10.5 +5.8 +2.5 27.8 No 24 122 40 0 6-11-87 1149 P -- 26.0 -12.0 +5.8 +2.5 36.3 No 25 63 20 -10 6-10-87 1003 A +4 31.7 -10.5 +5.8 +2.5 31.8 No 6 57 40 0 6-09-87 1700 P -- 49.7 -6.4 +5.8 +2.5 41,9 No The mean Ch. 3 measured field strength is 35.6 dB. The standard deviation of the Cb. 3 measured field strength data is 8.4 dB. '=LY 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 1 L I L L Ithaca, New York LFIGURE 4, PACE 3 TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA L MEASUREMENTS FOR 187.25 MHZ - VISUAL CARRIER OF CH 9. WIXT AT SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - ABC AF'F'ILIATION t Average L Chart An ter.na Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length. Field Exceed Point Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adjustment Strenrti. Grade Number Number (d B) (dB) Date Time Average Value (d B) (d B) (d B) (J F.; B? - - - ---- ---- -- 1 192 40 0 6-19-87 1543 P -- 23.5 -12.8 +17.0 0.0 44.2 No 2 Not Measurable 3 Not Detectable 4 181 20 -10 6-19-87 1406 P -- 29.5 -10.8 +17.0 0.0 36.2 No 5 179 20 0 " 1342 P -- 38.5 -8.5 +17.0 0.0 28.5 No 6 178 40 0 " 1334 F -- 19.0 -14.5 +17.0 0.0 42.5 No 7 193 40 -5 " 1550 P -- 23.7 -12.7 +17.0 0.0 49.3 NG 8 Not Detectable 9 183 20 -10 6-19-87 1435 P -- 33.5 -9.7 +17.0 0.0 37.3 No 1F Point Not Accessible 11 173 20 -5 6-19-87 1305 P -- 33.0 -9.8 +17.0 0.0 32.2 No 12 176 20 -5 1322 P -- 38.0 -8.6 +17.0 0.0 33.4 Hu X13 196 40 0 1603 E -- 16.0 -16.0 +17.0 0 C 41.0 14 187 20 -10 " 1505 F -- 44.7 -7.3 +17.0 0 0 39.7 15 162 20 -10 1058 P -- 28.5 -11.1 +17.0 0.0. 35.i No to Not Measurable 17 172 20 -10 6-19-87 1220 P -- 25.0 -12.3 +17.0 0.0 34.7 No 19 169 40 0 " 1206 P -- 21.5 -13.5 +17.0 0.0 43.E No 6-19 197 20 0 " 1609 P -- 37.6 -8.7 +17.0 O.0 29.3 No 20 186 20 -5 " 1456 P -- 51.8 -5.9 +17.0 0.0 36.. No 21161 20 0 1048 P -- 33.8 -9.6 +17.0 0.0 27.4 L22 165 20 -5 1125 P -- 28.0 -11.2 +17.0 0.0 30.e NG 23 Not Detectable 24 Not Detectable 25 157 20 0 6-19-87 1018 P -- 31.5 -10.2 +17.0 0.0 26.5 No 26 159 20 -10 " 1033 P -- 14.0 -17.0 +17.0 0.0 30.G No he mean Ch. 9 measured field strength is 35.7 dB. 1,e standard deviation of the Ch. 9 measured field strength data is 6.2 dB. ULY 1987 SILLIMm!: f1ID 5I LLIM t': L L r.. Ithaca, New York FIGURE 4, PAGE 4 TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA MEASUREMENTS FOR 205.25 MHZ - VISUAL CARRIER OF CH 12, WBNG-TV AT BINGIMTON, NLW YORK - CBS AFFILIATION Average Chert Antenno Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Ezcead mint Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adjustment Strengti, .;ra:e Number Number (d B) (dB) Date Time Average Value (dB) (d B) (d b)_ (d P.) B? 1 191 60 0 6-19-87 1541 P -- 14.0 -17,0 +17.8 0.0 6G.c Yes 2 190 40 -10 " 1527 P -- 30.0 -10.7 +17.8 O.G 57.: Yrs 3 Not Measurable 4 182 20 -10 6-19-87 1408 P -- 27.4 -11.4 +17.8 0.0 36.4 No 5 180 20 -10 " 1344 P -- 21.0 -13.6 +17.8 0.0 34., NO 6 177 40 0 " 1332 P -- 14.5 -16.7 +17.8 O.0 41.1 NO - 7 194 40 -10 " 1552 P -- 38.7 -8.5 +17.8 0.0 59.3 Yes 8 189 40 0 " 1516 P -- 31.5 -10.2 +17,8 0.0 47.t No 9 184 40 0 " 1438 P -- 22.3 -13.2 +17.8 0.0 44.6 No 10 Point Not Accessible 11 174 20 -5 6-19-87 1307 P -- 25.7 -12.0 +17.8 0.0 30.8 tic :2 175 20 0 " 1319 P -- 23.8 -12.6 +17,8 0.0 25.2 No L3 195 40 -10 " 1601 P -- 20.0 -14.0 +17.8 53.n L4 188 20 -5 " 1507 P -- 51.7 -5.9 +17.8 36.9 5 163 20 -10 1100 P -- 20.0 -14.0 +17.8 0.0 33.8. No 16 '64 20 0 " 1111 P -- 31.8 -10.1 +17.6 0.0 27.7 No 17 171 20 -5 " 1218 P -- 21.0 -13.6 +17.8 0.0 29.2 No LB 170 20 0 " 1209 P -- 31.8 -10.1 +17.8 O.0 27.7 No L9 198 20 0 " 1611 P -- 41.0 -7.9 +17.8 O.i 29.9 Nu 6"40 185 20 -5 1454 P -- 30.5 -10.5 +17.8 0.0 32.3 No 21 160 20 0 " 1046 P -- 34.0 -9.6 +17.8 O.C. 2°.2 NO 22 166 20 -10 " 1127 P -- 36.0 -9.0 +17.8 0.0 38.t so L 3 167 40 0 " 1143 P -- 38.5 -8.5 +17.8 0.0 49.3 NO 4 168 20 -10 " 1154 P 24.5 -12.4 +17.8 0.0 35.. do 156 20 0 1013 P 20.2 -14.0 +17.8 0.0 23.: No 20 158 20 0 " 1029 P -- 40.4 -8.0 +17.8 0.0 29.t No Le mean Ch. 12 measured field strength is 38.1 dB. a standard deviation of the Ch. 12 measured field strength data is 10.9 dB. LILY 1987 SILLI"tA.'. PJ:L S1LLIMV. L i L L L L L Ithaca, New York tiIGURE 4, PAGE 5 TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA L MEASUREMENTS FOR 495.25 MHZ - VISUAL CARRIER OF CH 18, WETM-TV AT ELMIRA, NEW YORK - NBC AFFILIATION Average L Chart Antenna Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Exceed Point Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adjustment Strength Grade Number Number (d B) (dB) Date Time Average Value (dB) (d 8) (d B) (dB) B? 1 Not Measurable 2 Not Detectable Not Detectable 4 129 0 -10* 6-11-87 1255 23.0 -67.5 +25.4 -2.3 42.6 No 5 Not Measurable 6 94 0 -10* 6-10-87 1422 15.0 -71.5 +25.4 -2.3 38.6 No 7 Not Detectable —b Not Detectable 9 Not Detectable 10 Point Not Accessible 1 104 20 0* 6-10-87 1518 29.7 -78.7 +25.4 -2.3 51.4 No 2 Not Detectable �3 Not Measurable 14 Not Measurable 15 Not Detectable 16 Not Detectable 7 Not Detectable 8 Not Detectable 1"9 34 0 0* 6-09-87 1446 78.0 -69.0 +25.4 -2.3 41.1 No 20 Not Measurable 21 Not Detectable 2 Not Detectable 3 Not Detectable 4 Not Measurable 25 Not Detectable 20 59 0 -5* 6-09-87 1711 17.5 -75.1 +25.4 -2.3 35.0 No ie mean Ch. 18 measured field strength is 41.7 dB. "Me standard deviation of the Ch. 18 measured field strength data is 5.5 dB. LCalibrations were run for 0, -5, and -10 dB calibration correction. Average chart field strength was reed directly from the pertinent caliLration and value read needs no further additive calibration correct-ion. LJLY 1987 SILLIM.ki P.ND SILLIM!N 6.. L L L Ithaca, New York FIGURE 4, PAGE 6 - TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA MEASUREMENTS FOR 531.25 MHZ - VISUAL CARRIER OF CH 24. WCNY-TV AT SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - PBS AFFILIATION Average Chart Antenna Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Exceed Point Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adiuutment StrengtK Crate Number Number (dB) (dB) Date Time Average Value (dB) (dB) (d8) (d E; B! 1 Not Detectable _2 Not Detectable 3 Not Detectable 4 Not Detectable 5 Not Detectable 6 Not Measurable 7 141 0 -10* 6-11-87 1357 38.5 -62.5 +26.3 -0.2 50.6 No !8 Not Measurable 9 Not Measurable 10 Point Not Accessible it 105 0 -10* 6-10-87 1521 15.5 -71.2 +26.3 -0.2 41.9 No L2 Not Detectable 3 Not Measurable 14 Not Measurable • 15 Not Detectable 6 Not Detectable 17 Not Detectable ,..�8 Not Detectable 19 Not Detectable 20 Not Measurable 21 Not Detectable 22 Not Detectable 23 Not Detectable -n4 117 0 -10* 6-11-87 1135 14.6 -71.7 +26.3 -0.2 41.4 No 25 Not Detectable 26 Not Measurable I iw.he mean Ch. 24 measured field strength is 44.6 dB. The standard deviation of the Ch. 24 measured field strength data is 4.2 dB. Calibrations were run for 0, -5, and -10 dB calibration correction. Average chart field strength was read directly from the pertinent calibi,tiun and value read needs no further additive calibration correction. ULY 1987 SILLIMAN AIM SILLIMAN L i i L L Ithaca, New York FIGURE 4, PACE 7 TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA MEASUREMENTS FOR 591.25 MH2 - VISUAL CARRIER OF CH 34, WMGC-TV AT BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK - ABC AFFILIATION Average Chart Antenna Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Exceed Qoint Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adjustment Strength Grade Number Number (dB) (dB) Date Time Average Value (d B) (d B) (d B) (dB) B' 1 140 20 -5* 6-11-87 1345 27.7 -70.6 +27.4 -0.3 63.5 Yea 2 128 20 -10* " 1235 39.0 -62.4 +27.4 -O.j 71.7 Yes -,3 Not Detectable 4 Not Detectable 5 Not Detectable 3 Not Measurable 7 142 20 0* 6-11-87 1359 44,3 -74,6 +27.4 -0.3 59.5 No 3 Not Detectable 9 80 20 0* 6-10-87 1226 27.6 -79.5 +27.4 -0.3 54.6 No 10 Point Not Accessible It 106 0 0* 6-10-87 1524 9.5 -91.0 +27.4 -0.3 23.1 No 2 Not Detectable 3 Not Detectable T4 Not Measurable 15 Not Measurable It Not Detectable 7 Not Detectable 3 Not Detectable u..d Not Detectable 20 Not Measurable 21 Not Detectable "2 1 20 0* 6-08-87 1629 9.7 -90.5 +27.4 -0.3 43.6 No 3 9 0 -10* " 1759 24.7 -66.9 +27.4 -0.3 47.2 No y,,�4 118 0 -10* 6-11-87 1138 13.8 -72.2 +27.4 -0.3 41.9 No ZS Not Detectable 26 Not Detectable mean Ch. 34 measured field strength is 50.6 dB. Oft standard deviation of the Ch. 34 measured field strength data is 14.1 dB. 'alibrations were run for 0, -5, and -10 dB calibration correction. Average chart field strength was reed directly from the pertinent calibration and value read needs no further additive calibration correction. -'.Y 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN Ithaca, Nev Ycrk FIGURE 4, PAGE 8 TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA MEASUREMENTS FOR 603.25 MH2 - VISUAL CARRIER OF .,_. CH 36, WENY-TV AT ELMIRA. NEW YORK - ABC AFFILIATION Average Chart Antenna Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Exceed Point Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adjustment Strength Grade Number Number (d B) (dB) Date Time Average Value (dB) (d B) (SB) (d E) B? 1 Not Detectable 2 Not Measurable -3 Not Measurable + 130 0 -10* 6-11-87 1258 52.2 -59.4 +27.6 +0.7 55.9 No 86 0 -10* 6-10-87 1348 18.0 -70.0 +27.6 +0.7 45.3 No 6 95 0 -10* " 1427 22.2 -67.9 +27.6 +0.7 47.4 No Not Measurable b Not Detectable �9 Not Measurable 10 Point Not Accessible '1 107 0 -10* 6-10-87 1527 28.5 -65.8 +27.6 +0.7 49.5 No 2 Not Detectable 3 32 20 0* 6-09-87 1423 9.8 -90.0 27.6 +0.7 45.3 - e4 Not Measurable 15 73 0 -5* 6-10-87 1125 32.8 -68.9 +27.6 +0.7 46.4 No It Not Measurable 7 Not Detectable 8 116 20 0* 6-11-87 1115 37.0 -76.5 +27.6 +0.7 58.8 No -9 33 0 -5* 6-09-87 1443 33.0 -68.8 +27.6 +0.7 46.5 No 20 50 0 -10* " 1619 20.5 -68.7 +27.6 +0.7 46.6 No 21 Not Detectable 2 Not Detectable 3 Not Detectable :4 Not Measurable 5 Not Measurable 26 58 0 -10* 6-09-87 1707 17.8 -70.1 +27.6 +0.7 45.2 No �e mean Ch. 36 measured field strength is 48.7 dB. wee standard deviation of the Ch. 36 measured field strength data is 4.5 dB. ` Calibrations were run for 0, -5, and -10 dB calibration correction. Average chart field strength was read directly from the pertinent calibration (1 and value read needs no further additive calibration correction. LILY 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN v �r F 1 M V haw Ithaca. New York FIGURE 4, PAGE 9 knol TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA ( MEASUREMENTS FOR 627.25 MHZ - VISUAL CARRIER OF aaw CH 40, WICZ-TV AT BINGHAMTON. NEW YORK - NBC AFFILIATION Average Chart Antenna Measured %, Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Exceed Point Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adjustment Strengt1, Grade Number Number (d B) (dB) Date Time Average Value (d B) (d B) (d B) (db; B1 139 20 -5* 6-11-87 1342 36.0 -68.1 +28.0 -0.3 66.6 Yee ? 127 20 -10* " 1232 30.5 -65.0 +28.0 -0.3 69.7 Yee Not Measurable 4 Not Detectable 5 Not Detectable i Not Measurable 1 143 20 -10* 6-11-87 1405 35.3 -63.4 +28.0 -0.3 71.3 Yes . a 42 0 -5* 6-09-87 1527 53.0 -64.5 +28.0 -0.3 50.2 No 9 Not Measurable 10 Point Not Accessible 1 Not Detectable 2 Not Detectable ...3 29 20 0* 6-09-87 1220 30.5 -78.3 +28.0 -0.3 56.4 No 14 60 0 -5* " 1742 16.5 -75.7 +28.0 -0.3 39.0 No 15 Not Detectable 'S Not Detectable 7 Not Detectable 8 Not Measurable I'm Not Measurable 20 Not Detectable 21 Not Detectable 2 Not Measurable 3 10 0 -10* 6-08-87 1810 15.4 =71.2 +28.0 -0.3 43.5 No -.4 Not Measurable 25 Not Detectable 20 Not Detectable I4,,.a mean Ch. 40 measured field strength is 56.7 dB. The standard deviation of the Ch. 40 measured field strength data is 12.0 dB. Calibrations were run for 0, -5, and -10 dB calibration correction. Average chart field strength was read directly from the pertinent calibration an.', value read needs no further additive calibration correction. LY 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN i Ithaca, New York FIGURE 4, PAGE 10 TABULATION OF RECORDED DATA MEASUREMENTS FOR 663.25 MHZ - VISUAL CARRIER OF ftes CH 46, WSKG-TV AT BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK - PBS AFFILIATION Average Chart Antenna Measured Calibration Peak Average Field Antenna Length Field Exceed Point Recording Scale Correction or Chart Strength Factor Adjustment Strength Grade Number Number (d B) (dB) Date Time Average Value (d B) (d B) (dB) (dB) B7 138 20 0* 6-11-87 1338 33.0 -77.6 +28.7 +1.0 59.1 No -2 126 20 -5* 1224 29.8 -69.8 +28.7 +1.0 66.9 Yes 3 Not Detectable 4 Not Detectable 5 Not Detectable 6 Not Detectable 7 144 20 -10* 6-11-87 1407 23.4 -67.3 +28.7 +1.0 69.4 Yes �8 43 0 -5* 6-09-87 1530 30.0 -69.7 +28.7 +1.0 47.0 No 9 79 0 -10* 6-10-87 1220 16.3 -70.9 +28.7 +1.0 45.8 No 10 Point Not Accessible 1 Not Detectable 2 Not Detectable -3 28 0 -10* 6-09-87 1217 34.0 -63.7 +28.7 +1.0 53.0 No 14 Not Detectable 15 Not Detectable 6 Not Detectable 7 Not Detectable 8 Not Detectable `19 Not Detectable 20 Not Detectable 11 Not Detectable L2 Not Detectable 3 _ 11 20 0* 6-08-87 1815 12.5 -87.6 +28.7 +1.0 49.1 No 4 Not Detectable 25 Not Detectable 26 Not Detectable 1 m.spe mean Ch. 46 measured field strength is 55.8 dB. The standard deviation of the Ch. 46 measured field strength data is 8.9 dB. Calibrations were run for 0. -5, and -10 dB calibration correction. Average chart field strength was read directly from the pertinent calibration and value read needs no further additive calibration correction. 1LY 1987 SILLIMAt7 AFID SILLIMA.ti I ,Fe�TERLTNERUS INDIANAPOLIS, IND., U.S.A. CHART N acs it _V-7t _ — -_ —— -P- - -f — L - - - -- L- ��/ Lr I T -- - -- _-- r— - - - - - - - - - - - - 0 dB CALIBRATIOtI CORRECTION S dB CALIBRATION CORRECTION FIGURE 5-B ITHACA - NEW YORK EMPIRE NF-105 CHART RECORDER CALIBRATIONS USED FOR ALL UHF FREQUENCIES JULY 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN INDIANAPOLIS. IND., U.S.A. CHART NO. 4313-X J -�- -- -- - -. 7- -7T - - — - - --- - -5 dB CALIBRATION CORRECTION -10 dB CALIBRATION CORRECTION FIGURE 5-B ITHACA - NEW YORK EMPIRE NF-105 CHART RECORDER CALIBRATIONS USED FOR ALL UHF FREQUENCIES JULY 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN MADE IN U.S.A._ ZSTERLIMMMUO INDIANAPOLIS. Itip.. U.S.&50 _ - 80 -- f f - - - -- - -- -- - - 40IV - r - 29 r ITHACA - NEW YORK TYPICAL FIELD STRENGTH RECORDINGS JULY 1987 SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN FIGURE S-C ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 0121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEERS SILVER SPRING. MO 20910 Ithaca, New York A F F I D A V I T , MONTGOMERY COUNTY ) SS: STATE OF MARYLAND ) ROBERT M. SILLIMAN, being duly sworn upon oath deposes and says: That his qualifications are a matter of record with the Federal ■- Communications Commission; That he is a registered professional engineer in Maryland, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia and is a partner in the firm of Silliman and Silliman; That this firm has been retained on behalf of The City of Ithaca to prepare this engineering statement; That he has either prepared or directly supervised the preparation of all technical information contained in this engineering statement and that the facts stated in this engineering statement are true of his knowledge except as to such statements as are herein stated to be on information and belief and as to such statements he believes them to be true. r. Robert M. Silliman Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of September 1987. Notar b i My Commission expires July 1, 1990. (SEAL) ENGINEERING REPORT SILLIMAN AND SILLIMAN 0121 GEORGIA AVENUE CONSULTING ENGINEER8 SILVER SPRING. MD 20910 Ithaca, New York A F F I D A V I T MONTGOMERY COUNTY ) SS: STATE OF MARYLAND ) .. SUSAN N. CRAWFORD, being duly sworn upon oath deposes and says: That she is a Senior Staff Engineer in the firm of Silliman and Silliman; That this firm has been retained on behalf of the City of Ithaca to prepare this engineering statement; That she has either prepared or directly supervised the preparation of all technical information contained in this engineering statement and that the facts stated in this engineering statement are true of her knowledge except as to such statements as are herein stated to be on information and belief and as to such statements she believes them to be true. ZZSusan N. 0awford Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of September 1987. Notary JW51' My Commission expires July 1, 1990. (SEAL) — . • .,, .. - �(`���c� �� � cam...,-� _ , . S TELEVISION CABLE FRANCHISE Agreement made this 20th day of January 1978 , by and between the CITY OF ITHACA, a municipal corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York , party of the first part , Grantor , and AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, a domestic corporation duly organized under and by virtue of the laws of the State of New York , having its principal place of business at 20 Inverness Place East , Englewood, Colorado, party of the second part , Grantee . WITNESSETH: That in consideration of the promises and covenants hereinafter made , the parties agree as follows : 1 . American Television and Communications Corporation., of 20 Inver- ness Place East , Englewood , Colorado , hereinafter referred to as Grantee is hereby granted and invested with the right and authority to construct , erect , operate and maintain buildings , machinery and apparatus within the city limits of the City of. Ithaca, as it now is , and as it hereafter may be constituted by revision, modification, or addition, and which said buildings , machinery, apparatus may or shall become necessary in the transmission of television programs , and distribuion and sale of television or radio programs for the use of the citizens of the City of Ithaca , said rights hereby granted to be non-exclusive . The City has approved the legal , character, financial , technical and other qualifications of the Grantee and the adequacy and feasibility of its construction arrangements as part of a full public proceeding affording due process . 2 . Grantee shall have the right , further , to erect , place, operate , repair and maintain poles , wires , transmission lines , distribution lines , and service lines in and over and the right to use , all public avenues , streets , alleys , grounds and places in the city, and within its present limit or as it hereafter may be extended, for the purpose of furnishing the City of Ithaca and its inhabitants with television or radio service , provided always , that such poles , wires , trans- mission lines , distribution lines , and service lines shall not inter- fere with, nor obstruct , the necessary or proper use of said streets , avenues , alleys , public grounds or places . 3. Grantee shall have the right and permission of the City of Ithaca to use existing poles , wires , transmission lines and service lines now erected and in existence , and owned, controlled or operated by the New York Telephone Company or New York State Electric and Gas Corporation within the City of Ithaca , upon the condition that it shall first obtain the written permission of the New York Telephone Company or New York State Electric and Gas Corporation respectively for such uses . - 2 - 4 . Grantee shall be permitted to extend its poles , wires , trans- mission lines , distribution lines and service line, and to give service to the City of Ithaca and to its inhabitants in accordance with the permission, rules, regulations and statutes as the same may be amended from time to time, of the Public Service Commission, Federal Communications Commission, and other regulatory bodies of the State of New York and of the United States of America and subject: at all times to the applicable laws of the State of New York and of the United States of America. S . Grantee is hereby empowered, and subject always to the approval. , if necessary, of the Public Service 'Commission of the Stage of New York or other applicable State Commission, and the Federal Communica - tions Commission, to use proper practices , and procedures within the spirit of this franchise and appropriate to the service within the geographical limits of this franchise . 6. Grantee, upon execution of this franchise agreement , shall , if required be allowed to proceed to petition the Public Service Commission of the State of New York or other applicable State Commission and Federal Communications Commission for any approval required to be had in the premises , and upon such approval , he shall notify the Mayor of the City of Ithaca, in writing . 7 . No poles are to be erected upon the public streets, alleys , avenues and public grounds and no excavation of any type shall be done or caused to be- done unless permission in writing is first obtained from the Department of Public Works of the City of Ithaca , New York. 8 . In the event that a change is made in the grade of public street , alleys , avenues and grounds by authority of the City, which shall ' �- necessitate the removal of any poles , wires , transmission lines , and distribution lines , to conform to the change of grade , Grantee shall make the necessary changes in its lines , at its own expenses , upon due notice from the Board of Public Works of the City to do so . 9 . All work in any way necessitated by the business of the Grantee which may involve the opening , breaking or tearing up of a portion of a street , sidewalk or other part of any City-owned or City- con- trolled property shall be done by the City at the expense of the Grantee . Grantee shall save and keep the City harmless against all loss' or damage to person or property caused by the construction , laying maintenance or operation of an}, of its lines or other under- taking under the authority of this franchise. 10 . a) During the terms of this franchise , Grantee shall furnish to all persons desiring the service offered , and paying for the same , a wire service capable of producing as good a quality of television picture signal or reception as may be practical from time to time , and shall make all reasonable and practical betterments or improve - ments of said service as improvements in the science of carrying of television signals shall warrant , as well as in the elimination of radio interference . - -3- b) The Grantee shall certify to the City and provide such re- quired documentation to prove that it is in fact meeting the minimal technical standards required by the Federal Communications Commission and the New York State Commission on Cable Television. Said certifi- cation and documentation will be provided as may be requested by the City. If in the belief of the City the minimum technical standards are not being met , or if the Grantee shall fail to provide such certification and documentation as. required herein, then the City may, at its sole option, employ the services of the New York State Commission on Cable Television engineering van to make certification checks within the City . The Grantee agrees to such verificat-ion checks at the discretion of the State Cable Commission (should they be required by the City) . c) Service shall be defined to include basic service as herein - after defined and the provision of any additional cable programming to subscribers ` homes and businesses in the city through the use of cable and necessary instruments . d) Basic Service means the provision of 12 channels (channels 2 through 13) to subscribers ' homes and businesses in the city through the use of cable and necessary instruments . Such Basic Service shall include the so-called "must-carry" stations as required by the Federal Communications Commission and the New York State Cable Commission, the Learning Channel (formerly ACSN) on the Local Access Channel 13 during times when local access programming is not available, and the current New York City stations (now three in number) to the extent channels are available after local access and "must-carry" stations are pr.a- vided . 11 . This franchise does not in any manner grant to the Grantee , his successors or assigns , the exclusive right to the sale and service of telephone sets , accessories , or converters within the City of Ithaca , and it is expressly understood that the right to sell such sets or accessories or converters is reserved to any and all legitimate dealers . By acceptance of this franchise , the Grantee , his successors and assigns shall be deemed to have accepted the following conditions : a) Any person , individual or corporation may purchase television sets from any source without any liability to the holder of the franchise herein granted. b) The holder of this franchise shall be required to permit any individual or corporation to have access to all. services of the holder of this franchise , subject only to the payment of regular installation fee and monthly charges which are hereby established as. follows : . -4- 1) Installation: Residential establishments (maximum charges) : First installation charge - $25 .00 Each additional installation - 15 .00 �. Commercial establishments (maximum charges) : First installation charge - time and materials + 10a Each additional installation - time and materials + 10% Custom installation (resident-A.al or commercial) , hidden wire , underground drop in area where drops are other- wise aerial - time and materials + 100 2) Monthly Rental Charges : First outlet , basic service - $ 7 .00 Each additional outlet (r.esi- dential) , basic service - $ 2 .00 Each additional outlet (commercial) - - $ 7 .00 First FM outlet - $ 7 .00 Each additional FM outlet - $ 2 . 00 The monthly rental charge for first outlet , basic service and first FM outlet shall increase to $8 . 00 effective January 1 , 1956 , and remain at no more than $8 . 00 at least to January 20 , 1988 notwithstanding any Federal or State law, rule, regula- tion or ruling which permits or authorizes any increases thereof to the contrary during this period. 3) Disconnection: No charge will be made for disconnection , and no charge will be made for the period when the service is disconnected for any reason whatsoever . Cable service may be disconnected when the rental or other charges are 60 days past due . 4) Connection and Re -connection To To Existing Outlet : $15 . 00 S) Transfer of Service : $ 15 .00 Any user who has paid the regular established residential installation fee and moves to another residence within L r the city may have this service transferred for the above charge . 6) Relocation in the Same Dwelling: To a new location in the same room -$10 .00 To a new location in another room - $1S . 00 7) Converter Deposit (refundable) : $10 .00 8) Installation may be disconnected if user attempts to run more than one set at one time on each installation, or permits anyone else to do the same; or tampers with the lines in any way. 9) The rates and charges for basic service set forth herein shall bind the parties for the period July 1 , 1984 to at least January 20 , 1988- -the date of expiration of the existing franchise . In the event that grantee exercises its option to extend the term in accordance with Section 1S hereof, these rates shall continue in effect after January 20 , 1988 . No increase in rates and charges for basic service shall be effective after January 20 , 1988 and during such extended term unless first approved by the Common Council in accordance with the provisions of Section 33 of this franchise as amended following a public hearing affording due process . Approval of increases in rates and charges for basic service shall not be unreasonably withheld . 10) All installation and other charges include applicable federal. , state and local taxes , if any , except sales tax. 11) The City specifically reserves the right to conduct a sub- scriber or other rate investigation at . any time when it beliex-es on the basis of financial data available to it that substantial changes in costs , revenues , or profits of the Grantee has occurred, and may on the basis of such investiga- tion, adjust the subscribers ' rates or any other rates contained in this agreement after January 20 , 1988. c) Grantee of this franchise shall not directly or indirectly reflect the cost of installations in the price of sets sold by it. 12 . If the trees in the City streets interfere with the erection of . poles or the stringing of wires , or cables , in accordance with .the terns of this franchise , written permission for removing said trees , or anN part thereof, must be obtained from the Department of Public l'.orl:s , for trees on City property and from the owners of private property. 1 -) . In all street installations , the cable or wires erected shall , in 111 respects , comply with the provisions of all existing Codes ` -6 - pertaining 6 pertaining to the extension of wires across the streets , and all applicable provisions of the Electrical Code of the City of Ithaca. f Coaxial cable shall be used to carry the television signal through- I out the street installations . Messenger cable shall be used to carry the coaxial cable across the streets . 14 . The holder of this franchise shall , at all times ; keep in effect the following types of insurance coverage : 1) Workmen' s Compensation upon it.s employees engaged in any manner in the installation or servicing of its plant and. its equip- ment within the City of Ithaca. 2) Public Liability Insurance in a total overall amount of not less than $1 ,000 ,000 combined single limit. coverage J.-insuring the holder of this franchise and the City of Ithaca against liability for property damage and for personal injury or death by reason of the installation, servicing or operation of its plant and equipment or installations within the City of Ithaca . 15 . The term of this franchise shall expire January 1.9 , 1988 . The franchise may be automatically renewed at the option of the Grantee for an additional period extending to May 1 , 1991 , unless after review of the performance of the Grantee , Grantor shall determine that said performance has been inadequate , in which case the Grantor may, upon one (1) month' s written notice to the Grantee terminate this franchise agreement at the end of the initial ten-yepr. term. However , this franchise may be revoked in the event the Grantee shall fail to comply with the terms and conditions herein set forth within sixty days after written notice of such failure has been received by the Grantee . 16 . This franchise is personal to the Grantee , and may be transferred only on application to and approval by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca . No permit or grant of similar privileges and powers as are covered by this franchise shall be allowed during the period hereof except upon a franchise applied for and approved by the Common Council . 17 . The Grantee shall pay to the City Chamberlain annually a sum equal to three per centum (3%) of its gross revenues from all cable service operations within the City ; said gross revenues shall in- clude the charges and rentals for basic service as set forth herein, all other charges and rentals set forth herein , and all other revenues obtained from any source whatsoever on account of the provision of cable related services of any kind within the City, in- eluding , but not limited to , basic service , augmented service , satellite service , HBO , pay television , and any other entertainment or other services . The City may increase the per centum sum in the first sentence of this paragraph as permitted by law or regulations of the Federal Communications Commission or New York State Cable Commission . Such fees shall be and constitute a lien upon the property of the Grantee within the City prior and superior to all other debts , obligations , taxes , mortgages , or liens of whatsoever nature regardless of the time of the creation thereof, excepting herefrom any prior liens on the Ne.�, York State Cable Commission . 23. Grantee shall not abandon any service or portion thereof with- out the written consent of the City. 24 . Any City or private property damaged or destroyed shall be promptly repaired or replaced by Grantee and restored to serviceable �. condition. 25 . Grantee shall not refuse to hire or employ , nor bar or discharge from employment , nor discriminate against any person in compensation or in terms , conditions , or privileges of employment because of age , race , creed, color, national origin., sex, sexual preference, marital status or disability. 26. The City reserves the right to adopt , in addition to the pro- visions contained in the franchise and exi.sti.r+g applicable ordinances , such additional regulations as it shall find necessary in the exer- cise of its police power; provided, however , that such regulations are reasonable and not materially in confl.i_cI: with the privileges granted in the franchise . 27 . The City reserves the right to inspect all pertinent books , records , maps , plans , financial statements and other like material , of the franchise , upon reasonable notice and during normal business hours . .� 28 . This franchise is in compliance with the franchise standards of the New York State Commission on Cable Television and the provisions hereof are subject to the approval of said Commission. 29 . a) Within thirty days of the receipt of final operatin authority, Grantee shall post security with the City in the amount of 15 , 000 in the form of a letter of credit or such undertaking as may be acceptable in form to the City Attorney. b) Said security shall be forfeited to the extent specified by the City Council if the Grantee fails to comply with any applicable construction schedule, or if the Grantee commits a material breach of any of the terms and conditions herein prescribed. As an alternative , the City Council may unilaterally shorten or decrease the term of this franchise if it shall find that the Grantee has materially breached any of the terms of this franchise agreement . c) The Grantee shall be entitled to notice and hearing before the City Council prior to any forfeiture or decrease in the term of this franchise . w d) No forfeiture shall be imposed for failures beyond the reasonable control of the Grantee . u e) In the event of forfeiture of part of all the initial security, the Grantee shall within thirty days thereafter post additional security so that the total amount of security posted equals $ S ,000 . 30 . Grantee shall file requests for all necessary operating authori- zation with the City of Ithaca, Commission on Cable Television, and �- the Federal Communications Commission within 60 days from the date this amendment is granted. 31 . Public Access a) American Television and Communications Corporation. shall provide one full separate single channel. for public access programming on a demand basis , and otherwise comp), with the pertinent. New York State Commission on Cable Television, 7ules and regulations . •- b) This single channel shall be designated as Channel 13 in the basic service group . C) Access to the separate channel shall be provided on a f_irst- come , first-served basis within the f.ol.l.owi.ng priorities : 1) Local live programming access Z) Public access 3) Education access 4) Government access d) Users of the Public Access channel shall reserve their time at least one and no more than four seeks in advance of their desired broadcast time ; this provision may be waived in a particular case by American Television and Communications Corporation in its sole discretion. -- e) Studio time shall be provided at a cost not to exceed the actual cost of operating the studio . f) The administration of public access broadcasting shall remain with the American Television and Communications Corporation. g) The City Viable Commission shall act as the Common Council agent in resolving disputes between the American Television and Communications Corporation and public access users in the City of Ithaca. h) Video tapes to be shown on the public access channel shall be delivered to the studio at least two working days in advance of - ... airing . i) Public access studios shall he maintained at the company' s headquarters on Nest State Street and will include television cameras , recording and playback equipment , switching equipment and an editing capability. In addition ATC shall. make available two separate porta-pak facilities for use by access users . Instruction on the use of the equipment shall be provided by the company. j) The Tompkins County Public Library shall. be wired for public access transmission. k) In addition to any requirements imposed above regarding public access , ATC shall respond positively to reasonable demands of the community for public access , facilities , equipment and cable drops . �- 1) All access broadcasts shall conform to all applicable Federal Communications Commission and State Cable regulations . .,� m) American Community Cablevision will maintain a record of the use of the designated television channel (s) ; such record to he available locally for public inspection and retained for a. minimum period of two years . n) American Community Cablevision will prohibit the public access channel from being used for the promotion or sale of commercial products or services , including adv�,'tisin' by or on behalf of c.andi.-- dates for public office unless speci:: ically permitted by the public access rules of the New York State Commission on Cable Television. o) The franchises shall provide notice to each subscriber, at: intervals of not more than one year , as to the availability of the television channel and production equipment and the address and telephone number of the person responsible for the operation of the access channel (s) . p) Except as superseded by the terms and provisions of this franchise agreement , the Public Access rules of the New York State Commission on Cable Television are adopted by reference. 32 . By execution hereof the parties hereof modify and amend the prior franchise heretofore given by the City to the Grantee . 33 . The Grantee shall also be required to submit its annual finan- cial statements , Uniform Cable Commission financial reports , and State and Federal income tax returns and any other reasonable financial information requested, to the Common Council annually as soon thereafter as they may be available. The City may request advice and analysis with regard to said financial documents , etc. , — from - the State Cable Commission and outside accountants if it deems necessary. Any request by Grantee for any change in the rates and changes set forth herein shall be subject to the following procedure : a) Grantee shall commence the procedure by filing with the Common Council a formal written petition for the changes requested. This petition shall be accompanied by supporting information as follows : (1) all independently audited financial statements, uniform Cable Commission financial reports and State and Federal income tax returns of the Grantee for both current and each of the years preceding; the request and dating back to the year of the: previous change in rates ; (ii) A statement of the capital assets , operations , revenues and services devoted and pertinent to all cable tele- vision operations within the City of. Ithaca alone , and (iii) such additional information as the Grantee may deem relevant in support of its request. b) Upon receipt of such petition the Common Council or its designee shall with reasonable promptness review the same and may request in writing of Grantee such �iddi.tional information, explana- tion or clarification as may be reasonably necessary for determina- tion of the petition. Once such additional information is furnished, the petition shall be deemed complete . c) The Common Council shall schedule a public hearing and act upon a complete petition within 90 days of the date when the petition is deemed complete . This 90•-day period may be extended upon written agreement of both parties . The Common. Council may consider but in no way is bound by: the advise and analyses of the New York State Commission on Cable Television and any independent accounting firm of its choice ; the status of: rages and charges for comparable service in other cable television systems in similar communities in the State of New York ; the overall performance of the Grantee' s entire city operation including all cable services which are other than basic service ; and any other useful method of rate analysis for public services . 34 . The value of this franchise at the end of the term shall be -- zero. 35 . In the event the Grantor annexes additional land areas in the future , then all of the conditions of this franchise shall apply to the annexed area. In the event that the new land area so annexed is not wired by the Grantee for the services set forth herein, then a construction schedule shall be negotiated between the Grantor and the Grantee within one year , or the City may, at its option, impose any of the penalty provisions contained herein as if the Grantee had materially breached any term or provision of this franchise agreement . In any event the Grantee shall extend its facilities to any area containing a minimum of 35 homes per lineal mile . 36 . . The franchise will supply a statement of the capital assets devoted to the cable operation in the City of Ithaca. The pro- visions of this paragraph shall be invoked only in the event of a rate change request by the franchisee. 37 . ATC agrees to supply a written statement to each new customer prior to commencing installation for service to such new customer and to all existing customers prior to the effective date of any rate change and at least once per year. This statement shall contain the following : (1) Statement of rates pertaining to the customer , including hook-up and all other charges that might be made; (2) concise statement of procedures for notifying ATC of difficulties with service , the ATC "trouble" phone number , hours of availability �. of service , customer rights to service , and complaint procedures , both within ATC and those available through the City of Ithaca . -12- . . ` 38. Bills will always be paid to the local office or other desig- nated locations in Ithaca and billing and other records of local subscribers will be maintained at that office . The system staff �- will include people whose primary function is to respond to billing and service problems . The resident Ithaca general manager will have complete authority to resolve all complaints concerning billing and �. service. 39 . Not later than ninety (90) dj),s after the close of the Grantee' s fiscal year , ATC shall make a written and oral report- to the City Cable Television Commission. This report is to be presented in an open public meeting and shall consist of a statement of the financial status of the Ithaca area cable television system, a. review of line extension work completed , a summary of: complaints lodged against ATC, and such other information as may reasonably be required by the City. v , 1 i .. .. .. WAW am um um ow IN WITNESS WHEREOF , we have hereunto set our hands and seals the day and year first above written. CITY OF ITHACA .. S/by: Edward J. Conley Mayor AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION S/by: Joseph J . Collins _ Vice President CONTRACT AS MODIFIED: DATED: March 27 . 1984 CITY OF ITHACA S/by : _ Acting Mayor AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION •. S/by: k Vice resident Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION iWashington, D. C. 20554 In re Petition of ) CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK ) ) For relief under Section 76 .33(a) (2) ) CSR No. of the Commission's rules pertaining to ) conditions under which the rates for ) basic cable service may be regulated ) AFFIDAVIT OF H. MATTHYS VAN CORT .. i COUNTY OF TOMPKINS ) ss : STATE OF NEW YORK ) H. MATTHYS VAN CORT, being duly sworn, upon oath i hereby affirms and attests as follows: 1 . My name is H. Matthys Van Cort. I reside at 102 Irving Place, Ithaca, New York. I am Director of the i Department of Planning and Development for the City of Ithaca, New York, and have held that position for 12 years. I was hired by the City of Ithaca in 1973 as Director of Planning. My position was expanded in 1975 to include the development function. I received an MS (Planning) degree from Pratt Institute in 1971. I have been a resident of this community for 14 years. 2 . As Director of Planning and Development, I i regularly review data concerning development of housing and industrial areas in the City of Ithaca. I am therefore familiar with the land use, population distribution and j geographic characteristics within the City of Ithaca. Common Council designated me to handle cable television matters for the City in September 1985. 3 . Ithaca is located at the southern end of Cayuga Lake. The area surrounding Ithaca has extremely hilly terrain, and there are several high waterfalls in and nearby the city. Ithaca itself lies at the southern end of j Cayuga Lake with most residents in the center of the city located only a few feet above lake level. The lake is ; typical of other deep (maximum depth roughly 4501 ) , glacially carved, V-form lakes in Central New York State. It is long and narrow (roughly 40 miles long by 1 to 1 1/2 miles wide, running north/south) with very high steep sides, rising from several hundred to over 1,000 feet above j water level. The City of Ithaca was built in the delta at the foot of the lake and on the hills which rise up from it. The elevation in the center of the city is about 390 ; I i -2- feet; the hills to the west, east and south rise to 1450, 1500, and 1400 feet elevation respectively. 4. I own a television set, and I am unable to receive television signals without the aid of cable television. I know that poor reception in the city is a matter of common knowledge. 5 . Because signal reception is so poor, the City believes rate regulation is essential to protection of consumers in Ithaca. Therefore the City of Ithaca decided to file a petition asking the FCC to permit Ithaca to reassert its authority to regulate rates. The City of Ithaca began investigating the steps it would need to take to reassert its authority over rates in mid 1986. The city had numerous discussions with its consultants, Rice •- Associates, to discuss the requirements established by the Commission's regulations affecting local authority over i basic service rates. Based on those discussions, the city hired Rice Associates in March 1987 to investigate the feasibility of filing a petition for relief at the FCC and to have a signal survey conducted in accordance with applicable FCC regulations. The signal survey was conducted by Silliman and Silliman, Consulting Engineers, and was completed in June, 1987 . 6. I am familiar with an affidavit from Don Williams of Rice Associates. I provided 1980 Census Data to Mr. Williams. As I understand it, based on the information supplied by my office, Mr. Williams has ftw calculated the percentage of the population which can receive television signals by comparing the population in census tracts by block, with the grid blocks shown on Figure 2-A of the engineering report prepared by Silliman I and Silliman. 7 . After reviewing the Census Data and the relevant maps, I have concluded that the data relied upon by Mr. Williams accurately portrays existing city limits and reasonably reflects the current population dispersion within Ithaca. i 8. I am familiar with the Silliman and Silliman .. engineering report which indicates that the only test points within the city which received three television signals are test points 1, 2, and 7 . There are no residential areas anywhere near test point 2, which is located in a parking lot near the edge of Cayuga Lake in the city's Cass Park. The closest house is approximately 3,000' away, and the closest non-residential development is the Robert H. Treman State Marine Park comfort station approximately 1,000' away from the test point. The city's Cass Park and the adjoining State Marine Park are not wired I iti - -3- j r II for cable. Both points 1 and 7 are located on the steep hills on the far western border of the city. 9 . Mr. Williams was required to use block level data. Based on my knowledge of demographics, Mr. Williams ' affidavit, and the Silliman and Silliman engineering report, it is my professional opinion that this methodology, while correct and appropriate, would tend to overstate the number of residents who can possibly receive three unduplicated over-the-air signals. This is true since the aggregations used in Mr. Williams' methodology required that houses be included in the area counted as served, which were in fact closer to test points not served -- by three unduplicated signals . , FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT i H. Matthys an Cort Subscribed and sworn before me this 11th day of September 1987 . My Com- mission expires on March 31, 1989 . i i Marie F. Corina i i Notary i MANE F CORM^ .. NOMY t iia Of Now Vj* QwNfiee in s i r I I r AFFIDAVIT OF DONALD COLEY WILLIAMS SS: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DONALD COLEY WILLIAMS, Ph.D. , being duly sworn, upon oath hereby affirms and attests as follows: _. 1. My name is Donald Coley Williams. I reside at 8409 Cunningham Drive, Berwyn Heights, Maryland, 20740. I am Research Director for Rice Associates, a Washington, D.C. based firm which provides assistance to local franchising authorities in all aspects of the cable communications franchising process. Rice .. Associates has been retained by Ithaca to serve as consultant in connection with the filing of a petition for relief from the provisions of 47 C.F.R. § 76. 33 . 2 . I have been with the firm of Rice Associates for four years, and during that time have conducted research for a number of Rice Associates studies, including market studies for Charlotte, North Carolina; Wilmington, Delaware; Santa Monica, `- California; Burlington, Vermont; Altoona, Pennsylvania; and Wellesley, Massachusetts (among others) . As part of this work, I devised and analyzed survey instruments designed to determine cable-related needs and interests for each community. Prior to Joining Rice Associates I was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. I have a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at r.. 2 - Amherst and a Master of Arts degree, with honors, from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. 3 . I am familiar with the engineering report prepared on behalf of the City of Ithaca by Silliman and Silliman, Consulting Engineers. Working from Figure 2-A in that report, I attempted to determine the percentage of the population within the City which can possibly receive three (3) unduplicated Grade B television signals. I plotted the test points from the Silliman and Silliman report, Figure 2-A, on a map based on 1980 U.S. Census Bureau information and prepared by the New York State Department of Transportation. (This map is the 1980 Census Map Urban Area Enlargement, 1:9600 planimetric series, FIPS State/County Codes 36/109 36109-1980, Census District Office #2116, 1980 Census Map Inventory Number 9856-3 Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York. ) 4 . I then identified the census blocks within which residents could possibly receive three (3) unduplicated broadcast signals. I did this by defining the boundaries of the widest area within which three (3) unduplicated signals might possibly be received, working from the results of the Silliman and Silliman Report. The northern and western boundaries of the area are the City of Ithaca city limits nearest test points 1, 2 and 7 , all of which receive three signals. The eastern boundary is Highway 89. There are no test points in populated areas to the east of Highway 89 which receive three (3) unduplicated signals. The southern boundary is Cliff Park Brook, which runs close to low - 3 - and between test points 13 and 14 , neither of which receive three signals. The Cliff Park Brook was chosen since it is the best available boundary defining the southernmost portion of the area in which three (3) signals can possibly be received. No roads go across east to west in .this area, due to the low density of the population and the steep slope of the land. A copy of the relevant portions of the census map I relied upon, marked to show the test points and boundaries indicated above, is attached as Figure 3 . �. 5. Using this map and the 1980 Census data attached as Figure 2, I identified the respective population of each block within the above boundaries. The blocks and the population of each block within the boundaries are listed and totaled in Figure 1. The total population within the boundaries is 955. This is approximately three percent (3 . 32%) of the total population in the City of Ithaca. 6. This count may overstate the number of people who can possibly receive three (3) unduplicated signals. As can be seen on Figure 3 , this count includes people living on the hill below test points one and seven, including, e.g. , those living in a substantial portion of Block 311. In addition, I included Block 318 in which 21 people reside and which is closer to test point 14 (see Silliman and Silliman Figure 2-A) , which receives only one measured Grade B signal. Another possible overstatement of 4 — This block is not only close to test point 14 but is divided by the Cliff Park Brook so that a substantial portion of the block .. is south of the Cliff Park Brook boundary. Finally, a heavily populated portion of Block 323 is south of the Cliff Park Brook boundary and close to test point 13, which did not receive three (3) unduplicated Grade B signals. FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT. Don Williams, Ph.D. Subscribed and sworn before me this day of September, 1987 . My Commission expires _. on Not ry ublic FIGURE 1 POPULATION COUNT CHART CENSUS DATA Total Blocks P1-Population 306 14 305 6 304 9 303 14 310 42 309 41 308 49 307 24 •• 141 Nonresidential 142 Nonresidential 302 0 313 24 316 0 315 18 314 74 312 24 311 86 301 0 ._ 143 Nonresidential 319 14 318 21 _ 323 370 3'24 113 325 0 326 12 TOTAL POPULATION IN `1'HE: AREA 955 POSSIBLY RECEIVING THREE (3) UNDUPLICATED TELEVISION SIGNALS ITHACA CITY TOTAL POPULATION 28, 732 1980 CENSUS PERCENT OF POPULATION POSSIBLY 3.32% RECEIVING THREE (3) UNDUPLICATED TELEVISION SIGNALS Source: 1980 Census Population, Prepared by the Center for Social Analysis - SUNY Binghamton, 1982 Iv.0 l[w)U) V /Ur UI.I IUP% •nU I.UU)IwU GI UL. U.� • •)•( nV wU.l. I.L. l.. Il.( ! . F:EoaRf0 t!r THE CENTER cSnR EESOC AllAIALTSIS - SUNT SINGPANTON c0A rH( SOUTHERN TIER E990�ullMAOat�ANMING OfvElO►NENT 109990 Figure 2 n.. ------------------------------—-----__ CnUNTT.t09 AREAMANEWMACA CiTT -- M---------- ---__-- tJ(. 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' $' i/ / «s._: �•'� `- .,€ e 4•„,'} ,„ tr,.,�.�« � [,x 06A P a J / 0 ' a •" �� .ii• •M �iYY• ,• , [MI-'ll .. •x 1••� ,.1• 'x Point 1379 .xy n 9913,w ,x Urban Area Enlargement PART N i fl r �. L,, IIx,rA I 9 j �; x.�� IoR•...•... _ 1:9600 Planimetric Series p- `” 968 1980 CENSUS MAP SEE SEPARATELEGEND FOR [p � CENSUS RouNOARr SYMBOLS. +f• `s'�4' ...AAAI «, «„ 8 .t REVISIONS TYPE STYLES. 13A _ �" t ' _TI T1EE a.TE TTfE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS fl. loo 2116 i . of 1,85ft-3'.... ITHACA Figure 3 TOMPKINS COUNTY • d. NEW YORK .- ACC AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEYISION w :. January 26, 1987 RECEIVFp Ari 2 8 1,937 PLANNING & Mr . Daniel Hoffman Chair , Budget and Administration Committee City of Ithaca 108 E. Green St . Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 Dear Dan: On a recent Cable 13 program ( "More Than The News" ) David Lytel mentioned that a proposal was being prepared for your committee that would allocate additional funds for Rice Associates, the City ' s cable television consultant , . to evaluate the number of broadcast television signals available directly off--air within the City of Ithaca . The reason given by David for conducting this evaluation was to determine whether or not Ithaca has been properly classified as a _ competitive market under current Federal Communication Commission rules . This classification is important because the Cable Act of 1984 states--that municipalities may not regulate cable television rates in a competitive market . It is my hope that this letter will. helri- the Cit) and ACC move more quickly toward a new franchise by eliminating an unnecessary step, as well as save the City a small sum of money. Ithaca is clearly a competitive television market . A market place is considered competitive if it passes one or both of two FCC requirements . The first test is signicant viewership of a channel . If a channel appears on the FCC' s list of significantly-viewed channels for a county, it is presumed to be available off--air for the entire county . If three significantly-- viewed and non-duplicated channels are available in a county, then all cable franchises operated by the same :company within that county are deemed to operate in a competitve marketplace . The significantly-viewed channels oil the FCC list for Tompkins County are Syracuse channels WSTM-3 (NBC) , WTVH--5 (CBS) , and WIXT-9 (ABC) , plus Binghamton channel WBNG--12 (CBS) . Three significantly-viewed acid non-duplicated channels are available in Tompkins County, therefore, placing us in a competitve market . ' - ' ' • ^� rpl 111�.u:�, IJr`vr Yn,k t 1N•.11 .. .. w i The second FCC test relates to the signal strength predicted for the grade B contour that individual broadcast stations file with FCC. If any point of a cable franchise falls within the grade B �- contour of three non-duplicated broadcast stations, then that franchise is considered a competitive marketplace . The City of Ithaca falls within the grade B contour of 9 broadcast stations . I ' ve included maps showing the grade B contour for 6 area stations ( these were the only maps readily available as I wrote this letter ) . The grade B contour is indicated by the second line surrounding the point of origination on the map. The City of Ithaca is a competitive marketplace under this test . The city is well within its rights to ask for a waiver declaring Ithaca a non-competitive marketplace, but that waiver can be granted only if broadcast signals cannot be received off-air within the City of Ithaca . According to tests conducted by our staff on January 22, 1987 , a total of nine broadcast signals , including three signals from each of the major networks, are available off-air in Ithaca . A summary of our test results are enclosed . These tests were conducted using antenna equipment costing $113 . 20 and purchased that morning at Radio Shack, indicating ■- that equipment for reasonable off-air reception is readily available on the consumer market . It is a common misconception that the only way to receive broadcast television signals in Ithaca is by subscribing to cable . Reasonable quality broadcast signals are received throughout the city and any consumer who purchases proper antennas ranging in price up to $500 --- as millions of consumers have done throughout the country can further enhance these signals . Because cable television has been available in Ithaca at very reasonable cost since 1952 , most residents of this area have not purchased antennas and have chosen instead to enjoy the consistent quality and convenience of cable service . You should also be aware that these FCC rules are currently being tested in court . Arguments were heard last week in a Federal _ Court that could eliminate these rules and leave us without definition of a competitive marketplace . A decision is expected in 4-6 weeks . I will keep you informed of the outcome of this case . Again, my purpose in sending this letter is to expedite the refranchising process . I will be out of town from January 26 to February 3 , but my staff can reach me should you have any questions about this . Sincerely, ®r eorgia Grif ith General Manager _ DICTATED BUT NOT READ enc. cc: Mayor John Gutenberger Common Council Cable Commission Matthys Van Cort _ BROADCAST SIGNAL STRENGTH TESTS City of Ithaca Conducted January 22, 1987 These tests were conducted at several points located within the City of Ithaca . The entire range of potential broadcast signals were scanned . Weather conditions on the day of test were very poor, with a blizzard affecting the area . An important point to consider when reviewing the signal levels below is that signal strength is not alone indicative of good quality broadcast television reception. Broadcast pictures are affected by a range of factors, including terrain, electrical fields , buildings, weather and other types of broadcast transmissions . Many of these factors can vary from day to day, and even hour to hour . Many of these factors can be compensated for by purchasing proper receiving equipment that is readily available on the consumer market . One advantage of cable television service is that we process the broadcast signals before transmitting them to the customers, offering convenience and a consistent signal as part of our service. The equipment used was all purchased at Radio Shack and is all readily available to the consumer . Equipment used included a V- 110 VHF antenna (cost : $32 .95 ) , a U-120 UHF antenna ( $34 . 95 ) , a 25 db pre-amplifier ( $34 . 95 ) , and an FM signal trap ( $2 . 95 ) . The latter two items are commonly used in home antenna systems to moderate picture quality and to eliminate FM radio interference . The test results : Test Point Channel Signal Received Level Taylor P1 . & WBNG-12 Bing . +16 db Cliff Park Rd . WTVH-5 Syr . +12 db WIXT-9 Syr . +8 db WSTM-3 Syr . +15 db Hudson P1 . & WBNG-12 Bing . +11 db Coddington Road WTVE1-5 Syr . +11 db WIXT-9 Syr . +13 db WSTM-3 Syr . +17 db Willow Ave . & WBNG-12 Bing . +16 db W. Lincoln St . WSTM-3 Syr . +8 db WICZ-40 Bing . +5 db New York—Elmira „„roQ .i�l. rl I i K E O N T A R swego a.. WENY—TV anon e ! 1 ala nAlhion0ad Q��rs� N Rome 9 ° u s0 ••"` ea dwinS.Nle° y'a re Ch. 36 Mroma 1� Fall ,R.t„!o 1 rlrpt Newark `sps °° �One'do11 Nediml Network Service:ABC. ryMM` ° a ��\�°,5 ► ° S f0(USe c Ru}}ul0 enl°vin ,,,,„,. I„o(' Auburn Y am.,,,, Licensee:WENY Inc.,Box 208,Elmira,NY 14902. (J eo Slow dailiv '”siM tvO w,Nw •\ZZ Studio:596 Old Ithaca Rd.,Horseheads,NY 14845. o E.Auror>t lr L s o Cortland mxODi Telephone:607-739-3636. ri w*-4 Dsnsolle Po o..raa,s coal- o Anton �Ltr. sr to I �C ,Nb Norwich 9 �... Technical Facilities: Channel No. 36 (602•G08 Mi Iz). Authorized ., ucus ath scw+ira O �,N1GO put power: 464-kw max. & 427-kw horizontal visual, 92.7-kw max. $ o Sidney torn II Nonrn.da tro has 85.4-kw horizontal aural. Antenna: 1050-It. above a1/. terrain, 840- Salamanca weusdne lh..+Nlto ly -arv,.lc ft.above round,2546-ft.above sea level. o o E1 It" o 9 0 ran r^^90 t r�,num"+s t ° 0 Bin bomlon m 1 - - t' .1:00• 9 'la-t Latitude 42' 06' 20•' —;—I �.. ro„r. ,.w °Say' Vic'°Jr Longitude 761 52' 17” 0,odford GRACE A 004000.0 Transmitter:Hawley Hill,approx.3-mi.WNW of Elmira. "•Kane c°"ew,o° 0w. -00011° w °rdde b N t AM Affiliate:WENY, 1-kw, 1230 kHz. r°" Sr GRACE 8 ���"" Scranton s� Marys c..n-o ItCOY,MO �p nm a n.r ` FM Affiliate:WLEZ,750 walls,92.7 MHz(NO.224),560-fI, o o a.10. ort News Service:AP. p'"°y Williomsport�t\,sm$`/Wi es-8 Is t aA N)nsry Shat 0%.*, �—A - Nanr,coke° „0 0001 ; I Ownership: Donald M. Simmons & Howard L. Green, 50% each. o Cleotfield cc.,- atr"Onwick `car` ShtwdsbwE. i�' ° hdtlan They also own WOND(AM), Pleasantville, NJ & WMGM(FM), ° o f�TVTAllantic City,NJ&25%each of WMGM-TV,Wlldwood,NJ. lY S 1nN 'r,r.umn ,tall! 8ellrfonts • \t a-awn CawG Begun Operation:Nov, 19, 1969. t e rn / O h owl °t e\ ' a 'rr"nr II 'D $w,b ry ^ 10ma.0 (a-ton f�„y .)-._ , war. S m ra•.lon Represented(legal):Cordon 8 Jacob. /G.""" cal „N - ” "sc"Pto�Ky.ille ln,vN,j n- r nt,,...:a,n..,n SCALE OF MILESws AllenlowBet lehrn Pesronec'ed(engineering):Lohnes 8 Culver 0 50 10019 L(Q�eb°nO�� POlotau o""aklteri I IObYAI iU I_GI if CN,exrcubvc vice prr.sidcnt wrNT-ry nMPr:t'•mss e,.no-d Auaunv h)A--i'an M-r,r:, N.,leztt PA I I LICK M I'Af IISI I,ycncral nnnagcr. ... LEWIS G.HOBLYER.stalion manager. ELLEN PAINTEn,production director. Ncl Weekly slate Total TY Ilouaehold0 COtJnAD SCHLVf N7Fn,dfief mulinaer Chc°Imlon eo°nfy households Ifouaeholds x Highest 30 Sec.Rate(Uel.. 1. 14103) $175. Between 25-49% liopa 17,800 17.500 98 `- NETWORK BASE HOURLY RATE:S 175. Tompkins 31,800 30,300 95 PENNSYLVANIA Tn,nt n..n..hn1,1. ,a tui C......-r, hta,km nes a. n( 1/1/11+ IV n..,nrr t1/^, —d Bradford 22.700 22.200 98 Cacul.tu,n k5) 19114 Arhiv°n C.,unty rnvet"Itr hawd nn A,Nl,nn .tualy. _ _ — .� NEW YORK Net weekly Stoke Total TV Households Between 5-24% Allegany 17,600 17,100 97 Cl,culailon County Households Households x Broome 78,800 77,600 98 Yates 8,400 8,200 98 �. NEW YORK PENNSYLVANIA 50% d, Over Chr•nuutg 35,100 34,300 98 Slenhen 36.500 35,600 98 Cameron 2.600 2.600 100 Potter 6,300 6,100 97 PENNSYLVANIA a- _ Tioga 14,100 13,600 96 Stalion Totals ` 278,000 271,200 97 Net Weekly Circulation (1984) 96,600 NEW YORK Average Daily Circulation (1984) 45,500 Between 25-49% Schuyler 6,300 6,100 97 (A4 1'V tC Cr1l)!c P'nvt )uuk No. New York-Syracuse 'r(59 o \ ta�" So'°n°a 0c,0W" wC°el k& o ._' WIXT Kingston .� erns ' wy► .o• I ©Wra I ,,...a i Network Service:ABC. Ch. 9 olettow" nton Gle' Ucensee:WIXT-TV Inc..Box 9,Syracuse,NY 13214. Go Studio:Box 9,Shoppingtown,Syracuse,NY 13214. p4� ,,,eo• r Telephone:315-446-4780.TWX:710-541-0565. N T A R sw`9° GRADE A lore+sryle Technical Facilities: Channel No. 9 (186-192 Ml iz). Authorized oFupon N seaOme® ,k;m t G ®ono too power: 79.6-kw visual, 11.8-kw aural. Antenna: Directional, 1520- f�� d�i�°'sw. a Ba ,,,esv111eo o' pne d oA letdo 1�i� ft. above ay. terrain, 964-ft. above round, 2549-f1. above Seao°� wark 4'��t °O�^/`�Ql1 N'on ..oma ^1 level. g 100 { .1 po+t �Ne ltSo at '111)(08 .2�o °o„..wo �r'p05 oAob°tom 0.,1 � ` QlF Latitude 42' 56' 42" +n t shah o 0I+en ° GRADE a Xj 1 t Longitude 76' 01' 28" 1Ov° da;tue "�. .vu Co and ° ®"1 0 Transmitter.Atop Mt.Sevier,Pompey,Onondaga County. 4 ,.,rs News Services:AP,UPI,ABC. va oansoate a+ Pe n11Ot0 c,,M ynp Sldncl .. Satellite Earth Station:Prodelin•5-meter;Microdyne receivers. v^v %alh °" C'%j ion p Y y. p 1lorne%I w,;�,011',lcnl D Doe° ,.,n,0,B1n9M't" i^"' Ownership:Ackerley CnnununlealionS Inc.ns. Rarr A. Ackerley. res., t , �E „°,, sl ,� % o gN 98.2%; Lewis B. Blaken Jr., Sec lreas.; First (;hien o Invest wrntivina Co+n'n�' a a+w° :3''t' nyC tr 1'h"1yOp.n1"o Y Y 9 0 ,r,•'` a' u +c .....► o.wa \° tt ment Corp., 1.8%. Ackerley also owns KKTV, Colorado Springs, con Say w-uoM�ter l o CO&KGET(TV),Bakersfield,CA. L l oa aa.aoaO b°°a jAiddletow o Began Operation:Sept. 9, 1962_ as joint operation by len applicants d b++1 owrn+hw° To^ondo v.w"iO ��Nonesdate`,,a `�Q • for the channel Assiynnlenl of CP or, by FC(: In a nuttyrr nl Co°I..,.r^'' •..��.n kronl0.inn"` five applicants, May 24, 1968, 1taoslrr of coolrrll frnln other SCALE OF MILES applicants to Outlet Co. approved by FCC July 19, 197"' (i es Borertt'Qlon/` .� (Television Digest,Vol. 11:20; 12:30). Sale 10 Coca Cola Bonlmo 5.0 100�;�okeon�t Sb 1 '0-1eetm suo'Id o 14 Co., Larry H. Israel, et al., approved by FCC Nov. 15. 1977 (Vol, wlxr nA1111;I 6915 Cun+rd IWAIM �,n,,x,n Map fly rp.,I,zw' 17:24, 36; 18:2). Sale to present owners approved April 16, 1982 (VOL 22:7). Net we!kly Slate Total TV Households Represented(sales):Katz Television. Clrcul,tlon County Households Households % Represented(legal):Rubin,Winston&Diercks 50% & Over Oswego 39,600 39,000 98 Represented(engineering):Jules Cohen Associates. Seneca 11,700 11.600 99 P ( 9 9$ Tompkins 31,800 30,300 95 ... Personnel: Yates 8,400 8,200 98 STEPHEN KRONOUEST,general manager. DAVID KRAUSE,national sales manager. NEW YORK CHARLES F.MULVEY,chief engineer. Between 25-49% Delaware 16.800 16,200 96 PFIlNAnD J.AIELLO.operations manager. Franklin 15,700 15,300 97 ANDY RRIGI IAM,news director. Jefferson 31.600 31.100 98 Highest 30 Sec.Rate(July 1!x83):$770 Lewis 8,600 8,400 98 Oneida East 58,100 57,200 98 NETWORK BASE HOURLY RATE:$925 Ontario 32,200 31,700 98 `- Station also received In Canadian markets. Otsego 21,200 20.600 97 BEIM Weekly Reach(Spring 1984): 70,000 St Lawrence 37,100 36,400 98 Schuyler 6.300 6,100 97 Wayne 30,500 30,000 98 Total Illwvhnldc Oo Kist Cnnm.nrr 161who Pm. a,or til/s4 iv 11--1 lY, amt �.. Circulation 0c Iva+ nrhlunn Ccnlnly envrraxr M.eJ on nrl+;unn .1ndy NEW YORK fletwern 5-24% Ilroonw. 78.800 77,600 98 N.1 W..k1v Stn+. 1.1.1 lv I:ho+urrnp 35.100 34,300 98 Circulation County Itousel+olda llot~holds ILl110111,11 1,9110 1,11011 95 NEW YORK Ilerkilner 24,000 23,600 98 Sleuben 36,500 35.600 98 50% & Over Cayllpa 28.000 27.400 98 Bora 17,800 17,500 98 Chenango 17,800 17,400 98 Cortland 17.100 16,800 98 Station Totals 830,200 814,500 98 Madison 21,700 21.300 98 Net Weekly Circulation (1984) 429,000 Oneida West 30,900 30.400 98 Average Daily Circulation (1984) 238,800 Onondaga 171,000 168.700 99 k. ._ G64 7•V a-s Cable Faclbook No. 53 New, York-Syracuse Kingtlonot;ov.«n.vr Belleville a x"tnsow Tupper tak o WSTM-TV cobuu s r°n own Kim. Ch. 3 III. ha.0 (Also operates satellite WETM-TV, Elmira, NY) 0 N .r A ) ) O* os.wro GRADE 8 Network Service:Nil(;. rrrtli Licensee:WSTM-TV Inc., 103U.larltes SI.,Syracuse. ��Vns` e1r s,lellrun GRADE A Albion r- i-�' 1e n Studio: 1030 James St.,Syracuse,NY 13203. n;1 0� O,9 `s-.11 lowin:vdlep ro seR rwto. tt 7.0..x o appal New k �s o ns do Glovers Telephone:315-474-5000.TWX:710-541-0428. c o f+` Her m r ....,,It.o o m r tet, SSoharO• Ike 00 o Qinnn Technical Facilities: Channel No. 3 (60-66 MHz). Authorized clovtov � n nO ,' `;` ©AubuntdSyrocuse Ilion, Amsie�ot>i un.1 Uwr ar/ power: 100-kw visual, 20-k aural Antenna 1000-ft. above ay. sto.r ea, w 0' evd terrain, 594-ft.above ground, 203741 above sea level L ttso u.,u Y o, j 1 Dmsvlue Cort d Al Latitude 42- 56- 40" � 0 srtust. Penn an 0 0-. eont sc,.o.ua Longitude 7v 07' 08" -to-, Bath sc."nu -®Ithaca `""D Norwich Oauw.at Transmitter:Sentinel Heights. o 0 411sville Hornell ttaseh. toes Johns Sidney C. I News Services:AP,UPI. 6 .It".h.ts o *o o.eea city o.0 t Cornrng0 ,� p -Iu„as c.r.�.ltcm' w. inghondon tint. Ownership: Times Mirror Co. For other interests. see Group �- _ _ .12_tts , mita Ileo o �C K;ngttc Ownership of TV Stations. Sayre err � stat.v.. o saaoroao xrspx,uw.. r l�b"tro °ughket Began Operation: Feb. 15, 1950 Sale to present owner by o,r.-„Par ow•n,bao o " "` tn.mttto Newtiouse Bcslg. Corp. approved by FCC March 21, 1980 ro..ondo bpOdOt Mid Mont.ceno (Television Digest,Vol. 18.50, 19.19). °"'"0 0 ° o drero`n tvco...e suss«.,, krontonttonesdale Represented(sales):Harrington,nighler R Parsons Inc. C-0. os pyo:nmo e' e,•t ` rte Willintmport yc+v yy; i•c uy vote le v,s Represented(legal):Wilmer,Cutler&Pickering to lelsey Shote h�, o Nonli SCALE OF MILFS Represented(engineering):by I ohnes 8 Culver. .,.t eno .tck 0 50 100 Personnel: JOI IN J. McCRORY,president. Witµty 11114:r.tit is I:,...tr.l 41 111t.1 (,)A,nai.an%4.1,r..t, 1 LAN EDWAHDS,vice president&general manager. NORM CISSNA,general sales manager. Net Weekly seal. Total Tv Ilotsenad. DON EDWARDS.program director. Circulation County at Houssnold. x MARNIE DLOONT-GOWAN,promotion director. 50% & Over Schuyler 6.300 6,100 97 SIEVE HAMMEL,news director. Seneca 11,700 11,600 99 ROBERT J.PAHKHUHST,chief engineer. Tompkins 31.800 30,300 95 Rates:Not available. Yates' 8,400 8,200 98 Station also received In Canadian markets: NEW YORK BEIM Weekly Reach(Spring 1984):89,000 Between 25.49% Hamilton 1,900 1,800 95 Oneida East 58.100 57,200 98 Ontario 32.200 31,700 98 Wayne 30,500 30.000 98 ictal Households: © MSI Cnnsumcr Market Dau ss or I/1/84 TV Homes, TV% and Grculahon U 1984 Aftswun County c„rcragc bised on Atbitron study. NEW YORK Between 5-24% Broome 78,800 77,600 98 Net Weekly stale Total TV Households Chemung 35,100 34,300 98 Circulation County Households Households % Delaviare 16.800 16,200 96 Ilerki�er 24,000 23,600 98 NEW YORK Monroe 262.800 259,100 99 50% & Over Cayuga 28,000 27,400 98 Otsego 21.200 20,600 97 Chenango 17,800 17,400 98 St Lawrence 37,100 36.400 98 Cortland 17,100 16,800 98 Steutien 36.500 35,600 98 Jefferson 31,600 31,100 98 Tioga 17,800 17,500 98 I 1 owls 8,600 8,400 98 Madison 21,700 21.300 98 Station Totals 1,077,300 1,058,300 98 Oneida West 30,900 30,400 98 Net Weekly Circtlation (1984) 465,100 OnaRlaga 171,000 168,700 99 Average Daily Circulation (1984) 282.500 Oswego 39,600 39.000 98 1 I r 1 i 1985 Edition 665 'New York-Syracuse I� . I ymtes{alts Mo®anotons PerlAo o w.a�s ton sa �-' WTVH °Palk• a},vi11e. oCanle^ aN• tN OOden,�rp Ch. 5 • OoGw• \Wptt ls� ° Network Service:CBS. iton r Licensee:Meredith Corp.,980 James St. 13203. King ,� w IL06011 ,o 1 Studio:980 James SI.,Syracuse,NY 13203. g'lleville ,r "`� Telephone:315-425-5555.TWX:710-541-0443. lfen1O^ w•►+ Technical Facilities: Channel No. 5 (76-82 Mllz) Authorized GRADE s G � power: 100-kw visual, 20-kw aural. Antenna: 950-II. above ay. IF wrw terrain,556-ft.above ground, 1914-ft.above sea level. EZ 1 O ,+ Latitude 42' S7' 19" N 'j GRADE A r1a.10"lovera+' Longitude 76• 06' 34.. Mutton Nrl�a ' e t in G �e'�c� A to 1 ar, e He _ D�t(d Transmitter: 0.32-miles E and 0.34-mites N of Sentinel Ilei�lhls F. �--3 ��% •.��•,ec n, 1«Ins;\\,eo o ^ fic 'ao A1tlitetdr? Jim Bull Ads. p0+'�;°' n X0'1 IPo't(�Newal J��tolval��{p(USa IC . News Services:AP,UPI. 1�'•,", ° �` ` pubutn "j° (1 v ,•i 41 M•,r•;11. r1, t•n0 �'j• n O lJ P A ( O O 1 �. Satellite Earth Station: Antenna Technoloyy, 7-nlcicr; Sinlulsat BdtOvid I"1 *^a � ^_ r u 01 receivers. -� �io.l Aal -. �-Or nd ^ °" Ica e sec N Ownership: Meredith Corp. for other interests. see Group Owner- ° " Nom♦O " ICA ptvw enn Dantv111! UtaaeO "A.0- ship v.t"•" �neT ship of 1 V Stations. '(a 0 S Began Operation:Dec. 1, 1948. otA jpO' lonntionrc to �ar, n Kil Represented(sales):MM r Sales Inc �lornett I. :M °Etr0�T4 S1 0 9 f�B�g t� su,.," l NIP W rllav Vile Co Ieoff • I,b-140 nnp• Represented(legal):Haley,Bader R Potts. 0 rnn ° «��° ` Al ,p,K,.««a w•'"` �e ttoMa` .� Represented(engineering):A.D.Ring&Associates. 1 wrlra 1,04• ...too, SCALE OF MILES Personnel: to,d� owenlb 10 tow D 50 too JOHN H. DeROCHE,vice president R general manager. ,.,TVH tl,r.-lint craniad 7f]IIrGt MIC)IAEL COLLINS.general sales manager. �^� •�Map cvrp..14244 CANDY CAMPBELL,national sales manager. Nei weekly slate Total TV Households CATHY CREANY,program director. Circulation county Households Households % DALE©00TH,operations director. JIM HOLLAND,news director. 50% & Over Schuyler 6,300 6.100 97 EDWARD 0. LEWIS.direclor of engineering. Seneca 11,700 11,600 99 DAVE 0ELIEN,piomoli(m director. Tompkins 31,800 30,300 95 F1013EHr DIE IZ,business inanayer. Yates 8,400 8,200 98 Highest One Hour Rate:$3000. NEW YORK Saaa Highest 30 Sec.Rate:$1500. Between 25-49% ChemunR 35,100 34,300 98 NETWORK BASE t10UnLY RATE:$1G50. Cherla"RO 17,800 17,400 99 1hinilton 1,900 1,800 95 Jefferson 31,600 31,100 96 Tnul 11rn,v1tnld, (l k1S1 Cmnumer hl Rrael n.la as of 1/1/114 1V 11,nne.: Tv^,,, and Lewis 8,600 8,400 98 t.., Circul.linn (7 1904 Arhitn. Cm iy •..crape haled on Arhim," Rudy Ontario 32,200 31,700 98 Wayne 30,500 30,000 98 Net weakly Slnte Total TV Itouaaholda ---- ----- . Circulation County Nouseholds Households At. NEW YORK - NEW YORK Between 5-24% Broome 78,800 77.600 98 50% & Over Cayuga 28.000 27,400 98 1Jnlaware 16,800 16,200 96 Cortland 17,100 16.600 98 Uts^go 21.200 20,600 97 35. 98 Iferkimer 24,000 23,600 98 1ioga n 17,500,800 17,500 lioga 11500 92 Madison 21,700 21.300 98 Oneida East 58,100 57.200 98 Station Totals 777,400 762,800 98 Oneida West 30.900 30.400 98 Net Weekly Circulation (1984) 465,700 Oryondaga 171.000 168,700 99 Average Daily Circulation (1984) 273,700 Oswego 39,600 39,000 98 a. 666 I,V eCc CnWc Fhr(book No. 5. .. s �.■ New York-Binghamton ! �\ T pzwl� r i O ° o•••A' yn"'00Sal. WBNG-TV Qswe9 r •G,o�ets,\Fe eSD1 I T ` 0)u\tun ROme,© m ,own�s 0 N sc He,+imf, _ t i Ch. 12 � retie .c• ",.,neo o"�•pne doUtice u°pmslet� � ch C�"/it,<•+,.+..c tla`dw. \�ti l 11.on Network Service:CBS. toW1s . 1Z � ,•`i 0n o- 1 t. ..�e •da,lw 1�e�re • Au n A�b•��,?Ucensee: Gateway Communications Inc., Suite 612, Executive "..Po °, � rc�Bldg.,Cherry Hill,NJ 08002. C.A"roroO"•e ,rer,•e Studio:Box 1200,Binghamton,NY 13902.1200. a"1� ' •c�;a °t at caukil1c Branch offices:Elmira-111-115 N.Main St. 14901;Oneonta-242 anWIlt pe llhoco o•+e"'`�' S, el Main SIT . 13820, 1- gash .,ori Iy Y,,,o,.r'100 Kine+lOn Telephone:607-723-731 1.TWX:510.252-1991. 11o�ne,° ,,N". m1t°sib°lea ° 1i m� 9 P o N ••^ c � ,,�,p9. 9 ou hkee f Technical Facilities: Channel No. 12 (204.210 MHz). Aulhorized 1e ,+ u w,l'^' . .`r rbc r.ec 10 'leo Cornu I" .Mce1 �ecyJ1. ' colt r E\sena\ ert power. 166-kw visual, 18-kw aural. Antenna: 1205-h. above av OS It w,Q,vt a •• Lot °Mo"1cY- terrain,785-f1.above ground,2546-M.above sea level. oeo on Middletown ice or,GRADE R a", ° (,°t 0 , r.l e• Latitude 42' 03' 33"TNathb " To+•- °1N0"e r,ie-5ZZI t fen's Longitude 75' 57' 06" ° 0pton o„ t Ptt let O° /,usu• 1 Transmitter.Ingraham Hill Rd. Y"` su"" ,` .ee• a ton y�l co " News Services:UPI,CBS,CNN. ot1 sv+�-� o® Ne° pelecsa \f(i1�, M"?nod NonticokeuaeM,k a ,puttew.r- rp•.,s/ Satellite Earth Station:Channel Master. 1ci+ey S1io�1e �O�r«icko fr"o S �,�•" ace -�/ C 4 lock Haven 9e u*', Ownership: Bergen Evening Record Corp. Officers George A �+ Koehler, p,Ls,; H. Lewis Klein, exec. v.p.; Charles A. Ajullilan, A v,r•�oe °t I'Saa° Ea+\on �„elr°^�j� v.p.-fleas.;1let bert E. Nelson,secy.Gateway also owns W 1 A.I 1 V, ° / nb Y °olein .,,e ,cMb"p SO hem p"c.�+ Alloona; WLYII-IV, I.ancasler-Lebanon, PA 8 WOWK IV, Hunt- ,� tle' > � . P°�+.r p1lentow"o tut ,1a� (7!+ !Su. _m /...... �� "esti+`"/ 1n""auo0ojke p1Z inglon•Charleston.WV. on ase.+ Mn to 'a SCALE OF MMES on 1,to jlen ,Qe J(s Began Operation:Dec. 1, 1949, Sale In present owners 50 '00, adin9P'C o"""Bio.t+��uS Publications approved by FCC Sept 20, 19/2 (Television ' - --- ---+ (D6,ata p+ �n -V1�p'- Digest, Vol. 11:50; 12:39). Previous sale to Triangle by .lulus (; wsr.o.Tv n+n•t raril r.,.,,t„1 2,21rr lr�A-6,`en P.I.I.c.p., IA211-1- Clark interests approved by FCC May 4, 1955 (Vol 11 11, 19). Represented(sales):Blair Television. Net weekly Slate Total TV Households C1,cu,ntlun county Households Households % Represented(legal):Wilner 8 Scheiner. 50". 3 Over Otsego. 21,200 20,600 97 Represented(engineering):Smith 8 Powstenko Tioga 17,800 17,500 98 Personnel: PENNSYLVANIA DONALD F.SNYDER,vice president 8 general manager Bradford 22,700 22,200 98 LAMONT PINKER,general sales manager Sullivan 2,200 2,100 95 RAY McCORMACK,regional sales manager. Susquehanna 13,600 13,300 98 RICHARD A.STEIKA,business manager. Tioga 14,100 13,600 96 MICHAEL A.LaMONICA,chief engineer. JOHN MUCHA,program manager. NEW YORK ROSANNE SALL,local sales manager. Between 25.49% Schuyler 6,300 6,100 97 Highest 30 Sec.Rate:$1200. Steuben 36,500 35,600 98 4 Tompkins 31,800 30,300 95 TM.I Ilnusehn1di © AISI Consumer Matket nets as or I/ve4 Tv llon- Tv^. cud PENNSYLVANIA Cucubrton CO 1964 A,Nlpm County c•ore,ast hand m Aihdl- study Wyoming 9,700 9,500 98 NEW YtORK Net weekly Slate Total TV tlouseholds Between 5 24% Madison 21,700 21,300 98 ICirculation County Households Households x Sullivan 25,300 24,500 97 PENNSYLVANIA NEW YORK W.ty„e• 13.600 13,100 96 50% 3 Over 1111101110 78,800 71.600 911 Chenuing 35,100 34.300 98 st.ition Tot.tis 402,100 392,000 97 Chenaclgo 17,800 11,400 98 Net Weekly Curulalion (1984) 252,200 Cortland 17,100 16.800 98 Average Oady Circulation (1984) 164,700 Delaware 16,800 16,200 96 i I I 1985 Ecilt1011 637 New York-Binghamton _ Oswego , � w 0.���d5 Sset eFullan °s O)i."- '�•"•�•, 8a dwi"�vdle° /„ a RtItM® ru,o,r swt I �r.•.-" rpori Newark p, o bats/do GlovsrsvrNs ,..,n.o ' s ` a ' Net, r qr aWICZ-TV ' a`et ° utiEc o 0 s��hr"t1.11,0 Q•• i Solvay 1 00�' OAuburn Syracuse n on Ams it DOM 14 Ch. 40 1i G"dai8ui�7�^�renevo o"oao•� mss^" `s`�c. .a.rrs.t•• Network Service:NBC. I VY\«" C..uu osmoo Dansville v"rte o Cortlond Ilion Licensee:Stainless Brontfcactirly Company, 3rd St. 8 Montgomery Z J,nvar" � ' ' a o Oneon .ororl.i.e as.ar Ave.,North Wales,PA 19454. Bath scram, 01 co s"'•O CWfloeBelow ea ` awr,.a Studio:Vestal Pkwy.,East Binghamton. He Hornell".sent or wort. johns Sime CatskilltnrrdaNt, EI to Oaet. Cay w Ow( Mailing Address:Box 1626,Binghamton,NY 13902. Corrdngo I c: o o A9inghornto GRADE a "oats t. Telephone:607-798-7873.TWX:607-772-0240. -i=" C. "'ter F^o---TI Kinpslon Technical Facilities: Channel No 40 (626-632 MHz). Authorized ,roes a. 0 °Sayre ur^K-GRADE.1. t b«yon ou9l,kee power: 565-kw max. 8 501-kw horizontal visual, 56.5-kw max. & " Ellenvrlleo .. „par owerh bo•o to ndo r ondOte oMonlicelb ; 50.t-kw horizontal aural. Antenna: 1230 ft. above ay.terrain,930- Kddie1p pw.r,rt .,. fl.above ground,2555-ft.above sea level. n,.r,v"" Hon°sdale ~^ srco-r"o sEtl • Latitude 42* 03' 22" sw„ae YVilhtmn r1 ,mi0°r` p N nmo e' r,.a •. NS Pat krill Longitude 75' 56' 39" o Jersey Shore p S_#�u yW1 M Baste:.". 'twsus 'eds c4�Tll o Nonlicokeoa rs Transmitter: In sham Hill Rd., a rex. 4.5-mi. SW of center of ,w, .vaRewton LC9 PPTRerwickBinghamton. Stroudshurq, " °0V__A c,N..... °A Hg,� �" Paterson If p ..n.w s Satellite Earth Stations: Scientific-Atlanta, 4.6-rneler, Scientific- aRelkt"nty oc'r��` este\°et c•••o" n'"V^^o �"NSunbework Atlanta receivers. , ,s"ax. ySh mokln �t to,npu (aston l'"°r• ' oleo rstow Pottsville a"u\ 1110100"1 Ownership: Henry J. Guzewicz• pies. Stainless Bcstg. Co. also sc"�•s•a Bethlehem ?� Allentow i t.. owns WRAK b WKBS(FM),Williamsport,PA. Edon" /r`-^ tt.� ono^ ,-,a°o oou,werlawn n•• �r Began Operation: Nov. 1, 1957 Sale to present owner by ells/,+Rani hulg \p yin nstown -Q'•o�'Nl�wv" - f ,.a"r. Trentp Binghamton Press Gannett approved b FCC Feb. 22, 1971 oras�Brisrol �s o ' (Television Digest,Vol. 10:31). pp y SCALE Of MMES 9 te'!, Newe� t ..r s•ta ANaristn P i��w o s0 100�lodelphio. .ro••r `«w Represented(sales Katz Television. L o y P )' .r.��,,.�' Camden � l^ Represented(legal):Dow,Lohnes&Albertson. was-ry R1•(:7-179 C.-ted 2/2:/71 p Akan Map Crop..H2U Represented(engineering):Lolllles&Culver. Net Waekty Sente Total TV Households Personnel: 'r c JESSE C.PEVEAR,general manager. county Households Households x JOHN LEET,sales manager. Between 25-49°h Tompkins 31,800 30,300 95 GINO RICCIARDELLI,director of engineering. PENNSYLVANIA Highest 30 Sec.Rate:$350. Bradford 22,700 22,200 98 NETWORK SASE HOURLY RATE:$350. Susquehanna 13,600 L3,300 96 NEW YORK Tera 11--hMd. Cl h1S1 Cori­­ 111.,,ko Il.t" ws nr I/I/94 TV II-es: TV% and Between 5-24% ChrrnunR 35.100 34,300 98 t.. Circulation © 1984 Arhitron County coverage baatsJ on Arbitron study. Cortland 17,100 16,800 98 Schuyler 6,300 6,100 97 Net Weekly state Total TV Households Steuhen 36,500 35,600 98 Circulation County Households Households % PENNSYLVANIA .,, Sullivan 2,200 2,100 95 NEW YORK Tinp4 14,100 13,600 96 50% 6 Over Broome 78,800 77,600 98 Wayne 13,600 13,100 96 Tioga 17,800 17,500 98 Wyoming 9,700 9,500 98 NEW YORK Station Totals 355,100 346,200 97 Between 25.49% chertarsgo 17,800 17.400 98 Net Weekly Ciresdalinti (19114) 147,600 Delaware 16,A00 16.200 96 Average Daily Circulation (1984) 75,400 Otsego 21,200 20,600 97 r. t. 638 'I'V c( Cnble IhcGDook No. 53 s CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Alicia I. Martinez, a legal secretary with the law firm of Spiegel & McDiarmid hereby certify that I have, this 15th day of September, 1987, caused to be served by U.S. mail, first class, postage prepaid, unless otherwise noted, a true and correct copy of the foregoing *- "'Petition for Special Relief" to the following: * The Honorable Dennis Patrick * Stephen Ross, Esquire Chairman Mass Media Bureau Federal Communications Federal Communications Commission Commission Room 844 Room 242 1919 M Street, N.W. 1919 M Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Washington, D.C. 20554 * The Honorable James H. Quello American Community Commissioner Cablevision Federal Communications 519 W. State Street Commission Ithaca, NY 14850 Room 802 1919 M Street, N.W. Roy W. Boyce, Esquire Washington, D.C. 20554 Cohen & Berfield Suite 507 * The Honorable Mimi W. Dawson 1129 20th Street Commissioner Washington, D.C. 20036 Federal Communications Commission WSTM-TV, Inc. Room 826 WSTM-TV 1919 M Street, N.W. 1030 James Street Washington, D.C. 20554 Syracuse, NY 13203 * The Honorable Patricia D. Dennis Meredith Corp. Commissioner WTVH(TV) Federal Communications 980 James Street Commission Syracuse, NY 13203 Room 832 1919 M Street, N.W. WIXT Television, Inc. Washington, D.C. 20554 WIXT(TV) 5904 Bridge Street E. Syracuse, NY 13057 - 2 - s . WETM-TV, Inc. Stainless Broadcasting Co. WETM-TV WICZ-TV Box 1207, Howley Hill 4600 Vestal Parkway East Elmira, NY 14902 Binghamton, NY 13903 Public Broadcasting Council WSKG Public Telecommunications of Central New York Council WCNY-TV WSKG(TV) 506 Old Liverpool Road P.O. Box 3000 Liverpool, NY 13088 Binghamton, NY 13902 Citadel Communications WSYT(TV) Company, Ltd. Thomas J. Flatley WMGC-TV 1000 James Street P.O. Box 813 Syracuse, NY 13203 Ingraham Hill Road Binghamton, NY 13902 Christian Discerner, Inc. 8315 Tobin Road Gateway Communications, Inc. Annandale, VA 22003 WBNG-TV P.O. Box 1200 Susan K. Panisch 50 Front Street 71 Blanchard Road Binghamton, NY 13902 Easton, CT 06612 WENY, Inc. WENY-TV P.O. Box 209 596 Ithaca Road Elmira, NY 14902 r Alicia I. Marti"hez */ By Hand Delivery .. .. J = f :co9Po A7�o��0�' RECEIVED SEP 9 1987 CITY OF ITHACA 108 EAST GREEN STREET ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850 DEPARTMENT OF TELEPHONE:272-1713 PLANNING&DEVELOPMENT CODE 607 H.MATTHYS VAN CORT.DIRECTOR TO: Rice Associates Negotiating Committee FROM: H. M. Van Cort DATE: September 8, 1987 RE: Schedule Request for Negotiating Session Attached for your information is a copy of the request for a negotiating session from ACC. We are presently attempting to set up a time for such a meeting and will keep you informed. HMVC:eh Attachment "An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program- ACC . AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION September 3, 1987 SEP 3 1987 Mr. Matthys Van Cort, Director Planning and Development DEPARTMENT Or City of Ithaca PLANNING&DEVEI 108 E. Green St. Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 Dear Thys: American Community Cablevision hereby requests that the City of Ithaca schedule an administrative hearing as provided for in Section 626 (c) (1) of the Cable Act to review the City's decision to reject ACC' s proposal for a renewed franchise. As we have previously stated , ACC will continue to work with the City in attempt to reach a negotiated agreement.. To that end, we are also asking that you schedule a meeting of the City' s negotiating committee so that we may continue discussions of the issues that led to our impasse. Please forward a proposed agenda for our negotiating session at least one week prior to the meeting. I am unavailable on September 10 & 11 and on September 16. Please let me know the schedule as soon as possible. I am also requesting that the City immediately forward to ACC a copy of the waiver application you are submitting to the Federal Communications Commission. Sincerely, Michael M. Withiam General Manager 1 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456 Is PRESENTATION TO COMMON COUNCIL September 2 , 1987 For the record, my name is Michael Withiam and I am the General Manager of American Community Cablevision. I 'd like to take a few minutes tonight to respond to Common Council ' s August 5th vote to pass a cable television ordinance and also to deny our franchise renewal proposal . My purpose is to let Council know exactly what we are thinking following your actions of August 5th, and to offer some insight into the directions the franchise renewal process may take during the coming weeks . During the course of my short presentation I want to quickly review the issues that have led to our impasse, restate our primary concerns relating to those issues , and explain to council the options that we see for proceeding toward a final resolution of the franchise renewal process . Before I begin I want to state again that we will continue to work toward a negotiated franchise renewal . We will , however, at the same time take whatever steps we feel are necessary to protect our legal position during the course of this process. Toward that end, we will deliver to the City Planning office tomorrow letter formally requesting that the City of Ithaca schedule an administrative hearing to review the facts relating to your decision to reject our proposal . The letter will also include a request to schedule a negotiation session. 1 There are two primary issues that currently divide the City and ACC: The City' s decision to pass a cable television ordinance and the City' s request for nearly one-quarter of a million dollars in additional capital for the support and development of public access television and two-way data communications. This $240,000 is only an initial capital outlay for this equipment and does not reflect additional capital costs we would incur over the life of a franchise. It also does it reflect the additional costs necessary to provide the services the City feels this equipment would support, costs which will eventually be passed on to customers . The ordinance passed last month contains a number of provisions which are unacceptable to American Community Cablevision. Some provisions violate our rights to operate as a business , some violate provisions of the Federal Cable Act, and others simply do -not reflect the realities of operating an efficient cable television company. While the City certainly has a right to pass any local ordinance it deems appropriate, this ordinance, coupled with the City' s stated intent to have the ordinance fully incorporated into any franchise agreement, presents a significant roadblock to the final resolution of the renewal process . We will not sign a franchise agreement that incorporates the ordinance as currently written. 2 Further, throughout our meetings with the City' s negotiating committee it was made very clear to us that our comments relating to the ordinance were not part of the negotiation process . The City' s negotiating committee stated repeatedly that we were merely providing input into the ordinance and that the City would, at its discretion, pass the ordinance in the form it felt most comfortable with. This is troublesome to us given the fact that the vast majority of our time in the negotiation sessions was spent reviewing language in the ordinance. The issues addressed by the City' s ordinance are part of the negotiations process under the Federal Cable Act. The Cable Act set ground rules for both cities and cable operators to work toward negotiated franchise agreements . The City' s decision to pass an ordinance indicates an unwillingness to reach a negotiated agreement and appears to be an attempt to dictate the terms of the renewal . This action clearly violates the spirit of the Cable Act, and it may possibly violate the letter of the Cable Act . When we resume discussions with the City of Ithaca, among our first requests will be a series of revisions to the City' s cable television ordinance that would make that ordinance acceptable to us should it be incorporated into a franchise agreement. 3 Our concern with the City' s request for additional capital and the associated operating support for public access and a two- way communication system is simple: we have prepared a proposal that balances the City' s twin desires for expanded service with its desire for the lowest possible cable prices . The nearly one- quarter of a million dollars initial investment for this equipment that the City has requested, plus the additional expenses that we would incur over the life of the franchise, can do nothing but drive cable prices up. The City has made very strong statements about the importance of public access television and two-way communications to this community, yet the City has refused throughout our discussions to invest any of its own resources into the development of these two areas. We find this particularly troublesome given the fact that franchise fee payments under a new franchise will approach $100,000 in 1989 and will approach $150,000 per year by the end of the franchise term. The City seems to view ACC as a source of continued underwriting for services and capabilities which are within the City government' s interest to provide if they are truly needed by the community. Given the City' s concern for keeping cable prices as low as possible, I can only suggest and hope that the City reconsider its position and discuss funding some of these additional services through its own resources , if the City views them as important community needs . 4 w I 'd like to take just a moment and explain to you the options that we see for resolving our impasse. First, as I've said, we are willing to work toward a negotiated agreement assuming that the City is prepared to modify its cable television ordinance. Second, we are requesting that the administrative hearing provided for in the Cable Act be scheduled. Third, we are withdrawing our offer to drop the portion of the lawsuit between the City and ACC relating to the payment of refranchising costs. We will move promptly to initiate the legal steps that will bring this issue to trial . This offer was extended in an effort to bring about a prompt and successful conclusion to our negotiations , and such an offer has clearly not been appropiately received. Fourth, we are seriously considering exercising the automatic renewal clause in our current franchise. This clause allows us to extend the expiration date of our franchise until May 1991 . Let me explain why we might exercise this option. Our proposal calls for a total rebuild of our system within the City by February 1 , 1989. In order to meet that deadline, we must start pre-construction work, including engineering design and utility pole clearances , no later than early November of this year. If we have not reached an agreement by that time, we will have to reconsider our construction timetable and may elect to begin rebuilding our county-wide system in areas outside the City 5 of Ithaca. We could elect to exercise our renewal option in two ways. First, we could exercise the option, withdraw our current proposal , and simply wait until May of 1988 to start the federally-mandated renewal process from scratch. Second, we could exercise the option and continue to negotiate with the City, building a revised construction timetable into our renewal agreement. Finally, we have legal options which our attorneys are currently researching which we may elect to persue. It is most unfortunante that the City and ACC have reached an impasse and that is necessary to take such strong steps to resolve a dispute. The real loser in this battle is the cable customer in the City. The customer will not received expanded .cable service until the dispute is resolved. Even more important , the customer will pay for the costs of this battle through both the tax dollar and their cable bill. Reasonable expectations for cable service from the City could bring this dispute to a quick resolution. 6 QV Aoi A BULK RATE 1%�p 40 " ' 0" 4. U.S. POSTAGE PAID ACC VANCORT, MATTHYS H - Ithaca, NY 14850 .4 102 IRVING PL Permit No.34 � ME.�RICAN COUNITLC�IBLEVISIQ 4 �! � ITHACA NY 14850 Dear Customer: As you have probably heard through the media,ACC's Despite the current impasse,it's important to recognize proposal for a renewed franchise was denied by the City that we have reached an agreement with the City on a of Ithaca on August 5. While we are disappointed with wide range of issues. These agreements, however., are the City's decision, we remain optimistic that we will contingent on the resolution of the remaining issues. eventually obtain the renewal we have sought. Without a Among the items tentatively agreed to are: renewed franchise we will be unable to rebuild and • A 60-channel, two-way capable system that will modernize our cable system, and will therefore be unable allow ACC to provide customers with exciting new to provide the additional programming choices and other services. services you have requested. • Elimination of duplicated channels in the basic Please note that the terms of our franchise with the City tier lineup and expanded tier service that would of Ithaca do not affect our 18 other franchises in Tomp- offer customers at least twice as many cable- kins and northern Tioga counties. ACC may choose to delivered programming choices as are now begin revamping our cable system in areas outside the available. (See the anticipated programming City of Ithaca should we be unable to come to terms with lineup on the following page.) the City. The total rebuild of our 35-year-old system is • Additional cable outlets at no extra charge to scheduled to start in Spring 1988, and should be customers. concluded by the middle of 1991. 0 Remote control units at no extra charge to In negotiations with the City, ACC has reached an customers. impasse over two issues: financial support for public • Customer option of owning converters and the access television equipment and financial support for internal cable wiring within their homes. two-way cable communications. At the heart of the ACC's customer service record received high ratings in dispute is the City's demand for $240,000 in support for two independent surveys, one of which was conducted these activities beyond ACC's original franchise renewal under the direction of the City.Our high customer service proposal. Our proposal offered a significant upgrade to standards will be maintained and have been written into the public access facility, costing about $100,000. The the franchise in the following ways: City has demanded an additional $160,000 for the purchase of public access equipment and an additional • Specific customer service standards to be used to $80,000 to underwrite the development of a two-way measure ACC's overall performance. computer communications system for a City • Stringent technical and construction standards for "government information center." the development and maintenance of the entirely If ACC were to provide this equipment to the City, new cable system ACC would build at a total cost the cost of the equipment and the associated expenses to of almost $10 million. operate it would be borne by you, our customers. The • Consumer protection provisions to provide facilities requested by the City could add as much as customers with remedies should they feel that $1.00 per month to the cost of basic cable service for City ACC has damaged them in any way. residents. Anticipated Programming Line-up at System Rebuild: Basic Cable Services Broadcast Services * Arts &Entertainment (A&E) WIXT(ABC) + Black Entertainment W STM (NBC) Television (BET) WTVH (CBS) + CBN Cable Network WCNY (PBS) C-SPAN WSKG (PBS) Cable News Network (CNN) WVIA (PBS) + Cable Value Network (CVN) WNYW (IND) + The Discovery Channel Premium Services + Electronic Programming + American Movie Classics (AMC) Guide (EPG) + Bravo ESPN Cinemax FNN/Score The Disney Channel + Headline News Home Box Office(HBO) * The Learning Channel (TLC) + NY Sports Channel + Lifetime MTV Public, Educational and + The Nashville Network (TNN) Government Leased Channels * Nickelodeon (NICK) 9 channels (at least I on the 12-channel basic USA service) + Video Hits-1 (VH-1) 5 leased access channels The Weather Channel WOR * currently carried part-time; anticipate full-time WPIX carriage + new programming All of these changes require substantial new investment We believe it is time for the City to accept in the cable system. In addition,the new system discussed responsibility for its position and use some of its own with the City of Ithaca will also be more expensive to resources, such as the nearly $100,000 per year in operate. As a result, there will be an increase in the cost franchise fees that it will collect from ACC during the of cable service for most of our customers. Although term of a renewed franchise for the development of these none of our prices are firmly set, we plan to restructure facilities if the City believes they are truly needed. These most prices. At present, we anticipate a$1.95 increase in City franchise fees, incidentally, represent 5 percent of the cost of basic service with no charge for additional the cost of cable service to City customers. The City has outlets. We will continue to offer significant discounts refused to use these franchise fees for any cable related for those customers who subscribe to higher levels of purpose, including public access and two-way service. communications services, despite ACC's request during The public access and two-way cable communications negotiations that the City contribute a portion of them to equipment demanded by the City will increase the price the development of these services. you pay for basic cable service. In order for ACC to purchase the additional equipment the City desires, and The Public Access Issue meet associated operating expenses, City customers may At the heart of the impasse in negotiations is the City's pay as much as an additional $1.00 per month for basic request for an additional $160,000 in equipment for our cable service. The City's willingness to increase public access facility. This facility allows community customers' bills by such an amount during franchise residents who so desire to produce programs at no charge negotiations seems directly at odds with its willingness to and is paid for through our charge to you for basic cable go to court to fight ACC's proposed 50-cents price service. The City's request for funds was in addition to increase earlier this year. ACC's original proposal, which pledges a $100,000 upgrade of our current access facilities to include three service would be the live transmission of local studio cameras, two portable cameras, a portable programming from sites outside our studio. Most of the production facility, a half-inch VHS editing system, and controversy about two-way services however, centers on video graphic generators. With this addition, the total the City's desire to use these capabilities. value of the equipment in our access facility will exceed The City, at the start of the franchise renewal process, $250,000 and will be comparable to the studio demanded that ACC explore the development of two-way configuration of many small TV stations. Most of the services and make these services part of the cable system City's requested additional$160,000 in access equipment at no additional cost to traditional cable customers, if duplicates equipment already in place, or appears possible. The City also asked us to spend $80,000 to intended to support functions that our proposed underwrite the government information center. In equipment upgrade will already provide. addition the City has asked us to provide other potential Our proposal for a renewed franchise would also make two-way services to customers at a low rate. Our market available a total of nine public, educational and research shows minimal interest in such services, so low governmental access channels. During negotiations, we in fact that two-way is not self-supporting. For two-way i offered an access equipment replacement formula based service to become viable, traditional cable customers I on 1 percent of City-only subscriber revenues (the City would have to underwrite the cost of two-way service has asked that the formula be based on total system through higher basic prices. revenues from all 19 of our franchises); committed to an There's one other way two-way service could become a additional six access origination sites within the City(for reality in Ithaca. We have told the City that the provision a total of nine); and committed to significant day-today of two-way capabilities could be feasible if a major operational support of public access. Included in this institutional user would utilize two-way services at a level j operational support are minimum staffing levels; that would cover the cost of providing them. Cornell ! government programming requirements; equipment University has expressed interest in becoming such an maintenance and repair programs; limited equipment institutional user, and we have placed a formal proposal damage liability options for volunteers; first priority in the hands of Cornell officials. We are hopeful that we scheduling of production facilities for access volunteers; can develop a plan with Cornell that will make some form and the continuation of our training and community of two-way communications a reality. We will not, outreach programs. however, provide two-way services if these services ACC's proposed upgrade for public access will easily adversely affect the price you pay for basic cable service. meet the needs of the community members who produce We have also made it clear to the City that ACC would Cable Channel 13 programming. In addition to our provide the City with channel space on a two-way system. public access facilities, ACC has also committed to The City could use these channels as it pleased for data or produce more commercially-supported local other transmissions if active two-way services become programming. Currently we produce the Cable available during the term of a new franchise. NewsCenter 7 program as well as videos for the business It is unfortunate that the City appears to regard ACC community. Few cable systems of our size have local and our customers as a source of unlimited funds for production facilities capable of providing the breadth of underwriting the development of capabilities that are locally-produced programming available to our clearly the responsibility of city government.Throughout customers. the negotiating process, the City has asked ACC to incur unnecessary capital and operating costs. It would be The Two-Way Issue impossible to keep your cable rates low and still provide The impasse with the City of Ithaca also involves the the services that City representatives, and not you, City's belief that ACC should provide two-way cable demand. communications services, whether or not such services are financially viable. Our proposed new system can be What's Next? easily upgraded to provide two-way services in the future, In voting on August 5 to deny the renewal of our should the need for such services develop in our franchise, the City was required by federal law to use at community. least one of the following four reasons to justify its So that you better understand the issue, here are some decision: facts about two-way cable communications. T\vo-way * Whether the cable operation has substantially cable communications allow video, audio or data signals complied with the material terms of the existing to be transmitted in two directions. Traditional cable TV franchise and with applicable law; sends a one-way signal to your home. A two-way system * Whether the quality of the operator's service, allows the return, or reverse, channels to be used for including signal quality, response to customer video or data transmission. An example of a two-way complaints, and billing practices, but without ! regard to the mix, quality, or level of cable ACC will continue to work toward a negotiated services or other services provided over the agreement for a renewal of our franchise with the City of system,has been reasonable in light of community Ithaca. However,the vote to deny renewal on the 5th has needs; prompted us to request an administrative hearing * Whether the operator has financial, legal and required by federal law. At this formal legal proceeding, technical ability to provide the services, facilities both ACC and the City will present evidence to support and equipment as set forth in the operator's their respective positions and will hear testimony from proposal; and individuals with an interest in cable service. At the • Whether the operator's proposal is reasonable to conclusion of the administrative hearing, the Ithaca meet the future cable-related community needs Common Council will be required to vote again on and interests, taking into account the cost of ACC's proposal. If the Common Council chooses to meeting such needs and interests. deny a renewal of ACC's franchise at this second vote, ACC would then have a federal right to take legal action to renew its franchise. Since the first three criteria were not at issue during the As we work to resolve our differences with the City,we negotiations, it appears that the City's decision to reject remain committed to providing the widest possible our franchise proposal agreement was based on the last selection of entertainment and information programming reason listed. Yet our franchise renewal proposal more for you and your family. Our goal in negotiating a than meets the future needs and interests of our renewed franchise is to provide additional cable services customers within the City.In demanding more,the City's to you at the lowest possible price. It is our hope that the representatives seem to have little concern for the cost,to City's negotiating team will also carefully consider the you and ACC, of providing the public access and two- costs that its requests for additional services will impose way services for which there is no proven use. on you, the cable customer. Sincerely, Michael M. Withiam General Manager s RECEIVED OCT 5 198 CITY OF ITHACA 108 EAST GREEN STREET ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850 DEPARTMENT OF TELEPHONE:272-1713 PLANNING&DEVELOPMENT CODE 607 H.MATTHYS VAN CORT,DIRECTOR MEMORANDUM To: Cable Negotiating Committee From: H. Matthys Van Corty e Re: Correspondence - ACC Date: Oct. 2, 1987 For your information, enclosed please find copies of correspondence received from ACC during the course of negotiations. HMVC/mc Enclosures "An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program" ACC ....... 2 - 1987 AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION --a 4 October 1 , 1987 Mr. Matthys Van Cort, Director Planning and Development City of Ithaca 108 E. Green St. Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 Dear Thys : By this letter American Community Cablevision is notifying the City of Ithaca that ACC will exercise the automatic renewal option available to it under Paragraph 15 of the current franchise, effective immediately. Since negotiations . between ACC and the City of Ithaca, conducted pursuant to Section 625 (h) of the Cable Act, appear unlikely to produce an agreement, ACC will decline to participate in further negotiations . ACC is not withdrawing its renewal proposal of April 6, 1987 , nor waiving its rights under Sections 625 (a) - (g) , but for the reasons cited below ACC requests the City to take no further action on the proposal at this time. We have made this decision in response to recent federal court rulings that have invalidated certain municipal franchise requirements and in response to the City of Ithaca' s recent petition to the FCC to allow the City to regulate the price of ACC ' s basic service on the ground that such service is not subject to effective competition in Ithaca. These events , coupled with the City' s decision to subvert the franchise renewal process specified in the Cable Act by passing a preemtive cable television ordinance and its unreasonable demands for data services and excessive commitments to public, educational and governmental (PEG) access , have created an unstable environment for further negotiations . As you are aware, federal courts in cases involving the cities of Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, California, have recently declared unconstitutional franchise requirements for PEG access , as well as requirements for system and operating specifications such as channel capacity, programming mix, two-way services , institutional networks , universal service and free or discounted services to government and institutional users . The courts have also ruled that cash and in-kind payments to municipalities are permissible only to the extent that they represent the fair market value of any use the cable operator makes of public property. If these rulings are upheld as law, they would effectively resolve the issues that led to the City' s August 5 preliminary decision to reject ACC' s April 6 renewal proposal . 519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456. Given the uncertainty created by these rulings and the City' s continued insistence on excessive funding for PEG access and two- way services, ACC deems it in the best interest of all concerned -- ACC, its customers, and the City government -- to take this opportunity to avoid the need for immediate action on our renewal proposal. Our concern extends beyond the present. If ACC and the City were to reach agreement today on a renewed franchise and the recent federal court rulings were upheld, ACC could find itself burdened by costly franchise requirements while facing competition from operators who were free of such burdens. In that case, competing operators would have lower operating costs and would therefore have a substantial competitive advantage. Given the small liklihood that continued negotiations could result in a renewed franchise that would protect ACC against this possibility, we see no point in going forward at this time. The City' s effort to regulate the price of ACC' s basic service through the FCC' s waiver process also has a bearing on our decision to extend our existing franchise. Until ACC knows whether the price of our basic service will be regulated by the City, it would be unreasonable to attempt to negotiate a franchise renewal. I have stated a number of times throughout our meetings that ACC' s particpation therein was based on the assumption that free market forces would determine the mix, level and' price for the services we would provide to our customers . Without the ability to respond to market forces, it would have been unreasonable for ACC to have even considered the City' s demands for data services and excessive commitments to PEG access. In that regard, the FCC' s recently announced proceeding to revise its definition of effective competition is a further factor counseling delay. ACC will of course participate in the administrative proceeding the City is required to conduct pursuant to Section 626 (c) (1) of the Cable Act if the City elects to go forward with a hearing at this time. We encourage the City, however, to use the opportunity created by the three and one . quarter year extension to defer such proceedings until the legal matters discussed above have been resolved. incerely Michael M. Withiam General Manager cc: John Gutenberger, Mayor Cable Negotiating -Committee Ralph Nash,- City Attorney Common Council UV .E. ---� 1985 COMMUNITY RECEt D �-_ , A DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION&COMMUNICATIONS CORP. 519 West Stets Suke4Ithaca.N.Y.148.50160712723456 -• February 5, 1985 Honorable John Gutenberger Mayor, City of Ithaca 108 East Green Street Ithaca, New York 14850 Dear John: • 8�J Paragraph 15 of the franchise agreement between the City of Ithaca and American Community Cablevision provides ACC with an exclusive V , option for renewal of the current franchise until May 1, 1991. We not ,intend to exercise that o new. Even so, we would welcome the opportunity to a k with the City about renewal at any time. We look forward to the continued opportunity to bring quality cable television service to the citizens of Ithaca. v, Sincerely, Georgia Griffith General Manager GG/nwg COMMUNITY _;. _.. . nor, '. "" A DNMM OF AMERICAN TELEVSION&COMMUNICATIONS CORP. 519 West Star Svat Nw-k KY 14M(6071272-3456 February 6, 1985 Honorable John Gutenberger Mayor, City of Ithaca 108 E. Green St. Ithaca, NY 14850 Dear John: The purpose of the attached letter is to inform both you and Common Council that American Community Cablevision has elge to our op i'on fir automatic-renewal-o r ARE se agreement with the City of-ita`ca as outlined in paragraph 15 of that agreement. The franchise provides no date certain by which the option must be exercised and, therefore, we reserve the right to exercise the option at some future time. It is our hope, however, that by not exercising the option, we make clear that both ACC and the City are working toward a long-term franchise renewal under the provision outlined in Section 626 of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (the Cable Act) . Mike Withiam and I had hoped to be able to deliver the attached letter to you personally so that we could discuss two very important points. We want to stress that our decision to proceed under the Cable Act is f meant solely to make clear our intent and desire to work with the City on a long-term renewal and to help define for both the City and ACC the process under which those negotiations will be conducted. We feel .that this decision will help define due process protection for both ACC and the City of Ithaca. We are also concerned that there are two issues which may be relevant to future cable services in the City of Ithaca that have been briefly discussed by both the City Cable Commission and Common Council in regard to the franchise renewal process. Those issues are (1)negotiations with other cable companies and (2) municipalization of cable services. Each could be a source of great confusion if discussed during franchise renewal hearings. In fact, we feel that the Cable Act makes it clear that these issues would be extraneous to the discussions required in the provisions of the Cable Act. We want to make it clear that we are bringing these issues to your attention in an effort to speed the process of franchise renegotiation and to avoid long and confusing discussions of issues which are not directly related to the issue of renegotiation. The Cable Act of 1984 is a complex legal document and we wish only to share with you our interpretation of the Act in an effort to smooth the process as much as possible. Honorable John Giutenberge� Page 2 . ;February 6, 1985 John, American Community Cablevision feels that it has served Ithaca well under the current franchise agreement and feels that it will be able to even better serve the City of Ithaca by negotiating a long- term franchise agreement at this time. It is our hope to work closely with the City Cable Commission atiH with Common Council to carefully assess the cable needs of the City so that we may develop a franchise agreement that will address those needs in the best possible way. We hope that this letter has explained our position on certain issues relating to the franchise negotiations and that it can serve as a basis for a positive working relationship in the coming months. We would like to meet with you to further discuss these issues. Later this week we'll call your office for an appointment. Sincerely, Georgia Griffith General Manager GG/nwg Enc: Copy of Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 /\ r AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE The City of Ithaca Cable Negotiating Committee and American Television and Communication CorporatioW agree in principle to the following major issues related to the delivery of future cable services. 1. Access Equipment. American Community Cablevision (ACC) will provide $165,000 worth of new production equipment for public, governmental, and educational (PEG) access. This equipment package will include the equipment specified in ACC's April 16, .1987 renewal proposal, plus one portapak and editing suite for the City of Ithaca access (municipal access equipment) and modulators to activate origination sites at the Youth Bureau, Ithaca High School, GIAC, the Alternative High School, and Cornell University. The City will approve the actual equipment list. ACC will expend two percent of City gross revenues annually for PEG access equipment replacement and expansion. Any future access equipment replacement and expansion commitments that are made by ACC to municipalities served by the same headend as the City of Ithaca, will be deducted to a floor of one percent of gross City revenues. -2- PEG and municipal access equipment will be maintained and replaced by ACC, maintenance of that equipment will be done on- site or at an ACC facility in a reasonable timely manner. In addition to the staffing requirements set forth in the City's proposed Franchise Agreement dated July 30, 1987, ACC will add a fifth full-time staff position dedicated to access services at the beginning of year ten of the franchise, subject to the same conditions as specified for the fourth full-time position. 2 . Institutional Network. ACC will construct and maintain a midsplit 30 channel institutional network that will connect the following buildings: City Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca College, Tompkins County Library, Ithaca High School, Boynton Junior High, the Alternative School, Ithaca Youth Bureau, GIAC, Police Headquarters, Central Fire, and the Bus Garage. ACC will provide the City with 8 upstream and 8 downstream ViALO, pmt� )�� channels, free drops and necessary Aconverters to all aforementioned locations at no charge for the duration of the franchise. - Any channels unused by the. City three years after the institutional network is activated will revert to ACC provided that if the City subsequently has a use for any such channel ACC will return said channel(s) to the City six months • ��o� � rem �- �-� Urutve, � t� h� n VAI C4,�jjuk d it6 - d� after receiving written notice if. ACC has a use for the channel and immediately if there is no use of the channel. ACC will have the same liability for I-net users that the telephone company has for telephone users . Fel�u�. av ACC will respond to repair calls within two hours. For requests received during non-business hours the City or other I-net users will pay ACC $40 per hour for such service. Such hourly fee may be raised by the CPI annually. n- usiness hour requests wi i r$ke.4 recce✓P,CQ z ►� busygess hours will be, no 3. Refranchising Fees . ACC will reimburse the City for &kr_���- �costs related to the renewal process with the exception of costs related to the City' s petition to the FCC for authority to regulate ACC' s rates . The reimbursement will not exceed $75, 000. 4 . Federal Court Case. Upon execution of a final franchise agreement ACC will withdraw its federal court case, Civil Actions No. 87 CIV 145 (Judge Munson) and upon execution of this agreement ACC will withdraw the subpoena to depose Jean Rice in said case and all other discovery requests . Both parties mutually agree that the time for the City to give the notice required by paragraph 15 of ACC's current franchise shall be extended to January 8, 1988 The City will defer any administrative proceeding pursuant to Section 626 of the Cable Rile(S apj r rcce,f� o� Sue �o�i t ACC '04XLe 1 aka s+,rre y �. skb poems 6r- 'TuCA Alfw l bto" 46 d,4,,, �,;�t,�;, ��� d�.�s dl,-- Sucl., sew•LA,_) N•- C'',�� wjt K,, kUW dc 's' sCX- precee&:.,5 �, 1: 1 to r&Is c4��r . - -4- Act until not less than twenty days after ACC has received notice that Jean Rice will be available for deposition ACC agrees that the City does not waive its rights under the Cable Act to hold an administrative hearing pursuant to Section 626 at any future time through April 30th, 1988 . 5. Franchise Fee. ACC will pay the City a five percent franchise fee on gross revenues. 6. Programming Appendix. The language will be drafted for the programming appendix essentially like the following: "Full-time Governmental programming (e.g. , C-SPAN, C-SPAN II) " ; "Full-time Minority programming (e.g. , BET, SIN) " . "Classical movies (e.g. , American Movie Classics" ) . 7 . Term. The City will request along with ACC, that the New York State Commission on Cable Television waive its rules and permit the City to grant ACC a franchise for 15 years. If such request is not granted, the term will be ten years and the other terms of this agreement will not be affected. 8. Franchise Language. The City and ACC will continue to negotiate a final franchise based upon this agreement, ACC's „ i mark up of City's ordinance submitted to the City on November v �1' S AC� 23, 1987 as initialled by the parties and the City's n . I o�w►�hsfah�� e oiK , -ri k� nA o pal 1� 4J �I eslfe. nod J;bC' hokK'V( rovi'SI't4s W k)�OA6G� IrCX4 -5- proposed franchise agreement dated July 30 1987, as initialled by the parties. The parties will be boundb the substantive provisions though not the precise wording so initialled unless, y� � either party by December 11, 1987 notifies the tsar party ii{�' writing of its desire not to be so bound. The City will seek modifications of the Ordinance to be consistent with this w franchise agreement and such agreement will not be effectivew until such modifications have been finalized. The City will not seek unilaterally. by passage of any ordinance or otherwise, to modify ACC's franchise agreement after it is executed. 9 . Rates . The basic service shall have a minimum of 12 (6Mhz) channels. If the Basic has only 12 channels, one channel shall be designated for public access. If the basic service has more than 12 channels, all access channels will be provided on basic. ACC will not raise basic rates higher than the following for a deux' year period. On February 1, 1988 the maximum rate will be $9 .00. On March 1, 1989 the maximum rate will be $11.00. On March 1, 1990, March 1, 1991, the maximum rate will be the previous year's rate plus 10% or that percentage equal to the rise in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is higher. Additionally ACC will give a need-based senior citizen discount of 10% to those who qualify for real property tax exemption and others who qualify using mutually agreeable criteria. ACC covenants not to bring or fund any lawsuit or / proceeding seeking deregulation of rates during this fir year -6- period. Should ACC do so, it will pay all City legal, consulting, and other related expenses reasonably incurred in connection with such actions and proceedings within 30 days O after demand therefor. Effective May 1, 199A ACC may seek deregulation without payment of City expenses. , In such case, each party shall pay their own expenses. If at any time, any additional cable franchise is granted by the City, there will be no regulation of ACC's rates from the date of said grant of the franchise or of the beginning of construction of the system, whichever comes sooner, until the termination t-"loft The parties will present to the FCC a stipulation of settlement which incorporates ACC's acknowledgment of the City's right to regulate basic rates and the corresponding rate regulation aspects of the Franchise Agreement for approval by that body; upon such approval, the City will withdraw its petition now pending therein. 10. Internal wiring, converters, remote controls. ACC and the City agree to language substantially identical to Section 7 . 17, entitled "Converters" , 7 . 18, entitled "Internal Wiring" , and 7.19, entitled "Remote Controls" of the City of Ithaca Cable Communications Ordinance. bs i►A,�kc.4& • OA— 11. ACC will ensure that a listing of municipal programming will be included in a programming guide published by ACC or a guide published by another entity. -7- 12 . Upon execution of a final agreement, this agreement will be of no further force or effect. In any event, this agreement will terminate April 30, 1988 .6+' a� dN�11 earVe'r' 0-) tA-4 AQ ,r �o (S) Wt ll eoi..lke.,,.u. CwQ0.vw,:Kia ttc.atv.k PmQ4.cX6:19 pt�rt wo.,,-1- d� aec . 6,21, d F 13. The final agreement will provide that, if the City grants any additional cable franchise which contains terms or conditions more favorable to the grantee than ACC's franchise, the ACC shall have the option to comply with all the terms of such franchise in lieu of compliance with ACC's franchise. PTVVCAA- AW-+ ,t w;ll ov- VP 14. The final franchisewill&at all times be subject to applicable law. If any section of the franchise agreement or any clause or any phrase thereof shall be held to be unconstitutional or void, all other portions not os held shall be and remain in full force and effect. If any section of the final franchise is unenforceable ACCj . and the City shall negociate in good faith and agree upon a provision which will achieve the same purpose as closely as possible. -Thi-s- SvLAs &+c, 15. Nothing in the franchise shall be deemed a waiver by ACC of the right to contest the enforceability of any provisions of the ordinance. Aft o� 1�u ?wviSIO* O-Swa—e-t P-VC.epk art, vt j-P-c+ Approved by: Ra h Nash, Esq. Date Michael M. Withiam General Manager, ACC Date: Daniel Danser, Esq. �. STIPULATION OF CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AND AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION The City of Ithaca has submitted a "Petition for Special Relie o in CSR-3086, and American Television and Communications Corporation, dba American Community Cablevision ("Cablevision"') , the local cable franchisee has opposed that petition. Based on discussions among the parties and further review of the data submitted to the Commission, the parties d et 1el ;e-ve- m ���i a agree and stipulate as follows: 1. The "'Engineering Statement" submitted by the City of Ithaca as Exhibit 1 to its Petition for Relief accurately reflects the field strengths of broadcast signals currently received in the City of Ithaca. 2. The "'Affidavit of H. Matthys Van Cortm submitted by the City of Ithaca as Exhibit 3 to its Petition for Relief accurately sets forth the unique geographical attributes of the area in and surrounding the City of Ithaca. 3 . The "'Affidavit of Donald Coley Williams"' submitted by the City of Ithaca as Exhibit 4 accurately describes the largest population block within Ithaca which may now possibly receive three unduplicated broadcast signals. 4 . Based on the unique geographical features of the area in and surrounding Ithaca, it would not be appropriate to conduct any other studies. Based on further review, Cablevision does not intend to undertake, and does not believe it would be r STIPULATION OF CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AND AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION The City of Ithaca has submitted a "Petition for Special Relief" in CSR-3086, and American Television and Communications Corporation, dba American Community Cablevision ("'Cablevision") , the local cable franchisee has opposed that petition. Based on discussions among the parties and further review of the data submitted to the Commission, the parties do not believe material facts are in dispute and therefore agree and stipulate as follows: 1. The "'Engineering Statement"' submitted by the City of Ithaca as Exhibit 1 to its Petition for Relief accurately reflects the field strengths of broadcast signals currently received in the City of Ithaca. 2. The "'Affidavit of H. Matthys Van Cortm submitted by the City of Ithaca as Exhibit 3 to its Petition for Relief accurately sets forth the unique geographical attributes of the area in and surrounding the City of Ithaca. 3. The "'Affidavit of Donald Coley Williams"' submitted by the City of Ithaca as Exhibit 4 accurately describes the largest population block within Ithaca which may now possibly receive three unduplicated broadcast signals. 4. Based on the unique geographical features of the area in and surrounding Ithaca, it would not be appropriate to conduct any other studies. Based on further review, Cablevision does not intend to undertake, and does not believe it would be i 2 appropriate to undertake, any special studies as described in Cablevision's May 13 , 1988 letter to the Commission. Such special studies would not be an accurate indicator of the presence or absence of effective competition within the City of Ithaca. 5. Because no further studies need to be performed or will be performed by the parties, the parties do not require the additional time contemplated by 154 of the Commission's Second Report and Order in MM Docket No. 84-1296 (FCC 88-128) (released April 29, 1988) . The petition filed by Ithaca is ripe for determination under the Commission's effective competition rules, as modified by the Second Report and Order. 6. Based on the foregoing, Cablevision does not oppose the grant of the relief requested in Ithaca's Petition for Special Relief. Respectfully submitted, Joseph Van Eaton Attorney for the City of Ithaca John R. Wilner Attorney for American Community Cablevision