HomeMy WebLinkAboutCable Franchise Information for 1990 IACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
January 3, 1990
William Demo
Acting Chair
Ithaca Cable Commission
119 Auburn St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
�
Dear aI
ACC is involved in a difficult situation with one of its public
access users, and I wanted to keep the Ithaca Cable Commission
apprised. Attached is some correspondence which will fill you in
on the issues as they appear on the surface.
Mr. Dobson approached me a month or so ago requesting that I
prevent another access production group from airing a program
that was a parody of his (Rick's) show and organization. I
explained that ACC couldn't control the content of programming.
Since that time he has become somewhat of a concern to the staff
and other access users. Many are very uncomfortable in his
presence, and my staff are actually concerned for their safety
and the safety of other users. At this time I plan to talk to
Rick personally and make it clear that his behavior must change .
If it does not, however, I may have to refuse him access to the
premises in order to protect the rights and safety of the other
access users and staff.
I hope that the Commission will support my position on this.
Sincerely,
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
January 3, 1990
Rick R. Dobson
Independent Producer
Cable 13
612 W. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Dobson:
ACC maintains and operates its public access facility at 612 W.
Green Street in part as a requirement of the franchise agreement
which exists between the City of Ithaca and American Television
and Communications Corporation. The facility is owned by ACC and
may be used by ACC in any manner it so chooses as long as city
residents are able to use it for public access.
At this time, we are not denying (and have not denied) access use
to any city residents who are qualified to be producers. It is
within ACC ' s right to allow organizations or individuals from any
other location to use the access facility at ACC ' s discretion
under these terms.
Also, as I reminded you in a previous telephone conversation, ACC
has no right to control the content of public access programming
by Federal Law with two exceptions. The first of these is
obscenity, which I will not attempt to define - especially in
light of the fact that the U. S. Supreme Court has difficulty
defining it. The second has to do with advertising, and ACC is
working with the Access Advisory Board to resolve some issues
surrounding this.
It is ACC 's intent and practice to uphold its contracts with the
City of Ithaca and other municipalities.
Sincerely,W'yj,
'IL
li __
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
CC: Lauren Stefanelli
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
TO : Barbra lukens q Jan 89
FROM: Rick Dobson
7 j
In referance to a recent letter you sent me ,
the following things are incorrect . One I have not
i
\ . used photo copied letters or cards from acc or acc
-�, imploies : : ,nor would I ever do such a thing . The
people or persons that have made these accusations
are exstreamly incorrect : : , it would be very helpful
to know who have made these accusations so that I
w p may contact the proper athdrities to look in to these
matters . Secoundly acc personial have been haseling
me about matters wlhich are none of thtt thier concern .
J Further more any complaints from acc volunteers s.tems
fro.in- j ealou§ie and 'discontent by . insecure- people
whos only goal in life are to cause troble and discontent .
I have recieved many comments and letters from people
r VI-Lo view my shows , that it is the best thing on
e" channel 13 I do not like being accused of things
I did not do ,nor will I put up with such triff .
I would like a exsplanation of who have made these
accusations against me , so that I my attend to the problem: :
J Further more channel 13 staff are thier to assitt me
in my programing as the need arises . Cable 13 staff are
not thier to involve them selves in matters which do
not cosern cable 13 operations : : : Further more *Yt6how
long does lauran steffanelli think she can abuse peoples
trust in what they tell her , with out some one finding
out about it : : If you barbra lukens wish to spy on me
why dont you do it in stead of having lauren steffanelli
doing it for you " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
-� fed up with the nonsence
and BULL S11IT: : : :
P . S.
rf take one are not removed from these facilities
which they are not saposed to be useing , imedatly . I will
refer these matters to the city attorney ,my attorney , and
also I will write a letter too all three news papers in
town so that the people who pay for this facilitie can be
made aware of the abuse by both •take one and ACC in this
matter . It has also been brought to my attention that it
is very possible that the take one groupe have been useing
this facilitie to make monie for thier bussiness ( B17AR PARK
produtions) . These matters if investagated indepth by
private investagators T feel will exspose not only conflict
of intrest on the park of acc , but I feel strong evidence can
and would be brought abought , in xeferance to this subject : : :
Acc has also sold equiptmet at exstreamly low prices to take
one producersofxspencive video equiptment . Tf this isnt a good
�, exsample of conflict of intrest ! I really dont know what is : : :
Dear: Barbra Lukens
I am writing to you in order to make you aware that my
wrights as an independent producer here at Cable 13, are being
violated by persons unathorized to use these facilitys . Not only
are these persons unathorized to use these facilitys , but are
also in breach of contract with ACC. ACC must inforce the
compliance of the agreements mandated by the contract with the
City of Ithaca , set fourth in the ACC Franchise Provisions or be
held responcible for the lack of it. ACC is and has been in
noncompliance with its contract with the City of Ithaca for over
a year : : I have no direct disagreement with ACC, but due too ACCs
noncomplience with its contract agreements with the City of
Ithaca. My person and reputation have been damaged, by persons
unatorized to use these facilitys. Therefore I am charging ACC to
correct this noncompliance at once, and seek compensation for
damages to my person and my reputation by the take one producers .
I am also chargeing ACC to take legal action against the TAKE ONE
producers for unathorized use of there facilitys. ACC is owed the
cost of the use of CABLE 13 facilitys at the agreed rate set
fourth in section 3 paragraphs 4 of the producers
responcibilities contract, for the duration of the unathorized
use of these facilitys by the TAKE ONE producers .
This unathorized material was cablecasted live on channel
13 on 8 December 1989, by Bill McCormick, The name of the
broadcast is Round About Ithaca. Bill McCormick new this material
was unathorized and colaborated with the TAKE ONE producers to
cablecast this material. ACC is now also responcible for this
unathorized material being allowed to be produced by unathorized
persons , and then becoming availble to due harm to my person and
reputation by irresponcible and radicale persons . If this
unathorized material is allowed to be aired again, I will have no
recourse but to take legal action against ACC for their
nocompliance of article 14. 1-C-3 of the ACC franchise provisions
with the City of Ithaca. Great harm has already been done to my
person and reputation because of the unathorized actions of the
producers of TAKE ONE, •and Bill McCormick of ROUND ABOUT ITHACA.
This material had the potential of reaching 26 ,000 people in
Tompkins County, so therefore I do not need to stress the
devistating effects this unauthorized material ACC allowed to be
produced has already caused : : This unathorized material had every
intention of defaming me and doing my organazation harm, with out
any basis or facts to do so. In doing so the prodcers violated
the ACC guidelines, set fourth in the ACC Franchise Provisions
14. 1-A-1 . This unatorized TAKE ONE material does not qualifie for
cablecasting under this article, because it does not fall in one
of these catagories . This material is also obscene in nature as
accepted by the general public in Webster's Dictionary. Webster's
Dictionary defines obscene as [ offensive ] , and offensive is
defined as : insaulting, intended to give offense. I am looking
forward to these matters being resolved as soon as posible ! THANK
YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION IN THESE MATTERS OF INPORTANCE! : :
SINCERLY
Rick R. Dobson
TO Barbra Lukens 8th December 1989
GENERAL MANAGER
ACC,American Community Cablevision
519 West State Street
. Ithaca, N.Y. 14850
FROM: ' Rick R. Dobson
INDEPENDENTPRODUCER
CABLE 13 , Community Access Station
612 West Green Street
Ithaca, N.Y. 14850
SUBJECT: A) Unathorized use of Cable Access Station 13 , by
persons unathorized to use these facilitys ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
•. B) The use of Cable Station 13 by the group" TAKE ONE"
to defame or do harm to persons , companys , and
instatutions here in Ithaca , WITH ONLY THAT PURPOSE
IN MIND! ! !
C) Misuse and abuse of a public facility under article
14. 1-A-1 of the ACC Franchise Provisions ! ! !
D) Legal contract broken by the producers of TAKE ONE
in referance to section 3 of the PRODUCER
RESPONSIBILITIES CONTRACT. Notice in the secound
paragraph the words INTENDED PURPOSES! ! Cable 13s
intended purpose is to serve the residents of
Ithaca, or persons living in the ACC service area.
TAKE ONE producers do not live in Ithaca or the ACC
service areal ! ! ! ! ! , and have not for the last year !
There fore, there is a breach of contract on the
part of the take one producers. This now brings up
two points ! ! ; One - TAKE ONE producers have
produced thier show for one year in breach of their
contract with ACC, and hencefourth are now liable
and accountable to reinburce ACC and the city of
Ithaca for this unathorized use of ACC facilitys
and staff, set fourth in section 3 paragraph 4 of
the producers responsibilities contract. Secoundly-
ACC in allowing this to accure is now, and has been
for the last year. In blatent violation of its
contract with the City of Ithaca and its citezens ,
and the subscribers to ACC services . This violation
is in referance to article 14. 1-C-3 of the ACC
franchise provisions ! ! ! !
E) Unprofessional and irresponcable action on the part
of many of the members of the access advisory board
in their capasity as representitives of CABLE 13.
Most directly board member Rick Lawrence , I feel he
is- incompitent in his role as a board member and is
not propefly f.orefilling his responcibilitys as a
competent and accountible board member. Able to
deal with inportant matters serously and nonbistly,
and in timely and professional manner ! There fore I
whish to chalange his position as a boardmember, so
that I may take his place as a new board member who
wishs to make a serouse contrabution to this board.
Ithaca Cable Television Commission
' ./,� .}anice Streb , Chair
121 East Shore Circle
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Janice ,
As mentioned at Cable Commission meeting , ACC would review rates
for various services to attempt to reduce confusion which ve ma}'
have inadvertently created for customers. The result of our
review is below. I have included all rates l could think of even
though many were not part of our discussion , nor were they in
question,
1 ) Cable installation (aerial ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20. 00 plus tax
rate is good for 1sL outlet (or 1st
and 2nd outlets if work is performed
at the same time)
2) Cable installation (underground) . . . . . . . . . . . . 120. 00 plus tax
plus our cost to bury the drop cable (or customer may bury the
cable which we will provide)
3) Outlet relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20. 00 plus tax
4) Additional Outlet Installatioh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20, 00 plus tax
5) Reconnection if we ' ve djscon-
nneated for non-pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20. 00 plus tax
6> Transfer fee (for customers
moving within the {ran'|hise) . . . . ' , . . . . . . . . . +20' 0o p1u7 L"x
7) Service upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , A 5' 00 plus iax
8> Side grade (drcp one
service to add another) . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . ' . . . . $ 5. 00 plus ta�
9) Account name change . ' . . . . . . . . . . . ' . ' . . . . . , . . $10. 00 plus tax
10) Install A/B switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20. 00 plus tax
11 ) Purchase A/B switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . ' . . . . . A 9. 95 plus tax
12) Remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3. 00/month
13) FM outlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . free
14) Additional outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . free
15) Parental control . . . . . . . ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . free
16) Budget tier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , �11 , 00/x'nnth
1
17) Supertier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6. 00/month
18) Premium channel . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 9. 95/month plus
5% franchise fee
. ' . . . ' . ' . . . . . . T7('. ')') |`lu" ! .`
ACC d�es not require a deposit from its customers.
When a customer has cable installed , the first month ' s ser' i7c As
prorated - therefore each customer could pay a different amount
to ACC at the time of installation .
I hope this clarifies the issue. The review has hc] ped us to
standardize on install -related charges. The commissi`zn s
questions on these issues got us moving in the right direction
both for ACC administratively and for the cusLomer .
Best r
` ACC January 1990 Report
'
1 . Syndex went into effect 1/ 1 /90. ACC is currently blacking out
` about 5 programs on WPIX. We have a character generated message
~ on explaining the black-out . Me Journal published the story
12/29. We are getting daily calls of complaint . We expect to
replace the black-ed out programs w/ other material by 2/1 /90.
2. QVC purchased Cable Value Network (CVN) . As of 1 /23 we will
be delivering QVC instead of CVN.
3. ACC had a phone survcy done in Dec . I wil ] be sharing the
results with the commission whzn I can state a plan which
addresses the few issuns which soem cvjdent from thc responses.
4. ACC 's 01ccos0 |'oiicy wi1l bc |x'{/1i ,hod us it �/ r(.1 in draft
form.
5. We are losing an access staff member at the end of Jaouary.
The position is being posted .
6. Access hours were shifted slightly to provide more evening
hours ( 1pm -11pm) .
7. ACC has an access issue which requires "in confidence"
discussion.
S. ACC is purchasing an Audio Response Unit to help handle
customer calls and PPV.
9. A subscriber newsletter will be sent out this month.
10. Beginning Feb. 1 we expect to have PPV on an ongoing basis.
,
1
CITY OF ITHACA OUTAGES 1990
APPROX.
DATE LOCATION CAUSE SUBS EFFECTED
1/3/90 Chestnut St. Fuse 50
1/11/90 E. Seneca, E. Buffalo, N. Aurora Fuse 400
2/20/90 Oakwood Lane Fittings 25
3/9/90 S. Albany, S. Geneva Bad Tap 100
4/6/90 S. Titus, S. Geneva Bad Tap 120
4/25/90 Chestnut Hill Apts. Fittings 20
5/7/90 Lake St. Jumper Wire 12
6/6/90 S. Albany St. Maint Work 100
6/12/90 Chestnut Hill Apts. Fuse 50
6/12/90 Hook Place-Chestnut St. Fuse 4
6/12/90 Cliff St. Fuse 35
6/30/90 107 The Commons Broken Feeder 35
7/10/90 522 Dryden Rd. , 301 Maple Ave. Fuse 40
7/19/90 S. Geneva St. Bad Tap 75
8/18/90 West Hill Power Coupler 2000
8/27/90 East Hill Area Trunk Module 500
8/27/90 The Commons Cable Cut 100
8/29/90 Chestnut St. Fuse 50
9/23/90 Fall Creek Fuse 20
9/28/90 Stewart Ave. Power Supply 200
9/29/90 Stewart Ave. Power Supply 200
11/1/90 E. State St. Fuse 50
1990 SERVICE CALLS - CITY OF ITHACA
************************************
JAN. 208
FEB. 151
MAR. 176
APRIL 117
MAY 172
JUNE 183
JULY 150
AUG. 186
SEPT. 176
OCT. 132
NOV. 122
DEC. 62
4/4/Q0
Teter ess
City Cable 1cmmission
City :Pall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca., ivY 14850
Lear Peter:
I am pleased to be appointed to the Access Advisory Board. As
ICB-TV ' s mana.ger I a.m of course knowledgable about that organiza.tion' s
programming and policies ; however, as a resident of 'Danby I am
unfamiliar with the other Cable 13 programming because ACC service
does not extend to my house . There is also no over-the-air
reception of television stations .
I am requesting thru)ch the Cable Commission that !_CC extend its
ZD
line one-h=alf mile south on 17ichigan ?follow Road from its present
termination rear Route 0.6B to the last house , #100 , before the
°ea.gle Club. This Would provide me and the other residents in
new construction with basic television service , at least.
Thank you for your consideration of my request.
Sincerely,
-Eloise -dreene
Rli 1 , Lox 244
1!10 r,°1ChiF?a.n 'IO110W nd .
Danby/Spencer, 'NY 14883
January 16, 1990
Ben Nichols
Mayor
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mayor Nichols:
Enclosed is a copy of American Community Cablevision' s financial
statements for the fiscal year ending June, 1989 . The year' s
after tax net income of $415, 299 represents a 4. 2% return on
investment.
ACC measures its performance in many ways, however. From July
1988 to June 1989, ACC took significant positive steps to improve
its cable operation in the Greater Ithaca Area.
ACC and the City of Ithaca finally concluded their somewhat
stormy negotiations and signed a new franchise agreement. This
specific agreement is one of the most detailed and the most
favorable to the community of any cable television franchise
agreement in the State of New York and is often used as a model
by the New York State Commission on Cable Television.
Following the signing of the agreement, ACC fully rebuilt the
cable television system in the City of Ithaca, installing new
cable and electronic equipment and taking down the old.
Rebuilding the plant allowed us to increase the channel capacity
and add new services. Among the new services added were C-Span
II, The Discovery Channel, Madison Square Garden/The Travel
Channel, Turner Network Television, The Family Channel, The
Comedy Channel, Lifetime, Bravo and others.
ACC concluded its office renovation and the public access studio
was moved to a new location at 612 West Green Street, behind our
other buildings which are on West State Street. The new studio
boasts state-of-the-art video equipment and a staff of three
knowledgeable facilitators whose function it is to guide Ithaca
area citizens through the use of the equipment and all of the
procedures involved in television production. The access studio
is open and staffed 60 hours a week, meeting the needs of
Ithaca' s active producers.
NewsCenter 7 became the choice of Ithacans for local news,
according to a survey. This was positive reinforcement that
people want to know what' s happening about town. ACC is pleased
to be able to help fill that need. NewsCenter 7 has also
provided a great place for area businesses to promote their goods
and services to a majority of our subscribers. While these
advertisements are good business for ACC they also provide local
businesses with a means for garnering new customers and thereby
help to strengthen the local economy.
ACC continued to show customer growth although growth in basic
customers was not particularly strong due to a flattening of the
local economy. Continued improvement of cable programming has
helped maintain growth in the number of expanded tier customers.
There was a decline in the number of customers taking premium
services.
Approximately twelve miles of line extensions were built in this
period allowing us to offer service to an additional 500-600
residences.
As you probably know, Mike Withiam left ACC in May of 1989 and an
acting manager who commuted from Pennsylvania helped the staff
through the remainder of the fiscal year. I was named as Mike ' s
replacement in July of 1989. It will remain to be seen how the
change in management will affect American Community Cablevision.
I can sincerely say that we are making every effort to provide
the very best in quality product and service to our customers.
our forthcoming customer newsletter will bring you up to date on
the changes which are coming and which should enhance our
position to serve customers better.
Respectfully,
Barbara L. Lukens ,
General Manager
BLL/fw
enc.
7 Audited Financial Statements
s
American Community
Cablevision
Division of American
Television and Communications
Corporation
June 30, 1989
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AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
Audited Financial Statements
June 30, 1989
Audited Financial Statements
Report of Independent Auditors. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . ..1
Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Statement of Revenues and Expenses and Changes in Net Assets.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Statement of Cash Flows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Notesto Financial Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .5
t
' 7
s Ernst &Young
4300 Republic Plaza
Denver,Colorado 80202
Telephone:(303)534-4300
Report of Independent Auditors
The Board of Directors
American Television and Communications Corporation
Stamford, Connecticut
We have audited the accompanying statement of assets, liabilities and net
assets of American Community Cablevision Division of American Television
and Communications Corporation as of June 30, 1989, and the related
statements of revenues and expenses and changes in net assets and cash
flows for the year then ended. These financial statements are the
responsibility of the Division's management. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are
free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test
basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating
the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit
provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
As described in Note 1 to the financial statements, American Community
Cablevision is one of several divisions and subsidiaries of American
Television and Communications Corporation, and has material transactions
with its affiliates.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly,
in all material respects, the assets, liabilities and net assets of
American Community Cablevision Division of American Television and
Communications Corporation at June 30, 1989, and its revenues and expenses
and changes in net assets and its cash flows for the year then ended in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
Denver, Colorado
September 20, 1989
- 1 -
r
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
STATEMENT OF ASSETS, LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
June 30, 1989
ASSETS
Cash $ 211,413
Accounts receivable, less allowance for
doubtful accounts of $121,843 68,101
Prepaid expenses 7,617
Property, plant and equipment,
at cost--Note 2:
Land, building and improvements $ 1,787,520
Distribution system 11,698,633
Vehicles and other equipment 2,042,714
Construction in progress 1,1746
Less accumulated depreciation (6,378,008)
Net property, plant and equipment 10,325,509
Franchise costs, less accumulated
amortization of $1,002,170--Note 2 1,465,832
$12,078,472
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
Accounts payable $ 592,503
Accrued liabilities 411 ,530
Subscribers' advance payments and deposits 282,481
Debt--Note 3 207,597
1,494,111
Net assets--Note 1 10,584,361
$12,078,472
See notes to financial statements
- 2 -
Y
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
1.
J STATEMENT OF REVENUES AND EXPENSES AND CHANGES IN NET ASSETS
Year Ended June 30, 1989
J
Revenues:
J Service $5,676,119
Connection and other 913,958
$ 6,590,077
Expenses--Notes 1 and 2:
Operating and origination 2,511,741
Selling, general and administrative 1,566,768
Depreciation and amortization 1,196,249
Interest, net 616,020
1 5,890,778
Income before charge in lieu of income taxes 699,299
Charge in lieu of income taxes--Note 5 284,000
Net income 415,299
Net assets at beginning of year 7,599,223
Net advances from corporate office 2,569,839
Net assets at end of year $10,584,361
See notes to financial statements
- 3 -
if AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
r; Year Ended June 30, 1989
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:
Net income $ 415,299
AdJustments to reconcile net income to
net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization 1 ,196,249
Change in current assets and liabilities:
Increase in accounts receivable (2,465)
Decrease in prepaid expenses 41 ,971
Decrease in other assets 3,500
Decrease in accounts payable (390,706)
'I Increase in accrued liabilities 182,326
.l Decrease in subscribers' advance
payments and deposits (31,095)
Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities $ 1,415,079
Cash Flows From Investing Activities :
JNet purchases of property, plant and
equipment (4,090,696
Franchise costs (91,963
J
Net Cash Used In Investing Activities (4,182,659)
Cash Flows From Financing Activities:
Net borrowings from American Television and
'1Communications Corporation 2,569,839
1 Proceeds from long-term debt 207,597
Net Cash Provided By Financing Activities 2,777,436
Net increase in cash 9,856
ICash at beginning of year 201,557
Cash at end of year $ 211 ,413
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information:
Cash paid during the year for:
Interest $ 683,000
Income taxes 25,000
See notes to financial statements
- 4 -
1
o o
f AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
I DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
June 30, 1989
1. Basis of presentation
American Community Cablevision Division of American Television and
Communications Corporation (the Division) is principally engaged in the
operation of a cable television business. Such operations consist primarily
of selling video programming which is distributed to subscribers for a monthly
fee through a network of coaxial cables. It operates in the City of Ithaca,
New York and contiguous areas under nonexclusive franchise agreements which
are in effect until 1998.
The Division has no separate legal status or existence. Its resources and
existence are at the disposal of American Television and Communications
Corporation (ATC) management, subject to contractual commitments by ATC to
perform certain long-term contracts within the present divisional structure.
Its assets are legally available for the satisfaction of debts of the entire
corporation, not solely those appearing in the accompanying statements, and
its debts may result in claims against assets not appearing therein. It is
one of several divisions and subsidiaries of ATC, and transactions and the
terms thereof may be arranged by and among members of the affiliated group.
ATC is an 82% owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (formerly Time Inc. ,
hereinafter referred to as Time Warner).
2. Significant accounting policies
Property, plant and equipment: Depreciation is provided on the straight-line
basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:
Building and improvements 10-20 years
Distribution system 8-15 years
Vehicles and other equipment 4-10 years
Franchise costs: The 'Division has deferred costs incurred to acquire the
franchises. Additional costs incurred to renew the franchise have also been
deferred. Amortization of franchise costs is provided on the straight-line
basis over periods of up to forty years.
Statement of cash flows : Effective July 1, 1988 the Company adopted Financial
counting Standards Board Statement No. 95, "Statement of Cash Flows." For
purposes of this statement, all highly liquid investments with a maturity of
three months or less are included in the category of cash.
- 5 -
c
�! AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
.1
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
June 30, 1989
J
3. Debt
JA 10.25 mortgage note payable due June 2006 was assumed during the year ended
June 30, 1989 related to the purchase of a building in June 1988. The note
was paid in August 1989.
4. Related party transactions
The statement of revenues and expenses and changes in net assets includes
charges for programming and promotional services provided by Home Box Office
Incorporated, a subsidiary of Time Warner. These charges were based upon
customary rates.
The Division records charges for selling, general and administrative expenses
that are directly associated with it and a portion of the ATC expenses
($455,854 for the year ended June 30, 1989) which are allocated to divisions
and subsidiaries based upon subscriber levels.
Interest charged to the Division by ATC ($682,570) was computed by multiplying
71.8% of the Division's average net assets (computed using beginning and end
of year balances) by the average interest rate (9.32% for the year ended June
30, 1989) on ATC's outstanding borrowings; $66,550 of the interest applicable
to construction in progress was capitalized.
5. Income taxes
Operating results of the Division are included in the consolidated federal
income tax return of Time Warner. In lieu of income taxes, ATC charges the
Division an amount which approximates statutory state and federal income tax
rates on pretax income.
i 6. Leases
Rental expenses for all operating leases, principally office and pole
attachments, for the year ended June 30, 1989 amounted to $105,759. The
Division had no significant noncancelable rental commitments.
7. Defined Benefit Plan
The Division participates in a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan
(the "Plan") which is maintained by ATC and covers substantially all
employees. The benefits under the Plan are determined based on formulas which
reflect employees' years of service and compensation levels during their
employment period.
- 6 -
i ` s
THEODORE E. MULFORD
�Ex -JpR s> NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION Commissioner
ON CABLE TELEVISION BARBARA T. ROCHMAN
CORNING TOWER BLDG., EMPIRE STATE PLAZA Commissioner
ALBANY. NEW YORK 12223 JOHN A. PASSIDOMO
(518)474-4992 Commissioner
0 ��_ (518) 486-5727 FAX MICHAEL E. RUSSELL
Commissioner
pN Cpe�EEDWARD P. KEARSE
Erecutive Director
WILLIAM B. FINNERAN—Chairman
RECEIVED APR 05 1990
April 2, 1990
Honorable John C. Gutenberger
Mayor
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green Street
Ithaca, MY 14850
Case # 9004018
Dear Mayor Gutenberger:
You will find enclosed a copy of correspondence we received from
a resident of your municipality. We received it and forwarded a copy
to American Community Cablevision asking for a reply within ten days.
This correspondence is for your information since this company
operates within your jurisdiction.
If we can be of further assistance to you, please do not
hesitate to contact us at 518-474-2212. Should other residents of
your area be experiencing cable television related problems, please
give them our toll-free number 1-800-342-3330 for assistance.
Sincerely,
a
Carol Jamison
Municipal Consultant
CJ :omc
R'EC'D - ;LSA? Y y NEW YORK STATE
V.YS CQ'�' ;SS10 Gid .
��' LE �[!`vl�'G %, '.d COhIMI SS I 011 ON CABLE TELEV I S I 011
90 MM't 21 Am, I I'�
HAVE YOU COMPLAIN TO YOUR CABLE COMPANY?
PLEASE DO SO BEFORE YOU RETURN THIS FORM.
SUBSCRIBER
YOUR NAME CHIESA TONY
Last Name First Name Middle Initial
YOUR HOME ADDRESS 159 Bundy Road
No. & Street
Ithaca NY 14850 Tompkins .
City State & Zip Code County I
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER 607 )273-7561 607) 255-605:-=
Home Business
NATURE OF COMPLAINT
American Cable Company ( ACC )
NAME OF CABLE COMPANY
519 West State Street
STREET
Ithaca NY 14850
CIIr STATE ZIP i
( W) 272-3449
T:JL:,Pn r, NU."kiBE R
Date You First Complained tAugust 1989
o the Cable Company.
DESCRIPTION OF COMPLAINT (for example : service problem, billing . �
address chanze . etc . )
When 4ne was at home, ACC moved TV entry wires from the east
end of our home to the west end without notifying us of their
intentions or asking our permission. Five holes were drilled in
the aluminum siding on the west end, siding was pulled out to
I _ aUow wires to be tucked up inside to run wires along north (front)
(cont ' d)
of house so service could still enter house on east end. Holes were
1 Pft open where original wires were removed from the top portion of the
west wall of our home!
hat form of relief are you seeking? (for example : new converter box ,
correction in bill , service , etre : )
1) Monetary - we want the siding repaired to OUR satisfaction.
w t* some type of restriction put on the type of
access cable companies have on private property and damage they can
cause consumers.
How did you learn of this office ' s services?
Our nP'gbhnr memtioned a Cable Com*ission and we called one of NYS phone
numbers and they directed us to you.
PLESSE READ THE FOLLOISING BEFORE RETURNING THIS FORM:
PLEASE STTSCH TO THIS FORM PHOTOCOPIES of any bills , cancelled checks ,
co _ Gsponuence , worl': --r-d,.erc cam:: .._ .'2.r lS , «�a<2�2?•1 I.iPC or other papers
:elating to your complaint . Unfortunately, all contact has been by phone.
DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS . : :
• � - 9v
SIGNATURE < D::'1'E
Q
NOTE: 9 PR EADDRE-SSED RE"TURN ENS E-LOPE !S ENCLOSED i OR YOUR CON�`EN I ENCE .
NEI' YORK STA T
COMMISSION ON C:BLE TEL-Z�%ISION
E.,;PIRE S7':T7 PLAZA
CORNING TO11J ER BLDG . - 21 FLOOR
SLB.%NY , N: 12223
1-800-342-3330
October 10, 1989
To: American Community Cablevision
From: Tony Chiesa
Re: Property damage
This letter will serve as the invoice for property damage to my
home on September 12, 1989.
As , a result of ACC relocating wires to a new feeder line in my
neighborhood, ACC left holes in my aluminum siding where the old
drop cable was installed. Cost of repair is $100.00.
A PT R--OV A L
Y . G/L ACC-. AMT.
.09% r'aLA0 410<3 ;c)
TOTAL
DURCHASE ORUER-�,
'4GR. APPROVAL DATE
RCG. APPROVIL DATE
Q.M.) APPROVAL
OVAL DATE
11 1
GENERAL RELEASE
This document is a general release for damage inadvertently and
purportedly done to property by American Community Cablevision,
519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 or by contractors
employed by American Community Cablevision.
For, and in consideration of the sum of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS AND
NO CENTS ( $100.00) , I, Tony Chiesa do release American Community
Cablevision from any and all actions, suits and/or claims with
respect to damages caused to siding of house located at 159 Bundy
Road. I declare that I am the true and rightful owner of said
property presiding at 159 Bundy Road.
There are no other agreements of any kind between ACC and myself
and said payment is in full satisfaction of a disputed claim.
Tony Chiesa Date
STATE OF NEW YORK )
) ss:
COUNTY OF TOMPKINS )
On this day of , 1990 before me
personally appeared Tony Chiesa, to me known to be the person
described in and who executed the foregoing release, and he
acknowledged that he executed the same.
NOTARY PUBLIC
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yf
Resolution of the Community Access Advisory Board,
Passed unanimously, April 2nd, 1990.
The Community Access Advisory Board continues to question the appropriateness
of including the cost of labor and replacement parts used to maintain access
equipment in the 2% city revenue package as provided in Section 14.C.3 of the
franchise agreement.
The Community Access Advisory Board requests that the Ithaca City Cable
Commission ask American Community Cablevision (ACC) to clarify their
accounting practices in regard to these items.
The board further requests that, if ACC continues to maintain that this is an
appropriate use of these revenues, that the Cable Commission seek additional
information from the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers (NFLCP)
and attempt to resolve this issue.
-ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
April 10, 1990
Mr. Charles Gutman
City Attorney
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Gutman:
One of the requirements of ACC ' s franchise agreement with the
City of Ithaca is to provide a report on the ownership of the
company. At the time I submitted the annual report, I did not
have the information but I am able to provide it now.
RCC is a DBA and is owned 100% by American Television and
Communications Corporation (ATC ) . Time Warner owns 82% of ATC
while public shareholders hold the remaining 18%. No public
shareholder owns more than 5% of the public shares.
The Board of Directors of ATC are:
Glenn A. Britt, David C. Chang, Joseph J. Collins, brian Conboy,
James H. Doolittle, Philip R. Lochner, Jr. , Richard D. Parsons
and Herbert S. Schlosser.
Respectfully,
r
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
RECEIVED JAN 16 1990
New York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal Officials
119 Washington Avenue Albany, New York 12210 (518) 463-1185
Toll Free Number 1-800-446-9266
Fax # (518) 463-1190
January 11, 1990
RE: Cable Television Revenues
Dear Mayor:
Since cable television rates are a sensitive concern, I am
forwarding a copy of a NYCOM Memorandum in Opposition and some
supporting information on a bill (S.6117-A and A.963-A) to
establish NY-SCAN statewide. NY-SCAN is a public access station
operated in the Albany area which broadcasts state government
activities such as: oral arguments before the Court of Appeals,
press conferences of the Governor, and hearings conducted by the
Legislature.
Under this bill, the Commission on Cable Television would
finance the NY-SCAN expansion by increasing the assessment on the
cable operators. The difficulty with this approach is that such
an increase would affect the local revenue for those localities
currently charging a franchise fee between 4.2 and 5.0 percent.
As you will note from the attached information, your municipality
falls within that range.
While the amounts to be raised from local governments are
not substantial, we question why local governments should have to
pay at all. If legislators want to have hearings and other
events broadcast back to their districts, the State should
finance such an activity. Last year the bill was reported out of
committee in each house, and the Senate bill died in the Rules
Committee while the Assembly bill died on the Calendar at the end
of session.
If you feel strongly about this issue, you may want to raise
it with your legislators.
Sincerely,
P1.
ward C. Farrell
Executive Director
ECF:ap
Enclosures
w o!K+r NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION THEODORE E.ML'LFORD
ON CABLE TELEVISION Commusioner
BARBARA T.ROCHMAN
CORNING TOWER BLDG.,EMPIRE STATE PLAZA Commissioner
ALBANY,NEW YORK 12223
(518)474-4992 JOHN A GUSSOW
Commissioner
JOHN A.
°� ow o►��E WILLIAM B.FINNERAN-CWrman ner
EDWARD P.KEARSE
Exft-wive Director
December 12, 1989
Mr. Edward C. Farrell
Executive Director
New York Conference of Mayors
and Other Municipal Officials
119 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
Dear Mr. Farrell:
Thank you for the opportunity of discussing with you and John Galligan,
our NY-SCAN operation and the effect of the proposed bill on franchise fee
revenues in municipalities in New York.
This is in response to your request for additional details about the
municipalities which currently have a franchise fee high enough to be potentially
affected in any way by proposed increased expenditures by the Commission for
NY-SCAN.
We indicated to you that, as of July 1, 1988, we had Identified 155
franchises which contained a provision for a franchise fee between 4.2 and 5.0
percent. This number was too high. Our original tally erroneously included a
number of New York City Community Planning Districts. These were incorrectly
counted as individual municipalities when, in fact, they are part of the ten
franchises in New York City.
The attached lists reflect the above correction and include the franchises
granted or renewed through November 30,1989 which have franchise fees greater
than 4.2 percent of gross revenues.
Since July 1, 1988, the Commission approved 40 new franchises and 76
renewed franchises. Of this total (116), only 17 contain provision for a franchise
fee of 4.2 percent of gross revenue or higher; four new franchises and 13
renewed franchises.
As of November 30, 1989, only 133 of the 1,298 municipalities franchised
for cable TV In New York State would be affected by the Legislature's proposed
bill. The total number of subscribers in the 133 affected municipalities currently
Is about 1,300,000 or about 42 percent of the three million cable subscribers in
the State. Of these 1,300,000 subscribers, 633,500 are in New York City.
Attachment 1 lists the 133 municipalities potentially affected. We've included,as
Attachment 2, a listing of the municipalities where the estimated impact would
be over $1,000 per month; there are only seven municipalities in this latter
category.
I'
Mr. Edward C. Farrell
December 11, 1989
Page 2
e es to currently that a subscriber's monthly cable TV bill averages
about $30._Where the franchise fee is five percent of gross revenue (less the
on's assessment) the municipality would realize about 4.5 percent or
$1.35. in the aggregate, for the 133 municipalities, this equals about $1,755,000
In franchise fees per month.
The right-hand column on the attached lists is an estimate of the monthly
effect on franchise fee revenue if the proposed NY-SCAN bill were enacted. The
effect amounts to between$0.04 and$0.05 per month per subscriber. For all 133
affected municipailtie3,it equates to a total reduction of about$60,250.per month
or 3.4 percent of the$1,755,000 generated. These figures are estimated assuming
a fixed number of subscribers each paying a fixed amount for their cable service
each month.
In fact, industry revenues over the last ten years have enjoyed an average
annual increase of over 20 percent. In 1979 Cable industry revenues were$166
million in New York and by 1988 they grew to $954 million. We anticipate that
1989 will see revenues between $1.15 and $1.2 billion as the number of
subscribers and the amount each spends on cable TV increases. As these
Increases continue to occur, the net effect of the proposed NY-SCAN bill on
franchise fee revenues will decrease accordingly.
I trust that this information is responsive to your concerns. If you have
additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
DONALD P. BUCKELEW
Director, Municipal
Assistance Division
Attachments
ATTACHMENT 1
PAGE 2
EFFECT ON
MUNICIPALITY NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS MONTHLY FEE
RECEIPTS
Holland (T) 959 38.
Holley (V) 460 18.
Hyde Park (T) 5,595 224.
Islip (T) 54,403 2,720.
Ithaca (C) 6,795 272.
Jackson (T) 221 9.
Kenmore (V) 4,727 189.
Lackawanna (C) 5,914 237.
Lancaster (T) 2,609 104.
LaGrange 565 23.
Lewiston ( ) 2,400 96.
Lewiston (V) 1,184 47.
Liverpool (N) 700 28.
Manlius (T7 4,104 164.
Manlius (V) 1,428 57.
Marcy M 902 36.
Marilla (T) 782 31.
Medina (1n 1,362 54.
Millbrook (V) 495 20.
Minetto (T) 484 19.
Minoa M 943 38.
Montour Falls (V) 460 18.
Montour (T) 125 5.
Mt. Kisco M 2,212 88.
Murray (T) 536 21.
New York City ( 633,500 31,675.
(10 franchises in NYC)
New Hempstead (1/) 763 31.
Newfield (T) 1,007 40.
Niagara Falls (C) 17,240 690.
Niagara (T) 2,905 116.
Niskayuna O 4,237 169.
Norwich (C) 3,173 127.
Nyack (N) 1,568 63.
Odessa (1/) 184 7.
Ogden (T) 2,694 108.
Olean (C) 6,393 256.
Olean M 561 22.
Orangetown (T) 5,451 218.
Oswego (C) 5,626 225.
Oswego M 721 29.
Parma (T) 1,565 63.
Patchogue M 3,148 126.
Penfield (T) 6,897 276.
Penn Yan M 1,786 71.
Perinton (T) 8,997 360.
Philipstown (1) 461 18.
Piermont (N) 497 20.
STATE OF NEW YORK
963--A
1989-1990 Regular sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
jgrefil�d) •
January 4, 1989
Introduced by M. of A. SIMMER, TALLON, XOPPELL, SIEGEL, ROYT, WARREN --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BARBARO, SARNETT, BECKER, BENNETT,
BRAGMAN, CATAPANO, CLARK, CONNELLY* CONNERS, COOMBE, DANIELS,
Del TORO, DUGAN, ZANNACE, EVE, FARRELL, GRANNIS, GREENE, GRIFFITH,
HILL, HILLMAN, JACOBS, LAFAYETTE, LASHER, LEIBELL, LOPEZ, MARSHALL, ,
MAYERSOHN, McCANN, MCPHILLIPS, .R. H. MILLER, NADLER, O'NEIL, ORTLOFF,
PASSANNANTE, PILLITTERE, PORDUM, SANDERS, SCHIMMINGER, SWEENEY,
TALOMIE, TOKASZ, TONKO, VITALIANO, ZALESKI -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Governmental Operations -- reported and referred
to the Committee on Rules -- Rules Committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to the Committee on
Rules
AN ACT in re4tion to authorising and directing the state commission on
cable television to establish and provide for the operation of MY-SCAN
on a statewide basis
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Asses-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The success of NY-SCAN operations in the capital district
2 indicates the advisability of expansion and upgrading of such cable
3 television services. It is the intent of this legislation to provide for
4 the establishment of MY-SCAN on a statewide. basis. It is recognised
IS that the long-term funding responsibility for the NY-SCAM operation
6 should not rest solely with the cable television industry.
7 1 2. The state commission on cable television is hereby authorised and
8 directed to establish and provide for the operation of my-SCAN on a
9 statewide basis. Such operation shall be designed to provide a working
10 analysis of the incremental progress of WY-SCAN, while furthering ef-
S3IPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new) latter in brackets
t is old law to be omitted.
LBD03489-01-9
A. 963--A 2 .
1 forts to bring the wo rkings . of state government to the populace it
2 serves. Services of the up-link facilities and satellite transponder
3 time shall be shared with the existing SONYSAT system operated by the -
4 Now York Network. The cost for statewide expansion estimated to be ap-
S proximately' two million dollars annually, shall be funded, for a period
6 limited to two years, exclusively from moneys assessed from the cable
7 television industry pursuant to article 28 of the executive law.
8 S 3. Brion to or during the twentieth month after the effective date,
9 of this act, the state commission on•aable television shall report to
10 the governor and the legislature, with 'input from the cable television
' it industry, .regarding the funding and accomplishments of the operation
12 authorized by this act.
13 j 4. This act shall take effect' immediately.
MNew York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal Officials
Edward C. Farrell 119 Washington Avenue
Executive Director Albany, New York 12210
(518)463-1185
Fax#(518)463-1190
Memorandum in Opposition
June 27, 1989
A. 963-A, M. of A. Zimmer, et al.
S. 6117-A, by Sen. Donovan
AN ACT in relation to authorizing and directing the state commission
on cable television to establish and provide for the operation
of NY-SCAN on a statewide basis
This bill would require the NYS Commission on Cable Television
to provide for the statewide operation of NY-SCAN, a program
now offered by the Commission only in the Albany area. For
the following reason, this bill is opposed.
At present, th(e Commission utilizes available channel capacity
on Albany area CATV stations to broadcast programming dealing
with state governmental activities. Compared to the extremely
limited amount of programing and that which this bill would
require, it is anticipated that funding necessary to comply
with this bill will result in a substantial expansion of the
budget of the Commission. Under the bill, funds so expended
would be recovered by assessing a charge upon cable television
companies. These companies also pay local franchise fees to
the municipalities which have authorized the companies to operate
within their boundaries. State law establishes a pre-emption
for the payment by cable companies to the state Commission.
Federal regulations establish a maximum percentage of revenues
� Iwhich a cable company may be required to pay to governmental
agencies. In the event of a substantial expansion of the amount
of monies paid by cable companies to the Commission, the impact
of the state law and the federal regulation is such that muni-
cipalities
uni-
ci a i ies at present or in the future will have their local
franchise tees reduced ue to the federally imposed cei in
on the maximum percentage of revenues which a cable company
can be regulired to pay.
Due to this direct financial impact upon our members, this
bill cannot be supported, notwithstanding its commendable purpose
of distributing NY-SCAN programming across the state.
JHGJdc
. ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
January 5, 1990
Rick Dobson
Independent Producer
Cable 13
612 W. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Dobson:
There have been numerous complaints about your behavior at ACC ' s
access studio from both staff and other access users . You have
apparently. frightened and/or intimidated people by your words or
actions.
ACC cannot allow this to continue because it is impairing the
functioning of the studio as a whole . Should you continue to
behave in such a manner and/or if ACC receives further
complaints, your access privileges will be terminated.
It has been brought to our attention that you have photo copied
ACC employee business cards and used them to convince others
they (ACC employees) endorse your organization. Also, a local
company called to verify your employment with ACC saying you had
called for services as a representative of ACC. These activities
must stop immediately, or legal action will be taken.
Your immediate attention to this is required.
jBarbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272.3456
-ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
January 5, 1990
Rick Dobson
Independent Producer
Cable 13
612 W. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Dobsonc
There have been numerous complaints about your behavior at ACC ' s
access studio from both staff and other access users . You have
apparently. frightened and/or intimidated people by your words or
actions.
ACC cannot allow this to continue because it is impairing the
functioning of the studio as a whole. Should you continue to
behave in such a manner and/or if ACC receives further
complaints, your access privileges will be terminated.
It has been brought to our attention that you have photo copied
ACC employee business cards and used them to convince others
they (ACC employees) endorse your organization. Also, a local
company called to verify your employment with ACC saying you had
called for services as a representative of ACC. These activities
must stop immediately, or legal action will be taken.
Your immediate attention to this is required.
!Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
January 8, 199
Bill Demo
Acting Chair
Ithaca Cable Commission
119 Auburn St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Bill:
I recently sent a letter to the Commission showing all of ACC ' s
rates for clarification purposes. Because I knew that there
would be a change effective March 1, 1990, along with the current
rates there was a note which indicated those changes. In case
you failed to see this note, I thought it best to send a separate
letter.
The basic rate will be increased from $11 .00 to $12. 10 per month.
The expanded tier which is currently $5.00/month in non rebuilt
areas and $6 .00/month in rebuilt areas will be $6 .00 and
$7.00/month respectively. We will be informing subscribers of
this change through our billing system as well as through a
newsletter.
Sincerely,
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
CC: Mayor Nichols
Common Council
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
Weekly Bulletin January 12, 1990
t
STATE OF NEW YORK � >> "
COMMISSION ON CABLE TELEVISION
EMPIRE STATE PLAZA
TOWER BUILDING
ALBANY , NEW YORK 12223
This Bulletin contains two categories of information:
Requests for Commission Action
Summary of Commission Action
For a complete description and listing of all requests and actions ,
or for further information regarding items in the bulletin , please
contact our Albany office at 518-474-4992.
For the period covered : January 5 , 1990 through January 11 , 1990 .
REQUESTS FOR COMMISSION ACTION
Docket Date
Number Received
M30993 Application by American Community 01/05/90
Cablevision for approval of a
TP-nporary Operating Authority of its
ranchise with the Village of Freeville
Tompkins Co . )
M30994 Ap licat,ion by American Community 01/05/90
ablevision for approval of a
Temporary Operating Authority for
its franchise with the Town of
U� s_ses (Tompkins County ^
M11519 Application by Haefeles TV Inc . 01/08/90
for approval to participate in the
Alternative Franchising Procedure
with the Town of Pharsalia (Chenango Co . )
M11531 Application by the Village of Fair 01/08/90
Haven (Cayuga County) for approval
of a waiver of certain provisions
of the Commission' s Rules
Weekly Bulletin -2- January 12, 1990
SUMMARY OF COMMISSION ACTION
Docket Date
Number Released
M11526 Application by the Town of Smithville 01/08/90
(Chenango County) for Waiver of 90-011
Commission Rules
ORDER ADOPTING WAIVER
M11527 Application by the Town of Carrollton 01/08/90
(Cattaraugus County) for Waiver of 90-008
Commission Rules
ORDER ADOPTING WAIVER
M11528 Application by the Village of Limestone 01/08/90
(Cattaraugus County) for Waiver of 90-004
Commission Rules
ORDER ADOPTING WAIVER
M11529 Application by the Town of Vestal 01/08/90
(Broome County) for Waiver of 90-002
Commission Rules
ORDER ADOPTING WAIVER
M30055 Application of TCI of New York for 01/08/90
approval of Temporary Operating 90-016
Authority in the City of Kingston
(Ulster County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30210 Application of ATC-Greater Rochester 01'/08/90
Cablevision for approval of Temporary 90-006
Operating Authority in the Town of
Gates (Monroe County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30211 Application of ATC-Greater Rochester Cable 01/08/90
for approval of Temporary Operating 90-003
Authority in the Town of Greece
(Monroe County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30212 Application of ATC-Greater Rochester 01/08/90
Cablevision for approval of Temporary 90-007
Operating Authority in the Town of
Penfield (Monroe County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30410 Application of CI-Glens Falls Division for 01/08/90
approval of Temporary Operating Authority 90-001
in the Village of Whitehall (Washington Co . )
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
Weekly Bulletin -3- January 12, 1990
Docket Date
Number Released
M30599 Application of Paragon Cable-Ilion for 01/08/90
approval of Temporary Operating 90-010
Authority in the Village of Hamilton
(Madison County)
ORDER GRANTING OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30790 Application of CI-Fingerlakes Cable 01/08/90
for approval of Temporary Operating 90-005
Authority in the Village of Newark
(Wayne County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30832 Application of Harron Cable-New York 01/08/90
for approval of Temporary Operating 90-012
Authority in the Town of New Hartford
(Oneida County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30845 Application of TCI of NY-Kingston Cable 01/08/90
for approval of Temporary Operating 90-015
Authority in the Town of Kingston
(Ulster County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M30870 Application of TCI of NY-Kingston Cable 01/08/90
for approval of Temporary Operating 90-013
Authority in the Village of Tivoli
(Dutchess County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M31017 Application of TCI of NY-Kingston Cable 01/08/90
for approval of Temporary Operating 90-014
Authority in the Village of Rhinebeck
(Dutchess County)
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
M31020 Application of NY-View TV, Inc . for 01/08/90
approval of Temporary Operating Authority 90-009
in the Village of Madison (Madison Co . )
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
30117 Application of CATV Enterprises , Inc . 01/09/90
for approval of temporary operating 90-017
authority for the Riverdale area of the
City of New York (Bronx and New York Counties )
ORDER GRANTING TEMPORARY OPERATING AUTHORITY
Weekly Bulletin -4- January 12. 19001
1
Docket Date
Number Released
30435 Application of Paragon Communications , 01/09/90
d/b/a Paragon Cable , for approval of a 90-018
renewal of its cable television franchise
for the Town of Poland (Chautauqua Co . )
(Initial Docket No. 10352)
ORDER APPROVING RENEWAL
90397 Heritage Hills of Westchester 01/09/90
(Town of Somers-Westchester Co . ) 89-250-A
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF PRESIDING OFFICER
90397 Heritage Hills of Westchester 01/09/90
(Town of Somers-Westchester Co . ) 89-250-B
NOTICE OF HEARING
80214 Petition of Paragon Cable-Manhattan 01/10/90
for an Order Approving Right of Entry 90-019
to Permit Access for Installation of
Cable Television Facilities at 300-310
West 143rd Street, Borough of Manhattan ,
City of New York
ORDER OF ENTRY
80217 Petition of Paragon Cable-Manhattan 01/10/90
for an Order Approving Right of Entry 90-020
to Permit Access for Installation of
Cable Television Facilities at
1759-1763 Lexington Avenue . Borough
of Manhattan , City of New York
ORDER OF ENTRY
LE1,13
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
519 WEST STATE STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
William Demo , Chairman
607-272-7272
Ithaca City Cable Commission
c/o City Hall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca , NY 14850
February 2 , 1990
Dear Mr. Demo :
ACC's coverage of City Hall meetings in February are listed below .
Committee meetings are selected on a rotating basis . The regular monthly
dates were given to us by the City Clerk's office .
Common Council Meeting
Wednesday, February 7 , 1990 , from 7pm-lam.
Cablecast live .
t a;< 13
Charter & Ordinance Committee Meeting
v`/Second Thupsday, liohru ,:.A, 1990 , from 7 : 30-llpm.
Taped for cablecast Saturday , February 17 , 1pm.
Budget & Administration Committee Meeting
Third Wednesday, February 21 , 1990 , from 7 : 30pm-llpm.
Taped for cablecast Saturday , February 24 , 1pm.
Please notify us of any changes in these meeting dates . We need a
minimum of two weeks notice to arrange coverage with our two-camera
portable unit , and to assure accurate TV listings .
Cordially ,
Lauren M. to ne i {
Community Acces oo d for
CABLE 13
cc : Callista Paolangeli , Ithaca City Clerk
Richard Booth , Chair, Budget and Administration Comm.
Dan Hoffman, Chair, Planning and Development Comm.
Carolyn Peterson, Chair, Charter and Ordinance Comm.
John Johnson, Chair , Human Services Comm.
Barbara Lukens , General Manager , ACC
Steve Smith, ACC Engineering Dept.
Jorge Cuevas , CABLE 13 Portable Video Unit Director
"Television for Tompkins County"
TO: SYSTEM MANAGER
PLEASE ROUTE AS APPROPRIATE
G
� February
cata
1990
CATAtorial
II'III�IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII�II�'I'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII�II'�I�IIIIIII�IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"II�'IIII�III'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'�I'��II�IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'II�
The Cable "Reregulation"
"Pride and Battleground: An Overview
First,as we try to point out on any occasion lost the authority in many instances to regu-
Prejudice" we can, the term"reregulation"is a nlisno_ late our rates. Now if you go back and read
neer. It implies that the Cable Act of 1984 the transcripts of the hearings back then that
Itappcars that many of "DEregulated"cable television. That is the led to the elimination ofratc regulation you
the key legislative and impression our critics would like to maintain will find some interesting things: First,even
regulatory players in at the moment. It is not true. Cable,even the head of the National League of Cities at
Washington have al- after the adoption of the Cable Act of 1984, the time admitted publicly that rate regula-
ready prejudged the is one of the most thoroughly regulated in tion was used to pressure the cable operatorin
various issues sur- dustries in the country! other areas. It was not necessarily a legitimate
rounding cable televi- Cities still tell us whether or not we can use of rate regulation, but it certainly was
, ► sion. This should not even exist in their domain, they write cus- effective. The city, in essence, held rates
come as much of a tomer service requirements,renewal require- hostage until other demands were met. This
Steve Effros
surprise: The impres- menuin turn led to some terribly impose fees,set standards, and con- Y unreasonable
sion of cable, as care- results when it came to legitimate rate in-
fully nurtured by the broadcast industry,the crease requests.
telephone industry, and several very ambi- "The term `reregulation' is a Another finding of delving into the rcc-
tious politicians is that we have raped, pil- misnomer. It implies that the ord is that Congress knew that rates would
laged and then burned the countryside as we Cable Act of 1984 increase after"deregulation." That was the
swept through on our way to riches. DEregulated, cable television. whole intent! Cable rates had been main-
If you think I'm kidding, contemplate rained at an artificially low level which in turn
That is the impression our resulted in an inability of cable
this remark made in a speech by none other �' operators to
than the Chairman of the Federal Communi- critics would like to maintain spend the nlollcy they would have made on
cations Commission,AI Sikes: at the moment. It is not true." improved alternative, diverse programming
...Where the public sees the price ofservices —which was the "promise" of cable televi-
skyrocketing,or the quality deteriorating,or its cion that Congress wanted to sec flourish. So
choices being arbitrarily changed or reduced,it
doesn't hesitate to urge Govcrnincnt intervcn- tinue to delve into just about every aspect of the rate regulation was removed, the rates
tion. That,ofcourse,is what the cable television our business. They can require that we pro- went up, cable became more profitable and
industry g, as liteparts of literally millions othe country is currently ex- vide free channels to schools,the public,even spent the money on creating the diversity that
f unhappy
perienczng
subscribers are peppering their elected officials the government itself—and they can require Congress said it wanted.
in Washington with complaints. studio equipment and the like. This is"DE- Now we are being criticized for increas-
"Literally MILLIONS"? Things have regulation"? ing the rates and"controlling"the program-
really gotten out of hand when the man who The FCC still imposes technical stan- ming! There's nothing quite like success to
is supposed to be leading an impartial inquiry dards,channel use requirements,Equal Time, get folks burned at you! To be fair,there is
into the progress of the 1984 Cable Act,and and yes, Fairness requirements. Political legitimate criticism of cable,or at least some
who has initiated rulemaking proceedings to cablecasting rules, syndex, nondup, and all cable operators who came into the industry as
potentially change the definition of"effective the other "character" requirements that go "leveraged""financial players"interested only
competition"comes outwith a statement like along with getting a CARS license.We have in a quick buy, price increase and sell of a
that! stiffer EEO requirements than just about any system. CATA has criticized those as loudly
First of all it is questionably proper for other industry. This is"DErcgulation"? as anyonc else. But there arc ways to resolve
Mini to be discussing his apparetltCOlICIUSIOIIS In fact,the principal thing that is focused that problem without dragging the entire
with regard to cable television regulation on when one talks about the cable industry industry into"REregulation"! But there is
See CATAtorial on page 2 being"deregulated"in 1984 is that the cities See Battleground on page 3
Community Antenna Television Association 0 I'.O. Box 1005, Fairfax, Virginia 220.30 • (703) 691,8875
CATAtorial the most hcavilycabled(and populated)states lcm of a vastly increased base requiring new
(which he is doing with a certain regularity in in the Union. Senator Lieberman of Con- telephone equipment to service it,new('SIL%
speeches and interviews these days) prior to necticut, who is one of the proponents of' to be trained,etc. Yes,we have a lot to do.
regulating cable and has submitted a bill on Yes, we are not giving the service in many
even seeing the evidence he has asked for. But
the subject,has said publicly that cable is not areas that we want to,or are capable of. The ' y
apart from that, to make blatantly incorrect
characterizations,such as that there are"mil-
the "number one" generator of mail in his industry has now issued guidelines fur service
lions" of complaints about cable on Capitol office—as a matter of fact,says he,constitu- quality in an attempt to at least quantify what
Hill,or that cable is"arbitrarily changing or
cnts don't really complain about cable that is reasonable and doable. But to accuse us of
much at all unless lie raises the issue at"town intentionally reducing service is,to my mind,
reducing choices when his agency just insti- meetings"he attends! He also acknowledges a low blow.
tuted the Syndex rules, — and make those that once he raises the issue he is aware that he As I have noted many times in this space,
headline grabbing allegations in front of a is only likely to get a response from those who however, Washington is a town of percep-
group (the INTV), known to be hostile to
are unhappy. At least he admits that his tions,impressions,and posturing a lot more
cable and known for kindling a great deal of interest is piqued not because of any"ground- than one where facts initially hold sway. The
misinformation about cable, leads one to swell"ofdiscontent or bad actions on the part prejudices of many of the legislators and
question what the heck is going on.
of the cable industry, but rather because he regulators on the cable issue are based on just
has a philosophical difficulty with what he such perceptions. The impressions are made
perceives a "monopoly"supplier of service. by the anecdotal stories we all have about the
"The prejudices of many Now Mr. Lieberman and others in the missed installation appointment, the sudden
legislators and regulators On New York,New Jersey,and Connecticut arra rate junip, or the unannounced change in
the cable issue are based on did receive a large and highly vocal chunk of services. The posturing comes from an obvi-
ntail surrounding the controversy over car- ous need on the part of politicians to appear
perceptions. We are riagc of the New York Yankees. Thatdisputc to be responding to the perceived needs of
enmeshed in that entire probably generated more mail than just about their constituents.
syndrome right now." anything else having to do with cable televi- We are enmeshed in that entiresyndrome
Sion. It is also true that organized campaigns right now. It becomes even more contpli-
by groups such as"Opt in America"—a so- cated because some of the key players have
Just to set the record straight to start called public interest group that is promoting
with, there are not "literally millions" of the elimination of restrictions on the telcos in
the MFJ(guess who is paying for that group ) "Pride and prejudice.
complaints on Capitol Hill about cable. We t
have been checking with offices around the -generate some mail to Capitol Hill.And yes, certainly did not originate the
there are some legitimate complaints about title, but I think it is an
Hill for weeks to determine who has all this
rates going up in some areas without proper accurate characterization of
vitriolic mail. It turns out that in the main,it
notice,explanation,or in some cases,cause. what is going right now in
doesn't exist. But "MILLIONS"? Of course it is not g g on g
Yes,ALGore gets mail on cable—or at Washington."
least he got it over the past few years as he led just Al Sikes who has succumbed to the lure
of hyperbole. For instance the Chairman of
the campaign regarding home earth term[
the I-louse Commerce Committee,Mr,Din-
nals. The folks who made a living stealing gcll, has accused the cable industry of RE- great pride over past conclusions. Al Sikes,
signals from the satellites organized letter DUCING customer service! Now we arc the for instance,when he headed the NTIA,was
writing campaigns and call-in campaigns that
we are all familiar with. 'Those died down first ones to admit that we have to improve responsible for the creation of a major report
over the past year as the legitimate TVRO customer service. But reduce it? The indus- on the theoretical construct oftcleconuiiuni-
industry finally took hold. try did no such thing. What has happened is cations in the year 2000. It was a very
To be sure Senator Danforth has gotten that cable has been much more successful in scholarly report. Now he is the head of an
the new build areas than anyone had pro- agency that actually regulates telecommuni-
letters. In fact,his office was a focus h a letter jetted. We have spent the last several years cations. He appears to want to prove the
writing campaign by city officials who want
building new cable plant as fast as we could in scholars right by force-feeding their conclu-
their power back. Once indicated that he some urban areas. The complaints come sions(such as"video dial tone")into law.
was in favor of"reregulation" of the cable from us not being able to fulfill demands for The problem is there is a major difference
industry he also became the focus of the service as fast as we would like,for one. The between studying and hypothesizing about
efforts to generate letters by the USTA. The cable system in the District of Columbia is a what a structure"should"look like and actu-
same is true of other members of the Com
classic example. It is being built on a lease- ally building it. The best example of this
munications Subcommittee in the Senate.
But when you actually check with those other back basis from the telephone company— dichotomy is the current FCC suggestion
aware o the and they are proving to be painfully slow in that maybe cities ought to be required to
offices, you find that they are ofthe construction. So pent-up expectation hurts grant two cable franchises. An interesting
difference between organized letter-writing aware
us. On the other side,since new construction theory,except for two things: first,what ifno
campaigns and true constituent concern. j
has taken um
Lip so uch ofour energy,we have one else wants the franchise because the exist-
As an example, Senator Wilson's office `.
not spent enough time on simple mainte- ing ti•anchisec is doing a good job and is not
reports that the California Senator has re
nance and follow-up with our existing cus- likely to succumb to additional theoretical
ceived less than two dozen letters in the past
r regardingcomer base.This is ccimpoundal by the prob See CATAtorial on page 3
year regarding the issue. California is one of
2 ���°���������IIIIIIIIII CATAcable
Battleground subscribers were paying. Why? Simply be- In that same period we,on average, rebuilt
no question that the combination of all these cause that is the way the market works; you our systems three times, increased average
forces has resulted in a great deal of attention maxi mizeYour profit based oil tlie wiIli ngncss channel capacity from 12 to 35,and increased
being paid to cable in Washington these days. of the buyer to pay the price. Al had an program diversity with the introduction and
Is anything going to happen? Yes. Will it
answer: force the cable programmers to sell nourishing of scores of new television net-
"cripple" the industry? No. This special their product, at the same wholesale price works. There had been no new television
CATAcable report is intended to give you an they sell it to the large cable operators, to networks introduced to the American public
overview of what is going on and why. Its those who want,as"third parties" to sell to since the 1940's until cable did it!
long. We apologize. But there's lots going the public. Those"third parties"don't have Regardless,the complaints were heard on
on,and you need to know why,and what to the embedded infrastructure costs of the cable Capitol Hill. And they came from three prin-
operators.They also dont have all the expert- cipal sources: first,of course,were subscrib-
do about it. ditures of past years developing the brand erswho were unhappy with rate increases.We
name recognition of such services as HBO have yet to find a buyer who welcomes in-
and ESPN that the cable operators do. So the creased prices. But the mail from those
The Capitol Hill Perspective "third parties"could sell the product to the sources was far outstripped by the mail gener-
public cheaper and undercut the very compa- ated by other groups, specifically telephone
On Capitol Hill there is almost an epic nies who created the brand names in the first company lobbying organizations,who want
struggle among those who want to"REregu- place! Neat idea,huh? to take advantage ofthe discontent over cable
late"cable to see who will get the credit. The Well,as you know,the cable industry has to achieve their own goal of getting into the
contest seems to revolve around who can get been fighting this idea for the past several video distribution business,and the television
the most headlines by attacking the cable in- years. There is nothing to stop those who broadcasters who have their own bone of
dustry in the harshest language. For a long want to market directly to the home from contention: Competition from cable which
time the"winner"in this game was Senator Al buying their own product,putting it on sat- they would like to slow down and at least
Gore. His attacks,however,were originally ellite, and selling it at any price they want. assure their own competitive advantage
from a very different angle. He wants to Why should the government force us to lose through "must carry," "channel position,"
promote the fledgling home earth terminal and even "must pay"rules.
industry. He thinks not only that that indus- See Battleground on page 4
try could be a legitimate competitor to cable "Another finding of delving into
(thus establishing a "fair marketplace" and
keeping cable rates down)but also that it is a the record is that Congress
"better" technology. Al Gore is very inter- knew rates would increase CATAtorial
ested in being identified with anything that after `deregulation'. That was
appears to be"high tech,""new,""modern" the whole intent!" "competition"? It should be noted that there
or"advanced." are virtually no"exclusive"franchises in the
The problem was, and still is that the United States today, so cities could grant
home earth terminal industry is plagued by its all our brand name products? To date Con- another franchise tomorrow if they wanted to
past. It was started by those who had no gross has agreed with the cable industry and —they don't need the FCC to tell them that.
interest or intention to pay for the program- the Gore Bill has not passed. And the second problem with the theory is
ming they watched. The challenge was pri- But the times are changing. In the past that the FCC simply does not have the au-
marily how to steal most effectively.The early several years,particularly since rate regulation thority to REQUIRE a state or city to grant
TVRO industry mainly thrived on the "free was ended in 1986,cable rates have gone up. a franchise as we read the constitution! But
lunch"theory. When it became clear that the The actual cumulative increase is far lower for those two little problems, the theory
programmers who deliver signals via satellite than what you hear the politicians yelling might be a good one.
would go to whatever lengths necessary to about; it comes, on a net revenue per sub- Pride and prejudice. I certainly did not
protect their product and get paid for it(after scriber basis to about 4 percent per year originate the title,but I think it is an accurate
all, if they didn't they would not stay in adjusted for inflation according to a Govern- characterization of what is going on right
business long),the"industry"went into a tail ment Accounting Office study. But the"hor- now in Washington. There are good reasons
spin. It's not as easy to sell home earth ror stories" and anecdotes about the loca- for many of the legislators and regulators to
terminals when you have to tell the buyer that tions that had major increases get a lot more be proud of what they have done in the past.
he or she is indeed going to have to pay for the press than the overall facts. And to be sure, But we have to find a way to get them to look
signals they watch! there have been some horror stories! In most at the reality of today's situation—not the
Al shifted gears and started arguing the cases the increases CAN be justified, the economic theories that seem to hold so much
cable issue from the "consumer protection" problem has been in the way they have been sway. As to the prejudice,we can only hope
angle. Again,the theory was that if you had done and the explanations that have been that a continued effort to bring the facts to
someone selling video product cheaper than given. bear will finally break through the "legisla-
the cable operator was selling it, then cable The fact is that since the first major regu- tion by anecdote"era we are in right now.
prices would be held down. The problem was lations regarding cable were instituted by the The only way that can happen is with the
that programmers who bought product and federal government in 1972 until the 1986 help of every cable operator and General
sold it directly to the home TVRO market elimination of rate regulation,cable rates fell Manager in every comnrtmity. You have to
were selling at roughly the same price as cable about 72 points behind the level of inflation! tell your story. NOW.
February 1990 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIiIIIII 3
Battleground we have not, as an industry average, even many times arc potentially worse than the
caught up with the shortfall from inflation we "disease"! We can prove that rather simply
With all that going on,made much worse suflcrcd during the years of political regula- (and we arc in the process of doing so) by
by the situation in the sports broadcasting tion at the city level. showing that standard governmental rate
business by the sports teams demanding so There is,happily,a growing recognition regulation,based on the standard theories of
much money for their product that the broad- of this and it is something every operator what is"appropriate"and"fair"in terms of a
cast stations can no longer in some cases must point out to his or her Representatives. return for the regulated industry,if applied to
afford to bid for the product(and therefore CATA will be sending you a form shortly that cable since 1972 would have resulted in
complaining that it is being "siphoned" to you can fill out showing your rates over the considerably higher consumer prices than
cable), it is no wonder that more and more period compared to the inflation rate for an those that exist today!
politicians started saying"something"has to average-priced cable system and several other The legislators on Capitol Hill are now
be"done"about cable! comparisons. When you fill that chart in and facing the problem of trying to figure out a
The catalyst for all the current contro- send it to your elected representatives(as well RATIONAL thing to do to cable to achieve
versy was Senator Danforth of Missouri. He as the FCC) it should graphically make the a desired "political" result without messing
proposed an omnibus bill that would have a point that we have simply not abused any up a telecommunications structure that has,
major impact on almost all aspects of the cable "market power"they seem to think we have! in fact, worked remarkably well since the
industry. The bill would"solve"the increas- government stepped back from micro-rcgu-
ing unrest about rates by returning the issue lation. We have more channels ofdivcrsc pro-
to the political realm of city regulation. It "The central issue seems to gramming today reaching more homes than
delved into the issue of horizontal concentra- ever before,and while the costs have gone up,
tion (tile big MSO's are too big, tinder this still be rates. We have failed they have not gone up as much as they would
theory,and need to be limited),vertical ince- to get the message across SO have had the government been regulating the
gration(again,stop cable from growing too far that even though there are rates! So now what?
internally powerful,particularly in the realm some bad individual cases, the Well,remember that the other major lob-
ofprogramming)and even included the Gore industry as a whole has acted bying player in this game is the telephone
program distribution proposals. very responsibly about rates. industry. Some of the Regional Bcll Holding
Even Senator Danforth's own staff ac- In fact we have not, as an Companies would dearly like to get into the
knowledged,when the bill was first filed,that video business. Not just for transmission,
it was in very rough form and certainly would industry average, even caught they want to get into the television business as
have to be changed along the way. The good up with the shortfall from producers,owners,distributors—the whole
Senator intended the bill to simply be a inflation we suffered during the works. Why? Because they believe that the
vehicle to get the debate started,and as such years of political regulation at "next generation" of wireline distribution
he simply had his staff take many of the bills the city level." system to the home will be based on fiber
that had been floating around,including such optics. In that,they are probably right. The
things as a "must carry" proposal, and put cable industry is swiftly moving toward using
them all in one document. He had the Anyway, the staff members working for fiber in the trunk line right now. But telcos
desired result. The debate is now in bill the two Chairmen are trying very hard to have this problem:they already have a"twisted
swing. ligure out a way to satisfy the political proh pair"system out there that works just fine. It
Senator Danforth is a very powerful lent of the "appearance" of rates and at the can do almost everything anyone can think of
member of the Senate and is the ranking same time not put the cable industry back in with regard to data transmission to the home,
minority member of the Commerce Com- the political "box" of local rate regulation audio to the]ionic and the like. ']'he problem
mittee as well as the Communications Sub- which almost all parties in Washington agree is that the "twisted pair" cannot transmit
committee. He is also well known for his anti- did not work and is unlikely to work in the video.
deregulation views. just one week before future. If the telcos want to build fiber,and they
introducing the cable bill he made a speech The proposals run all the way from a want to justify the cost of replacing a system
saying the same sort ofreregulation should be federally mandated"broadcast tier"at a fed- that already works just fine,then they have to
visited upon the airline industry as well. erally set price to total rate regulation of all justify it with an argument about"new tech-
Senator Inouye,however,the Chairman cable channels(How,we wonder,is a regula- nology"(remember,that is the sort of argu-
of the Communications Subcommittee,and for going to"set"a price or value for discre- ment that appeals to the A] Gores of Con-
Senator Hollings, the Chairman of the full tionary programming?). The notion of gress). OK, television transmission is the
Commerce Committee, are not known to common carrier status has also popped up, "new" technological use they want to get
share that strong view. They are now in the but the term implies we would have a guaran- into, and they want to use fiber to do it.
process of attempting to draft their own bill teed monopoly,like the telephone company Simple.
that would deal with "the cable television does and they all acknowledge that since Why should they now take over video as
issue." They are finding that it is not that easy broadcasters and MDS and Satellites and well as their already total control of audio
to write. The central issue seems to still be VCRs already compete with cable it would be wireline distribution? Because,say the telcos,
rates. We have failed to get the message almost impossible to make such a guarantee! they can do it better than anyone else—alter
across so far that even though there arc some The bottom line is that when responsible all,just look at the rotten,no good,terrible,
bad individual cases,the industry as a whole thinkers try to tinker with the way cable is rape,pillage,burn,lousy,inconsiderate,
has acted very responsibly about rates. In tact now operating they find that their "cures" See Battleground on page 5
CATAcable
Battleground and the like virtually announcing their deci- industrybecoming"monopolistic?" Has the
signs on what should be done,and how the indList ryabusedits ntarketpower? Isthercan
overpriced,profitntongering,poor customer future should look prior to any of the formal appropriate remedy if the answer is yes? And
service, no must carry, no channel position, "inquiry"procedures taking place. should that remedy be a market remedy or a
job the cable industry has done! Get the In other words,while Al Sikes appears to regulatory one?
picture? The telcos have a vested interest in be someone who COULD change his mind AI Sikes continues to make speeches indi-
making sure the image of cable is as tarnished on a subject given the facts,unlike his prede- eating his answers to these questions before
as they can get it on Capitol Hill to bolster cessor who was ideologically married to a the evidence is even before him. He seems to
their own effort at changing the laws so they result before ever looking at the facts, he is think that cable does have excess power,that
can get into the television business. The acting and speaking like a man who has made it has abused it (witness his statement that
RBOCs have put a war chest of$21 Million up his mind and is out to sell his point of view there are"...literally millions"of complaints
together for this year to attempt to influence a lot more than listen to the realities around about cable on Capitol Hill!), and that the
legislators and regulators to reach their con- him. The best example of this,as is pointed "solution"is a"market"one of changing the
elusion. Big Brother here we come. out elsewhere in this issue,is the proposal to laws to allow the telephone industry into the
There are already several bills on Capitol require local governments to grant more than video distribution business—but only on a
Hill proposing that the MFJ(Modification of one cable franchise. It may be a good theo- "video dialtone" basis,not as programmers.
Final Judgment in the "Bell breakup" of rctical way to deal with the underlying desire He also indicates that there will probably have
1984)be changed to allow the big telcos into to have cable "competition," but it ignores to be "transitional" regulation of the cable
the cable business. The argument is always industry until such time as the nascent com-
thesame: that cable is in need ofcompetition pctitor gets tip and running.
and the"only"logical competitor is the tele- "It may be a good theoretical If we were to bet, that is the way the
phone industry —an industry that is more way to deal with the rulcmakingsand inquiries will come out when
than 10 times larger in terms of gross reve- underlying desire to have cable all the formal proceedings are done. Of
nues! This argument has lots of different A competition'—requiring local course there are other players involved here
angles on Capitol Hill, but at the FCC it —and at least some of them,Commissioner
seems to have been taken to heart. governments to grant more
Sherry Marshall and Commissioner Andrew
than one cable franchise—but Barrett in particular,seem to be independent
The FCC Perspective it ignores both the economics thinkers who will put their own"spin"on the
As readers of the last CATAbrief know, of the situation and the fact results. As an example, Commissioner Bar-
we have a very different FCC than the cable that cities could do that today rett,as a former state PUC regulator knows
industry has faced over the past decade. The if they wanted to." that it is simply a myth to suggest that regu-
new Chairman of the Commission,Al Sikes, lators can protect the cable industry or the
is a very thoughtful and highly political man. both the economics of the situation and the public from the likely illegal actions of the
Unlike his recent predecessors, he is very fact that cities could do that today if they unleashed telephone industry in the form of
mindful of the wishes of Capitol Hill and is Wanted to. The Federal government simply hidden subsidization and predatory practices.
politically astute at working with the Con- does not have the constitutional authority to This is the same point that Judge Harold
gress. Or at least he makes that appearance. go ordering the cities to do things like that,as Greene continues to make when it comes to
The Chairman comes to the job directly from . much as the Chairman might like to. allowing the telephone industry into other
heading the government "think tank" on The FCC has embarked on a series of businesses. So, again, while the Chairman
telecommunications, the NTIA. Unfortu- inquiries about cable and imposed a time makes confident statements about the ability
nately, lie has brought some baggage with from that is designed to wear out just about of his 17 auditors to monitor the actions of
him in the move that seems to be influencing everyone involved. Everything is on an ex- the mammoth telephone industry,those who
just about every comment and speech he tremely fast track and appears to be designed have actually been in the trenches,who have
makes—and he makes lots of them! to send a message to Congress that it should actually had to deal on a day to day basis with
You see,at the NTIA a report was done not do anything until the Commission com- these issues see them somewhat differently
about what telecommunications could or pletes its investigations and acts. This is likely and hopefully will have some impact.
should look like in the year 2000. It was an to be the case.
excellent academic exercise, but since it did The Commission has a general inquiry
not have to deal with the real world of eco- ongoing and a specific one having to do with So What's Going to
nomics,politics, and the consumer market- the concept of"effective competition"in the Happen?
place it could take many liberties in its as- cable industry. This second rulemaking goes
sumptions. Now Mr.Sikes is in a position to directly to the question of rate regulation, Well, that's — an overview of all the
actually try to make some of the things in the and may be the one that "short circuits" all craziness going on right now. In separate
other efforts since it is likely to be the first one articles s this issue you will also get a flavor
report come true and he appears to intend to y for"must carry/must pay," telco cross sub-
do just that. The "Notices of Inquiry" and to be acted upon. Interestingly,with all of the
"Notices of Rulemaking"that have come out over 100 interrelated questions that have sidy,and the like but the political situation as
been asked in the two proceedings,when t>u outlined here is essential to your understand-
regarding cable have a somewhat hollow rind 1 b', Y
to them when you listen to the Chairman and analyze them you find out that the Commis- ing of the upcoming months,and what you
his aides almost campaign around the country sion is really asking the same questions over have to do. The bottom line is that we have
in press interviews,speeches,"field hearings" and over again in different forms: is the cable been intentionally painted into a corner by
See Battleground on page 6
February 1990 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIIIIIII 5
Battleground NYNEX Charged with
those who have their own interests. We have
helped them along by not doing as good a job $65 Million Rate Scam
as we should have regarding cable rates,cus-
tomer service and the like. We have been The diagram at right tells the story. Where. The higher costs were passed on to
particularly hurt by the few "bad actors" in NYNEX, one of the seven Regional Bell the telephone rate payers. The profits went to
the industry who have already come and gone Operating Companies (RBOCs) has been NYNEX. Great scheme, and no one thinks
making quick financial plays at the expense of fined by the FCC for intentionally fabricating this is the only one. All you have to do is note
subscribers. The increasing cost of sports excess charges from its unregulated to its that several of the RBOCs,for instance have
programming and the particularly vocal na- regulated subsidiaries in order to"milk"profits "real estate"subsidiaries,but most of the real
ture of the minority of cable viewers who are from telephone rate payers. It comes as no estate they deal in is leased by the same
avid sports fans has also added immeasurably surprise to those who monitor these compa- company's regulated subsidiaries!
to our difficulties. nies that this is happening. The argument The real shocker in the NYNEX case is
against letting the RBOCs into any new infor- that the company played this game from
"...the wild accusations about mation service industries is premised precisely 1984 until 1990 before being caught! The
the industry with regard to on the concern that they will do exactly the illegality was first brought to public attention,
same sorts of things when"competing;"with by the way,in an investigative report done in
excessive rates and the like the Boston Globe in December of 1988.
are simply not correct when others. Li other words the telephone rate
p y payers will unknowingly cross subsidize; the Now the FCC; claims that their action just
put Into context." telco entry into competitive businesses. The
cross subsidy,of course,will make for a very
The politicians tank they need to do short battle for dominance of the market
"sometlhing"in reaction to all this. They are since the telcos will be using hidden profits
not clear, however, on what that "some- from regulated portions of their business to
thing"should be. The new FCC also is in an get the upper hand. Materiel Enterprises Co.
"activist"mode,and wants to be sure that its In the NYNEX case the unregulated lA NYNEX-owned,non-
recommendations and actions are not "buying arm" ' b regulated company]
of the business bought equip-
preempted by the Congress. It is a good bet, ment and then resold it to the regulated side 4PM4
equipment to NY
"something" ne and New England
looking at all this,that something will be for a hefty profit. The regulated companies ne at inflated prices .
done! The question is what? were told by the front office that they in
From our point of view what MUST be essence had to buy all their equipment from
done right now is to set the record straight , the one (owned) supplier, even though the �uu
before ANY action is taken! Sure,we have prices were higher than could be gotten else
made some mistakes, we have made some New York Telephone Co. New England Telephone
doozies! But we have also done one heck of [A NYNEX-owned, &Telegraph
ht-and the wild accusations about the regulated company] [A NYNEX-owned,
a lot right regulated company]
industrywith regard to excessive rates and the words to
like are simply not correct when those rates Bills consumers for millions In
are put into context. Remember costs of Material Enterprises
equipment
That is your job.We need you to tell your
story,in your words,to your Congressmen, Inthe m[dstofalIthe yell ing and seream-
Senators,the respective leaders of the Com- ing about potential"reregulation"of the CONSUMERS
munications and Commerce committees,the cable industry, and highly questionable proves that they are"up"to the job of moni-
FCC and your local officials. You need to presumption that the government-any toring the telcos and that it is OK to let them
compare your prices in 1972 to your prices government, would know how to run a in to compete in other information service
today. Compare those prices to other goods business,any business better than the areas,we need not worry,the FCC is watch-
folks running it, the following, from a
in your local market. Compare labor costs, ing Six years. It took six years and a front
equipment costs,and point out the increased recent court opinion regarding cable tele- page expose before ANY governmental agency
channel capacity and program diversity you vision, should be emblazoned on every actually acted! Competitors will be long gone
offer for the price. Government officials seem reregulator's desk: before such"protection"as the FCC is offer-
In enforcing regulations designed
to be making cable television into a"neces- by the regulator to make futuristic vi- ing us shows up! Makes you feel all warm and
sity" all of a sudden. But compare that sions come true, the Courts must pro- safe in the "open marketplace," doesn't it?
"necessity" to the local health care cost in- Beed with a Care proportional to the risk To be fair (and we are renowned for our
creases,or transportation increases,or school of delivery thereby into regulator's hands efforts at fairness in these pages), the Com-
cost increases—the real estate taxes,the in- an awesome power. For that waymay lie mission says they were indeed investigating t,�
stallation and maintenance charges for a tele- not just a totally regulated future,unpal- the situation before the Boston Globe put the
phone and the like. You will find that in atable as that may be to a free people, whole thing on the front pages. Thcy just
almost all cases cable comes out lookingvery but agovernment-designed,government
ry didn't put it on the`front burner',
until the
t
d f
k
a
overnment-pcageuure.
good in the comparison. ButYOUhavetodo molded,greports became public! As they say,"...with
it. You have to do it now or it will be too late. dcicndcrs like that..."
6 CATAcahle
• "Must Carry/Must Pay" —
A Formula for Broadcast Disaster
Well,we have to admit,at fust we thought started! We provided and still do a value up to cable to get the other program services
they were kidding. A few months ago the added delivery service. We don't sell the as well.
rumors started circulating that the broadcast signal. Further, our research shows that The irony here is that these same broad-
industry, spurred on by CBS, was seriously people do not sign on cable in these days of casters have created the cable/local signal
thinking of"upping the ante"in its demands merger themselves by insisting for the last
for cable "must carry," and adding that we twenty years that we HAD to carry their
would have to PAY for the carriage of local "if the public starts asking signals! Of course,as noted above,there was
signals as well as being required to carry them. Why we have huge deficits and a good reason for that—a lot of people could
Now we need not go into all the details at the same time we aregiving not have seen those signals without cable!
.
about"must carry"again here. The Courts The UHF broadcast industry would not exist
have found the concept to violate the First public property away to private in the main today — and certainly not as
Amendment rights of cable operators on two companies so that they can strong as it is today had it not been for cable
tries now. The cable industry has said we arc make a profit then the political television eliminating the technical Anality
willing to abide by a reasonable"must carry" equation on Capitol Hill will dit}erences in reception between UHF and
regime,even if it is not written in stone. We change." VHF stations all these years. They should
agreed to a compromise and most operators have been paying us all this time, not the
nationwide are following it even though it is other way around!
not law. CA1'A has suggested lin•years that many diverse programming services"just"to So why now come up with "must pay"?
the right way to solve the problem is through get broadcast signals. If that is all someone "There is lots of speculation. The proposals all
private contracts between cable operators and wanted they could go out and put up an ex- include a highly questionable legal hook—
broadcasters. That would solve the legal pensive antenna and get those signals them- that is, if you carry any one local broadcast
problems, the channel position problems, selves. Sure, they like the convenience we station you have to carry all. And you have to
protect cable's Constitutional prerogatives offer of not having to do that,but they hook See Disaster on page 8
and give the broadcasters,or at least most of
them,the security that they say they need.
But no,the broadcasters want it written
into law that they are the "chosen people" When the Government
when it comes to governmental First Amend-
ment preferences for speakers. We still don't Tries to Become The Editor
believe that will fly in Court,but OK,we are
willing to even go along and help draft legis-
lation to see if it will satisfy their need. There are some basic,and very legitimate holding needed funds hostage in order to
What do the broadcasters do upon hear- concerns about the massive push we are now back up his demand. Thankfitlly for now,at
ing that? They up the ante. They want seeing toward the government,especially local least, KQED has refused to buckle under.
guaranteed channel positions(not on-chan- governments reasserting regulatory control But that is a great example of why NOT to put
nel, as we have proposed). And now, they over cable. The control of rates means that media under local political control! We are
want to be paid as well. The argument is that the government has an extremely coercive not making these things up—they actually
broadcasters are the "most watched" seg- power over just about anything the cable happen!
ment of cable's basic service,so,they errone- medium does. Two recent examples of how In another frightening example, a Wis-
ously figure,the reason people are signing up that power could be exercised are instructive. consin court has indicated that local authori-
for cable is to watch broadcast signals. This The public radio station in San Francisco ties can mandate the type of programming a
they translate into the allegation that cable is is under attack by that city's mayor. It seems cable system is required to carry in accordance
"selling""their"signal,and they have a right that the station needs approval of tax exempt with its franchise. Now we knew that was true
to some of the money. They are suggesting bonds to complete a building project. The from the Cable Act of 1984(remember—the
20%of basic revenues. Mayor now says lie will not give them the "DEregulatory" act). But we didn't know
There are so many errors in the logic of approval unless the station drops carriage of how specific the local officials could be! In
the broadcasters that it is hard to know where programming provided by the Christian Sci- this case a cable system dropped WOR car-
to start. First of all,cable does NOT sell,or ence Monitor. The Monitor company,in a riage and replaced it with a split channel of
resell local broadcast signals. We started out, totally unrelated case having to do with its VISN (religious broadcasting) and
and remain a delivery service for those signals. newspaper operations, not its radio broad- SportsChannel America. The court said the
\ Broadcasters have always done a lousy job of casts, had been accused of discrimination community could not require the reinstate-
distributing their free spectrum behind hills, against homosexuals. The Monitor company nent of WOR, but a "broad" category like
or between tall buildings and people wanted denies the charge. KQED the radio station "...cast...cast coast programming' would be OK!
better reception than the broadcasters, on has nothing to do with the accusation. Yet Can you imagine what sone of the "broad"
their own, supplied. That's how cable got the Mavor wants to play editor — and is categories arc going to look like in the fliirurc?
February 1990 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII�III 7
;Disaster It's an incredible strategy and one that is
not finding much sympathy except in ex-
pay for all. Given the legal problems of pure pected quarters on Capitol Hill. Why, we — —— — —
"must carry,"we thinkTHAT idea is doomed wonder, would Congress continue to give
from the start. And we think the boys who away the spectrum to broadcasters when they
dreamed this whole scheme up really know have virtually no"public interest"obligations
that. They don't want competitive broad- any more and now want to charge the local
casters carried or paid, they just will let the public for reception? Does anyone doubt that
Courts do the dirty work for them and let the the public would wind up paying that extra
weaker and smaller stations fall by the wayside 20%? In fact, the concept of giving the With all the complaints about cable rates,
when the law ultimately becomes simple"re- spectrum away to the broadcasters is finally we are amazed sometimes to see other
transmission consent." In other words,if the attracting the attention of some very power- rate cards and cost analyses that arrive in
local cable operator wants to carry a given fill folks on Capitol Hill. the mail. Our local telephone company,
local signal he or she has to cut a deal with that Senator Hollings mentioned a"spectrum for instance, no longer maintains the
station—but not all stations. That way the fee"several years ago and got seriously politi- telephone wires inside the house. Now
powerful local stations will likely be able to cally burned when he got no support for the they are proposing a great"deal" where
cut deals, but the smaller independents will idea and the broadcast lobby attacked him on we get to pay$2 extra each month to
go under. the Hill. But that was at a time when the issue service those wires in case service is
It is astuundiug to us that the independ- was only in Ibcus "inside the Washington needed. They also have a $9 "application
ent television stations don't see this scam by beltway". Now the general public is slowly fee" for us to apply to pay theml What
their bigger brethren for what it is: a formula becoming aware of the fact that the broad- are the costs In your town? Tell your
Mayor. Tell your Congressman) Tell your
for disaster. casters have made many millions ofdollars of Senator. Most importantly,tell your eus-
Why do the biggies care? Well,CBS for profit over the years at their expense,and with tomersl
one is hurting. The network isn't being their spectrum. Did you know that the average cost of
watched that much these days and would like If the public starts asking why we have a loaf of bread has gone up close to 450%
to bolster its income. If a full "must carry/ huge deficits and at the same time we are in the last 20 years? That's over 150%
must pay" scheme went into effect the way giving public property away to private com- more than cable service, and the loaf of
they envision it,analysts estimate the network panies so they can make a profit then the bread is the same size it was 20 years
could reap a$240 Million windfall from the political equation on Capitol Hill will change. ago. Cable has tripled in size and
"Antenna Tax." That comes out to about$6 Congressman Dingell signaled the beginning certainly improved in quality as well.
per share,or more than half of what analysts of that change when he noted the other day:
expect the company to earn this year! That's ...given our budget constraints; the
not bad for doing nothing but changing the President's (budget)proposal, and the dwin-
dling obligations of broadcasters to serve the
laws in your favor—and of course charging public, the Committee will look at spectrum
the viewing public for the"right"to see local charges,probably with more sympathy than in
broadcast signals! previous years.
And that's just the beginning.
s
Help the Head Counters!
The 1990 Census,a once-every-ten-year exercise in determining how many
of us there really are in these United States and where we are and what we do will
start on April 1. This is not only a tremendously important task for the good of
the Nation, it is also an opportunity for every local business person to get in-
volved. CATA wants all cable operators to get involved in the effort too.
Information kits are available for anyone who wants materials and ideas on
how a local cable system can become a team player in the 1990 Census. Just call CATAeable
the office for your copy. Because of the importance of the census for political CATAeable is published monthly by the
apportionment you can bet that your local and state officials will be very inter- Community Antenna Television Asso-
ested and appreciative of any help you can give. This is a good opportunity to ciation. Address all inquiries and eorre-
reacquaint yourselfwith those officials and maybe get them to do a television spot spondence to: Editor,CATAeable, Com- .,
or two supporting Census 1990. munity Antenna Television Association,
P.O. Box 1005, Fairfax,Virginia 22030.
N Phone: (703) 691-8875
8 ���"��������IIIIIIIIIII CATAeable
?t� JORK `',,f NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION THEODORE E.MULFORD
ON CABLE TELEVISION _ Commd honer
BARBARA T.ROCHMAN
CORNING TOWER BLDG.,EMPIRE STATE PLAZA Commissioner
ALBANY,NEW YORK 12223 JOHN A.GUSSOW
-- c (518)474 4992 Commissioner
JOHN A.PASSIDOMO
Commisrtaner
ON ON C1��f WILLIAM B.FINNERAN-Chairman
EDWARD P. KEARSE
Executwe Director
.. , i�90
RECEIVED �� 1 3
February 8, 1990
Ms. Beverly Harris
798 S. Plain Stret
Ithaca, NY 14850
Case # 9002030
Dear Ms. Harris:
Your letter questioning American Community Cablevision's change
in rates and programming is similar to several received by this
office statewide. You may wish to contact your congressional
representative on this issue as it was a federal law that deregulated
cable television rates and programming.
The United States Congress passed a Cable Communications Policy
Act of 1984, which was signed into law by President Reagan on October
30, 1984. Section 623 of this law (Public Law 98-549) took away New
York State 's right along with the local government ability to
regulate the rates and programming of cable operators as of the first
of January 1987.
The Commission strongly opposed the federal law and made every
effort to block its passage. While the rate deregulation and the
lack of ability to regulate the programming have lessened the
Commission 's ability to act on those issues, our efforts did allow
for many of our regulatory oversight responsibilities to remain in
force.
The attached Consumer Rights Pamphlet outlines many areas in
which we can be of assistance. Our offices can be reached at
1-800-342-3330.
Sincerely,
'Carol Jamison
Municipal Consultant
CJ :omc
cc: American Community Cablevision
y NEW YORK STATE
C0h1MI SS 1011 ON CABLE TELEV I S I 011
HAVE YOU COMPLAINED TO YOUR CABLE COMPANY?
PLEASE DO SO BEFORE YOU RETURN THIS FORM.
SUBSCRIBER C /�
YOUR NAME 1 0Ii I._S V'`
F ` Y
Last Name First Dame Middle Initial
YOUR HOME ADDRESS77S S, P� A I rel -1 T 5 3
No. L Street
City State Zip Code County I
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER ( L U7) X77— 3 �8
Home Business
NATURE OF COMPLAINT
AMP iC.AIV Co M C2 U N fT Y
NAME OF CABLE C,!DA4PANY
STREET
CITY STATE ZIP '
TELF.,PHON E NUMBER
Date You First Complained to the Cable Company. I
DESCRIPTION OF C01,4PLAINT ( for example : service problem, billing ,
address chanae . etc . ) ,
I
(conz ' d)
What form of relief are you seeking? (for example : new converter box ,
correction in bill , service , etc . )
i
How Cic you learn of this office ' s services?
?L_A 7 Ti r:C: TO ,` : _S -'C�``: _� C_1OC_C?T�S c_ 2 ��° 'p; 11� c^c:iCElleCl c1�8^'.%
_ ,
C C:_ _ c CitCc2 c , V'=H Craters , c0: ac:-c '. 1 _ :22 �_E_ or C.he Pape-s
SIGN:7 7
NOT
:0�.. S�-
- - S-_ p = _
1-500-'3 2-3330
30
GO.
January 31t 1990 8 -6 A11 :38
To Whom It May Concern:
Our rates for the cable here in Ithaca are going higher
all the time . Most of the programs- we get on the cable
are not worth what we are paying for the cable . There
are several people here in Titus Towers who had the cable
shut off when the last increase in rates went in effect
because they couldn' t afford it. Now others will have to
have it smut off when this increase goes into effect on
March 1 , 1990..
The people who live in Titus Towers are either retired
or disabled and are on a fixed income. For many of those
here this is all they have because some rarely leave their
apartment because they aren' t able to leave . It sure just
does not seem fair that these rates should be allowed to
be increased so often.
I hope there is something you can do to help us.
Enclosed you will find a letter I wrote to Ms. Lukens who
is one of the top ones at ACC in Ithaca.
Thank you,
Beverly Harris
798 S. Plain St.
Apt. 453
Ithaca, N.Y.
14850
i 4
January:25, 1990
Dear Ms. Lukens,
I am writing about my concerns to the increase in the cable
fees that go into effect on March 1, 1990.
It is a discrace the way the cable is increasing their rates
so often. Those of us who are retired or disabled depend on
TV for our enjoyment because we are on a fixed income and
can' t afford to go out and have a good time . I have seen
channels 5, 7 and 40 taken away from us unless we pay extra
for them. In the place of these channels we have received
a 24 hr. news station, a 24 hr. weather station and a 24 hr.
sports station. I am not happy about this, but I have to
accept it. On top of that, now you are adding -another $1.10
a month on the already expensive bill. It just isn' t fair
at all. With the programs we get on television the rates
are terrible . There just isn' t very many decent programs
on the cable .
I believe that ACC should - be re-evaluated to see why the
fees and programs are in the shape they arcrT'in. We have no
choice because you are a monopoly in the city of Ithaca.
Sincerely,
Beverly Harris
798 S. Plain St.
Apt. 453
Ithaca, N.Y.
14850
roaK sr NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION THEODORE E.MULFORD
ON CABLE TELEVISION Commissioner
T.ROCHMAN
CORNING TOWER BLDG.,EMPIRE STATE PLAZA Commissioner
ALBANY,NEW YORK 12223 JOHN A.GUSSOW
_ (518)474-4992 Commissioner
° JOHN A.PASSIDOMO
Commissioner
irdrON oN on6WILLIAM B. FINNERAN-Chairman EDWARD P. KEARSE
Executive Director
c c Q 14 1991
February 12, 1990
Honorable John C. Gutenberger
Mayor
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Case # 9002049
Dear Mayor Gutenberger:
You will find enclosed a copy of correspondence we received from
a resident of your municipality. We received it and forwarded a copy
to American Community Cablevision asking for a reply within ten days.
This correspondence is for your information since this company
operates within your jurisdiction.
If we can be of further assistance to you, please do not
hesitate to contact us at 518-474-2212. Should other residents of
your area be experiencing cable television related problems, please
give them our toll-free number 1-800-342-3330 for assistance.
Sincerely,
Carol Jamison
Municipal Consultant
CJ:omc
.6
0,
VY-
DATE DUE AMOUNT DUE
A C C 02/05/90 347.99
519 WEST STATE STREET DO NOT WRITE ANY
ITHACA NY 14850-5221 MESSAGES ON THIS
BILL. SEND NOTES ,
TO ACC IN A SEP- $
ARATE ENVELOPE
OR POSTCARD.
J 0 PLEASE RETURN THIS TOP PORTION ONLY,WITH REMITTANCE TO —q ...'Ihas4 ?jeotl
71 PLEASE INDICATE
01 - 120-0 1-9 0-A-D AMOUNT ENCLOSED
0
00 **1 CP 1.46279.29**CR 17
21 VERONICA HORN AMERI COMM CABLEVISION
0 '416 WOOD ST 1STF P.O. BOX 519
ITHACA NY 14850-5333 ITHACA NY 14851-5297
05853 004404 04 0 9 034799
1
ACCOUNT NUMBER BILLED FROM BILLED TO DATE DUE INCLUDES PAYMENTS
AMERICAN COMMUNITY RECEIVED BY
CABLEVISION 05853-004404-04-0 02/05/90 1/17/90
BILLING QUESTIONS CALL 272-3456 OFFICE
FOR- 416 WOOD ST 1STF HOURS M-F 8=30-6:00 PM SAT 9 AM-NOON
(WALK-IN ONLY) NY STATE CABLE
1/15 BEGINNING BALANCE 347.99 COMMISSION 1-800-342-3330
THE FINAL BALANCE SHOWN ON YOUR
1/31 BALANCE DUE 347.99 ACCOUNT IS NOW DUE. WE MUST
REQUEST PROMPT PAYMENT TO AVOID
ANY FURTHER ACTION. THANK YOU.
..�
ACC -
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
February 12, 1990
Mr. Charles Guttman
City Attorney
City of Ithaca
108 E . Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Guttman:
With this letter I would like to inform the City of Ithaca of
some changes which are going to be made to ACC ' s channel line-up.
We plan to rollout most of the changes on May 1 , 1990. Since
this plan has not yet been fully detailed the timing could
possibly change . If that is the case , I will notify you at once .
I feel it is important to let you know of the planned changes as
soon as possible, hence this letter and the tentative date .
ACC is moving five local signals to its basic cable service tier.
These channels are not new, but have been carried on the upper
tier of our standard cable service . As a result of the changes
to the line-up, ACC will offer subscribers a 16-channel basic
cable service instead of the 12-channel basic cable service we
now offer. The cost of the 16 channels will be the same as the
V planned price for the 12-channel service - $11 . 52 plus franchise
fees .
The reasons for the changes are twofold and both in response to
comments from our subscribers. First, we are removing the Prevue
Guide (cable channel 6 ) from our line-up completely. Second,
in response to customer requests, we are moving channels 5, 40
and 36 back to the basic tier. Also, ACC wanted to have all
broadcast ( non-cable ) stations on one tier of service . While
this change could be completed with less cost to ACC by removing
cable programming from its basic tier, we choose instead to
increase the number of channels on the basic cable service tier
from 12 to 16 for the benefit of basic cable subscribers. *
Our stand ' d 40 channel cable service will continue to be priced
at $18. 19 per month plus franchise fees. This standard service
is comprised of two tiers of service : a tier of 16 channels
priced at $11 . 52 plus franchise fees and a tier of 24 channels
priced at an additional $6 . 67 plus franchise fees. ACC will add
a new cable channel, the popular American Movie Classics, to this
service level as of May 1 , 1990 . I have included information on
AMC for you.
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
I have attached a new channel line-up for your information. All
changes have been footnoted at the bottom of the page for easy
reference. Not all of the changes are directly attributable to
the increase in channels on the basic cable service . For
example, cable channel 7 will begin to carry local origination
material, slowly at first, and we hope with more regularity in
the future . In addition, we will use channel 7 to keep viewers
informed of Pay-Per-View events.
As always, American Community Cablevision remains committed to
providing the highest quality programming and customer service .
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
enc.
c c:
Ithaca Cabre' Fmssion
Mayor Ben Nichols
* see attached
1
dt
A set-top channel selector will be required in order for a
subscriber to receive the entire 16 channel basic cable service,
unless the subscriber has a cable ready television set. ACC will
be establishing a number of convenient locations around the city
where subscribers will be able to pick up their channel selector
+ ( s ) . Basic cable subscribers who require a channel selector
swill receive the first one at no charge .
There is no fee for an additional basic cable service outlet and
ACC will continue to provide additional outlets free of charge .
A subscriber will still be able to watch 12 channels on his/her
additional outlet without a channel selector; or with a cable
ready set would be able to view all 16 channels without requiring
a channel selector. A subscriber who wishes to receive 16
channels on his/her additional outlet on a non-cable ready TV and
who will thereby need an additional channel selector (beyond the
first free channel selector) will be charged a channel selector
fee of $3. 00 per month plus franchise fees.
0 12 channels without a channel selector on a non-cable ready TV
0 16 channels without a channel selector with a cable ready TV
0 16 channels with a channel selector on a non-cable ready TV
Those subscribers who presently receive our standard cable
service (40 channels) on an additional outlet pay a monthly
additional outlet fee of $5 . 71 plus franchise fees for the use of
the channel selector. This will not change.
r -
'
ITHACA CHANNEL LINE-UP MAY 1990
01 PAY-PER-VIEW
B 02 ABC-9/WIXT
B 03 NBC-3/WSTM
B 04 PBS-24/WCNY
B 05 CNN
B* 06 FOX-68/WSYT
�
B 07 THE WEATHER CHANNEL/L.O. /PPV B
B 07 NEWSCENTER 7, M-F 6-11PM ON TH
B 08 PBS-46/WSKG
B 09 WWOR-9
B 1(.i ESPN
B 11 WPIX-11
B 1:t. CBS-12/WBN6
B 1b THE LEARNING CHANNEL
B 13 CABLE 13, PUBLIC ACCESS
+ 14 HBO
+ 15 CINEMAX
+ 16 THE DISNEY CHANNEL
B 17 CBS-5/WTVH
B 18 NBC-40/WICZ
B* 19 PB8-44/WVIA
B 20 AbC-36/WENY
-
21 MTV
22 USANETWORK
* 23 FNN
24 C_-SPAN
* 25 NICK/NICK-AT-NITE
* 26 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
-----------------------------------------
AVAILABLE IN REBUILT AREAS
27 CNBC �
28 MSG/TRAVEL CHANNEL
29 BRAVO/C:-SPAN II
30 DISCOVERY
* 31 AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS/TWC
32 HEADLINE NEWS
33 THE FAMILY CHANNEL
34 NASHVILLE NETWORK
* 35 JC PENNEY'S SHOPPING
36 VIDEO HITS 1
37 LIFETIME
38 BLACK ENTERTAINMENT
39 TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION
40 THE LEARNING CHANNEL '
41 QVC
42 THE WEATHER CHANNEL
43 THE COMEDY CHANNEL
B=BASIC SERVICE CHANNEL
+=PREMIUM CHANNEL
*=CHANNEL CHANGE
^ °
~
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
Report to Ithaca Cable Commission, Feb' 21 , 1990
o Response to Commission Inquiry
Evelyn Pugsley reported that she had had a senior citizen' s
discount at one time, but was not getting it anymore. In
checking our records we discovered that this was accurate. We
believe that the computer code was accidently removed from her
account . The discount has been reinstated retroactrive to the
time when it was discontinued and Ms. Pugsley has been notified.
We are rechecking all of the accounts for seniors to make sure
that no others were aaffected.
Melvin Creswell ' s converter and remote control were allegedly
damaged in a fire which took place at his apartment complex. ACC
is working w/ Mr . Creswell to clear this up, but per ACC policy,
he is being charged $110 for the replacement cost of the
equipment (normal charge for lost equipment would be $275) . ACC
is unable to locate Mr . Creswell to discuss this with him
directly. He has apparently moved several times since this
incident . Although the fire was not caused by Mr . Creswell ,
he was responsible for the equipment which had been loaned to or
rented by him. �
o Selection of Access Advisory Board representatives
ACC has chosen two new access users to represent them on the
AAB. They are Frances MacKenzie and Floyd Johnson. A short bio
for each individual is attached for your information
o Access policies and procedures
ACC has written policies and procedures for the operation and
use of the public access studio in compliance with the franchise
agreement . A copy is being provided to the Ithaca Cable
Commission and to the NY State Commission on Cable Television.
This document was reviewed by the AAD and many of their
suggestions were utilized in making it a very usable and
worthwhile guide. Lauren Stefanelli , ACC' s access coordinator ,
was the primary author of this document , and ACC would like to
thank her publicly for the fine job she did.
more. . .
1
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
o Channel changes effective May 1990 - see previously delivered
letter .
o Commission Op Ed piece
It appears that the Ithaca Cable Commission is attempting to
solicit negative comments and/or complaints because the tone of
the piece is negative and inflamatory.
Some inaccuracies exist - ACC' s most recent survey (winter
' 89/90) indicates and equal interest in WBNG and WTVH (34% and
33% respectively) . Also, according to Steve Shaye at the NY
State Commission on Cable Television, concern by local citizen' s
about granting ACC a 15 year franchise was not the primary reason
that they reduced the franchise term to 10 years. The reduction
had more to do with avoiding a precedent and the fact that
technologies change so quickly that in 10 years the system in
Ithaca could be far out-moded. As a matter of fact , all of the
letters received by the commission requesting they disapprove a
15 year franchise were from members of the access show "More Than
the News" - hardly a public outcry as described by your letter .
Would it not be more productive to write a letter which asks
for public input ' but which does not color the tone of the input ,
but instead is written in a more objective fashion?
o Survey Results
At an earlier meeting, Barb Lukens informed the commission
that ACC had had a telephone survey done, and that the results of
that survey would be shared with the commission. A summary of
the results are attached.
o Installer Post Cards
Since December , ACC installers have been leaving a post card
i
with new customers requesting feedback on ACC' s performance as it
relates to the installation process. A summary of the responses
received is attached for your information. I think you will see
that responses are generally very favorable. We will soon be
providing similar response cards for service calls.
o Newsletter Responses '
We included a "Please Let Us Know" form in our January
newsletter . To date we have received about 50 responses from
subscribers, and have either called them or written them with our
answers.
2
ACCESS ADVISORY BOARD. Some of her productions include :
APPOINTMENTS Investment Strategies , a series of
programs giving tax advice ; Behind
At the February 21 meeting of the the Veil , a documentary on the
Ithaca City Cable Commission, the Mirage belly dancing troupe ;
City of Ithaca and ACC made Gentle Giants , a study of local
new appointments to the Access draft horses which has won a
Advisory Board . Under an agreement number of regional awards ; two and
made in January , the appointments one half hours of coverage of last
are divided between 1 and 2 year year's Empire State Games ;
terms . Christmas concerts by the Cornell
Chimes and Sage Chapel Choir ; a
ACC's appointees are : series of beautiful studies in
local landscape and a set of logo
1 City Resident - 2 Year Term tapes for the access station .
Floyd Johnson
She has also helped other
Floyd Johnson has been involved volunteers in their efforts . She
with community access for more is a regular cast member for Take
than ten years . He has produced 1 , and has served as a host and
and directed a number of series as Tnterviewer for 'Round About
well as individual programs . His Ithaca , What's Happening , and Our
two best known series were Tai Chi Community.
and Pearly-Mae Time , produced in
the early to mid-1980s . In the real world, Frances works
at Emerson Power Transmission as a
He has also worked, in assorted market analyst.
crew positions, on a variety of
other access productions , includ-
ing Take 1 , The Imani Hour , and ----
Family Focus .
In addition, Floyd served as one
of our CABLE 13 A. C .E. judges last
year.
Aside from his work with public
access , Floyd works as an
Emergency Shelter Manager for the
Red Cross.
1 Non-City Resident - 1 Year Term
Frances McKenzie
Frances McKenzie has been one of
our most active and productive
volunteers for the past 4 years .
She has produced and participated
in programs of a bewildering
variety. Her. technical and organi-
zational abilities have set a high
standard for other volunteers to
strive for.
'
. KEY FINDINGS
Ithaca Subscriber Survey
December 1989
o The basic-cable-service-only* subscribers mainly like their
cable service for the broadcast channels on it and the reception.
CNN and ESPN also drew a fair percentage of mentions as things
liked. Their major reason for not taking the standard cable
service is that they don' t watch much TV.
o The standard cable** subscriber ' s favorite channels on the
. channels other than 2-16 (pr their perceptions of this service)
are ESPN, USA Network, MTV and Nickelodeon.
o WIXT-channel 9 is the clear preference between the ABC
affiliates, with 56% of the standard cable service subscribers
choosing it , while only 14% chose WENY-channel 36.
o WSTM-channel 3 is the clear preference between the NBC
affiliates, with 54% of the standard cable service subscribers
choosing it, while only 19% chose WICZ-channel 40.
o The two CBS affiliates apparently have similar app�al , with
34% of the standard cable service subscribers choosing WBNG-
channel 12, and 33% choosing WTVH-channel 5.
o Almost two-thirds (64%) of the standard cable service
subscribers would be satisfied if the PBS channel WVI# were
replaced by American Movie Classics, while 28% would be
dissatisfied. ( 18% would be "not at all satisfied. " )
o Approximately 56% of the total subscribers feel that it is
important for the cable company to provide studios, equipment and
a cable channel for community access programming, while 41% do
not feel that it is important .
o Very little use is made of the Prevue Guide channel , with 45%
of the subscribers never using it , and 22% seldom using it .
o Ithaca' s basic-cable-service-only subscribers are more likely
to be older , less likely to have children in the household, and
more likely to be in the lower income groups than are the
standard cable service subscribers.
* basic cable service as defined in this survey is channels 2-13.
** standard cable service as defined in this survey is channels
1-26 or 1-43 excluding channels 14, 15 and 16) .
1
YES NO
• Was your connection of cable service
i completed at the time it was scheduled?
YES NO
If not,did we call to reschedule your
i connection?
YES NO
• Was your cable connection completed
to your satisfaction?
If not,please explain.
• What was your impression of the people who did the work?
Excellent Good Average Poor /v{/A
a) Courteous
b) Properly identified
c) Neat about the job
d) Neat in appearance _ _
• Did our representative explain:
Yds O
a) Your new channels and service? h✓ Ni
b) How the channel selector works? 7
c) What prices to expect on your first bill?
• Do you have any other comments or suggestions?
Name Telephone
Address Date
City/State/Zip
-
ITHACA CHANNEL LINE-UP MAY 1990
PAY-PER-VIEW
B ABC-9/WlXT
B NBC-3/WSTM
B PBS-24/WCNY
B CNN
B* FOX-68/WSYT
B THE WEATHER CHANNEL/L. O. /PPV BARKER
B NEWSCENTER 7, M-F 6-11PM ON THE HOUR
B PBS-46/WSK8
B WWOR-9
B ESPN
B WPIX-11
B CBS-12/WBNG
B THE LEARNING CHANNEL
B CABLE 13, PUBLIC ACCESS
+ HBO
+ CINEMAX
+ THE DISNEY CHANNEL
B CBS-5yWTVH
8 NBC-40/WICZ
B* PBS-44/WVIA
B ABC-36/WENY
MTV
USA NETWORK
* FNN
C-SPAN
* NICK/NICK-AT-NITE
* ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
AVAILABLE IN REBUILT AREAS
CNBC
MSG/TRAVEL CHANNEL
BRAVO/C-SPAN II
DISCOVERY
* AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS/TWC
HEADLINE NEWS
THE FAMILY CHANNEL
NASHVILLE NETWORK
* JC PENNEY' S SHOPPING
VIDEO HITS 1
LIFETIME
BLACK ENTERTAINMENT
TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION
THE LEARNING CHANNEL
QVC
THE WEATHER CHANNEL
THE COMEDY CHANNEL
B=BASIC SERVICE CHANNEL
+=PREMIUM CHANNEL
*=CHANNEL CHANGE
Bill Demo
119 Auburn Street
-- Ithaca, NY 14850
February 22, 1990
Ben Nichols, Mayor
Ithaca City Hall
108 East Green Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Ben:
The Cable Commission, at its meeting of February 21, reviewed and
discussed at some length the issues related to funding of NY-
SCAN(see attachments). As you know, the State Cable Commission
is supporting legislation that would expand NY-SCAN's operations
statewide through an assessment on existing local cable revenues.
The New York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal
Officials (NYCOM) opposes the legislation since it would have the
effect of reducing local cable revenues going to many
municipalities. According to the State Cable Commission's
projections, Ithaca would be contributing $272.00 in monthly
revenues, which nets out to $3,264.00 a year.
The consensus of the Commission members present at Wednesday's
meeting was that the issue of support vs. non-support for the
legislation be referred to Common Council, based on the fact that
this seems, first and foremost, a revenue issue for the City.
The basic question is whether Ithaca is willing to help subsidize
NY-SCAN's operations.
Several other points were also raised during our discussions.
They are:
-- ACC is able at present to order tapes of NY-SCAN pro-
gramming at the behest of local agencies.
-- There is no guarantee on ACC's part that they would run
expanded NY-SCAN programming even if it were available
by direct satellite feed. Chris Doyle, ACC's Marketing
and Operations Manager, indicated that ACC would parti-
cipate in some form of viewer interest survey.
-- On the other hand, the programming might be quite
appropriate for the additional governmental channel
access called for in the franchise.
-- This method of subsidizing NY-SCAN's expanded operations
would seem to be one of several funding options that
might be pursued. Perhaps it might be worthwhile to
suggest to the State Cable Commission that it explore
alternative funding mechanisms.
Ben Nichols, 2/22/90, p2
The Cable Commission basically supports the concept of NY-SCAN
and applauds efforts to broaden citizen involvement in government
and public affairs. We simply ask Common Council to consider
whether the City of Ithaca should help fund the initiative.
Sincerely, JI
Bill Demo, Chair
Ithaca City Cable Commission
cc: Cable Commission members
Barbara Lukens, ACC General Manager
eta immmer
��° NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION THEODORE E.MULFORD
ComON CABLE TELEVISION BARBARA BARBARA T.ROCHMAN
CORNING TOWER BLDG.,EMPIRE STATE PLAZA Cammissioner
ALBANY,NEW YORK 12223 JOHN A.GUSSOW
o u (518)474-4992 Commissioner
F101 JOHN A.PASSIDOMO
o;'y�aa� �E��, Commissioner
°M� cn��E WILLIAM B.FINNERAN-Chairman R E.L;V E D FEB 2 6 1990 EDWARD P.KEARSE
Executive Director
February 23, 1990
Ms . Freda Skibinski
800 S. Plain St. , #306
Ithaca, NY 14850
Case # 9002075
Dear Mr. Skibinski:
Your letter questioning American Community Cablevision's change
in rates and programming is similar to several received by this
office statewide. You may wish to contact your congressional
representative on this issue as it was a federal law that deregulated
cable television rates and programming.
The United States Congress passed a Cable Communications Policy
Act of 1984, which was signed into law by President Reagan on October
30, 1984. Section 623 of this law (Public Law 98-549) took away New
York State 's right along with the local government ability to
regulate the rates and programming of cable operators as of the first
of January 1987.
The Commission strongly opposed the federal law and made every
effort to block its passage. While the rate deregulation and the
lack of ability to regulate the programming have lessened the
Commission 's ability to act on those issues , our efforts did allow
for many of our regulatory oversight responsibilities to remain in
force.
The attached Consumer Rights Pamphlet outlines many areas in
which we can be of assistance. Our offices can be reached at
1-800-342-3330.
Sincerely,
Carol Jamison
Municipal Consultant
CJ:omc
cc: American Community Cablevision
�i� 6 iq9
,I �„l
IACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
Mr, Wm, Demo
119 Auburn
Ithaca, NY 14850
February 26th, 1990
Re: Melvin Creswell
Dear Mr. Demo,
This is to inform you that you that I met with Mr' Creswell this
past week and that ACC has agreed to remove any charges from his
account related to loot cable equipment.
I appreciate the concern the Cable Conmninoion has shown in this
matter on behalf of Mr. Creswell, as well as the onnaitivity to
the securr"ty f distribution system.
Marketing/Operations Manager
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
March 7, 1990
312 First Street.
Ithaca, N.Y. 14850
William Demo, Chair
City Cable Commission
City Hall
Green Street
Ithaca, N.Y. 14850
Dear Mr. Demo-
We were very excited about ACC's announcement during the February 21 ,
1990 meeting of the Cable Commission of an increase in the number of
channels that w111 be available to subscribers as of Play 1, 1990. As we
understand, as part of this new service, ACC has agreed to purchase new
converter boxes for basic subscribers who do not currently have cable-ready
receivers. This change is sure to increase viewers options and was very
well received at the last meeting of the Access Advisory Board.
At the March 5, 1990 meeting of the Access Advisory Board meeting, we
were requested by the Cable Commission representative to discuss any
suggestions we ^eight have regarding this change. Since ACC agrees in Sec.
14. 1 of the Ithaca City Cable Franchise "to develop and promote" PEG access
and specifically agrees in Sec. 14. ].A( 1 ) to designate "nine downstream
channels" for PEG access, and since PEG access channels are for the use of
all members of the community [Sec. 14. 1.A( 1 ) and (2)],the Access
Advisory Board recommends that ACC purchase equipment capable
of providing not less than 24 channels to basic subscribers. We
believe that the capacity of basic service to provide the agreed-upon PEG
access channels to all subscribers should be an important consideration in
ACC's purchase of converters. With a technical capacity for 24 channels,
additional PEG channels may be added to basic cable service as needed
without displacing other currently offered or planned basic services, and
without creating the potential for expensive future equipment changes to
fulfill Franchise obligations or to comply with possible changes in federal
or state regulations now under consideration. We hope that you will give
this recommendation serious consideration and communicate our ideas to
ACC management. We have sent a letter to Barbara Lukens with our
recommendations.
We are excited about this upgrade and would like to publicize it in the local
press. Before doing so we have requested some feedback from ACC
regarding the number of channels they expect to provide and the capacity of
the equipment they intend to purchase. We will let the Cable Commission
know of further plans we may have regarding this issue and of any further
information we receive from ACC
We are looking forward to an exciting year with the newly appointed Access
Advisory Board and have many issues yet to consider. We look forward to
working with the Cable Commission in ensuring that Ithaca continue to have
a well working access facility with increasing quality and quantity of
community access productions.
Sincerely,
Jd
Marylo Dudley, )Bo
Access Advisoryd
J
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
March 15, 1990
Mary Jo Dudley, Chair
Access Advisory Board
312 First Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Ms. Dudley:
Thank you for your letter and the recommendation of the Access
Advisory Board regarding the channel selectors for basic cable
service subscribers. ACC has not yet made a purchasing decision,
but we will consider your request when we do.
Sincerely,
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
CC: William Demo, Chair, City Cable Commission
Lauren Stefanelli, Access Coordinator, ACC
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
�oaK , THEODORE E. MULFORD
NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION Cm missuwer
ON CABLE TELEVISION BARBARA T. ROCHMAN
CORNING TOWER BLDG.. EMPIRE STATE PLAZA commiss;rmar
ALBANY. NEW YORK 12223 JOHN A. PASSIDOMO
. (518)474-4992
Cmmissirmer
o 15181 486-5727 FAX MICHAEL E. RUSSELL
;,, ,�• RECEIVED MAR 2 9 1990 Cem issi,mer
EDWARD P. KEARSE
f.rmti1Y Director
WILLIAM B. FINNERAN —Chairman
March 23, 1990
Ms. Judith Toure
Gaslight Village #1C
Ithaca, NY 14850
Case # 9003151
Dear Ms. Toure :
Your letter questioning American Community Cablevision's change
in rates and programming is similar to several received by this
office statewide. You may wish to contact your congressional
representative on this issue as it was a federal law that deregulated
cable television rates and programming.
The United States Congress passed a Cable Communications Policy
Act of 1984, which was signed into law by President Reagan on October
30, 1984. Section 623 of this law (Public Law 98-549) took away New
York State 's right along with the local government ability to
regulate the rates and programming of cable operators as of the first
of January 1987.
The Commission strongly opposed the federal law and made every
effort to block its passage. While the rate deregulation and the
lack of ability to regulate the programming have lessened the
Commission 's ability to act on those issues, our efforts did allow
for many of our regulatory oversight responsibilities to remain in
force.
The attached Consumer Rights Pamphlet outlines many areas in
which we can be of assistance. Our offices can be reached at
1-800-342-3330.
Sincerely,____
Carol Jamison
Municipal Consultant
CJ:omc
cc: American Community Cablevision
• i a �
REQ d
- ALB AS"(
tt1s co�► �Evis o y. NEW YORK STATE 57/
CABLE TE �a : ..
COMMI SS I011 ON CABLE TELEV I S I OCI
5fl MR
HAVE .YOU COMPLAINED TO YOUR CABLE COMPANY? a,,, . ib1&NA Mff ffrh-
PLEASE DO SO BEFORE YOU RETURN THIS FORM.
SUBSCRIBER
YOUR NAME T�su ire. L
Last Name First Name Middle Initial
YOUR HOME ADDRESS G-6_ �k, 2�Vl V t Q
No. & Street
1- -Inaca NY I q SO 7I
City State & Zip Code County
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER q�) ls�-�-
Home Business
. . J
NATURE OF COMPLAINT
NAME OF CABLE, COMPANY
5712 c / s s- .
STREET
CITE STATE ZIP
TELEPHONE NUMBER
Date You First Complained to the Cable Company. I
DESCRIPTION OF COMPLAINT (for example : service problem, billing ,
address chariee . etc. )d �, � n,) DIst� �1A�2. T�
`1'V�.t� CI�RdL
w +k.Q- o N L-Y Qa444n �. h� Til
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�kaM r M _ C IiW1 h�\L to i.Loz . 6L
I a �b IDOL �siCe , � (cont � d)
II-
�W21L
What form of relief are you seeking? (for example : new converter box,-
correction in bill , service, etc .
'LA",
�,int a.�.o-o � v✓ x.�.c��c,� � __
How did you learn of this office ' s services? `LY' a"
c a-6� ynrM°�- � alv\A 4 K-L`A-A-
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE RETURNING THIS FORM:
PLEASE ATTACH TO THIS FORM PHOTOCOPIES of any bills , cancelled checks ,
correspondence , work orders, contracts , warranties or other papers
relating to your complaint .
DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS: : : I
SIGNATURE DATE 3
NOTE: A PREADDRES 4D RETURN ENVELOPE IS ENCLOSED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.
NEW YORK STATE
COMMISSION ON CABLE TELEVISION
EMPIRE STATE PLAZA
CORNING TOWER BLDG. - 21 FLOOR
ALBANY , NY 12223
1-300-342-3330
O�1T �
V
[ 41pr�p f�1
O,pp...R? ''�0
11E�
CITY OF ITHACA
10B EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE: 272-1713
MAYOR CODE 607
March 23, 1990
The Honorable James L. Seward
New York State Senate
809 Legislative Office Building
Albany NY 12248
Dear Jim,
I have been informed by the New York State Conference of Mayors
that a bill (S.6117-A and A.963-A) has been introduced into the legislature
which would establish NY-SCAN statewide. The unfortunate feature of this
bill is that the Commission on Cable Television would finance the NY-SCAN
expansion by increasing the assessment on cable operators. In the case of
the City of Ithaca that assessment would come directly out of the local revenue
that we obtain from our franchise fee, that is, the State's share of the 5.0
, percent fee would increase and the City's share would decrease by the same
amount.
The State should not be requiring local governments to pay for an
appropriate State activity. I urge that you oppose the bill.
Sincerely yours,
Benjamin Nichols
Mayor
cc: Ithaca Cable Commission
BN/ta
"An Equal Opportunity Employer Kith an AtLrma!,n Action Proaram-'
ITI�O
RA76�
CITY OF ITHACA
108 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE: 272-1713
MAYOR CODE 607
March 23, 1990
The Honorable Martin A. Luster
125th Assembly District
Room 628 Legislative Office Building
Albany NY 12248
Dear Marty,
have been informed by the New York State Conference of Mayors
that a bill (S.6117-A and A.963-A) has been introduced into the legislature
which would establish NY-SCAN statewide. The unfortunate feature of this
bill is that the Commission on Cable Television would finance the NY-SCAN
expansion by increasing the assessment on cable operators. In the case of
the City of Ithaca that assessment would come directly out of the local revenue
that we obtain from our franchise fee, that is, the State's share of the 5.0
percent fee would increase and the City's share would decrease by the same
amount.
The State should not be requiring local governments to pay for an
appropriate State activity. I urge that you oppose the bill.
Sincerely yours,
Benjamin Nichols
Mayor
cc: Ithaca Cable Commission
BN/ta
An Equal Orr-ort,jri!y Ermr!oyer with an Arf-rmatrve Action Program"
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from Senator
James L. Seward 11
Many cable television consumers have had problems
with their cable companies, whether it be with rates, -
programming, service or equipment. The Senate re-
cently approved legislation, now law, to ensure that -_
cable television customers receive the services for
which they have subscribed.
Under the articles of the Cable TV Consumer's Bill of
Rights,you have the following rights. ,A
Channel Change or
Substantial
Programming Change
•You have the right to be notified 30 days before your
cable television company decides to make any channel
changes or if there will be a significant change in the
programs on a channel f
•If your cable company knows about these changes
and fails to give adequate notice, you have the right
within 30 days to downgrade or cancel your service
without charge.
•If you decide to have your service terminated or
downgraded within 45 days of the notice of a channel or
significant programming change,the cable television
t, company cannot charge you for the downgrade or
cancellation.
Change of -
Advertised Service
•You have the right to a rebate for the removal of
programming that has been substantially advertised
and then removed or changed within six months.If you
are affected by a change in your basic service, your
cable company must offer you the option to:
cancel basic service with arebate of all installation and E
related charges;
'I or G. i
upgrade to the premium service tier carrying the �' x
jchannel at no installation charge and with a waiver of
extra charges for the premium service for any time that
is less than six months following the last day of the end
of the advertising promotion.
•If your cable company promotes a channel on their s
basic service tier and then fails to make it available
within six months even though it is available to the
company,you have the right to: i
' a free cancellation of service and the return of all ` t
installation and related charges; ; 4
or • P
'continued service and a credit equal to a portion of
your charges for each month that the channel is not _
available for up to six months following the end of the
promotion.The State Commission on Cable Television
will determine the size of the credit.
Service Information
•You have the right at any time to request a written
description of all programming and services offered on
the cable system and of the rates and charges relating
to the programming and other services. This written
description also must describe the subscriber's rights.
Twice a year,with certain exceptions,cable companies
must mail this information to subscribers.
•You have the right to a consumer rights information
brochure provided by the cable television industry.
'�- If the cable television commission finds that your cable
television company is in violation of any of the rules and
regulations described above,the company may have
to pay the state a fine of up to$3,000 for each violation.
Definition of Terms
Basic service—lowest available rate
Premium Tier — extra channel(s) where an extra
payment is needed beyond basic service.Cable com-
panies generally offer several different premium tier
options.
Downgrade—change in service made by the sub-
scriber to a less expensive service tier than the one to
which you currently subscribe.
Network—a group of programs distributed,packaged
or sold to subscribers as one single unit, including a
channel or station.
2/90
LE1.
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION 3
519 WEST STATE STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
607-272-7272
Willjam Demo, Chairman
Ithaca City Cable Commission
c/o- City Hall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca , NY 14850
May 10 , 1990
Dear Mr. Demo :
ACC's coverage of City Hall committee meetings in May are listed
below. Committee meetings are selected on a rotating basis . The regular
monthly dates were given to us by the City C.1erk's office .
Human Services Committee .Meeting
May 29 , 1990, from 4 : 30-9pm.
Taped for cabl_ecast Saturday, June 3 , fpm.
Planning & Devel pment 'Committee Meering
Third Monday, May 21 , 1990, from 7 : 30pm-llpm.
Taped for cab�lecast Saturday, May 2b , 1pm.
Fl-ease notify us of any changes in these meeting dates . We need a
minimum of two weeks notice to arrange coverage with our two-camera
portable unit, and Zo assuxe accurate TV listings . Also, please note
that for meetings which go into executive session for longer than 40
minutes or after llpm, our camera coverage will end at this point,
Cordially,
f
f .
Laure St a. 1- ,�
Communit Acce �Cotir in for
CABLX 13
cc : Callista Paolangeli , Ithaca City Clerk
Richard Booth, Chair, Budget and Administration Comm.
Dan Hoffman, Chair, Planning and Development Comm.
Carmlyn Peterson, Chair, Charter and Ordinance Comm.
John Johnson, Chair, Human Services Comm.
,Barbara Lukens , General Manager, ACC
Jorge Cuevas , CABLE 13 Portable Video Unit Director
Greg Bowman, CABLE 13 PoTtablg Video Unix Cameraperson
Molly Cummings, News Director , News Center 7
19 -7) "Television for Tompkins Count 99P y
LE13
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
519 WEST STATE STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
William Demo, Chairman 607-272-7272
Ithaca City Cable Commission
c/o City Hall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca , NY 14850
May 10, 1990
Dear Mr. Demo :
This letter is by way of explanation of a change in staff policy for
coverage of City. Hall meetings: for mejetings which go into executive
session for longer than 40 minutes or after 11pm, our camera coverage
will end at this point.
We have run into a' problem with camera coverage of meetings which go
into extended and repeated executive session . Until now, we have dealt
with executive sessions by having a camera crewperson ask councilmembers
whether t.heey. thought it would be useful to have the cameras stay until
the public meeting was reconvened. This has not proven to be effective
in some cases , because the councilmembers themselves are often not
certain how long executive sessions may last, or whether the members
will vflte to continue the meeting late at night.
In April , for example , one meeting which we covered went into executive
session for one and a half hours , from 9 : 30 _pm until 11 pm. At 11 pm,
the public meeting reconvened until 12am. Another executive session was
called at midnight; this one lasted until 12 : 30 am, when the public
meeting reconvened for about 5 minutes - just long enough to wrap up.
Having a two-person camera crew waiting for such extended periods of
time or , as in the later executive session described above , to no
purpose, is counterproductive and wasteful of access staff. On the
other hand., most executive sessions last about a half hour or so. Having
the crew wait that length of time seems reasonable if there are
important issues to be discussed afterwardq . Rather than have the crew
make judggmen.t calls and guesstimates on their own as to when they
should ,or shouldn't wait out an executive session , we felt the need to
give them some sort of guideline , and came up with the rule of thumb
above. Listing this policy in the monthly letters to you , copied to
committee chairs , lets the comgittee chairpersons plan their agendas
with knowledge of the scope of camera coverage .
If you have any questions about CABLE 13's City Hall video coverage ,
please feel free to contact me at any time .
Cordtally, � /
L,aur Stefan i
Commu ity 'C-4,81s C% inator
cc : Barbara Lukens , General Manager , ACC
"Television for Tompkins County"
May 18, 1990
TO: Cable Systems Operators, Municipal Officials
and Interested Parties
FROM: The New York State Commission On Cable Television
The Commission proposes, in Docket No. 90400, to amend the
primary service area threshold in Part 595.5 (a) (1) (iii) and Part
595 . 5 (b) (2) of its Rules. The threshold is the minimum number
of dwelling units per mile of aerial cable plant, above which
level companies are required to provide service at normal rates
and charges. The threshold is currently set at 35 dwelling
units per aerial mile, which number was adopted in 1982 based
on data for the period 1979-1980.
Our staff has analyzed the latest financial and other
available data (for the period 1988-1989) . Based upon this
review, staff proposes that the primary service area benchmark
be set at twenty (20) dwelling units per linear mile of aerial
cable. The basis for this new threshold is staff' s finding that
this is the minimum level at which it is economically feasible
for the average cable operator to offer cable service to
residents in an area contiguous to existing plant while allowing
for a 10 year amortization of debt.
Under the proposed rule change:
1. All subscribers requesting service in an area
containing at least twenty (20) dwelling units per
linear mile of aerial cable shall receive service, at
normal rates and charges, and
2 . All residents located in an area with less_ than twenty
(20) dwelling units per mile shall be provided cable
television service upon their request if they
contribute to the cost of construction (SC) , which
shall be determined by application of the formula
included in the rules or by a formula or policy of the
cable operator, provided, however, that said formula
or policy is no less favorable to the subscriber than
that set forth in the Commission's rules.
S
PROPOSED AMENDMENT
PARTS 595.5
595.5 Requirements for construction of cable television
plant and provision of cable television services.
(a) Definitions.
(1) Primary service are, shall include each of the
following w1-t-Hi
. en the franchised area:
(i) those areas where cable television plant has
built without a contribution-in-aid-of-construction
by subscribers;
(ii) those areas where the cable television company
is obligated by the terms of its franchise to provide
cable television service without a contribution-in-
aid-of-construction by subscribers;
(iii) any area adjoining an area described in
subparagraph (i) or (ii) of this paragraph and which
contains dwelling units at a minimum rate_-of 20 [35)
dwelling units per linear mile of aerial cable;
(iv) any area adjoining an area described in
subparagraph (i) and (ii) of this paragraph and which
contains at least the same number of dwelling units
per linear mile of aerial cable as is the average
number of dwelling units per linear mile of cable in
areas described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this
paragraph. The average is to be determined by
dividing the sum of the dwelling units in areas
described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this
paragraph by the number of linear miles of cable in
the same areas.
(2) ne extensiQx�_ awe shall be any area within the
franchised area which is not the primary service area.
(b) Where a cable television franchise is awarded,
renewed or amended after October 1, 1982 the
franchise will be confirmed or the amendment will
�beapproved by the commission on e franchise
contains the following additional minimum franchise
standards:
(1) That, within five years after receipt
of all necessary operating
r
-3-
(ii) The contribution-in-aid-of-
construction shall be in addition to
the installation rate set forth in the
franchise.
(iii) During a five-year period
commencing at the completion of a
particular line extension, pro rata
refund shall be paid to previous
subscribers as new subscribers are
added to the particular line extension;
the amount of the refund, if any, shall
be determined by application of the
formula annually. The refunds shall be
paid annually to subscribers, or former
subscribers, entitled to receive them.
The company shall not be required to
provide refunds to any previous
subscriber otherwise entitled to a
refund, who is no longer at the same
address and who has not informed the
company of the subscriber' s address.
(3) That cable television service will be
provided to any subscriber who demands
service and who is located within 150 feet
of aerial feeder cable, and that the charge
for the installation for any subscriber so
situated will not be in excess of the
installation charge specified in the
franchise.
(4) Nothing in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision shall be construed to preclude:
(i) the provision of cable
television services by the
franchisee in a line extension
area without assessing a
contribution-in-aid-of-
construction; or
(ii) the inclusion in a cable
television franchise of a
provision establishing a primary
service area which includes at
least all of those areas which
are in the primary service area
as defined in subdivision (a) of
this section.
(5) Nothing in paragraph (2) of this
subdivision shall be construed to preclude:
9 April 90
American Community Cablevision
519 W. State St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Folks:
I have just been informed that your realignment of channels
on May 1 will place Channel 44 on cable channel 19. If you want
to avoid a lot of screaming and yelling I would urge you to
rethink that decision. Please think back to all the screaming
and yelling you heard a few years ago when Channel 44 was taken
off the system; placing it on channel 19 will have the same
effect. Not the best conclusion to National Cable Month!
For those of us who live on South Hill channel 19 is
virtually unwatchable due to interference from public service
radio, mainly the Ithaca Police and Ithaca College Safety
Division, along with paging services and some other signals I
haven't been able to identify. Please don't tell me this can be
cleared up by a service call. I've had too many of them over the
years; we're just too close to the transmitters. The decision to
place FNN on channel 19 was a sensible solution.
While you're at it, you might also consider moving Elmira
Channel 36 off of cable channel 20 and replacing it with
something else where picture quality is unimportant. This channel
is crosshatched with interference from a paging service at
158.100 Mhz. The interference is minor compared to that on 19,
but it is sufficient to drive me back to Syracuse Channel 9,
scratchy and washed out as it is, for ABC programs. (The fact
that you are in direct competition with Channel 36 for
advertising should be all the more reason to give it a clear
channel, to avoid any appearance of restraint of trade! )
A suggestion (one of many possibilities) : bring 36 and 68
down to 6 and 7; drop 44 to 21. To avoid gaps in the numbers,
put the Weather Channel on 19 and C-Span on 20, and give them to
lower tier subscribers. No one is going to buy the upper tier
for the Weather Channel anyway, and C-Span ought to have the
widest possible viewership. And think how magnanimous you'll
appear when you give lower tier subscribers 18 channels instead
of 16. It beats listening to screaming and yelling.
Sincerely,
William Steele
Box 782
Ithaca, NY 14851
c: Ithaca Cable Commission
AC:C
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
April 19 , 1990
Carol Jamison
New York State Cable Commission
Corning Tower Bldg. , Empire State Plaza
Albany, New York 12223
Case # 9004018
Dear Ms. Jamison:
I would like to take a moment to give you the background of our
correspondence with Por. Chiesa at 159 Bundy Rd.
The Ithaca system is presently undergoing a complete rebuild of
the entire system. The new plant eliminated the existing pressure
tap passives and required the subscriber' s drop cables to be
replaced to meet the new passives at the pole . This need to
replace the drop to meet the new plant resulted in cables being
relocated to the other side of Mr. Chiesa' s home . Although we
informed communities we would be relocating wires on a defined
schedule, we made the mistake of relocating wires on Mr. Chiesa' s
property without his permission. This was in contrast to American
Community Cablevision, policy, but the mistake was made .
Our Installation Supervisor went to the home to explain the
reasons for the drop relocation . Mrs . Chiesa was going to have
her husband call if there were other problems . In the mean time
we sent two installers up to the home on Saturday to shorten the
length of the ground wire and install an additional outlet. Mr.
Chiesa called our supervisor to request new siding where the old
p-hook and clips were removed.
We discovered the siding used on Mr. Chiesa' s house was no longer
available within Ithaca. Mr. Chiesa was notified on this and
subsequently requested a payment of $100. 00 to cover his labor to
remove a piece of siding from the garage . ACC agreed to the money
and requested Mr. Chiesa sign a release for the payment.
The initial release form we sent Mr. Chiesa was quite complex
and he refused to sign unless we could provide him with a release
which was simpler with less legal sounding terminology. A new
release was drafted and sent.
51g West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
ACC admitted to liability and agreed to recompense Mr. Chiesa for
$100.00 (his requested payment) . Mr. Chiesa did not follow
through and sign our release form ( standard procedure ) which
protects ACC from additional claims associated with an incident.
A copy of the release is attached for your information.
American Community Cablevision reiterated its policy re
notification of homeowners when working within private property
with our contractors. We can assure the Commission of our
commitment to our subscribers and the community of obtaining full
permission whenever our employees work on cable wires on private
property.
Sincerely,
John Herrewyn
Chief Engineer
cc: Ithaca Cable Commission
Mr. Chiesa
Barb Lukens
Larry Stroman
rABLE
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
519 WEST STATE STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
607-272-7272
William Demo, Chairman
Ithaca City Cable Commission
c/o City Hall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Marc,h 26 , 1990
Dear Mr, Demo :
ACC's coverage of City Hall meetings in April are Usted below.
Committee meetings are selected on a rotating ba-sis. The regular monthly
dates were given to us by the City Clerk's office .
Common Comncil Meeting
Wednesday, April 4 , 1990, from 7pm-lam.
Cablecast live .
01" Charter & Ordinancj Committee Meeting
\01Second dag, April 4-2-, 1990, from 7 : 30-llpm.
Taped 'for .cablecast Saturday, April 14 , 1pm.
Budget 6 AdministrAtion Commitpee Meetang
Third Wednesday, April 18 , 1990, Brom 7 :30pm-llpm.
Taped for cablecast Saturday, April 21 , 1pm.
Please notify us of any changes in these meeting dates. We need a
minimum of two weeks notice to axrau ge coverage with our two-camera
portable unit, and to assure accurate TV listings.
Cord-ially,
i
i
La r-6" t a 11 ':
d..,
Compunitq' ce -Co ding pr
CABL 13
cc : Callista Paolangeli , Ithaca City Clerk
Richard Booth, Chair, Budget and Administration Comm.
Dan Hoffman, Chair, Planning and Development Comm.
Carolyn Petersop, Chair, Charter and Ordinance Comm.
John Jqhnson, Chair, Human Services Comm.
Barbara Lukens , General Manager, ACC
Jorge Cuevas , CABLE 13 .Portable Video Unit Director
Greg Bowman, CABLE 13 Portable Video Unit Cameraperson
Molly Cummings , News Director, News Center 7
"Television for Tompkins County"
weekly Bulletin -2- March 30, 1990
Docket Date
Number Received
10068-R88 lication by American Community 12/4/89
Cablevision for approval of the
Certificate of Confirmation for its
franchise with the Village of
�j Cayuga Heights (Tompkins County)
10069-1788 App pp
by American Community 12/4/89
Ca evision for approval of the
ertificate of Confirmation for its
franchise with the Village of Candor
(Tioga County)
NOTE OF GENERAL INTEREST `
The Annual Financial Report (AFR) for companies whose year ends
December 31 . 1989 must be filed with the Commission on or before
April 1 , 1990. Failure to file the AFR may result in fines and/or
penalties .
If you are unable to timely file the AFR you must submit a written
request for an extension of time. An extension form for this
purpose was provided with your AFR form.
If you require assistance , please call the Commission' s Accounting
Division at (518) 474-2471. -
RE(:EIVED tiVII o 1990
Weekly Bulletin March 30, 1990
STATE OF NEW YORK
COMMISSION ON CABLE TELEVISION
EMPIRE STATE PLAZA
TOWER BUILDING
ALBANY , NEW YORK 12223
This Bulletin contains two categories of information:
Requests for Commission Action
Notes of General Interest
For a complete description and listinq of all requests and actions ,
or for further information regarding items in the bulletin , please
— contact- our Albany office at 518-474-4992.
For the period covered : March 23 . 1990 through March 29 , 1990.
REQUESTS FOR COMMISSION ACTION
Docket Date
Number Received
30643 Application by NewChannels Corp. for 3/23/90
approval of a renewal of its franchise
with the Town of DeWitt (Onondaga Co. )
(Initial Franchise DN10020)
M11528 Application by the Village of Limestone 3/23/90
(Cattaraugus Co. ) for approval to
participate in the Alternative Franchising
Procedure with E1-Mar Communications Co .
M11527 Application by the Town of Carrollton 3/23/90
(Cattaraugus Co. ) for approval to
participate in the Alternative Franchising
Procedure with E1-Mar Communications Co.
30919 Application by A-R Cable Services Inc. for 3/27/90
approval of a renewal of its franchise
with the Town of Bedford (Westchester Co. )
--r ( nitial Franchise DN10121)
100627 ,)_88 lication by American Community 12/4/89
levision for approval of the Certificate
of Confirmation for its franchise with the
Town of Caroline (Tompkins County)
10063R-88 plication by American Community 12/4/89
C levision for approval of the Certificate
of Confirmation for its franchise with the
Town of Newfield (Tompkins County)
r
..........
Rp�RAT�O`0
CITY OF ITHACA
100 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
DEPARTMENT OF TELEPHONE:272-1713
PLANNING&DEVELOPMENT CODE 607
H.MATTHYS VAN CORT,DIRECTOR
May 15, 1990
Bonnie Boles
Lansing Town Clerk
Town of Lansing
Box 186
Lansing, NY 14882
Dear Ms. Boles,
This is in response to your letter to the Ithaca City Clerk
dated May 9 regarding Ithaca's franchise agreement with American
Community Cablevision (ACC) .
The City of Ithaca does have a franchise in effect with
American Community Cablevision which is the result of hard negotiations
stretched out over a 1 year period.
In response to your second question, I am not sure I know what
you mean by 'commission rate' . If this is the franchise fee, you will
find it in a copy of the franchise which is attached.
The question of subscriber rates is more complicated. The City
of Ithaca was able to negotiate a limited rate control schedule with ACC
only after difficult negotiations. They are based upon the fact that
over 97% of Ithaca residents are not able to receive 3 unduplicated off
air signals. I do not know the situation in Lansing, but unless similar
conditions prevail in Lansing, it is unlikely that you will be able to
negotiate rate control.
As to question 4, the date of the current franchise is shown on
the document.
I would be more than happy to discuss our negotiations with
you, the Town Attorney, or other members of the Town Board. Please call
me if you wish to discuss this further.
Sin erely,
HMVC:eh a y an Cort
Attachments Director
xc: C. Paolangeli
O-a-BBoles.Thys
"An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program"
NEW YORK
STATE
SENATE
ALBANY,NEWYORK 12247 April 17, 1990
e=-
Mr. Benjamin Nichols
JAMES L. SEWARD 109 L 1 enroc Court
SENATOR 50TH DISTRICT Ithaca, New York 14850
ROOM 805
LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BLDG.
ALBANY,N.Y. 12247
Dear Mr. Nichols:
Did you ever have a cable television program abruptly
changed or cancelled without knowing about it?
In the last few years, I have received calls and inquiries
from cable television customers who want to know what their
rights are when their cable company changes programs or an
advertised service without telling them. Many times, these
problems are a mere oversight on the part of cable companies.
But consumers should be aware of their rights in such a
circumstance.
In response to these concerns, the Senate developed the
"Cable TV Consumer's Bill of Rights" to ensure that cable
customers get the services for which they have subscribed and
paid. I voted for the legislation, which was signed into law
by the Governor.
The "Cable Consumer's Bill of Rights" requires cable
companies to give adequate notice of program changes or provide
appropriate compensation. You also have the right to information
on programs and charges.
For your use, I am enclosing a summary of the "Cable
Consumer's Bill of Rights" on a convenient card that you may find
helpful if you subscribe to cable now, or if you're thin+ing
about it in the future. As a consumer advocate, I believe that
you have the right to full knowledge and information about the
goods and services you buy.
As always, if you need assistance with a state-related
problem, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 272-4806.
Sincerely,
JAMES L. SEWARD
State Senator
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
May 15, 1990
Mr. Charles Gutman
Attorney
City of Ithaca
108 E . Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Gutman:
Per the franchise agreement between the City of Ithaca and
American Community Cablevision, attached are some additional
reports which are required. The three reports are : a 1989
summary of service calls and complaints which were received and
handled, a 1989 summary of outages and FCC for 325.
We are reviewing the reports to ensure that we are in compliance
with section 18. 5. (A copy is attached for your reference. ) Per
that section, this is where we stand as of today.
18. 5.A Attached is the FCC form 325 . Any reports filed with the
NYSCCT in 1989 will be forwarded to you.
18. 5 .B. ACC ' s annual report was sent to Mayor Nichols on January
16, 1990. Asbuilt maps are incomplete as of this writing, but
are in the process of being drafted.
18. 5. C. ( 1 ) The ownership report was mailed to you on April 10,
1990.
18. 5 . C. ( 2 ) The annual report was mailed along with the report
requested in 18. 5.B.
18. 5. C. (3) This is not applicable.
18. 5. C . (4) A statement was mailed to the city on January 19,
. 1990.
18. 5 . C. ( 5 ) This information was included with 18. 5. C. ( 1 ) .
18. 5.D. ( 1 ) This report is no longer required by the FCC .
18. 5.D. (2 ) This information was included in the report mailed
on January 16, 1990.
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
18. 5. D . ( 3) Attached.
18. 5 .D. (4 ) Attached.
18. 5 . D. ( 5 ) See 18. 5.A.
The Ithaca Cable Commission has asked that ACC provide copies of
all reports submitted to the City of Ithaca by ACC. Accordingly,
I will insure they receive copies of the reports mentioned in
this letter. Going forward it would be appreciated if your
office could supply the Commission with copies of the reports
which we provide to the City.
Sificerely,
l
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
enc.
costs of such engineer if the tests performed show that the
quality of service is below the standards set forth in this
Franchise .
18 . 4 BOOKS AND RECORDS AVAILABLE `1'O CITY .
A. The City reserves the right to inspect all
pertinent books , records, maps , plans , financial statements
and other like material , of ACC, upon reasonable notice and
during normal business hours .
B. If any of such maps or records are not kept in the
City, or upon notice ACC is unable to provide the - records in
the City, and if the City shall determine that an examination
of such maps or records is necessary or appropriate to the
performance. of any of their duties, then all travel and
maintenance expenses necessarily incurred in making such
examination shall be paid by ACC.
18 . 5 REPORTS REQUIRED. ACC shall file with the City :
A. Upon request all reports required by or voluntarily
submitted to the New York State Commission on Cable
Television and the Federal Communications Commission ( TCC)
related to the City of Ithaca shall be provided to the City .
B. An annual report setting forth the physical miles
of plant construction and plant in operation during the
fiscal year shall be submitted to the City . Such report
shall also contain any revisions to the system "as built"
maps filed with the City, and copies of all materials
required by this Franchise to be given to subscribers .
C. The following financial reports shall be submitted
annually to the City.
( 1 ) An ownership report , indicating all persons ,
who at any time during the preceding year did control
or benefit from an interest in this Franchise of five
percent ( 5%) or more.
( 2 ) A copy of franchisee ' s annual report .
( 3 ) A report on the placement of any limited
partnership offering , if any, including the amount
subscribed and the amount paid in.
( 4 ) An annual City-only, certified income
statement.
( 5 ) An annual list of officers and members of the
Board of ACC' s and of any parent corporation .
-27-
D. The following system and operational reports shall
be submitted annually to the City :
( 1 ) ACC shall provide the City with a copy of its
annual performance .testing results as submitted to the
FCC.
( 2 ) An annual su►►unary of the previous year ' s
activities including , but not limited to, subscriber
totals . for each category of service offered including
number of pay units sold, new services offered, and the
character and extent .of the service rendered to other
users of the system, subject to ACC ' s need to protect
proprietary information.
( 3 ) . An annual summary of service requests and
complaints received and handled.
( 4 ) An annual summary of the number of outages .
( 5 ) An. annual summary of all reports required by
or voluntarily submitted to the New York State
Commission on Cable Television and the Federal
Coiiununica t ions Commission (FCC) related to the City of
Ithaca.
E. ACC shall furnish to the City such additional
information and records with respect to its operation ,
affairs , transactions or property, as may be reasonably
necessary and appropriate to the performance of any of the
rights , functions or duties of the City in connection with
this Franchise.
18 . 6 MANDATORY RECORDS . ACC shall at all times maintain:
A. A record of all complaints received and
interruptions or .degradation of service experienced for the
preceding period prior to a performance review, consistent
with state law and regulation.
B. An annual log showing the date , approximate time
and duration, type and probable cause of all Cable
Communications System outages , • whole or partial , due to
causes other than routine testing or maintenance . The
entries in such log shall be retained by ACC for one ( 1 )
additional year and shall be subject to insl?ection and
copying by the. City or its designee during ACC ' s regular
business hours upon . reasonable request .
C. A full and complete set of plants , records and "as
built" maps showing the exact location of all cable installed
or in use in the City , exclusive of subscriber service drops .
-28-
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
COMPLETION OF FCC FORM 325 , SCHEDULE 1 ( 1989 )
:OMMUNITY POPULATION Use latest official census , or best estimate ,
assuming community has increased/decreased
Compkins County population significantly since the last census. PLEASE
use population for the ENTIRE COMMUNITY . DO
28 , 732 NOT attempt to estimate population for only
the portion of the community which you serve .
Cioga County population (EXAMPLE: If you serve only a small portion
of a COUNTY list TOTAL "CURRENT" POPULATION
501000 for the ENTIRE COUNTY) .
:URRENT BASIC SUBSCRIBERS The total number of Basic Subscribers in the
IN COMMUNITY community as of December 31 , 1989 . PLEASE
include all basic subscribers as defined by
25 , 573 the "New Subscriber Definition" ( a copy is
attached ) . IN ADDITION, IT WILL BE NECESSARY
TO ADD FREE SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS TOTAL .
'OTENTIAL SUBSCRIBERS IN Number of passings in the community , using
IN COMMUNITY existing plant cable , as of December 31 , 1989.
Passings are also defined on the attached
list .
TOTAL MILES OF CABLE PLANT Rounded to the nearest whole mile.
IN EACH COMMUNITY
'LEASE NOTE: ACCURACY is a must ! ! Before returning updated information ,
3lease compare figures with the previous year . If , by comparison , the
lumbers appear to be unreasonable a brief explanation , PER COMMUNITY , is
-equired in the space provided on the attached worksheet.
XAMPLES of items requiring an explanation could be:
L ) PLANT MILES have increased without a comparable increase in basic
subscribers and/or passings.
?) PLANT MILES reduced for any reason .
S) PASSINGS increased/decreased significantly but plant miles remain
unchanged .
The definitions of basic subscribers, pay units and passings have been changed. The goal
in making these changes is to more accurately represent penetration. The equivalent
subscriber calculation has been abandoned in favor of a subscriber definition that counts
each pay marketable residence as a subscriber. The new definitions will eliminate the
problems we have had in correctly identifying our non-subscriber population. The change
will be in effect for actual subscriber reporting and budgeting starting in 1989.
Definitions
Passings: All residential units that are serviceable (near enough to the trunk or feeder
portion of the system to be properly served with only the addition of drop material) and
marketable plus all commercial properties that are serviceable and marketable. Non-
marketable facilities would include commercial establishments (offices, stores, etc.) you
are not serving.
Basic Subscriber: All residential units that are served by cable, including each
residential unit that is served by a bulk agreement, plus all commercial contracts (each
contract is counted as one subscriber regardless of the number of rooms or units).
Exclude all free subscribers.
Pay Units: First occurrence of a pay service in a residence, including each pay unit that
is served by a basic bulk agreement, plus all commercial contracts (each contract is
counted as one subscriber regardless of the number of rooms or units). Exclude all free
subscribers.
For the new definitions you will need to identify all of your bulk/commercial accounts as
either residential or non-residential (or commercial). if a person can live at a unit of the
facility for one night or less, and you cannot market pay programming to them
individually, the facility qualifies as non-residential. Non-residential facilities are
considered commercial contracts and would include hospitals, bars, hotels, motels and
doctors offices. Count each of non-residential facilities as one passing, as one basic
commercial subscriber if you serve them, and one pay commercial unit if they also
receive pay programming. Other bulk accounts that are residential and can be
individually pay marketed (apartments, nursing homes, dormatories) are considered as
residential and each unit/room should be counted as one passing, subscriber and pay unit
(if applicable). If you serve a facility that would qualify as a residence (dormatory,
prison) where you cannot market pay to_the individual units, it.should be counted as one
passing and one basic unit.
- 2 -
1WS098 SYSTEM WORKSHEET - FCC 325, SCHEDULE 1
COMMUNITYNAME '----------'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CANDOR, TOWN OF ; 1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
-------------------------------------------------- --- --
COMMUNITY POPULATION --------; 4,002 4 0 0 2 '
------------------------- '----------'---�------ ' -----------------------------------------------------------------------'
BASIC SUBSCRIBERS 1N COMMUNITY �-__ 381 -__4 0 3
--------------------------------- ------- ----- -------------------------------------------------------------
PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 440 ; 480
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 16 ; 16 ;
---------------------------------'----------'---------=--'---------------------- '
--------------------------------------------------,
COMMUNITY NAME '----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
---------------
CANDOR, VILLAGE OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 917 9 1 ;
' , ,
--------------------------------- ---------- ------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 328
-----------------------------------------
---------------------------------'----------'------------' '
-------------------------------
PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY390
------------'- -----3 9 1 '-------------------------------------------------------------------- '
--------------------- --------- ---- ----
MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 5 ; 5 ;
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
COMMUNITYNAME '----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
CAROLINE, TOWN OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 2,754 2754
'
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 498• 524
'
-'- -'-- --------'----------------------------------------------------------------------- '
'ASSINGS IN COMMUNITY - ; 622 ; 6 2 8
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
1ILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 18 1
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
-------------------------------------
2MUNITYNAME '----------'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CAYUGA HEIGHTS, VILLAGE OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OMMUNITY POPULATION ; 3,170
--------------------------------
'--------- '------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 1,140 115 5 '
--------------------------------;-----------;------------;-------------------------------------_-----------------------------------t
ASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 1,145 ; 1 1 6 1 '
--------------------------------;----------;------------;------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
ILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 19 ; 1 9 ;
--------------------------------;----------;------------;------------------------------------------------------------------------'
,
'COMMUNITY NAME
A
DANBY, TOWN OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
;COMMUNITY POPULATION_-________ 2,449 ; 2 4 4 9 '
------------------- ----------
' '----�------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
, 1 1
,BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 391 ; 4 0 0 '
-- '--- '------------------------------------------------------------------------'
------------------------------- ------- ------------
PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 495 ; 507
'
'---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
(MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY, 20 ; 2 1 ;
---------------------------------
----------
' '------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
, 1 1 ,
---------------------------------'
COMMUNITYNAME '---------- ------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------'
DRYDEN, TOWN OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
',COMMUNITY POPULATION 10,395 1 0 3 9 5 '
'---------------------------------'----------'----1-------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
IBASIC_SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY_ 2,381 2 4 5 2 _;
____-___-__ - -------- --1------ -----------------------------------------------------------
;PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 2,748 ; 2 , 803
---------- ------- '
'---------------------------------' '----- '------------------------------------------------------------------------'
�MILES_OF_CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY-------69-'-____-- 1_ _______________________________ '
------------------- -------------------------------------
;COMMUNITY NAME
DRYDEN, VILLAGE OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
;COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 1,761 ; 1 6 1 '
'---------------------------------'----------'---- -------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
, 1 1 ,
,BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY 657 G 6 S '
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY 717 -_--_ 1 -____
--------------------------------- ----------------- --------------------------------------------------------------,
MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 11 ; 1 1 '
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
--------------------------------
COMMUNITY NAME
ENFIELD, TOWN OF ; 1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
--------------------------------- --------- ----------- ----------
COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 0
---------------------------------'----------'------------'----------- '
-------------------------------------------------------------
BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 0
---------------------------=-----'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
'ASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 0
---------------------------------'--------=-'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
TILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 0
•--------------------------------;----------;------------;------------------------------------------------------------------------'
,
,
--------------------------------'---------- ------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --
'COMMUNITY NAME ----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
FREEVILLE, VILLAGE OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
-------------------------------- --------- ----------- ------
;COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 449 ; 4 4 9 '
---------------------------------'----------'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
;BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY 152 ; 15 1 '
'---------------------------------'-
-------'----- -- --'------- - '
, , -- , -- - , - ---------------------------------------------------------------,
;PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 171 ; 17 1 '
'---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
;MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY 3 ; 3
---------------------------------'----------'-------- - -'-- - -'
----------------------- --------- -------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- -
'COMMUNITY NAME '----------'------------'--------------------------------------------------------------- --------'
GROTON, TOWN OF ; 1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
;COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 2,451 ; 2 ,
'---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
;BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 185 ; l 9 2 ' 1.
'-------------- ----------------'-- -- -'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
;PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 227
'-----------------------------
----'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
;MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 9
-----------------------------
'---------------------------------'----------'------------' ,
-------------------------------------------
'COMMUNITY NAME '----------'------------'----------------------------------- ------------------------------------'
GROTON, VILLAGE OF ; 1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
;COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 2,313 ; 2 , 313 ,
'
'---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
;BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 902 ; 86 6 ;
'---------------------------------'-------- -'------------'-------------------------------- ------------------------------------ '
-., --- -,
;PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 880.1 ;
---------------------------------
------------------24-'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
;MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 11
11-
'---------------------------------'----------'-------
1L-:------------------------------------------------------------------------
ICOMMUNITY NAME
ITHACA, CITY OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
COMMUNITY POPULATION ___ 280732 2 8 3 2 ;
-------------------------- ------- ---------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------'
BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 8,382 ; g 0 5 9 '
---------------------------------;----------;----'-------;------------------------------------------------------------------------'
PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 9 174
---------------------------------
MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 59
,
---------------------------------;----------;-------f'0- -;------------------------------------------------------------------------'
,
.COMMUINITY NAME '----------'------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------'
ITHACA, TOWN OF ; 1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
;COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 16,002
------ '-1 6 0 0 2 '
' --- -------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
;BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 4,208
---------------------------------;----------;------------;-------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
;PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 5,395 ; 5 ,8-1 8 ' '
---------------------------------
;----------;----- ----;------------------------------------------------------------------------;
;MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 67 6 9 ;
'---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
COMMUNITY NAME
LANSING, TOWN/VILLAGE OF ; 1968 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
---------------------------------'----------'------------'---------------------------------=--------------------------------------'
COMMUNITY POPULATION ; 5,278 ; 5 , '
'---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 3,103 2 9 4 5 '
---------------------------------'----------'----'-------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
PASSINGS IN COMMUNITY------------; 31005 3 0 9 1 '
------------------- '----------'----i-------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
MILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 68
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
--------------------------------
COMMUNITYNAME '----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------,
NEWARK VALLEY, TOWN OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
----------- ------ ------------
COMMUNITY POPULATION-------------, 2,575 2 5 7 5 '
-------------------- '----------'---- -------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
BASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 212. ; 2 8 7
---------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
'ASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 372 ; 2 8 4
---
-----------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
1ILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 12 -, 13
•--------------------------------'----------'------------'--------------------------------------------------------- ---------'
;OMMUNITY NAME '----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
IEWARK VALLEY, VILLAGE OF ; 1988 ; 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
--------- -- -- - - --------
OMMUNITY POPULATION ; 1,1901 , 1 9 0 '
--------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
ASIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY ; 395 ; 3 8 G '
--------------------------------'---------- ----------------------------------------
'------------'-------------------------------- '
ASSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 473 ; 473
'
--------------------------------'----------'----------- '----------------------------------------------------------------------- '
ILES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY 6
---------- ---------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
;
IMMUNITY NAME
NEWFIELD, TOWN OF 1988 4989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
MMUNITY POPULATION 4,401 4 , 4 0 1 ' '
---------------------=---------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
SIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY 1,039 1 ,
-------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
SSIN6S IN COMMUNITY 1,151 1 , 1 7 5 '
-------------- --------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
--- ,
LES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 28 2 9 ' ;
-------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
------------------------------
MMUNITYNAME '----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
TRUMANSBURG, VILLAGE OF ; 1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS IAS NEEDED) ;
IMMUNITY POPULATION 1,722 1 72
, 1 '
-------------------------------'-------------
----------'
------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
SIC SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY 665 56 3 '
-------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
SSINGS IN COMMUNITY 707
-------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
LES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY; 10 ; ;
--------------------------- -'--- ----'- ---- LQ-1------------------------------------------------------------------------'
-
---
------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------ ---------------- -------------------- '
---------------------------------------
IMMUNITY NAME
ULYSSES, TOWN OF 1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED)
IMMUNITY POPULATION ; 2,944 ,
'----------'--2 1 9 4 4 -'--------------------------
31C SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY 324
-------------------------------'----------'----- 4 6 4 -'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
iSSINGS IN COMMUNITY ; 645 6 8 2 '
-------------------------------'----------'------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
LES OF CABLE PLANT IN COMMUNITY---_---17- ------1 9 -------------------------
MMUNITY NAME ---______-'------------'________________________________________________________________________,
1988 1989 ;COMPARISON COMMENTS (AS NEEDED) ;
MMUNITY POPULATION '
----- ------'--- -'- -------'- - --------- ---- -------------------- --------------------'
k1Q'SUBSCRIBERS IN COMMUNITY
' --------------------------'-- -'- -- - --------------------------- -------------------------- ---------------'
iSINGS IN COMMUNITY
,
r.- -------------------- ---------------' _ '------- ----' -- --�--r --�"c1-------- -------------------------------------- ----'
.ES OF CABLE PLANTA N'COMHUNITY;
------------------------- - ---- - -'------------ -------------------------------------------
*OUTAGES*
CITY OF ITHACA FOR 1989
DATE TIME RECEIVED TIME REPAIRED AREA CAUSE
1 /11 /89 8 : 30am 9 : 30am COLLEGETOWN 120 vlt . pow(
1/11 /89 4 : 15pm 5 : 30pm UNIVERSITY AV 60 vlt . powf
1/ 19/89 4 : 30pm S : OOpm MAPLE/FAIRVIEW Power off
3/09/89 10 : 00pm 10 : 00am ALL SOUTH HILL Power off
3/ 15/89 12 : 20pm 3 : OOpm WHOLE SYSTEM Power outag(
3/17/89 6 : OOpm 8 : OOpm COLLEGETOWN Contractors
4/24/89 S : OOpm 7 : OOpm OAKWOOD AV Trunk Modul(
5/06/89 4 : OOpm 6 : OOpm CAYUGA HGTS/
COLLEGETOWN Trunk Amp
5/ 15/89 9 : OOpm 10 : 30pm ARTS & ENTERTAIN . Descrambler
5/19/89 7 : 45pm 9 : OOpm WEST HILL AREA Bad short
6/05/89 S : OOpm 6 : 30pm EAST HILL AREA Blown Fuse
6/05/89 6 : 45pm 8 : 30pm EAST HILL AREA Sola
7/05/89 3 : 30pm. 5 : 30pm SPENCER ROAD Bad Module
7/10/89 7 : 15am 4 : OOpm WEST HILL/T-BURG Everything !
7/22/89 9 : 30pm 11 : OOpm CAMPBELL AV Blown Fuse
8/07/89 9 : 30am 12 : 30pm CASCADILLA/ESTY Power Supply
8/07/89 1 : 30pm . 2 : 30pm CENTER ITHACA Dug up Feed(
8/08/89 9 : 30am 10 : 30am FOURTH STREET Blown Fuse
8/12/89 2 : OOpm 4 : OOpm WEST VILLAGE PL Ran over Pec
8/ 14/89 11 : 45am 2 : 30pm WEST HILL Blown Fuse
8/14/89 4 : OOpm 6 : OOpm CAMPBELL/N . TAYLOR Blown Fuse
8/16/89 10 : 15am 11 : 39amCENTER ITHACA Dug up Feed
8/21 /89 11 : OOam 3 : OOpm CENTER ITHACA Dug up Feed
8/24/89 3 : OOpm 5 : 30pm CENTER ITHACA Dug up Fecd,
8/28/89 11 : OOam 3 : 10pm CENTER ITHACA Dug up Feedi
9/ 19/89 6 : OOpm 7 : 30pm 509 LAKE STREET Broken UG
*OUTAGES*
CITY OF ITHACA FOR 1989
DATE TIME RECEIVED TIME REPAIRED AREA CAUSE
10/ 14/89 6 : 45pm 10/16 10 : 00pm ALL AREAS BAD STORr
11/ 18/89 6 : 00pm 8 : 00pm TIOGA ST N Dist .Modt
11/20/89 6 : 00pm 7 : 30pm HUDSON STREET Tree on I
1989 TROUBLE CALLS FOR THE CITY OF ITHACA
JAN FEB -MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
TRUNK PROBLEMS
O i O O a 1 d
OUTAGES
O O o v D
CABLE (TRUNK & FEEDER)
13 ( 3 Z4 10
DROP PROBLEMS
9z 81 6z 6Z tl
CONVERTER
1
CUSTOMER EDUCATION
40 59 Z I I -3 2-0 �
. FIELD CHECKS
4 D O z1 d 1 D O 113
NOT HOMES & CANCELS
ZZ. " 1CO3 ZI ( ho 1 I S 1 Z_"
TOTAL TROUBLE CALLS FOR 1989 IN THE CITY OF ITHACA = 1 , 583
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
February 12 , 1990
Mr. Charles Guttman
City Attorney
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Guttman:
With this letter I would like to inform the City of Ithaca of
some changes which are going to be made to ACC ' s channel line-up.
We plan to roll out most of the changes on May 1 , 1990 . Since
this plan has not yet been fully detailed the timing could
possibly change. If that is the case , I will notify you at once .
I feel it is important to let you know of the planned changes as
soon as possible, hence this letter and the tentative date .
ACC is moving five local signals to its basic cable service tier.
These channels are not new, but have been carried on the upper
tier of our standard cable service . As a result of the changes
to the line-up, ACC will offer subscribers a 16-channel basic
cable service instead of the 12-channel basic cable service we
now offer. The cost of the 16 channels will be the same as the
planned price for the 12-channel service - $11 . 52 plus franchise
fees.
The reasons for the changes are twofold and both in response to
comments from our subscribers. First, we are removing the Prevue
Guide (cable channel 6 ) from our line-up completely. Second,
in response to customer requests, we are moving channels 5, 40
and 36 back to the basic tier. Also, ACC wanted to have all
broadcast (non-cable ) stations on one tier of service . While
this change could be completed with less cost to ACC by removing
cable programming from its basic tier, we choose instead to
increase the number of channels on the basic cable service tier
from 12 to 16 for the benefit of basic cable subscribers. *
Our standard 40 channel cable service will continue to be priced
at $18. 19 per month plus franchise fees. This standard service
is comprised of two tiers of service : a tier of 16 channels
priced at $11 . 52 plus franchise fees and a tier of 24 channels
priced at an additional $6 . 67 plus franchise fees. ACC will add
a new cable channel, the popular American Movie Classics, to this
service level as of May 1 , 1990. I have included information on
AMC for you.
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
I have attached a new channel line-up for your information. All
changes have been footnoted at the bottom of the page for easy
reference . Not all of the changes are directly attributable to
the increase in channels on the basic cable service . For
example, cable channel 7 will begin to carry local origination
material, slowly at first, and we hope with more regularity in
the future. In addition, we will use channel 7 to keep viewers
informed of Pay-Per-View events .
As always, American Community Cablevision remains committed to
providing the highest quality programming and customer service .
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
enc.
CC: Bill Demo, Chair
Ithaca Cable Commission
Mayor Ben Nichols
* see attached
A set-top channel selector will be required in order for a
subscriber to receive the entire 16 channel basic cable service,
unless the subscriber has a cable ready television set. ACC will
be establishing a number of convenient locations around the city
where subscribers will be able to pick up their channel selector
( s) . Basic cable subscribers who require a channel selector
will receive the first one at no charge .
There is no fee for an additional basic cable service outlet and
ACC will continue to provide additional outlets free of charge .
A subscriber will still be able to watch 12 channels on his/her
additional outlet without a channel selector; or with a cable
ready set would be able to view all 16 channels without requiring
a channel selector. A subscriber who wishes to receive 16
channels on his/her additional outlet on a non-cable ready TV and
who will thereby need an additional channel selector (beyond the
first free channel selector) will be charged a channel selector
fee of $3. 00 per month plus franchise fees.
0 12 channels without a channel selector on a non-cable ready TV
0 16 channels without a channel selector with a cable ready TV
0 16 channels with a channel selector on a non-cable ready TV
Those subscribers who presently receive our standard cable
service ( 40 channels ) on an additional outlet pay a monthly
additional outlet fee of $5 . 71 plus franchise fees for the use of
the channel selector. This will not change .
`- ,
. -
ITHACA CHANNEL LINE-UP MAY 1990
01 PAY-PER-VIEW
B 02 ABC-9/WIXT
B 03 NBC-3/WSTM
B 04 PBS-24/WCNY
B 05 CNN
B*. 06 FOX-68/WSYT
B 07 THE WEATHER CHANNEL/L. O. /PPV B
B 07 NEWSCENTER 7, M-F 6-11PM ON TH
B 08 PBS-46/WSK8
B 09 WWOR-9
B 10 ESPN
B 11 WPIX-11
B 12 CBS-12yWBNG
B 13 THE LEARNING CHANNEL
B 13 CABLE 13, PUBLIC ACCESS
+ 14 HBO
+ 15 CINEMAX '
+ 16 THE DISNEY CHANNEL
B 17 CBS-5/WTVH
B 18 NBC-40/WICZ
B* 19 PBS-44/WVIA
B 20 ABC-36/WENY
21 MTV
22 USA NETWORK
* 23 FNN
24 C-SPAN
* 25 NICK/NICK-AT-NITE
* 26 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
------------------------------------------
AVAILABLE
________________________________________AVAILABLE IN REBUILT AREAS
27 CNBC
28 MSG/TRAVEL CHANNEL
29 BRAVO/C-SPAN II
30 DISCOVERY
* 31 AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS/TWC
32 HEADLINE NEWS
33 THE FAMILY CHANNEL '
34 NASHVILLE NETWORK
* 35 JC PENNEY' S SHOPPING
36 VIDEO HITS 1
37 LIFETIME
38 BLACK ENTERTAINMENT
39 TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION
40 THE LEARNING CHANNEL
' 41 QVC
42 THE WEATHER CHANNEL
43 THE COMEDY CHANNEL
B=BASIC SERVICE CHANNEL
+=PREMIUM CHANNEL
*=CHANNEL CHANGE
IACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
ow LS
May 15 1990 D
Y . � 161M
Mr. Charles Gutman
Attorney
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Gutman:
Per the franchise agreement between the City of Ithaca and
American Community Cablevision, attached are some additional
reports which are required. The three reports ,are: a
st`Tmmary off- sery ci-a calls and complaints which were rece.iwed and
fiandled, a _19-89 summary of outages and FCC for 325.
We are reviewing the reports to ensure that we are in compliance
with section 18. 5. (A copy is attached for your reference. ) Per
that section, this is where we stand as of today.
18. 5.A Attached is the FCC form 325. Any reports filed with the
J NYSCCT in 1989 will be forwar e o you.
18. 5.B. ACC's annual report was sent to Mayor Nichols on January
16, 1990.~ Asbuilt maps are incomplete as of this writing, but
are in the process of being drafted.
18. 5.C. ( 1 ) The ownership report was mailed to you on April 10,
1990
18. 5.C. ( 2 ) The annual report was mailed along with the report
requested in 18. 5.8.
18. 5.C. (3) This is not applicable.
18. 5. C. (4 ) A statement was mailed to the city on January —1.51
i-91"-
18. 5. C. ( 5 ) This information was included with 18. 5. C. ( 1 ) .
X` 18. 5.D. ( 1 ) This report is no longer required by the FCC.
18. 5.D. ( 2 ) This information was included in the report mailed
on January 16, 1990.
519 West State Street Ithaca,New York 14850 607-272-3456
18. 5.D. ( 3) Attached.
18. 5.D. (4) Attached.
18. 5.D. ( 5) See 18. 5.A.
The Ithaca Cable Commission has asked that ACC provide copies of
all reports submitted to the City of Ithaca by ACC. Accordingly,
I will insure they receive copies of the reports mentioned in
this letter. Going forward it would be appreciated if your
office could supply the Commission with copies of the reports
which we provide to the City.
Sirmerely,
Qlcu
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
enc.
CC: Ithaca Cable Commission
V=
s �
gPoidit�o�
CITY OF ITHACA
10B EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE: 272-1713
CITY ATTORNEY
CODE 607
May 17, 1990
Mr. William Demo
119 Auburn St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Demo:
Enclosed please find a copy of a letter I received from ACC
in which they enclosed certain reports. Pursuant to the last
paragraph I am assuming they have provided copies of these reports
directly to you but just wish to make sure that you are aware that
these have been received by my office and, of course, are available
for your review.
Very truly yours,
ArOesuttman
City Attorney
CG/a
enc.
"An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program"
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVIs10N
January 16, 1990
Ben Nichols
Mayor
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mayor Nichols:
Enclosed is a copy of A ore' s financial
s atements for the fiscal year ending June, 1989. The year' s
a ax net income of $415, 299 represents a 4. 2% retur on
nv m—en t.
ACG measures its performance in many ways, however. From July
1988 to June 1989, ACC took significant positive steps to improve
its cable operation in the Greater Ithaca Area.
ACC and the City of Ithaca finally concluded their somewhat
stormy negotiations and signed a new franchise agreement. This
specific agreement is one of the most detailed and the most
favorable to the community of any cable television franchise
agreement in the State of New York and is often used as a model
by the New York State Commission on Cable Television.
Following the signing of the agreement, ACC fully rebuilt the
cable television system in the City of Ithaca, installing new
cable and electronic equipment and taking down the old.
Rebuilding the plant allowed us to increase the channel capacity
and add new services. Among the new services added were C-Span
II, The Discovery Channel, Madison Square Garden/The Travel
Channel, Turner Network Television, The Family Channel, The
Comedy Channel, Lifetime, Bravo and others.
ACC concluded its office renovation and the public access studio
was moved to a new location at 612 West Green Street, behind our
other buildings which are on West State Street. The new studio
boasts state-of-the-art video equipment and a staff of three
knowledgeable facilitators whose function it is to guide Ithaca
area citizens through the use of the equipment and all of the
procedures involved in television production. The access studio
is open and staffed 60 hours a week, meeting the needs of
Ithaca' s active producers.
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3458
NewsCenter 7 became the choice of Ithacans for local news,
according to a survey. This was positive reinforcement that
people want to know what' s happening about town. ACC is pleased
to be able to help fill that need. NewsCenter 7 has also
provided a great place for area businesses to promote their goods
and services to a majority of our subscribers. While these
advertisements are good business for ACC they also provide local
businesses with a means for garnering new customers and thereby
help to strengthen the local economy.
ACC continued to show customer growth although growth in basic
customers was not particularly strong due to a flattening of the
local economy. Continued improvement of cable programming has
helped maintain growth in the number of expanded tier customers.
There was a decline in the number of customers taking premium
services.
Approximately twelve miles of line extensions were built in this
period allowing us to offer service to an additional 500-600
residences.
As you probably know, Mike Withiam left ACC in May of 1989 and an
acting manager who commuted from Pennsylvania helped the staff
through the remainder of the fiscal year. I was named as Mike' s
replacement in July of 1989. It will remain to be seen how the
change in management will affect American Community Cablevision.
I can sincerely say that we are making every effort to provide
the very best in quality product and service to our customers.
Our forthcoming customer newsletter will bring you up to date on
the changes which are coming and which should enhance our
position to serve customers better.
Respectfully,
644lk
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
enc.
IACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CAELEYIs10N
January 8, 1990
QVC PURCHASES CABLE VALUE NETWORK
I have just been informed that Cable Value Network (CVN) has been
purchased by QVC. CVN is a home shopping channel which ACC
carries on cable channel 41 . QVC offers a similar service. ACC
is required to replace CVN with QVC effective January 23, 1990.
We will inform subscribers of this change via a press release as
there is insufficient time to provide the information with their
bills prior to January 23rd. The information which I have
indicates that the change will be essentially transparent to
subscribers due to the similarities of the two companies.
Sincerely,
lil
Barbara L. Lukens
General Hanager
BLL/fw
619 West stab Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
May 18 , 1990
TO: Cable Systems Operators, Municipal Officials
and Interested Parties
FROM: The New York State Commission On Cable Television
The Commission proposes, in Docket No. 90400, to amend the
primary service area threshold in Part 595.5 (a) (1) (iii) and Part
595. 5 (b) (2) of its Rules. The threshold is the minimum number
of dwelling units per mile of aerial cable plant, above which
level companies are required to provide service at normal rates
and charges. The threshold is currently set at 35 dwelling
units per aerial mile, which number was adopted in 1982 based
on data for the period 1979-1980.
Our staff has analyzed the latest financial and other
available data (for the period 1988-1989) . Based upon this
review, staff proposes that the primary service area benchmark
be set at twenty (20) dwelling units per linear mile of aerial
cable. The basis for this new threshold is staff' s finding that
this is the minimum level at which it is economically feasible
for the average cable operator to offer cable service to
residents in an area contiguous to existing plant while allowing
for a 10 year amortization of debt.
Under the proposed rule change:
1. All subscribers requesting service in an area
containing at least twenty (20) dwelling units per
linear mile of aerial cable shall receive service, at
normal rates and charges, and
2 . All residents located in an area with less than twenty
(20) dwelling units per mile shall be provided cable
television service upon their request if they
contribute to the cost of construction (SC) , which
shall be determined by application of the formula
included in the rules or by a formula or policy of the
cable operator, provided, however, that said formula
or policy is no less favorable to the subscriber than
that set forth in the Commission's rules.
Page 2
May 18, 1990
All other provisions of Part 595.5 of the Rules would
remain unchanged and continue in effect. The rule changes
being considered are not directly applicable to exempt
companies.
Before issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the
Commission asked staff to solicit comments upon this proposal.
Therefore, we ask you to respond to this proposal. Your
responses or comments should be limited to the proposed rule
change. In so doing, please include information concerning the
following: a description of areas cabled and not cabled; the
amount and number of line extensions built in 1989 ; technologies
used; construction and debt costs; depreciation and amortization
periods; and other relevant information to support your
position.
Small businesses in particular are asked to comment upon
whether there are alternative approaches for ensuring the
extension of cable television services to the maximum extent
practicable in a manner that is economically feasible.
All comments should be submitted on or before June 15,
1990.
IACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
C C� LE OWE
D
MAY 2 31990
May 21 , 1990
Charles Gutman
Attorney
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Gutman:
Enclosed for you files is a survey we were required to submit to
the New York State Commission on Cable Television.
Thank you.
Sincerely, ,
'=41culu
Fran Wright
Administrative Assistant
519 West State Street tthaca, New York 14850 607.272-3456
jwA
NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION ON CABLE TELEVISION
Business Office On Site Report by: Fran Wright Date: 5/90
Cable Company: American Community Cablevision
Location: 519 West State Street Ithaca, NY 14850
Parent Company: American Television & Communication Corp.
Location: 160 Inverness Drive West Englewood, CO 80112
Municipalities Served: City of Ithaca, Cayuga Hts . , Trumansburg , Caroline ,
Town of Ithaca, Lansing, Dryden, Newfield, Ulysses, Danby, Groton, Freeville
Candor, Newark Valley.
Channel Capacity: 60 Number Activiate: 43 (rebuilt)
non-refiuilt)
# of Basic: 16 i
# of Tiers : 2 # of Tiers :
# of Satellite: 4
Number of Subscribers: 25 , 100 % of Premium: 52%
% of Penetration: 84%
Is System Addressable : yes
-Type of Converter Used: Scientific-Atlanta
Is a Converter Required For All Services: ' NO
-2-
Are Cable Ready Sets used in the System: YES
Estimated # 17 , 000
Are there Scrambled Channels in the System: YES
How Many 27
Business Office Hours, Monday through Friday: 8 : 30 to 6 : 00 pm
Weekend: Sat. 8 : 00 to Noon
Is there an After Hours Answering Service: YES
Answering Machine: YES
Number of Business Office Employees: 15
Service Complaints: Approx. 300/month
Billing Complaints: Approx. 10/month
Prior Experience Required for Business Office Employees:
Some level of customer service experience
Training of Business Office Employees: PCSS, weekly product knowledge
meeting, customer service skills
Is there a Formal Company Training Program: no, only departmental/position
specific
Turnover Rate of Business Office Employees: There has been no turnover
in the business office since the beginning of 1989
Number of Terminals Available, Service: 17
Billing: 15
1
-3-
Number of Incoming Telephone Lines: 13
Billing: 13
Installation, Sales: 13
Service: 13
Can Supervisor Monitor Calls: YES
Average Number of Incoming Calls per day: 300 at this time of year
(fluctuates due to student
Billing: 70% population)
Service: 15%
Other : 15%
Average Number Per Month for :
New Installs: 61 Reconnects: 390
Disconnects: 413 Non-Paid Accounts : 409
Type of Telephone System: Northern Telecom
(if sophisticated system, ask for copy of daily printout)
Does Business Office Use Auto-sequence to put calls on hold: YEs
Does Auto-sequence Record Calls on hold that are dropped: YES
Is there a Cue Clock for number of calls on hold: YES
Average Time to Answer Calls: 23 seconds
Is Billing In House: NO
If not., Where: Cable Data
Are- Payment Locations Used, if so, Where: Tompkins County Trust
Billing Cycle: Monthly: Split-Billing x
Date bills sent out : 1st Cycle-begin. Date Payment is due : 20th of month
2nd wk/month
2nd cycle-3rd 5th of followin
wk of month month
-4-
Amount of days before a late charge is instituted: -0-
Amount of Late Charge: -0-
When is first Disconnect Notice sent: 30 days past due on statement
(# of days after delinquent status
starts) & 60 days on statement
When is service physically disconnected: 65-70
Number of Installers: 4
Turnover Rate: rare
Experience Required for Installers: in House training
Training Required for Installers: _ basic cable skills , PCSS
Experience Required for Repair Personnel : Basic electronics , install . train
Training Required for Repair Personn el :none-trained on the _job by --;iipv . &
other techs
Number of Trucks for Installation and Repair : 15
Are Trucks in Radio Contact with Office: YES
Is there After Hours Service: YES
For What Situations: Skeleton crew working until 6PM -techs on standby
for outages, pole breaks, down drops
Is Overtime Used when Complaints Peak: yes ,------- ----
Average
es ---- -Average Number of Service Calls Per Day: // 35 per day
Are Sub-Contractors Used: yes United Cable- Installations
(Name)
For What Work: Connections and rebuild activity
Ask to see Trouble Call Log pursuant to Part 596 .8 of the Commission 's
Rules and Regulations. Determine if a summary of type of calls, location
of problems or any other analysis of trouble calls exists.
1
-5-
How many Sales People Are There: -0-
Full Time:
Part Time :
Salaried:
Commission:
Selling Techniques Used:
Door-to-Door : Telephone: X
Direct Mail : X Advertisements: X
Other:
Is there a Regular Program Guide for Subscribers : Ithaca Tv Journal
supplement
Is there a Charge: YES
In your opinion, what two or three non-technical problems are most
significant. How are they handled: Timely solution to customer complaints .
Manager of affected department responds in writing and files resolutions .
Other Comments:
-6-
Please give us a copy of your Cgble Guide Converter Policy, subscriber
notice of complaint resolution and billing practices, schedule of rate
and charges and any recent ad campaigns mailed to subscribers .
Meeting Attended By:
Common B111ing�Quest�ons Y a a
x�r w ,
::ti SQA s,d35xrd Jdlr n.,a+M + .. > .,'s.,.es .+.,:a►w6.Y i�+•+t :r*�k J. .. d, r.
0
t '•. .:-}. ac - : - ... .r, �J r. ' A� „fir � l' ...„'",:'4r'�r`!iA,.^° 1Y.1 -' ;. ..'. ;�..fyyY.t. • j
„ :WHEN DO YOU BILL?}�,� „ ' and 60-dayremindernotices are mailed to„x'ai ccounts that 3
Similar,to;other companies,`�we,bill one month�in a have not been paid�within the current`month:and are
tadvanceaiCustomers who subscribeonly�'�toithe B c thiim subject to disconnection if payment is not received
Tier are billed every.two months` Should uhavn' ►o rornptly:--1 quest"accounts will be assessed•a colleo-6
service discounected�the unused portio"is
cr'o"ditedto' tioa'orrnnnectio�stfee' `;
",your account:A : '� ti.:'
� .y� ' yt" ,: ��. :. WHAT SHOULDA DO IF 1 HA -136013L
� WHAT,DOES PARTIAL MONTH MEANT WrTH•MY4CABLE�BILL7 '
y �ePartial month'is•a charge`tor�those*dayszn the month Callus'"" ? L
..
�• t17 3456 :, ', eameantime, please pay all
! th
that you.had}sezmce pno o'�being.billed=f th charges�exceptthe,disputed amount to avoid fallingint0
p Mullmonth:' atdeluiqueacyststu' if your,billing robleni`is unre-
' , ,
,� '� �:. solved`"aftear,�UiU.00ntact;`please notify.us writing
F�`��qWHEN IS MY.ACCOUNT,"-IIE7" " '" »� � ,,•`
K:ACC's policy regardingpas;gue accountys�maintams that'
'statements'are due upo -receiptl0 'bi11:�SepSrdt,
t ��.' +r *�.t 1S�'yl,`"' $a r'�ri�"Xy, -�/ fit' �� �•'' �tv��'jay }V•.�"��.r�'►"',C..
Moving. orDIsconnecting Hey. What. Happenedw
-Service, _�. ;T !�My' cture? rt Y AS
:: W
�.:?.., �i+.,. _.."-�.•• '"�..x �+'1#'�aF .A.+S, '�'^ rlt►6R.�+-�.-�s:,�n•{r .�3'. tn. ++c
;J>N',„.�'x:�l+s^'^v'T7•.' ;,!ik1�,�•°`r-� a�y'Sn'•�'��, +lk`L✓ .. �► .:.ayaM;;wn..r,•.._ ..)fj
If you are moving and need tocdisconnect. ►our cable WHAT-TO DO,IFYOU EXPERIENCE f
service,you will be billed.for cable servi6e iuntil the'date , - SERVICE PROBLEMS.,,,:-,
you request your ervice�to b;disconnected:;IfyouHave;- � '-Ocrasionally,T.dtie to unforeseen events, a television
a channel selector''remote control,you will tie billed signal can be interrupted:Bad weather;high winds and,
until the day the equipment is retumed to,our,off'tce'. .even(believeit ornot)curious wildlife can;inadvertently
., 1 �► .
�� -disrupt cable service'`�Ifyou experience,cable reception
Keeping your account up-to-date'and'returning<yo�r problems,our;,a ce department'may be reached 24N
�.
equipment.in good-;working`,order will speedup-the hours'a'daiy,'' ,daysia,�weerIby calling•�27 3449
refund process if;you ar&due--one aThe refuad,takes „.-. • :'� ► � '
6 to 8 weeks to receive"I,
�CREDIT FOR FULL'SERVICE OUTAGE.
Y.
Aservice outs ' .'tlie loss"Of' icture:or sound not
If you are moving out of our service area,please advise mused by N x you,the customer,or your television set;We'
usofyourforwardingaddress�Ifyou'removingwitfiin awill,m'* ue'credit, or a'sernee'charge if,it exceeds 24 r
..,the ACC serviceJarea, a transfer'appointnient will be ,f hours {The�!24=hourperiodtbegins afteryou have.
• d *+ate_ ,
rescheduled at your,convenience �;fir,, notifedtus of the outage )•This includes aV.services: r
Jc jc P ..r u a per• t °+ 14.. a: S:..- P Js r7
y µ These credits are not given automatically.To receive a.
creditor a serivice.outage that exceeds 24 hours;contact.
within•90-'days of,rile. )u
y �y {, tet. -•� �+ 4 ' 1„§R ) „ 'r,
�' '�"'+�' '.� .•1'�� � 5'' ,.r a`..'j4 c3„�.. i���M a 1� '�i ��MC� ; :� i" ". l e'R.+ ;L'l.
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7.
or To Read..Your. Monthly,4Statement ,
t.'Payment due date Y=; SUNS-
cable�;, . 9Benriuig balance is the total of all previous
�P �. charges:; ^ ,2. Amount'due.Thiswill mclude'currentcharges af �- 14 s:,�well as prior balances. T, "� r> � : f��"'� 0Monthly chargeforbasicservice g '
i` gT ' £ " 4: 1].Mont ychargfoexpa,ded�sez�nce ���'
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6. The period covered bycharges listed , Pay Per-Vlew events purchased will be Itemlzed,,
.✓with a'charge,attached.to`each-- ,
r 7 Any payments'recei' 'an dprocessed by the"date Individual,event r '
s t � ,JR, ., . n
shown here will be reflected ori this`statement '�+ r t
If you sent in a payment after this date it will � f
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appear on your next statement ^ �`'` S y' t^L 2 �` # r
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UNITED STATES
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
FIRST CLASS MAL PERMIT NO.1076 ENGLEWOOD,CO ;
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
Barbara Lukens, General Manager
519 West State Street
Ithaca, NY 14850 ; Y.
ACC
- AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
Dear American Community Cablevision Customer.
. Wdre proud to have you as a new American Community Cablevision customer!
Its very Important to us that you are satisfied with our service. Would you
please take a moment to fill in the attached postage-paid card and send it to us?
Thanksl
' Barbara Lukens,
General Manager
P.S. Your comments are a big help to all of us in making our service the way
you want it to be.
' YES NO
• Was your connection of cable service
completed at the time it was scheduled?
• " YES NO
If not,did we call to reschedule your
connection?
YES NO
• Was your cable connection completed
to your satisfaction?
If not,please explain.
• What was your impression of the people who did the work?
Excellent Good Average Pow
a) Courteous
b) Properly Identified
c) Neat about the job
d) Neat in appearance
• Did our representative explain:
YES NO
a) Your new channels and service?
b) How the channel selector works?
c) What prices to expect on your first bill?
• Do you have any other comments or suggestions?
Name Telephone
Address Date
City/State/Zip
Summary of Consumer Related Regulations
Concerning Billing Practices and Complaint Procedures.Required
by the New York State Commission on Cable Television
Section 590.5: Should a subscriber choose to lodge a previously unresolved complaint
against a cable operator, he/she may file it with the Commission in writing or by telephone.
Complaints received by telephone will be recorded and kept on file. After such complaint
is filed, both the cable operator named, and the chief executive officer of the subscriber's
municipality will receive a copy of the complaint from the Commission. Within 10 days, the
company must reply to the Commission and serve a copy of said reply to the mayor or
supervisor of the municipality. .This response must contain a statement of action that has
or will be taken to resolve the complaint and/or to prevent recurrence.
If the complaint is filed due to failure of the operator to provide to an interested party a
requested cable service, the Commission may obtain a map of the franchised area
indicating and information requested by the Commission. Additionally, if numerous
complaints are filed in the same municipality,or it appears that they remain unresolved the
Commission can institute further investigative proceedings. These proceedings may be
formal or informal and may include a hearing, oral argument, or both.
• AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEViSI SERVICES 6<PRICE
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9 WIXT9 Syracuse ABC 13 Lranar*O]uiviet 36 Vu6,Ihis I
14 1150 Pay TV 17 ldrume
10 ESPNIS Caneaaa Pay Tv 38 Nwk Lntntamment
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19 PBS-44lWVIA 42 WratherC3unnei J
13 WMGC44 Binghamton ABC 20 ABc361wENY 43 The Umne ly U d.
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when these services become
PHONE NUMBER 1 23 FNN available in their area,
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6 WVIA-44(PBS-Scranton) i
7 Weathet Channel,Never Center 7
8 WSKG-46(PBS-B-ghamton)
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10 WICZ-40(NBC-Banehamton) {
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COMMENTS:
CABLE BOX # REMOTE CONTROL #
IDENTIFICATION
I hereby certify that all work has been performed to my satisfaction and 1 have read
and agree to the policies, terms and conditions printed on the back hereof.
"SUBSCRIBER ACKNOWLEDGES RECEIPT OF A PRIVACY NOTIFICATION AS REQUIRED
PER THE CABLE COMMUNICATIONS POLICY ACT OF 1984.11
CUSTOMER'S SIGNATURE DATE
ACC REPRESENTATIVE'S SIGNATURE DATE
APPENDIX A
BILLING PRACTICES OF CABLE TELEVISION COMPANIES
590 . 61 Definitions. (a) Basic subscriber channel shall mean
any channel which is provided [for in] as part of the basic monthly
service rate.
(b) A billing dispute shall mean a disagreement
between a subscriber and cable television company concerning:
(1) credits for payments made by the
subscriber to the cable television company;
(2.) credit or refund for service outage ;
(3) errors in billing amount; or
(4) assessment of late charges .
(c) Collection charge shall mean a fee or charge
imposed upon a subscriber by a cable television company for its
efforts at collecting or attempting to collect a past due account
by personal visit at a subscriber ' s home or place of business .
[an account due . ]
(d) Commission shall mean the New York State
Commission on Cable Television.
(e) Late charge shall mean a charge which is added
to a cable television subscriber ' s account or bill for nonpayment
of a previously due account.
(f) Local office shall mean the business office of
the cable television company serving the municipality in which a
billing dispute arises .
(g) Service outage shall mean a loss of picture or
sound on all basic subscriber channels or on one or more auxiliary
programming channels [and] which is not caused by the
subscriber ' s television receiver [n] or the subscriber.
h Downgrade charge shall mean a charge imposed
upon- a subscriber for implementing a request for a reduction of
services in the amount or level of cable television services ._
590 .62 Notification of billing practices . (a) Every cable
television company shall notify each of its subscribers , [ in
writing, ] in a separate written notices of its billing practices
2
and payment requirements [ . ] includingthe use of payment coupons.
The notice shall describe or define, [as] at a minimum, billing
procedures ( including payment requirements to avoid discontinuance
of service, e.g. , payment due dates) , late charges , downgrade.
charges , advance billing options, if any, procedures to be followed
in billing disputes and credit to be given for service outages .
(b) Notice shall be given as follows :
(1) to new subscribers , at the time of initial
installation;
(2) to all subscribers , whenever there is a
change in the company' s billing practices or
payment requirements;
(3) to all [existing] subscribers [ ,within
one year of effective date of these rules. ] at
least annually,
[Thereafter, notice shall be given whenever the company changes its
billing practices. ]
(c) [Copies of the company' s billing practices and
billing requirements shall be filed with the commission and shall
be filed in the company' s local office and shall be available upon
request by a subscriber. ] Every cable television company (i) shall.
file copies of its billing practices and payment requirements with
the commission and (ii) shall maintain on file in its local office
for public inspection for a period of two years copies of its.
billing practices and Payment requirements and promotional and
general informational mat rials ( including_monthly bill stuffers)
590.63 Bill -format, [L] late charges [and] , collection charges [ . ]
and downgrade charce_s: (a) Each subscriber bill shall Ai) include
the name , address -arid- telephone number of the company and the toll-
free subscriber assistance telephone number of the commission; Cii)
shall itemize each category of service and piece of equipment for.
which a charge is imposed; ( iii) state the billing period, amount
of current billing and appropriate credits or past due balances,
if any,
(b) Each subscriber bill shall specify a minimum
time for payment which shall not be less than fifteen (15) days
from mailing of the bill.
[a] jcL Any late charge permitted by law or by the
franchise, if imposed upon the subscriber, shall be itemized on the
subscriber ' s bill , or notice of delinquent payment in cases where
coupon books are used .
3
(d) If a late charge is to be imposed , it shall not
be imposed sooner than forty-five (45) - days after the mailing of
the bill to the subscriber or the due date if coupons are used .
[b] (e) No cable television company shall impose
a collection charge upon any subscriber, except as prescribed in
subdivision 590 .67 (e) of this Part .
(f) A cable television company may impose a charge-
for
har e_for downgrading a subscriber ' s services provided (i) that such
charge does not exceed the cost thereof to the company and _ ii _
that subscribers have been notified in writing -(Print no smaller
than ten point) of such charges In no event may a downgrade
charge be imposed upon a subscriber who is terminating service
completely or who has maintained the same level of cable television
services for six_ _(6) continuous months immediately prior to a.
request for reduction in services . This section shall not appy_
to _pay-per-_iew programming._
590. 66 Credit for service outage . (a) Every cable television
company shall give credit , for every service outage in excess of
[24] four 4) continuous hours [to any subscriber who applies for
it either by written or oral notice . ] . The [24] four (4)_ - hour
period shall commence at the time the cable television company
first becomes aware of the outage .
(bj Whenever a cable television company may.
reasonably determine the existence and scope of a service outa9e.
as-, -for- example, a service outage caused by a major failure in the
system' s headend or _ distribution electronic equipment, which_
service outage exceeds four ( 4) continuous hours , the cable
television compa_ny shall issue a credit to each of ected
subscr ibe r.
jc) In the event a cable television company cannot
determine all subscribers affected by a service outage in excess
of four (4) continuous hours credit shall be given to any eligible
subscriber who makes application therefor by either written or oral
notice within 90 days of the outage .
[b] (d) [The credit shall be prorated by
multiplying the applicable monthly service rate by a fraction whose
numerator equals the number of days (or portion thereof) of the
outage and whose denominator equals the number of days in month of
the outage. In no case shall the refund be less than 24 hour;
credit . ] The minimum credit shall be equal to one thirtieth times
the applicable monthly charge for each twenty-four hour period
during which a service outage continues for at least four hours .
[c] (e) A cable television_ [The] company shall be
responsible for every service outage and shall provide credit to
4
each affected subscriber who [applies for it within 90 days of an
outage . ] is entitled thereto pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c)
of this section.
(f) Prior written notice of a scheduled
service outage due to system upgrade or rebuild shall be
filed with the commission and the affected municipality. Every
cable television company shall make a reasonable effort to inform
subscribers in writing or electronically, in advance , of any
scheduled service outages for equipment repair or replacement,
system upgrade or rebuild, or on-going technical "sweeps" of the
system,
590. 67 Discontinuance of service for nonpayment. (a) A cable
television subscriber shall not be considered delinquent in payment
until at least [30] forty-five (45) days have elapsed from the [due
date of the bill or account] mailing of the bill to the subscriber.
or due date, if coupons are used,- and payment has not been received
by the company.
(b) No cable television company shall physically,
or electronically. discontinue service for nonpayment of bills
rendered for service until :
(1) the subscriber is delinquent in payment
for cable television service; and
(2) at least five days have elapsed after a.
separate written notice of impending_ discontinuance
has been served personally upon a subscriber; or
(3) at least eight days have elapsed after
mailing to the subscriber a separate written notice
of impending discontinuance (for which postage is
paid by the cable television company) , addressed to
such person at the premises where [service is
rendered; or] the subscriber requests billing; or
(4) at least five days have elapsed after a
subscriber has either signed for or refused a
certified letter (postage to be paid by the cable
television company) , containing a separate_ written
notice of impending discontinuance addressed to such
person at the premises where [service is rendered. ]
the subscriber requests billing.
(c) Notice of service discontinuance shall clearly
state the amount in arrears , the total amount required to be paid
to avoid discontinuance of service, reconnection charges if
applicable , and the date by which,-, and the place where,-, such
payment must be made.
5
(d) No cable television company shall disconnect
service for nonpayment on a Sunday, public holiday or a day when
the local office of the company is not open for business without
providing an opportunity for the subscriber to pay [a] the amount
in arrears .
(e) When a company is at a subscriber ' s residence
or place of business to disconnect service and the subscriber, at
that time , pays the amount in arrears in lieu of disconnection, the
company may add a reasonable collection charge to the subscriber ' s
bill provided all other applicable provisions of this section have
been followed .
(f) Receipt of a subsequently dishonored negotiable
instrument in response to a notice of discontinuance shall not
constitute payment, and no cable television company shall be
required to issue an additional notice prior to discontinuance.
590. 69 Notice of requirements for [ increase] changes_ in cable
television rates, [and] charges and programming services offered_.
(a) Every cable television company shall provide notice of [an
increase] a change in [a] rates_ [for any cable television service]
or programming services offered . The notice shall be in writing
and shall specify the service or services affected , the new rate
[ , ] or charge,, including the amount of the [ increase] change , and
the effective date thereof.
(b) Notice shall be provided as follows:
(1) to subscribers affected by the [rate
increase] changes in rates , charges or programming
services offered at least ten (10) days prior to the
effective date of such [ increase] change; and
(2) to the franchising municipality and the
commission [no later than thirty (30) days after
the] at least ten L10�_ days prior to the effective
date of the change in rates ,- charges - or programming
services offered.
(c) Every cable television company which has
increased rates pursuant to Section 623 of the Cable Communications
Policy Act of 1984 prior to the effective date hereof shall serve
written notice of any such increase upon the franchising
municipality and the commission within 30 days of the effective
date of this section.
(d) In any case where a subscriber requests
cancellation or reduction of service within 30 days of the
effective date of [a rate] an increase in rates or charges for such
6
service, the liability of the subscriber for services received
after the effective date of [the rate increase] such changes until
the cancellation or reduction of service, shall be determined in
accordance with the rates or charges in effect prior to such
[increase] change.
(e) This section shall not apply to pay for view
programming.
590.73 Auxiliary equipment, (a) When a cable television company
eupplies aux ' iar a ui ment such as a converter or other modifying
device to a subscriber the company can expect reasonable - care-of
such equipment by the subscriber. A cable operator shall notify
the subscriber and the commission in writing of any charges to
subscribers for lost, stolen or damaged converters . In the event
such equipment is lost, stolen or damaged, and the cable television
company seeks to charge the subscriber for such equipment, the
company shall give written dated notice to the subscriber -of-the
amount sought and the subscriber' . opportunity to refer the matter
to the commission in accordance with the provisions of S e c t i o n
590.5 of this subtitle. If referral is not made to the commission
within 30 days of the date of the notice, the company may commence_
its collect ion procedures ,
596.8 Trouble calling processing. (a) A telephone number shall
be made available to which subscribers may direct trouble calls .
In the event that trouble calls must be made outside the
subscriber 's local dialing area, the calls must be toll free.
(b) Investigative action shall be initiated on the
same day a trouble call is received at the local office, if
possible, but in no case later than the following business day.
(c) Whenever a service call to the subscriber' s.
premises is required, the company shall advise such subscriber of
the opportunity to schedule the service call for the morning or
afternoon hours (or evenings or Saturdays , if available) and shall
schedule such service call in accordance with the subscriber' s
request. If, for any reason the service call is not made within
the scheduled time frame the subscriber shall not be charged for
such service call including any installation or reconnection made
as a result thereof,
[ (c) ] (d) A report on each trouble call in which
a cable system fault reported by a single subscriber was identified
shall be filed at the local off ice, and shall include the following
data:
(1) subscriber identification;
(2) date and approximate time complaint
7
was received;
(3) date and approximate time of
response;
(4) nature of complaint;
(5) brief description of the fault;
(6) signal level measured on each active
class I channel after corrective action,
where appropriate;
(7) corrective steps taken ( if any
required) ;
(8) date case is closed; and
(9) identification of technician or
[repairman] repairperson.
[ (d) ] (e) A report on each system fault , or on any
failure reported by more than one subscriber and affecting an area,
shall be filed at the local office and shall include the following
data:
(1) brief description of the area
affected sufficient to allow the later
determination of the number of subscribers
affected;
(2) date and approximate time of
failure;
(3) cause of failure; and
(4) date and time service is restored.
[ (e) ] M. A report for each trouble call in
which no trouble was identified, or in which further instruction
was required to enable the subscriber properly to adjust the
terminal receiving equipment, or in which the fault was in the
subscriber' s receiving equipment , shall be filed at the local
office and shall include:
(1) subscriber identification;
(2) date and time complaint was received;
(3) date and time of response;
(4) nature of complaint ;
8
(5) corrective steps taken ( if any
required) ; and
(6) identification of technician or
[repairman] repairperson.
[ (f) ] JgZ. Any report required to be maintained
pursuant to this section shall be kept by the operator for a period
of two years from the event to which it relates.
APPENDIX B
ASSESSMENT OF COMMENT
The rules address such issues as billing practices and payment
requirements (including bill format) , customer service and charges
for damaged or lost auxiliary equipment.
Billing
The rules , as proposed, would have required cable companies
to file with the Commission copies of all promotional and general
information materials which were distributed by the cable company
to subscribers . Most cable companies that filed comments oppose
this requirement citing, among other things, the voluminous
material that would be included within the scope of the rule as
well as the cost to the companies for providing, and the presumed
costs to the Commission for reviewing and compiling, such material .
We are persuaded by the comments that it is not necessary to
require the filing of such material with us and we have modified
the rule to require only that the materials be filed by a cable
company in its local office to be made available therein for
inspection for a period of two years subsequent to filing.
Section 590. 63 (a) of the proposed rules included a requirement
that each service received by the subscriber be itemized on the
bill . Certain cable television companies contend that existing
software or billing systems cannot readily accommodate itemized
billing. One company suggested that itemization would create more
confusion. Still other companies did not contest this proposal and
the Cable Television Association of New York (C`1'ANY) observed that
the rule should not be misinterpreted to require the attribution
of charges for equipment when, in fact , there is no separate or
direct charge for the equipment. In this regard, we note that the
fact that certain equipment is required to receive certain services
does not mean that a charge must necessarily be attributable to the
equipment. As adopted , the rule requires the itemization of each
category of service rather than each service. This change is
intended to eliminate any confusion about the scope of the rule .
It is not necessary to list each and every channel or cable network
received by the subscriber. We have also added to the rule the
fundamental components of any bill including the billing period and
amount of current billing, past due balances and credits, if any.
We note here that Commission records show that approximately one-
third of all complaints to cable companies and the Commission are
billing disputes, many of which involve a lack of understanding as
to the precise services involved. It is also our experience that
since Congress approved rate deregulation, service packages and
program offerings have changed with greater frequency.
Section 590 . 63 (b) , as proposed , required that each bill
contain a due date which is not sooner than fifteen days from
-2-
receipt of the bill . Various cable companies objected to the
standard including the difficulty of measuring the time period
because of the uncertainty of the date the bill is received by a
subscriber. We have modified this rule such that the fifteen day
period shall be measured from the date a bill is mailed by the
company. Of course, cable companies will be expected to maintain
complete and accurate records of the date all subscriber bills are
mailed.
In Section 590. 63 (d) , it was proposed that a late charge not
be imposed unless payment was not made for a period of thirty days
after mailing of the bill . Various governmental entities including
the Town of Greenburgh and the Borough of Manhattan urged a longer
period for timely payment particularly in view of the fact that the
billing may occur on or before the first of the month for which
service is to be provided . We have modified this section to extend
from thirty to forty-five days the period for payment without
liability for a late charge.
Our proposal at Section 590. 67 (a) to extend from thirty days
to forty-five days the minimum time for discontinuance of service
for non-payment remains unchanged. However, we have modified the
language to include reference to payment coupons in accordance with
the suggesion of the Office of Business Permits and Regulatory
Assistance (OBPRA) .
Section 590. 63 (f ) , as proposed , included limitations upon the
imposition of downgrade charges . Certain companies and CTANY
suggested that downgrade charges may be within the rates
deregulated in the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984. Other
parties suggested that it was unfair to limit downgrade charges to
less than cost inasmuch as it would require the subsidization of
such charges by all subscribers . We have modified Section
590. 63 (f) to remove an absolute dollar limitation on the amount of
the charge in favor of the company ' s cost for implementing a
downgrade. At the same time , we have expanded the class of
subscribers against whom a downgrade charge may not be imposed to
include any subscriber requesting a termination of all cable
television service . We have also changed the rule to require
specific, advance notification of downgrade charges as a condition
to the imposition of same where permitted under the rule . Finally,
we have modified the rule to include at Section 590. 61 (h) a
definition of downgrade charge .
Customer Service
At Section 590. 63 (f ) , we proposed a rule which would have
required cable television companies to "conduct routine
maintenance" at times which would cause the least amount of
disruption to subscribers. Staten Island Cable, among others ,
commented that the rule concerning routine maintenance would deny
the flexibility needed by a cable operator . To provide some
-3-
measure of flexibility, the rule was revised to require a
reasonable effort on the part of cable companies to notify
subscribers ia writing P-r, electronically_ of scheduled outages .
This revision also is responsive to comments by OBPRA which
suggested that "notice. . .due to routine maintenance" be changed
to "notice due to. . .scheduled maintenance. " We have maintained
the language in the proposed rule which would require cable
companies to notify the Commission and affected municipalities in
writing of any scheduled service outages due to system upgrades or
rebuilds . We believe that these types of outages can be determined
sufficiently in advance to provide notice and that such notice will
assist local officials and Commission staff in responding to
subscriber inquiries .
Section 596. 8 (c) of the proposed rule addressed matters
pertaining to customer service calls . Our concern here is based
upon the frustration experienced by subscribers when a cable
company fails to fulfill a scheduled appointment. Specifically,
we proposed that cable companies specify the part of the day, i.e . ,
morning, afternoon or evening hours , the service call would be
made . We further proposed that a cable company make a reasonable
effort to inform the subscriber in the event such an appointment
could not be kept timely. The Town of Greenburgh commented on this
issue in which it asserted that stronger, more specific language
than "reasonable effort. . . " be required when an appointment
cannot be kept . Upon further review, we are persauded that a
greater incentive for the timely fulfillment of service calls is
warranted. Accordingly, we have modified the proposed rule to
preclude the imposition of a charge for any service call which iE
not made within the appointed time frame.
Auxiliary Equipment
At Section 590 . 73 (b) , we proposed a rule which would have
limited the liability of a subscriber for lost , stolen or damaged
auxiliary equipment, such as channel converters , to the net book
value of the equipment . This proposal generated many comments from
cable television companies . The comments of TKR Cable, which are
generally representative of other comments , expressed a special
concern that equipment such as a channel converter, if not
returned, can be used for the unlawful receipt or theft of cable
television at other locations . The company suggests that the
ability to impose significant charges is necessary to provide an
incentive for subscribers to take care of , and return, the
equipment . CTANY suggests that the "proper and valid valuation of
descrambling security equipment is not measured by hardware
considerations . . . [and that ] the loss . . .can only be measured by
its theft potential . " Accordingly, CTANY asserts that the rule as
proposed is "grossly unfair and would encourage misuse and theft"
and that the Commission should defer adoption of a rule pending
further inquiry into the matter . We are mindful that certain
converters or descramblers can be employed unlawfully to receive
-4-
cable television service . On the other hand, it is also true that
the inability of a subscriber to return equipment may be
attributable to causes beyond the control of the subscriber such
as theft or destruction by fire and that any policy which includes
an element of deterrence or "compensation" for more than the cost
of the equipment as such, should be fairly and consistently
applied . For now, we have determined to modify the proposal by
eliminating an absolute maximum amount that can be imposed upon a
subscriber who is unable to return auxiliary equipment. The rule
we are adopting requires any company which attempts to collect a
charge for a lost converter to notify the subscriber of an
opportunity to appeal the company 's decision with Commission staff
within thirty days of receipt of notice of said charge . The
Commission will review the matter in accordance with the procedures
for review of billing complaints. If no appeal is filed by the
subscriber, a cable company can proceed with its collection
procedures. Of course, a cable television subscriber can still be
required to exercise reasonable care in the use and possession of
the company 's auxiliary equipment .
APPENDIX C
Rules pursuant to Section 824-a of the Executive Law (Ch. 9, Laws of 1990)
590.69A Notice requirements for rates, charges, programming and subscriber's
rights.
(a) Rates and charges. Every cable television company shall provide notice of
any changes in rates or charges for any cable television service. The notice shall be
in writing and shall specify the service or services affected, the new rate or charge,
including the amount of the increase and the change and the effective date thereof.
Notice shall be provided at least ten (10) days prior to the effective date of any
changes in rates or charges to the subscribers affected thereby, the Commission and
the franchising municipality. The notice to subscribers shall inform subscribers of the
opportunity to request a downgrade or termination of service within thirty (30) days
of the receipt of the notice without any charge therefor and without any liability for
payment of any higher rate or charge.
(b) Significant programming change. (1) Definitions. For purposes of this
section (i) a "significant programming change" shall mean the removal or alteration
of recurring programming which materially changes the quality or level of
programming on a network; provided, however, such terms shall not include deletions
of programs mandated by the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission,
nor shall it include deletions of programs that are distributed by the cable television
company in lieu of such programs deleted pursuant to such regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission; (ii) a "network" shall mean a group of programs
distributed, packaged, promoted or sold to subscribers as the offering of a single
entity, including but not limited to, a channel or station; and (iii) "service tier" shall
mean a category of cable television services or other services provided by a cable
television company and for which a rate or fee is charged by the cable television
company, including, but not limited to, basic services, premium networks or services,
recurring pay-per-view services and other categories of cable services for which there
are additional charges.
(2) Notice required. Every cable television company shall provide notice of a
significant programming change to the Commission and to subscribers affected
thereby.
(3) Notice to commission. Notice shall be provided to the Commission no later
than the later occurring of forty-five (45) days prior to the effective date of the change
or within five (5) business days of the date upon which the cable television company
first knows of such change. The notice shall specify the recurring programming
affected by the change, whether such recurring programming was, or will be,
distributed as part of basic cable service or some other service tier immediately prior
to the change and the effective date of the change.
(4) Notice to subscribers. Notice shall be provided to subscribers who are
receiving services affected by such change in writing no later than the later occurring
of thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of such change or within thirty (30) days
-2-
of the date upon which the cable television company first knows of such change and
by written on-screen visual message prominently displayed on the affected television
program channel or channels, and on the program listing channel of the cable
television system, if one is provided, at least once each hour for no less than a thirty
(30) day period.
(5) Form and content of notice to subscribers. Notice shall be directed to each
affected subscriber as follows: (i) by the mailing of a separate written notice to the
subscriber's billing address of record; or (ii) by a written notation printed on the
subscriber's regular billing statement; or (iii) by a written notice accompanying the
subscriber's regular billing statement. Such notice shall specify the recurring
programming affected by the change and the effective date of the change. Such notice
shall also inform subscribers of the opportunity to downgrade or terminate service
within forty-five (45) days of the receipt of the notice without charge for such
termination or downgrade.
(c) Network change. (1) Definitions. For purposes of this subdivision, (i) a
"network change" shall mean the removal of a network from a service tier whether or
not added to another tier or a substantial alteration of the character of a network by
a cable television company or an affiliate it controls except that a "network change"
shall not include the removal of a network from a service tier within thirty-one (31)
days of the date upon which such network was added to such service tier for
promotional purposes, where such promotion was clearly disclosed to subscribers;
(ii) the "character of a network" shall be determined by reference to the nature, mix
and quantity of programming provided on the network and whether such programming
is supported by commercial sponsorship or other means. (The character of a network
which contains a uniform programming format, ems, an all-shopping channel, an all-
weather channel, an all-sports channel, etc., shall be considered distinct from the
character of a network which includes various categories of programming. The
character of a network shall also include consideration of whether a network provides
programming twenty-four (24) hours per clay or some lesser period of time); and
(iii) "promotes repeatedly and in a significant manner" shall mean a promotion of
the availability of a particular network on basic cable service which is designed to
encourage the public to subscribe to basic cable service to receive such network and
which is conducted by use of multiple media or by the multiple use of a single
medium.
(2) Notice required. Every cable television company shall provide notice of a
network change to the Commission and to the subscribers affected thereby.
(3) Notice to commission. Notice shall be provided to the Commission no later
than the later occurring of forty-five (45) days prior to the effective &te of the change
or within five (5) business days of the date upon which the cable television company
first knows of such change. Notice shall specify the network affected by the change,
whether such network was, or will be, distributed as part of the basic cable service or
some other service tier immediately prior to the change and the effective date of the
change. . If the network change relates to the basic service tier, the notice to the
Commission shall also state whether said network has been repeatedly promoted by
-3-
the cable television company as available on its basic cable service during the six
months immediately preceding the date of the change and, if the network has been
so promoted during such period of time, the notice shall also include the specific date
upon which such promotion was concluded and the number of subscribers who
commenced their subscription to basic cable service during the ninety (90) days
immediately before and after the last day of promotion. If the network change relates
to a network that is being deleted from basic cable service and will not be available
on any other service tier, the notice shall state whether said network continues to be
reasonably available to the cable television company. For purposes of this paragraph
the term "continues to be reasonably available to the cable television company' shall
mean a network, including a broadcast television station, that has been lawfully
distributed by the cable television company to its subscribers as part of its basic cable
service and without a substantial alteration of the character of the network remains
available to the cable television company on the same terms and conditions as before
or remains available to the cable television company pursuant to terms and conditions
as previously agreed. A network shall also be considered to continue to be reasonably
available to a cable television company when, notwithstanding a modification of the
terms and conditions under which it may be distributed or a change in the character
of the network, the Commission so determines in writing based upon consideration
of (i) whether the cable television company is required to offer commercial leased
access and the terms and conditions of such leased access, if any, (ii) the character
of the network relative to the character of other networks distributed on the system
and the manner of distribution of such other network; (iii) the terms and conditions
pursuant to which the network is available to the cable television company relative to
the terms and conditions applicable to the distribution by the cable television company
of other networks as part of basic cable television service; (iv) the extent to which
the network is currently being distributed by other cable television companies in the
state as part of basic cable television service on terms and conditions similar to the
terms and conditions at issue; and (v) the extent to which the cable television
company may have an ownership interest in any network distributed on the system
which is similar in character to the terminated network.
(4) Notice to subscribers. Every cable television company shall provide notice
of a network change to each subscriber affected thereby. Such notice shall be
provided to subscribers who are receiving services affected by any such change in
writing no later than the later occurring of thirty (30) days prior to the effective date
of any change or within thirty (30) days of the date upon which the cable television
company first knows of such change and by written on-screen visual message
prominently displayed on the affected television programming channel or channels,
and on the program listing channel of the cable television system, if one is provided,
at least once each hour for no less than a thirty (30) day period.
(5) Form and content of notice to subscribers. Notice shall be directed to each
affected subscriber as follows: (i) by the mailing of a separate written notice to the
subscriber's billing address of record; or (ii) by a written notation printed on the
subscriber's regular billing statement; or (iii) by a written notice accompanying the
subscriber's regular billing statement. Such notice shall specify the network affected
by the change and the effective date of the change and shall inform subscribers of the
-4-
opportunity to downgrade or terminate service within forty-five (45) days of the
receipt of the notice without any charge for such termination or downgrade.
(6) Additional provisions for network change affecting a premium service tier.
If the notice describes a network change that affects a network that was being
distributed as part of a premium service tier immediately prior to the change such
notice shall also inform subscribers who have incurred installation, upgrade or other
one-time charges relating to such premium service tier within six months prior to the
effective date of the change, or who have prepaid any monthly service charges for said
premium service tier, that they may elect to downgrade or terminate service within
thirty (30) days of the receipt of such notice and obtain a rebate of any such charges.
(7) Additional provisions for network change affecting basic cable service. If the
notice describes a network change which affects a network that was being distributed
as part of basic cable service immediately prior to the change, and the network was
repeatedly promoted by the cable television company and in a significant manner as
available as part of basic cable service at any time during the six months immediately
preceding the date of the change, such notice, or a second notice given in the same
manner as the first notice within thirty (30) days of the first notice, shall contain
additional information as follows: (i) Removal of network to premium tier. If a
network is moved from basic cable service to a more expensive tier, such notice shall
inform subscribers who commenced their subscriptions to basic cable service during
the ninety (90) day period immediately before or after the last day of the promotion,
of the opportunity, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice either (a) to
upgrade to the more expensive service tier which includes the network at no charge
and to receive said service tier for up to six months also at no charge; or (b) to
terminate service and receive a refund of all installation, upgrade or other one-time
charges paid during the six months prior to the change. (ii) Removal of network
from system. If a network (a) is deleted from basic cable service, (b) was a
substantial inducement to a significant number of subscribers, and (c) continues to
be reasonably available to the cable television company, such notice shall inform
subscribers who commenced their subscriptions to basic cable service during the ninety
(90) day period immediately before or after the last day of the promotion, of the
opportunity, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice, either (aa) to terminate
service and receive a refund of all installation, upgrade or other one-time charges paid
during the six months prior to the change, or (bb) to continue service and receive a
credit in the amount specified in the notice which credit shall be for a portion of the
monthly rate for basic cable service for each month or portion thereof the network
is not available on the system during the six month period commencing with the last
day of the promotion, or (cc) to continue service and petition the commission for
determination of the amount of an appropriate credit for a portion of the monthly
rate for basic cable service for each month or portion thereof the network is not
available on the system during the six month period commencing with the last day of
the promotion.
(d) Pay per view programming. Subdivision (a) - (c) shall not apply to pay per
view programming.
-5-
(e) Other subscriber rights. (1) Notice required. Every cable television
company shall provide notice concerning the programming and other services offered
on the cable television system and the rates and charges therefor.
(2) Form and content of notice. (i) Notice shall be provided (a) to new
subscribers at the time of installation; (b) to any subscriber who requests a change
in service; (c) to all subscribers at least semi-annually; provided, however, that any
cable television company that bills subscribers only by coupon book and does not
provide regular mailings to subscribers at least quarterly may provide such notice to
subscribers on an annual basis; and (d) to any person who requests such information.
(ii) Notice shall be in writing and (a) shall be provided immediately where a
request is made in person or (b) shall be provided by first class mail sent within ten
(10) business days of the date of any request made by telephone or in writing. (iii)
The notice shall contain a description, materially accurate as of the first day of the
previous month, of all service tiers and the networks provided thereon and the rates
and charges therefor and any other services offered to subscribers and the rates and
charges for such other services. The notice shall also include a statement of
significant rights accorded to subscribers pursuant to Section 824-a of the Executive
Law and the regulations promulgated by the commission. Such statement shall be in
a form as approved by the commission. In addition, notice to new subscribers shall
include a copy of any notice which has been sent to current subscribers pursuant to
subdivisions (a) - (c) of this section within the previous sixty (60) days.
(f) Amendments to existing rules. (1) Section 590.61(h) of the commission's
riles is amended to read:
590.61 Definitions.
(h) Downgrade charge shall mean a charge imposed upon a subscriber
for implementing a request [for a reduction of services in the amount or
level of cable television services.] by the subscriber for a change in service
to a less expensive tier than the tier currently subscribed to.
(2) Sections 590.62(b) and (c) of the Commission's rules are amended to read:
590.62 Notification of billing practices.
(b) Notice shall be given as follows:
(3) to all subscribers at least [annually.] semi-annually.
-6-
(c) Every cable television company (i) shall file copies of its billing
practices and payment requirements with the commission and (ii) shall
maintain on file in its local office for public inspection for a period of two
years copies of its billing practices and payment requirements and
[promotional and general informational materials (including monthly bill
stuffers).] all advertisements, lists or other notifications regarding
programming sent to or made available to the public. For purposes of this
subdivision, "advertisements, lists or other notifications" shall mean any
commercial messages which a cable television company originates and
causes to be disseminated to the public or its subscribers by means of
radio, television or print, or pursuant to a printed directive, which relate
to the service tiers, networks or programming offered by said company to
its subscribers and the rates and charges therefor, except that such terms
shall not include anv commercial message concerning a network or
programming which originates with the network or programmer
independent of the cable television company.
(3) Section 590.63(f) of the Commission's rules is amended to read:
590.63 Bill format, late charges, collection charges and downgrade charges.
(f) A cable television company may impose a [charge for downgrading
a subscriber's services provided (i) that such charge does not exceed the
cost thereof to the company and (ii) that subscribers have been notified
in writing (print no smaller than ten point) of such charges. In no event
may a downgrade charge be imposed upon a subscriber who is terminating
service completely or who has maintained the same level of cable television
services for six (6) continuous months immediately prior to a request for
reduction in services. This section shall not apply to pay-per-view
programming.] downgrade charge upon the conditions and in the
circumstances as follows:
(1) subscribers have been notified of such charge in writing in at
least 10 point type: t
.2) the charge does not exceed the cost of the downgrade to the
company:
(3) the downgrade is from a level of service which the subscriber
has not maintained continuously for six (6) months immediately preceding
the date of the downgrade-,
(4) the downgrade was not requested by a subscriber affected by
a "significant programming change" or a "network change"within forty-five
(45) days of the receipt by the subscriber of the notice required by Section
590.69A(b)(4) and (c)(4).
-7-
(g) This section shall be effective immediately upon filing with the Secretary of
State and shall supersede any Commission rule inconsistent herewith including
particularly, but without limitation, Section 590.69.
'13
CABLE
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
519 WEST STATE STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
William Demo, Chairman 607-272-7272
Ithaca City Cable Commission
c/o City Hall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca , NY 14850
May 22 , 1990
Dear Mr . Demo :
ACC's coverage of City Hall committee meetings in June are listed
below. Committee meetings are selected on a rotating basis . The regular
monthly dates were given to us by the City Clerk's office .
Charter & Ordinance Committee Meeting
Second Tuesday , June 12 , 1990, from 7 : 30-llpm.
Taped for cablecast Saturday, June 16 , 1pm.
Budget & Administration Committee Meeting
Third Wednesday , June 20 , 1990, from 7 : 30pm-llpm.
Taped for cablecast Saturday , June 30 , 1pm.
Please notify us of any changes in these meeting dates. We need a
minimum of two weeks notice to arrange coverage with our two-camera
portable unit, and to assure accurate TV listings . Also , please note
that for meetings which go into executive session for longer than 40
minutes or after llpm , our camera coverage will end at this point .
Cordially ,
Lauren
Communit Ac*�inr
CAB
cc : Callista Paolangeli , Ithaca City Clerk
Richard Booth, Chair, Budget and Administration Comm.
Dan Hoffman, Chair, Planning and Development Comm.
Carolyn Peterson, Chair, Charter and Ordinance Comm.
John Johnson, Chair , Human Services Comm.
Barbara Lukens , General Manager , ACC
Jorge Cuevas , CABLE 13 Portable Video Unit Director
Greg Bowman, CABLE 13 Portable Video Unit Cameraperson
Molly Cummings , News Director , News Center 7
"Television for Tompkins County"
t
y'`pf TM[
NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION ON CABLE TELEVISION
\'y o
In the Matter of 90-141
Amendment of Consumer Service Rules and ) DOCKET NO. 90379
Regulations )
MEMORANDUM ADOPTING RULES
(Released: May 24, 1990)
On February 28, 1989, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in this
docket wherein the Commission proposed to amend existing provisions of its rules and to
adopt new provisions related to cable television company billing and customer service
requirements and invited comments thereon. Comments and reply comments were
submitted by a variety of interested parties including cable television companies, and
municipal governments.
On November 1, 1989, the Commission adopted rules as attached hereto as
Appendix A and authorized the filing of a Notice of Adoption with the Secretary of State
pursuant to Section 202(5) of the State Administrative Procedure Act ("SAPA").
The Notice of Adoption was filed on December 22, 1989 and published in the
State Register on January 10, 1990.1 Included with the Notice of Adoption was an
Assessment of Comments in fulfillment of Section 202(5)(b) of SAPA. A copy of the
Assessment is attached hereto as Appendix B. The discussion of the rules herein is intended
to supplement the discussion in the Assessment of Comments.
Since the adoption of the rules in this docket, a new Section 824-a entitled
"Consumer Protection" has been enacted into law.' The new law was effective immediately.
1 The rules became effective January 12, 1990. Pursuant to Section 590.60, cable
television companies were required to comply with the rules within 120 days of the effective
date or May 12, 1990. The date for compliance with Sections 590.63(a), (b) and (d) and
590.67(a) and (b) has been extended to July 12, 1990. The same date applies to Section
590.63(f) as amended in Docket No. 90403 infra,) except Section 590.63(f)(4).
' Chapter 9, Laws of 1990, "An act to amend the executive law in relation to
notification and refunds for changes in programming by a cable television company"effective
February 13, 1990. This law also amends Section 812 of the Executive Law.
2
By separate emergency action in Docket No. 90403, the Commission adopted temporary
rules implementing Section 824-a which rules also include amendments to certain provisions
of the rules adopted in this docket. (Order Adopting Rule and Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, Docket No. 90403, 90-081; Released: April 4, 1990.) These changes are
attached hereto as Appendix C. Specifically, the emergency rules affect Sections 590.61(h),
590.62(b)(3), 590.62(c), 590.63(f) and 590.69. The impact of new Section 824-a on these
sections are also discussed herein.
iThe rules adopted in this docket relate to such matters as billing practices,
billing disputes, advance billing, late payments, collection charges, credit for service outages,
discontinuation of service for non-payment, notice of programming changes and charges
for lost, damaged or stolen equipment. For purposes of our review herein, we shall divide
the new rules into two groups. The first group includes the rules which are not affected by
Section 824-a of the Executive Law. The second group includes the rules which are affected
by Section 824-a and the emergency rules implementing said section.
I. Rules not affected by Section 824-a
Section 590.63 - Bill format, late charges, collection charges and downgrade
charges. Section 590.63(a) has been amended to require that a subscriber bill "(ii). . .shall
itemize each category of service and piece of equipment for which a charge is imposed;
[and] (iii) state the billing period, amount of current billing and appropriate credits or past
due balances, if any." Section 590.63(b) requires that each "bill shall specify a minimum
time for payment which shall not be less than fifteen (15) days from mailing of the bill."
In the Assessment of Comments filed with the Notice of Adoption, we noted that the rule
requires the "itemization of each category of service rather than each service." We stated
further that the rule does not require that each bill contain a "list [of] each and every
channel or cable network received by a particular subscriber." We take this opportunity to
summarize the elements of an itemized bill as follows: installation charges, if any; the
number of outlets in the home; a description of the service provided, ems. ., basic service or
a higher tier; equipment, but only if a separate charge is imposed therefor; a past due
amount and/or late charge, if any; credits, if any, and the due date. These requirements
apply to residential subscribers who are billed on a regular basis. Where coupon books are
used, a simple itemized statement attached to the booklet or printed on a separate
statement included with the booklet will suffice to comply with the rule.
Section 590.66 - Credit for service outage. This section requires a cable
company to provide a credit for every service outage in excess of four (4) continuous hours.
The company is obligated by the rule to make a reasonable effort to determine the existence
and scope of an outage including the identification of subscribers affected. In this regard,
if a subscriber does not receive a credit but has experienced an outage in excess of four con-
tinuous hours, the subscriber may still obtain a credit by notifying the cable company within
ninety days of the outage. The service outage must be a complete outage, i.e., no signals
are being received at the subscriber's television set. The credit to be given for an outage
that exceeds four continuous hours shall be equal to one thirtieth of the monthly charge.
Additional outages within the twenty-four hour period do not require additional credits.
Some commenters have observed that this rule creates a disincentive for prompt attention
3
to service outages after the fourth continuous hour. Such comments fail to recognize that
the rule is not designed to induce cable companies to repair service outages or to punish
companies for poor performance. Section 824 of the Executive Law already requires cable
companies to provide safe, adequate and reliable service and contains ample remedial
provisions. The rule is designed solely to ensure that a subscriber is not obligated to pay
for services which are not received during a substantial portion of the subscriber's viewing
day.
Subdivision (f) of Section 590.66 requires a cable company to give prior
written notice of an outage that is scheduled as part of a system upgrade or rebuild. Such
notice is to be provided to the Commission and the franchising municipality. In addition,
a company is required to make a reasonable effort to inform subscribers in advance of any
service outage which is scheduled for the purpose of repairing equipment or monitoring the
system. We emphasize here that this requirement applies to outages which are scheduled
sufficiently in advance to permit notice.
Section 590.67 - Discontinuance of service for non-payment. The earliest a
cable company may commence efforts to disconnect a subscriber for non-payment of a bill
has been changed from thirty days after the due date to forty-five days after the date the
bill was mailed to the subscriber. Since, under Section 590.63(b), the due date must be at
least fifteen days from the date of mailing, this rule maintains the same minimum thirty day
period between due date and disconnect date. In fact, this amendment will only impact
those cable companies which under prior rules required payment sooner than fifteen days
from mailing.
Section 590.73 - Auxiliary equipment. Cable television companies commonly
provide converters or other modifying or descrambling equipment to subscribers in
connection with the delivery of cable television programming to the home. This equipment
is valuable and often necessary to permit the delivery to a subscriber of only those services
which the subscriber has agreed to purchase. (The receipt of cable television services that
are not paid for is a crime under certain circumstances pursuant to Section 165.15 of the
Penal Law of the State of New York.) A cable company is entitled to expect reasonable
care of the equipment and the return of the equipment when the subscription is terminated.
A cable company may impose a charge for damage to the equipment caused by a subscriber
or for failure by the subscriber to return the equipment subject to two conditions. First, the
company must have given advance notice to the subscriber of the potential liability for
damage to, or loss of, the equipment. Second, at the time the company seeks to collect a
charge in a specific case, it must provide the subscriber in writing with notice of the amount
of the charge and the opportunity to refer the matter to Commission staff for review under
Section 590.5. Such notice to subscribers should also include the Commission's toll free
telephone number and address.
Section 596.8 - Trouble call processing. Subdivision (c) has been amended to
require cable television companies to provide subscribers with the opportunity to schedule
appointments in various day parts, e.g., morning, afternoon, evening or Saturdays. If a
company fails to fulfill an appointment scheduled in this manner, it is prohibited by the
rule from imposing any charge for the service call when made. Four hour windows are
4
suggested. The rule is not intended to preclude a cable company and an individual from
agreeing to a more specific time period for an appointment provided that the subscriber
remains entitled to the same remedy if such appointment is not timely met by the company.
II. Rules affected by Section 824-a
Section 590.61 - Definitions Section 590.61 was amended by the addition of
a new subdivision(h)which defines a"downgrade charge." (Appendix A) (Section 590.63(f)
imposes restrictions upon the imposition of downgrade charges by cable television
companies, infra.) As part of the law enacting the new Section 824-a the legislature also
amended Section 812 of the Executive Law to include a definition of"downgrade." In order
to avoid redundant and potentially confusing separate definitions, the definition of
"downgrade charge" in Section 590.61(h) was amended on an emergency basis (Appendix
C) to incorporate the statutory definition of "downgrade" in new Section 812(12).
Section 590.62-Notification of billingpractrces Section 590.62(b)was amended
to clarify the obligation of cable television companies to provide notice of billing practices
to subscribers on an annual basis. (Appendix A) The new Section 824-a affects the existing
rule. Specifically, Section 824-a(4) requires cable television companies to provide notice of
programing and other services offered on the system, the rates and charges therefor and a
statement of significant rights accorded to subscribers on at least a semi-annual basis.'
Billing practices are sufficiently related to the new statutory notice requirements including,
particularly, "significant rights accorded to subscribers", to warrant inclusion as part of a
single comprehensive notification and, accordingly, Section 590.62(b)(3) was amended on
an emergency basis to require that notice of billing practices be given on the same basis as
the new statutory notice requirements. (Appendix C)
Section 590.62(c) was amended to require cable television companies to
maintain"promotional and general informational materials (including monthly bill stuffers)"
at its local office for public inspection for two years. (Appendix A) Section 824-a(6)(a)
now requires cable television companies to maintain copies of "all advertisements, lists or
other notifications regarding programming or made available to the public" and to make
such information available to the Commission on request. Because the rule and the statute
share a common objective, the statutory language has been embodied in Section 590.62(c)
as amended on an emergency basis. A definition of the term "advertisements, lists or other
notification" is also included in said rule. (Appendix C) Since the obligation to retain such
information now derives from a specific statutory provision, compliance is measured from
the effective date of the statute.
Section 590.63 - Bill format. Subdivision (f) of Section 590.63 addresses the
issue of downgrade charges. Specifically, it limits the amount of any downgrade charge to
' Section 824-a(4)(a) permits a cable company to apply to the Commission for an
extension of the semi-annual mailing requirement and also permits a cable company which
bills annually by coupon and does not make regular quarterly mailings to provide notice by
mail annually.
5
the cost thereof and requires prior notice to subscribers of the existence of such charge.
In addition, the rule would preclude the imposition of a downgrade charge where a
subscriber is terminating all service or where a subscriber has maintained the same level of
service for six continuous months. Section 824-a now imposes an additional limitation upon
the imposition of downgrade charges in the event of a "network change" or "significant
programming change." The provisions concerning downgrades have been consolidated in
Section 590.63(f) as amended on an emergency basis to preclude the imposition of a
downgrade charge consistent with Section 824-a(5) whenever a subscriber requests it
downgrade within 45 days of receipt of notice of a "network change" or "significant
programming change." (Appendix C - Section 590.69A(f))
Section 590.69- Notice requirements for changes in cable television rates, charges
and programming services offered This section was amended in this docket primarily to
include a ten day notice requirement for changes in programming services offered by cable
television companies to subscribers. This requirement was superseded by the new Section
824-a of the Executive Law and, accordingly, all rules applicable to programming or
"network" changes are based on the new law and embodied in the rules implementing such
section on an emergency basis. (Appendix C) The notice requirements applicable to
changes in rates have also been transferred to Section 590.69A at paragraph (a). The rule
is intended to provide prior notice to affected subscribers of any change in rates and to
provide affected subscribers the opportunity to request a free downgrade in the event of a
rate increase.
It is noted, in conclusion, that a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is now
pending in Docket No. 90403 wherein the Commission proposes to adopt the emergency
regulations (Section 590.69A) implementing new Section 824-a on a permanent basis. (See
Order No. 90-081) The temporary changes to Sections 590.61(h), 590.62(b) and (c),
590.63(f) and 590.69 are among the issues upon which parties may comment in that
proceeding. Comments may be submitted until June 8, 1990 and reply comments may be
submitted until June 25, 1990.
Commissioners Participating: William B. Finneran, Chairman; John A. Gussow,
Theodore E. Mulford, John A. Passidomo, Barbara T. Rochman, Commissioners.
Bill Demo
119 Auburn Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
June 14, 1990
Ben Nichols, Mayor
Ithaca City Hall
108 East Green Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Ben:
On Tuesday, June 12, there was a meeting of the Cable Commission
scheduled. Unfortunately, there were not enough members present
to consitute a quorum, and therefore no official meeting was held.
However, since Debbie Parsons, City Chamberlain, had made a
special effort to attend the meeting for the purpose of a follow-
up review of the senior citizen discount, I decided that it would
be worthwhile to have a discussion involving the two Commission
members present (Peter Hess and myself) , Barbara Lukens, and
Debbie to see if we could come to some resolution on mutually
acceptable criteria for income certification. I would then ask
Debbie to write up the procedures, and the Commission would then
officially review and endorse them at the next Commission meeting,
and read then into the record.
Bill McCormick, who was also present, raised a question about
whether the senior discount should be retroactive to March, 1988,
the date of an apparent fee increase approved by the City under
an interim agreement it entered into with ACC, following the
lapse of the old franchise on January 20, 1988. In response to
his rather persistent questioning, I stated the opinion that for
the purposes of franchise enforcement the Commission views the
franchise provisions as having applicability only during the
period following the official adoption of the renewal of the
franchise by the State Cable Commission on February 1, 1989. At
that point, McCormick became quite agitated and vocal as he very
often does, suggesting that the interests of the people of the
City of Ithaca were being sold out and indicating his intent to
propose to Common Council that I be removed as Chair of the OabIe
Commission.
In the first place, if the elected officials of Ithaca wish to
remove me as Commission Chair (or Commission member for that matter ) ,
it would not be the supreme disappointment of my life. As if the
frustrations of trying to get anything accomplished (witness the
senior discount) aren' t bad enough, there' s always McCormick' s
outbursts to be endured. Frankly, I think his behavior is abusive
and totally out of line for a public meeting. How to deal with
that kind of behavior is another matter.
My assumption is that the issue concerning when the franchise
provisions are considered to have been in force is one that will
•i
w�
surface again. I am aware, for example, that at least some
members of the Access Advisory Beard feel that the franchise
provision requiring ACC to provide 2% of gross city revenues for
public access equipment also should have retroactive status to
January 20, 1588. While I can' t speak: for all Commission
members, I believe that there is a general assumption that the
provisions of the franchise have legal standing from the date of
its formal adoption. If that is, in fact, the case I don' t want
to waste the Commission' s time with a lot of posturing on an
issue that won' t stand up legally.
Please let me know if it is the position of the City that
franchise provisions should have retroactivity to January 20,
1588. If that is the City' s position, then the Commission
certainly needs to know about it in order to act in accord.
I would appreciate it if you or the City Attorney could get back
to me on this before the next Cable Commission meeting, scheduled
for July 10.
Sincerely,
Bill Demo, Chair
Ithaca Cable Commission
�J
:A. C.0
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
June 15, 1990
Mary Jo Dudley, Chair
Community Access Advisory Board
312 First St.
Ithaca, NY 14850 —
Dear Mary Jo:
In response to the Access Advisory Board' s request for
information regarding the expenditure of 2% of revenues received
from City of Ithaca subscribers, I must tell you that ACC and the
City of Ithaca were. operating under Temporary Operating Authority
(TOA) granted by the New York State Commission on Cable
Television. Under .- a TOA, a company continues operating on the
basis of the ( then) existing franchise agreement.
The new franchise agreement was approved fully in February of
1989, thus 1989 was the first year of operation under the
agreement which contains the 2% clause . The full 10 years of the
franchise will expire in February of 1999 at which time ACC will
have had 10 years of supporting Community Access Studio at the 2%
rate for the full 10 years of the agreement.
I hope this explanation helps the AAB understand our position,
which is in compliance with the franchise .
Sincerely,
CeT
IV
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
CC: William Demo, Chair
Ithaca Cable Commission
Lauren Stefanelli, . ACC
519 West Slate Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
S
1
To:Ithaca Cable Commission
From: Peter Hess
Re: Community Access Advisory Board meeting, June 4, 1990
Date: June 12, 1990
1. Resolution on equipment requests for 1990.
Be it resolved that the Community Access Advisory Board requests that ACC submit a detailed report of all
equipment requests under consideration for calendar year 1990 including prices of various equipment
packages,for consideration by the CAAB at its August 6th meeting, so that the CAAB can respond with
recommendations and prioritize these requests. This report should be sent the the CAAB prior to its
August meeting.
The CAAB further requests that Joe Powers and Lauren Stefanelli attend the meeting so that the report
can be discussed with them.
2. Access Coordinator's report.
In Lauren's report,she noted that she had brought to Barbara Lukens,ACC General Manager, the CAAB
request for a report on the operating budget for access, and that Barbara declined to meet the request.
3. Resolution on capital equipment acquisition for access, under the franchise.
The CAAB requests the Cable Commission to vigorously pursue obtaining a detailed inventory of
expenditures under the 2%franchise requirement from January, 1988 to the present, and we resolve that
this be an ongoing process throughout the period of the franchise.
4. Expansion of access channels.
Mr. Demo and Mr. Herskowitz from the Cable Commission were in attendance to participate in this
discussion. The CAAB decided to appoint a committee to study the logistics of expanding the number of
access channels,and how they would be programmed. Bill McCormick and Eloise Green volunteered to
be on this committee.
Some suggestions for additional access channels which seemed to have broad support on the board
were:
1. Government Access channel
2. Bulletin board channel
3 Educational Access channel
4. 2nd Public Access channel
5. NFLCP Convention.
The city has received a request from Richard Herskowitz and Mary Jo Dudley to send a representative to
the NFLCP convention, meeting in Washington, DC in late July.
1�4pF ITI��'
�ltA7E�
CITY OF ITHACA
108 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE:272-1713
THE CHAMBERLAIN CODE 607
TO: Bill Demo
FROM: Debbie Parsons
DATE: June 26, 1990
RE: Senior Citizens Cable Discount
Per our conversations at the last Cable Commission meeting, I am
enclosing a copy of the application and proposed procedures. If this
meets with everyone's approval, let me know, and I'll contact the Senior
Citizen.'s Council to proceed.
I will be on vacation when the Commission meets next, so I won't be
able to attend. If you can let me know next week if you need any other
information, I'll try to get it to you before I leave.
"An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program"
5
1) Applicant will pick up application at City Hall, the Senior Citizen's
Center, or Tompkins County Council for the Aging.
2) Designated representative will examine application and documents provided
by applicant for accuracy and completeness, and will sign the form in the
appropriate location. No copies of the documentation shall be made unless
the examiner has a question about the documentation or the form. Date of
birth is requested to determine date discount should commence, retroactive
to March, 1989 or the first date of service, whichever is later.
3) Chamberlain's Office will collect applications and generate a list to be
sent to ACC. This list will include name, service address and date of
birth, and will be certified by the City Chamberlain or the Office Manager.
Copies of the applications will accompany the list to ACC. Originals will
be maintained by the City.
4) RSVP volunteers will be available during—the initial sign up period to
assist applicants and to examine applications. Hours when they will be
available (currently suggested that they would be .available at Senior
Citizen's Center) will be announced.
5) Senior Citizen's Center has agreed to include information regarding avail-
ability of applications on their Sunday morning radio broadcast and in
their newsletter.
4
_ OFFICE USE ONLY
Examined by
Date By City
APPLICATION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS DISCOUNT FOR TV CABLE SERVICES
1) Names of persons) requesting discount (Your name as it appears on the
billing from ACC)
(please print)
2) Property address where service is provided
3) Mailing address (if different from above)
4) Proof of age (one of the following) DATE OF BIRTH
Birth Certificate Other (identify)
(Driver's License)
Baptismal Certificate (Medicare Card)
5) Proof of residency (one of following)
. . - Telephone Listing Lease (or rental
receipt)
Copy of Utility Bill Other (identify)
I certify that I am 65 years of age or older, that I have a total household
income of $15,000 or less from taxable and non-taxable sources. I understand
that failure to provide proof if requested or any deliberate false statement
on this application may be grounds for disqualification from further discounts.
SIGNATURE DATE
CA BLE 1
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION 3
519 WEST STATE STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
William Demo, Chairman 607-272-7272
Ithaca City Cable Commission
c/o City Hall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca , NY 14850
May 10 , 1990
Dear Mr. Demo :
This let-ter is by way of explanation of a change in staff policy for
coverage of City. Hall meetings: for mejeting-s which go lhto e�cecutive
session for longer than 40 minutes or after 11pm, our camera coverage
will end at this point.
We have run into a problem with camera coverage of meetings which go
into extended and repeated executive session . Until now, we have dealt
with executive sessions by having a camera crewperson ask councilmembers
whether tb,ey. thougbt it would be useful to have the cameras stay until
the public meeting was reconvened . This has not proven to be effective
in some cases , because the councilmembers themselves are often not
certain how long executive sessions may last, or whether the members
will vote to continue the meting late at night.
In April , for example , one meeting which we covered went into executive
session for one and a half hours , from 9 : 30 pm until 11 pm. At 11 pm,
the public meeting reconvened until 12am. Another executive session was
called at midnight; this one lasted untAl 12 : 30 am, when the public
meeting reconvened for about 5 minutes - just long enough to wrap up.
Having a two-person camera crew waiting for such extended periods of
time or , as in the later executive session described above , to no
purpose, is counterproductive and wasteful of access staff . On the
other hand, most executive sessions last about a half hour or so. Having
the crew waif that length of time seems reasonable if there are
important issues to be discussed afterwardq . Rather than have the crew
make judggment c4lls and guesstimates on their own as to when they
should ,or shoulAu't wait out an executive session , we felt the need to
give them some sort of gu_.deline , and came up with the rule of thumb
above. Listing this policy in the monthly letters to you , copied to
committee chairs , lets the com%ittee chairpersons plan their agendas
with knowledge of the scope of camera coverage .
If you have any questions about CABLE 13's City Hall video coverage ,
please feel free to contact me at any time .
Cordially, /
Laur Stefan i
Commu ity cess C% inator
cc : Barbara Lukens , General Manager, ACC
"Television for Tompkins County"
Mailing Address: CABLE Studio Address:
519 W. State Street 612 W. Green Street
Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION Ithaca, N.Y. 14850
607-272-7272
William Demo, Chair-man
Ithaca City Cable Commission
City Hall
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca , NY 14850
June 20 , 1990
Dean Mr. Demo :
ACC's coverage of City Hall meetings in July are listed below.
Committee meetings are selected on a rotating basis . The regular monthly
dates were given to us by the City Cterk-s office .
Common Council Meeting
Second Wednesday, July 11 , 1-990, from 7pm-lam.
Cablecast live .
PlAuming & Development Committee Meeting
Third Monday, July 16 , 1990, from 7 : 30-llpm.
Taped for cablecast Saturday, July 21 , 1pm.
Human Services Committee Meting
Fourth Monday, July 23 , 1990, from 4 : 30pm-9pm.
Taped for cablecast Saturday, July 28 , 1pm.
Please notify us of any changes in these meeting dates . We need a
minimum of two weeks notice to arrange coverage with our two-camera
portable unit, and to assure accurate TV listings . Also, -please note
that for meetings which go into executive session for longer than 4Q
minutes or after llpm, our camera coverage Will end at this point.
Cordially,
Lauren t a 11`
Community Acce rdinat .r
CABLE 13
cc : Callista Taolangeli , Ithaca City Clerk
Richard Booth, Chair, Budget and Administration Comm.
Dan Hoffman, Chair , Planning and Development Comm.
Carolyn Peterson, Chair, Charter and Ordinance Comm.
John Johnson, Chair, Human Services Comm.
Barbara Lukens , General Manager, ACC
66Television for Tompkins County"
THE sl�tf
NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION ON CABLE TELEVISION
�y O
In the Matter of 90-141
Amendment of ConsuMer Service Rules and ) DOCKET NO. 90379
Regulations )
MEMORANDUM ADOPTING RULES
(Released: May 24, 1990)
On February 28, 1989, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in this
docket wherein the Commission proposed to amend existing provisions of its rules and to
adopt new provisions related to cable television company billing and customer service
requirements and invited comments thereon. Comments and reply comments were
submitted by a variety of interested parties including cable television companies, and
municipal governments.
On November 1, 1989, the Commission adopted rules as attached hereto as
Appendix A and authorized the filing of a Notice of Adoption with the Secretary of State
Pursuant to Section 202(5) of the State Administrative Procedure Act ("SAPA").
The Notice of Adoption was filed on December 22, 1989 and published in the
State Register on January 10, 1990.1 Included with the Notice of Adoption was an
Assessment of Comments in fulfillment of Section 202(5)(b) of SAPA. A copy of the
Assessment is attached hereto as Appendix B. The discussion of the rules herein is intended
to supplement the discussion in the Assessment of Comments.
Since the adoption of the rules in this docket, a new Section 824-a entitled
"Consumer Protection" has been enacted into law.' The new law was effective immediately.
1 The rules became effective January 12, 1990. Pursuant to Section 590.60, cable
television companies were required to comply with the rules within 120 days of the effective
date or May 12, 1990. The date for compliance with Sections 590.63(x), (b) and (d) and
590.67(a) and (b) has been extended to July 12, 1990. The same date applies to Section
590.63(f) as amended in Docket No. 90403 infra,) except Section 590.63(f)(4).
' Chapter 9, Laws of 1990, "An act to amend the executive law in relation to
notification and refunds for changes in programming by a cable television company"effective
February 13, 1990. This law also amends Section 812 of the Executive Law.
2
By separate emergency action in Docket No. 90403, the Commission adopted temporary
rules implementing Section 824-a which rules also include amendments to certain provisions
of the rules adopted in this docket. (Order Adopting Rule and Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, Docket No. 90403, 90-081; Released: April 4, 1990.) These changes are
attached hereto as Appendix C. Specifically, the emergency rules affect Sections 590.61(h),
590.62(b)(3), 590.62(c), 590.63(f) and 590.69. The impact of new Section 824-a on these
sections are also discussed herein.
The rules adopted in this docket relate to such matters as billing practices,
billing disputes,advance billing, late payments, collection charges, credit for service outages,
discontinuation of service for non-payment, notice of programming changes and charges
for lost, damaged or stolen equipment. For purposes of our review herein, we shall divide
the new rules into two groups. The first group includes the rules which are not affected by
Section 824-a of the Executive Law. The second group includes the rules which are affected
by Section 824-a and the emergency rules implementing said section.
I. Rules not affected by Section 824-a
Section 590.63 - Bill format, late charges, collection charges and downgrade
charges Section 590.63(x) has been amended to require that a subscriber bill "(ii). . .shall
itemize each category of service and piece of equipment for which a charge is imposed;
[and] (iii) state the billing period, amount of current billing and appropriate credits or past
due balances, if any." Section 590.63(b) requires that each "bill shall specify a minimum
time for payment which shall not be less than fifteen (15) days from mailing of the bill."
In the Assessment of Comments filed with the Notice of Adoption, we noted that the rule
requires the "itemization of each category of service rather than each service." We stated
further that the rule does not require that each bill contain a "list [of] each and every
channel or cable network received by a particular subscriber." We take this opportunity to
summarize the elements of an itemized bill as follows: installation charges, if any; the
number of outlets in the home; a description of the service provided,.E,�, basic service or
a higher tier; equipment, but only if a separate charge is imposed therefor; a past due
amount and/or late charge, if any; credits, if any, and the due date. These requirements
apply to residential subscribers who are billed on a regular basis. Where coupon books are
used, a simple itemized statement attached to the booklet or printed on a separate
statement included with the booklet will suffice to comply with the rule.
_ n
Section 590.66 - Credit for service outage. This section requires a cable
n f j company to provide a credit for every service outage in excess of four (4) continuous hours.
`�. The company is obligated by the rule to make a reasonable effort to determine the existence
and scope of an outage including the identification of subscribers affected. In this regard,
if a subscriber does not receive a credit but has experienced an outage in excess of four con-
tinuous hours, the subscriber may still obtain a credit by notifying the cable company within
ninety days of the outage. The service outage must be a complete outage, i.e., no signals
are being received at the subscriber's television set. The credit to be given for an outage
that exceeds four continuous hours shall be equal to one thirtieth of the monthly charge.
Additional outages within the twenty-four hour period do not require additional credits.
Some commentors have observed that this rile creates a disincentive for prompt attention
3
to service outages after the fourth continuous hour. Such comments fail to recognize that
the rule is not designed to induce cable companies to repair service outages or to punish
companies for poor performance. Section 824 of the Executive Law already requires cable
companies to provide safe, adequate and reliable service and contains ample remedial
provisions. The rule is designed solely to ensure that a subscriber is not obligated to pay
for services which are not received during a substantial portion of the subscriber's viewing
day.
Subdivision (f) of Section 590.66 requires a cable company to give prior
written notice of an outage that is scheduled as part of a system upgrade or rebuild. Such
notice is to be provided to the Commission and the franchising municipality. In addition,
a company is required to make a reasonable effort to inform subscribers in advance of any
service outage which is scheduled for the purpose of repairing equipment or monitoring the
system. We emphasize here that this requirement_applies to outages which are scheduled
sufficiently in advance to permit notice.
Section 590.67 - Discontinuance of service for non-payment. The earliest a
cable company may commence efforts to disconnect a subscriber for non-payment of a bill
has been changed from thirty days after the due date to forty-five days after the date the
bill was mailed to the subscriber. Since, under Section 590.63(b), the due date must be at
least fifteen days from the date of mailing, this rule maintains the same minimum thirty day
period between due date and disconnect date. In fact, this amendment will only impact
those cable companies which under prior rules required payment sooner than fifteen days
from mailing.
Section 590.73 - Auxiliary equipment. Cable television companies commonly
provide converters or other modifying or descrambling equipment to subscribers in
connection with the delivery of cable television programming to the home. This equipment
is valuable and often necessary to permit the delivery to a subscriber of only those services
which the subscriber has agreed to purchase. (The receipt of cable television services that
are not paid for is a crime under certain circumstances pursuant to Section 165.15 of the
Penal Law of the State of New York.) A cable company is entitled to expect reasonable
care of the equipment and the return of the equipment when the subscription is terminated.
A cable company may impose a charge for damage to the equipment caused by a subscriber
or for failure by the subscriber to return the equipment subject to two conditions. First, the
company must have given advance notice to the subscriber of the potential liability for
damage to, or loss of, the equipment. Second, at the time the company seeks to collect .i
charge in a specific case, it must provide the subscriber in writing with notice of the amount
of the charge and the opportunity to refer the matter to Commission staff for review under
Section 590.5. Such notice to subscribers should also include the Commission's toll free
telephone number and address.
Section 596.8 - Trouble call processing. Subdivision (c) has been amended to
require cable television companies to provide subscribers with the opportunity to schedule
appointments in various day parts, e.g_, morning, afternoon, evening or Saturdays. If a
company fails to fulfill an appointment scheduled in this manner, it is prohibited by the
rule from imposing any charge for the service call when made. Four hour windows are
4
suggested. The rule is not intended to preclude a cable company and an individual from
agreeing to a more specific time period for an appointment provided that the subscriber
remains entitled to the same remedy if such appointment is not timely met by the company.
II. Rules affected by Section 824-a
Section 590.61 - Definitions Section 590.61 was amended by the addition of
a new subdivision (h)which defines a"downgrade charge." (Appendix A) (Section 590.63(f)
imposes restrictions upon the imposition of downgrade charges by cable television
companies, infra.) As part of the law enacting the new Section 824-a the legislature also
amended Section 812 of the Executive Law to include a definition of"downgrade." In order
to avoid redundant and potentially confusing separate definitions, the definition of
"downgrade charge" in Section 590.61(h) was amended on an emergency basis (Appendix
C) to incorporate the statutory definition of "downgrade" in new Section 812(12).
Section 590.62-Notification of billingpractices Section 590.62(b)was amended
to clarify the obligation of cable television companies to provide notice of billing practices
to subscribers on an annual basis. (Appendix A) The new Section 824-a affects the existing
rule. Specifically, Section 824-a(4) requires cable television companies to provide notice of
programing and other services offered on the system, the rates and charges therefor and a
statement of significant rights accorded to subscribers on at least a semi-annual basis.'
Billing practices are sufficiently related to the new statutory notice requirements including,
particularly, "significant rights accorded to subscribers", to warrant inclusion as part of a
single comprehensive notification and, accordingly, Section 590.62(b)(3) was amended on
an emergency basis to require that notice of billing practices be given on the same basis as
the new statutory notice requirements. (Appendix C)
Section 590.62(c) was amended to require cable television companies to
maintain"promotional and general informational materials (including monthly bill stuffers)"
at its local office for public inspection for two years. (Appendix A) Section 824-a(6)(a)
now requires cable television companies to maintain copies of "all advertisements, lists or
other notifications regarding programming or made available to the public" and to make
such information available to the Commission on request. Because the rule and the statute
share a common objective, the statutory language has been embodied in Section 590.62(c)
as amended on an emergency basis. A definition of the term "advertisements, lists or other
notification" is also included in said rule. (Appendix C) Since the obligation to retain such
information now derives from a specific statutory provision, compliance is measured from
the effective date of the statute.
Section 590.63 - Bill format. Subdivision (f) of Section 590.63 addresses the
issue of downgrade charges. Specifically, it limits the amount of any downgrade charge to
3 Section 824-a(4)(a) permits a cable company to apply to the Commission for an
extension of the semi-annual mailing requirement and also permits a cable company which
bills annually by coupon and does not make regular quarterly mailings to provide notice by
mail annually.
5
the cost thereof and requires prior notice to subscribers of the existence of such charge.
In addition, the rule would preclude the imposition of a downgrade charge where a
subscriber is terminating all service or where a subscriber has maintained the same level of
service for six continuous months. Section 824-a now imposes an additional limitation upon
the imposition of downgrade charges in the event of a "network change" or "significant
programming change." The provisions concerning downgrades have been consolidated in
Section 590.63(f) as amended on an emergency basis to preclude the imposition of a
downgrade charge consistent with Section 824-a(5) whenever a subscriber requests it
downgrade within 45 days of receipt of notice of a "network change" or "significant
programming change." (Appendix C - Section 590.69A(f))
Section 590.69-Notice requirements for changes in cable television rates, charges
and programming services offered This section was amended in this docket primarily to
include a ten day notice requirement for changes in programming services offered by cable
television companies to subscribers. This requirement was superseded by the new Section
824-a of the Executive Law and, accordingly, all rules applicable to programming or
"network" changes are based on the new law and embodied in the rules implementing such
section on an emergency basis. (Appendix C) The notice requirements applicable to
changes in rates have also been transferred to Section 590.69A at paragraph (a). The rule
is intended to provide prior notice to affected subscribers of any change in rates and to
provide affected subscribers the opportunity to request a free downgrade in the event of a
rate increase.
It is noted, in conclusion, that a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is now
pending in Docket No. 90403 wherein the Commission proposes to adopt the emergency
regulations (Section 590.69A) implementing new Section 824-a on a permanent basis. (See
Order No. 90-081) The temporary changes to Sections 590.61(h), 590.62(b) and (c),
590.63(f) and 590.69 are among the issues upon which parties may comment in that
proceeding. Comments may be submitted until June 8, 1990 and reply comments may be
submitted until June 25, 1990.
Commissioners Participating: William B. Finneran, Chairman; John A. Cussow,
Theodore E. Mulford, John A. Passidomo, Barbara T. Rochman, Commissioners.
' Cf THE J
ti's r44
NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION ON CABLE TELEVISION
�y O
r 1i
RESOLUTION BY THE COMMISSION
Statutory Authority: Article 28 of the Executive Law, Sections 811, 815
and 816
Docket No. 90379: In the Matter of Amendment to Consumer Service Rules
and Regulations —
At a meeting of the Commission on Cable Television held in the City of
Albany, New York on November 1, 1989, the Commission by unanimous vote of its
members present,
RESOLVED:
That the provisions of Section 202(1) of the State Administrative Procedure
Act and Section 101-a(2) of the Executive Law having been complied with, Title 9, Subtitle
R, Part 590, Sections 590.61 - 590.69 and Part 596, Section 596.8 of the Official Compilation
of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York are hereby amended, effective
twenty-one (21) days after the date a Notice of Adoption is filed with the Secretary of State.
The Executive Director shall file with the Secretary of State a certificate of rulemaking
pursuant to Section 102(2) of the Executive Law and a Notice of Adoption pursuant to
Section 202(5) of the State Administrative Procedure Act.
APPENDIX A
BILLING PRACTICES OF CABLE TELEVISION COMPANIES
590.61 Definitions. (a) Basic subscriber channel shall mean
any channel which is provided [for in] as part of the basic monthly
service rate.
(b) A billing dispute shall mean a disagreement
between a subscriber and cable television company concerning:
(1) credits for payments made by the
subscriber to the cable television company;
(2) credit or. refund for service outage;
(3) errors in billing amount; or
(4) assessment of late charges.
(c) Collection charge shall mean a fee or charge
imposed upon a subscriber by a cable television company for its
efforts at collecting or attempting to collect a past due account
by personal visit at a subscriber's home or place of business.
[an account due. ]
(d) Commission shall mean the New York State
Commission on Cable Television.
(e) Late charge shall mean a charge which is added
to a cable television subscriber 's account or bill for nonpayment
of a previously due account.
(f) Local office shall mean the business office of
the cable television company serving the municipality in which a
billing dispute arises.
(g) Service outage shall mean a loss of picture or
sound on all basic subscriber channels or on one or more auxiliary
programming channels [and] which is not caused by the
subscriber ' s television receiver [n] or the subscriber.
h) Downgrade charge shall mean a charge imposed
u on a subscriber for implementing a rgquest for a reduction of
services in the amount or level of cable television services
590.62 Notification of billing practices. (a) Every cable
television company shall notify each of its subscribers , [ in
writing, ] in a separate written notice, of its billing practices
2
and payment requirements [ . ] including the use of payment coupons.
The notice shall describe or define, [as] at a minimum, billing
procedures (including payment requirements to avoid discontinuance
of service, e.g. , payment due dates) , late charges, downgrade
charges , advance billing options, if any, procedures to be followed
in billing disputes and credit to be given for service outages.
(b) Notice shall be given as follows :
(1) r- to new subscribers , at the time of initial
inst al lat ion;
- (2) • to all subscribers , whenever there is a
change in the company' s billing practices or
payment requirements;
(3) _to all [existing] subscribers [ ,within
one year of effective date of these rules. ) at.
.least annually.
[Thereafter, notice shall be given whenever the company changes its
billing practices. ]
(c) [Copies of the company' s billing practices and
billing requirements shall be filed with the commission and shall
be filed in the company' s local office and shall be available upon
request by a subscriber. ] Every cable television company (i) shall_
file copies of its billing practices and payment requirements with.
the commission and (ii) shall maintain on file in its local office
for public inspection for a period of two years copies of its
billing practices and payment requirements and promotional and
general informational materials ( including monthly bill stuffers) .
590.63 Bill -format, [L] late charges [and] , collection charges [ . ]
and downgrade charges, (a) Each subscriber bill shall ( i) include
the name, address and telephone number of the company and the toll-
free
ol -
free subscriber assistance telephone number of the commission; (ii)
shall itemize each category of service and piece of equipment for
which a charge is imposed; (iii) state the billing period, amount
of current billing and appropriate credits or past due balances,
if any,
(b) Each subscriber bill shall specify a minimum
time for payment which shall not be less than fifteen (15) days
from mailing of the bill.
[a] JCL Any late charge permitted by law or by the
franchise, if imposed upon the subscriber, shall be itemized on the
subscriber ' s bill , or notice of delinquent payment in cases where
coupon books are used.
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(d) If a late charge is to be imposed, it shall not
be imposed sooner than forty-five (45) days_ after the mailing of
the bill to the subscriber or the due date, if coupons are used.
[b] JeL No cable television company shall impose
a collection charge upon any subscriber, except as prescribed in
subdivision 590.67 (e) of this Part.
Af) A cable television company may impose a charge.
for'- downgrading a subscriber's --services provided (i) that such
charge does not exceed the cost thereof to the company andii
that subscribers have been notified in writing (print no smaller
than ten point) of such charges. In no event may a downgrade
charge be imposed upon--a subscriber - who is terminating service
completely or who has maintained the same level of cable television
services for six (6) continuous months immediately prior to a
request for reduction in services. This section shall not apply
to pay-per view programming.
590.66 Credit for service outage. (a) Every cable television
company shall give credit, for every service outage in excess of
[24] four (4) continuous hours [to any subscriber who applies for
it either by written or oral notice. ] . The [24] four (4) - hour
period shall commence at the time the cable television company
first becomes aware of the outage .
�b1 Whenever a cable television company may
reasonably determine the existence and scope of a service outage ._
as, for example. a service outage caused by a major failure in the
system' s headend or distribution electronic equipment, which
service outage exceeds four (4) continuous hours , the cable
television company shall issue a credit to each affected
subscriber,
J In_the_e_v_ent_ a cable television company cannot
determine all subscribers affected by a service outage in excess
of four (4) continuous hours credit shall be-given-to any eligible
subscriber who makes application therefor by either written or oral
notice within 90 days of the outage.
[b] (d) [The credit shall be prorated by
multiplying the applicable monthly service rate by a fraction whose
numerator equals the number of days (or portion thereof) of the
outage and whose denominator equals the number of days in month of
the outage. In no case shall the refund be less than 24 hours
credit . ] The minimum credit shall be equal to one thirtieth times
the _applicable monthly charge for each twenty-four hour period
during which a service outage continues for at least four hours .
[c] (e) A cable television [The] company shall be
responsible for every service outage and shall provide credit to
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each affected subscriber who [applies for it within 90 days of an
outage. ] is entitled thereto pursuant to su_b divisions (b) and (c)
of this section.
(f) Prior written notice of a scheduled
service outage due to system upgrade or rebuild shall be
filed with the commission and the affected municipality. Every
cable television company shall make--a reasonable effort to inform
subscribers in writing or electronically, in advance, of any
scheduled service outages for equipment repair or replacement,
system upgrade or rebuild, or on-going technical "sweeps" of the
system,
590.67 Discontinuance of service for nonpayment. (a) A cable
television subscriber shall not be considered delinquent .in payment
until at least [30] forty-five (45) days have elapsed from the [due
date of the bill or account] mailing of the bill to the subscriber
or due date, if coupons are used, and payment has not been received
by the company.
(b) No cable television company shall physically
or electronically discontinue service for nonpayment of bills
rendered for service until :
(1) the subscriber is delinquent in payment
for cable television service; and
(2) at least five days have elapsed after a
separate. written notice of impending, discontinuance
has been served personally upon a subscriber; or
(3) at least eight days have elapsed after
mailing to the subscriber a separate written notice
of impending discontinuance (for which postage is
paid by the cable television company) , addressed to
such person at the premises where [service is
rendered; or] the subscriber requests billing; or
(4) at least five days have elapsed after a
subscriber has either signed for or refused a
certified letter (postage to be paid by the cable
television company) , containing a separate, written
notice of impending discontinuance addressed to such
person at the premises where [service is rendered. ]
the subscriber requests billing..
(c) Notice of service discontinuance shall clearly
state the amount in arrears , the total amount required to be paid
to avoid discontinuance of service, reconnection charges if
applicable , and the date by which, and the place where, such
payment must be made.
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(d) No cable television company shall disconnect
service for nonpayment on a Sunday, public holiday or a day when
the local office of the company isnot open for business without
providing an opportunity for the subscriber to pay [a] the amount
in arrears.
(e) When a company is at a subscriber' s residence
or place of business to disconnect service and the subscriber, at
that time., pays the amount in arrears in lieu of disconnection, the
company may add a reasonable collection charge to the subscriber' s
bill provided all other applicable provisions of this section have
been followed.
(f) Receipt of a subsequently dishonored negotiable
instrument in response to a notice of discontinuance shall not
constitute payment, and no cable television company shall be
required to issue an_ additional notice prior to discontinuance.
590.69 Notice of requirements for [ increase] changes in cable
television rates, [and] charges and programming services offered.
(a) Every cable television company shall provide notice of [an
increase] a change in [a] rates [for any cable television service]
or programming services offered. The notice shall be in writing
and shall specify the service or services. affected, the new rate
[ , ]. or charge, including the amount of the [ increase] chance, and
the effective date thereof.
(b) Notice shall be provided as follows:
(1) to subscribers affected by the [rate
increase] changes in rates , charges or programming
services offered at least ten (10) days prior to the
effective date of such [increase] change; and
(2) to the franchising municipality and the
commission [no later than thirty (30) days after
the] at least ten (10) days prior to, the effective
date of the change in rates, charges or programming
services offered.
(c) Every cable television company which has
increased rates pursuant to Section 623 of the Cable Communications
Policy Act of 1984 prior to the effective date hereof shall serve
written notice of any such increase upon the franchising
municipality and the commission within 30 days of the effective
date of this section.
(d) In any case where a subscriber requests
cancellation or reduction of service within 30 days of the
effective date of [a rate] an increase in rates or charges for such
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service, the liability of the subscriber for services received
after the effective date of [the rate increase] such changes until
the cancellation or reduction of service, shall be determined in
accordance with the rates or charges in effect prior to such
[increase] change.
(e) This section shall not apply to pay for view
programming.
590.73 Auxiliary equipment. (a) When a cable television company
supplies auxiliary equipment such as a converter or other modifying
device to a subscriber the company can expect reasonable care of
such equipment by the subscriber. A cable operator shall notify
the subscriber and the commission in writing of any charges to
subscribers for lost, stolen or damaged converters. In the event
such _equipment is lost, stolen or damaged, and the cable television
company seeks to charge the subscriber for such equipment, the
company shall give written, dated notice to the subscriber of the
amount sought and the subscriber' s opportunity to refer the matter
to the commission in accordance with the provisions of Section
590.5 of this subtitle. If referral is not made to the commission
within 30 days of the date of the notice the company may commence
its collection procedures.
596.8 Trouble calling processing. (a) A telephone number shall
be made available to which subscribers may direct trouble calls .
In the event that trouble calls must be made outside the
subscriber 's local dialing area, the calls must be toll free.
(b) Investigative action shall be initiated on the
same day a trouble call is received at the local office, if
possible, but in no case later than the following business day. 1
(c) Whenever a service call to the subscriber' s
premises is required, the company shall advise such subscriber of
the opportunity to schedule the service call for the morning or
afternoon hours _ or evenings or Saturdays , if available) and shall.
schedule such service call in accordance with the subscriber' s
request. If, for any reason, the service call is not made within
the scheduled time frame , the subscriber shall not be charged for
such service call including_ any -installation or reconnection made
as a result thereof.
[ (c) ] (d) A report on each trouble call in which
a cable system fault reported by a single subscriber was identified
shall be f iled at the local off ice, and shall include the following
data:
(1) subscriber identification;
(2) date and approximate time complaint
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was received;
(3) date and approximate time of
response;
(4) nature of complaint;
(5) brief description of the fault;
(6) signal level measured on each active
class I channel after corrective action,
where appropriate;
(7) corrective steps taken (if any
required) ;
(8) date case is closed; and
(9) identification of technician or
[repairman] repairperson.
[ (d) ] (e) A report on each system fault , or on any
failure reported by more than one subscriber and affecting an area,
shall be filed at the local office and shall include the following
data:
(1) brief description of the area
affected sufficient to allow the later
determination of the number of subscribers
affected;
(2) date and approximate time of
failure;
(3) cause of failure; and
(4) date and time service is restored.
[ (e) ] JfL A report for each trouble call in
which no trouble was identified, or in which further instruction
was required to enable the subscriber properly to adjust the
terminal receiving equipment, or in which the fault was in the
subscriber' s receiving equipment , shall be filed at the local
office and shall include:
(1) subscriber identification;
(2) date and time complaint was received;
(3) date and time of response;
(4) nature of complaint;
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8
(5) corrective steps taken (if any
required) ; and
(6) identification of technician or
[repairman] repairperson.
[ (f) ] Lq)_ Any report required to be maintained
pursuant to this section shall be kept by the operator for a period
of two years from the event to which it relates.
APPENDIX B
ASSESSMENT OF COMMENT
The rules address such issues as billing practices and payment
requirements (including bill format) , customer service and charges
for damaged or lost auxiliary equipment.
Billing
The rules, as proposed, would have required cable companies
to file with the Commission copies of all promotional and general
information materials which were distributed by the cable company
to subscribers. Most cable companies that filed comments oppose
this requirement citing, among other things, the voluminous
material that would be included within the scope of the rule as
well as the cost to the companies for providing, and the presumed
costs to the Commission for reviewing and compiling, such material .
We . are persuaded by the comments that it is not necessary to
require the filing of such material with us and we have modified
the rule to require only that the materials be filed by a cable
company in its local office . to, -be made available therein for
inspection for a period of two years subsequent to filing.
Section 590.63 (a) of the proposed rules included a requirement
that each service received by the subscriber be itemized on the
bill . Certain cable television companies contend that existing
software or billing systems cannot readily accommodate itemized
billing. One company suggested that itemization would create more
confusion. Still other companies did not contest this proposal and
the Cable Television Association of New York (CTANY) observed that
the rule should not be misinterpreted to require the attribution
of charges for equipment when, in fact, there is no separate or
direct charge for the equipment. In this regard, we note that the
fact that certain equipment is required to receive certain services
does not mean that a charge must necessarily be attributable to the
equipment. As adopted, the rule requires the itemization of each
category of service rather than each service. This change is
intended to eliminate any confusion about the scope of the rule.
It is not necessary to list each and every channel or cable network
received by the subscriber. We have also added to the rule the
fundamental components of any bill including the billing period and
amount of current billing, past due balances and credits, if any.
We note here that Commission records show that approximately one-
third of all complaints to cable companies and the Commission are
billing disputes, many of which involve a lack of understanding as
to the precise services involved. It is also our experience that
since Congress approved rate deregulation, service packages and
program offerings have changed with greater frequency.
Section 590.63 (b) , as proposed, required that each bill
contain a due date which is not sooner than fifteen days from
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receipt of the bill. Various cable companies objected to the
standard including the difficulty of measuring the time period
because of the uncertainty of the date the bill is received by a
subscriber. We have modified this rule such that the fifteen day
period shall be measured from the date a bill is mailed by the
company. Of course, cable companies will be expected to maintain
complete and accurate records of the date all subscriber bills are
mailed.
In .Section 590.63 (d) , it was proposed that a late charge not
be imposed unless payment was not made for a period of thirty days
after mailing of the bill. Various governmental entities including
the Town of Greenburgh and the Borough of Manhattan urged a longer
period for timely payment particularly in view of the fact that the
billing may occur on or before the first of the month for which
service is to be provided. We have modified this section to extend
from thirty to forty-five days the period for payment without
liability for a late charge.
Our proposal at Section 590. 67 (a) to extend from thirty days
to forty-five days the minimum time for discontinuance of service
for non-payment remains unchanged. However, we have modified the
language to include reference to payment coupons in accordance with
the suggesion of the Office of Business Permits and Regulatory
Assistance (OBPRA) .
Section 590.63 (f) , as proposed, included limitations upon the
imposition of downgrade charges. Certain companies and CTANY
suggested that downgrade charges may be within the rates
deregulated in the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984. Other
parties suggested that it was unfair to limit downgrade charges to
less than cost inasmuch as it would require the subsidization of
such charges by all subscribers. We have modified Section
590.63 (f) to remove an absolute dollar limitation on the amount of
'the charge in favor of the company's cost for implementing a
downgrade. At the same time, we have expanded the class of
subscribers against whom a downgrade charge may not be imposed to
include any subscriber requesting a termination of all cable
television service. We have also changed the rule to require
specific, advance notification of downgrade charges as a condition
to the imposition of same where permitted under the rule. Finally,
we have modified the rule to include at Section 590.61 (h) a
definition of downgrade charge.
Customer Service
At Section 590. 63 (f) , we proposed a rule which would have
required cable television companies to "conduct routine
maintenance" at times which would cause the least amount of
disruption to subscribers. Staten Island Cable, among others,
commented that the rule concerning routine maintenance would deny
the flexibility needed by a cable operator. To provide some
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measure of flexibility, the rule was revised to require a
reasonable effort on the part of cable companies to notify
subscribers in writing Qr electronically of scheduled outages.
This revision also is responsive to comments by OBPRA which
suggested that "notice. . .due to routine maintenance" be changed
to "notice due to. . .scheduled maintenance. " We have maintained
the language in the proposed rule which would require cable
companies to notify the Commission and affected municipalities in
writing of any scheduled service outages due to system upgrades or
rebuilds . We believe that these types of outages can be determined
sufficiently in advance to provide notice and that such notice will
assist local officials and Commission staff in responding to
subscriber inquiries.
Section 596. 8 (c) of the proposed rule addressed matters
pertaining to customer service calls. Our concern here is based
upon the frustration experienced by subscribers when a cable
company fails to fulfill a scheduled appointment. Specifically,
we proposed that cable companies specify the part of the day, i .e. ,
morning, afternoon or evening hours, the service call would be
made. We further proposed that a cable company make a reasonable
effort to inform the subscriber in the event such an appointment
could not be kept timely. The Town of Greenburgh commented on this
issue in which it asserted that stronger, more specific language
than "reasonable effort. . . " be required when an appointment
cannot be kept. upon further review, we are persauded that a
greater incentive for the timely fulfillment of service calls is
warranted. Accordingly, we have modified the proposed rule to
preclude the imposition of a charge for any service call which is
not made within the appointed time frame.
Auxiliary Equipment
At Section 590. 73 (b) , we proposed a rule which would have
limited the liability of a subscriber for lost, stolen or damaged
auxiliary equipment, such as channel converters, to the net book
value of the equipment. This proposal generated many comments from
cable television companies. The comments of TKR Cable, which are
generally representative of other comments, expressed a special
concern that equipment such as a channel converter, if not
returned, can be used for the unlawful receipt or theft of cable
television at other locations. The company suggests that the
ability to impose significant charges is necessary to provide an
incentive for subscribers to take care of, and return, the
equipment. CTANY suggests that the "proper and valid valuation of
descrambling security equipment is not measured by hardware
considerations. . . [and that] the loss. . .can only be measured by
its theft potential . " Accordingly, CTANY asserts that the rule as
proposed is "grossly unfair and would encourage misuse and theft"
and that the Commission should defer adoption of a rule pending
further inquiry into the matter. We are mindful that certain
converters or descramblers can be employed unlawfully to receive
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cable television service. On the other hand, it is also true that
the inability of a subscriber to return equipment may be
attributable to causes beyond the control of the subscriber such
as theft or destruction by fire and that any policy which includes
an element of deterrence or "compensation" for more than the cost
of the equipment as such, should be fairly and consistently
applied. For '.,now, we have determined to` modify the proposal by
eliminating;an absolute maximum amount that can be 'imposed upon a
subscriberwho} is "unable' to return auxiliary equipment. The rule
we are--adopting requires :any company -which attempts - to collect a
charge ' . for 1 a dost 'converter to notify the subscriber of an
opportunity to appeal the company's decision with Commission staff
within thirty days of receipt of notice of said charge. The
Commission will review the matter in accordance with the procedures
for - review of - billing' complaints. If no appeal is filed by the
subscriber,` ' a' cable company can proceed with its collection
procedures - of course, a cable television subscriber can still be
required to exercise reasonable care in the use and possession .of
the company's auxiliary equipment.
APPENDIX C
Rules pursuant to Section 824-a of the Executive Law (Ch. 9, Laws of 1990)
590.69A Notice requirements for rates, charges, programming and subscriber's
rights.
(a) Rates and charges. Every cable television company shall provide notice of
any changes in rates or charges for any cable television service. The notice shall be
in writing and shall specify the service or services affected, the new rate or charge,
including the amount of the increase and the change and the effective date thereof.
Notice shall be provided at least ten (10) days prior to the effective date of any
changes in rates or charges to the subscribers affected thereby, the Commission and
the franchising municipality. The notice to subscribers shall inform subscribers of the
opportunity to request a downgrade or termination of service within thirty (30) days
of the receipt of the notice without any charge therefor and without any liability for
payment of any higher rate or charge.
(b) Significant programming change. (1) Definitions. For purposes of this
section (i) a "significant programming change" shall mean the removal or alteration
of recurring programming which materially changes the quality or level of
programming on a network; provided, however, such terms shall not include deletions
Of programs mandated by the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission,
nor shall it include deletions of programs that are distributed by the cable television
company in lieu of such programs deleted pursuant to such regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission; (ii) a "network" shall mean a group of programs
distributed, packaged, promoted or sold to subscribers as the offering of a single
entity, including but not limited to, a channel or station; and (iii) "service tier" shall
mean a category of cable television services or other services provided by a cable
television company and for which a rate or fee is charged by the cable television
company, including, but not limited to, basic services, premium networks or services,
recurring pay-per-view services and other categories of cable services for which there
are additional charges.
(2) Notice required. Every cable television company shall provide notice of a
significant programming change to the Commission and to subscribers affected
thereby.
(3) Notice to commission. Notice shall be provided to the Commission no later
than the later occurring of forty-five (45) days prior to the effective date of the change
or within five (5) business days of the date upon which the cable television company
first knows of such change. The notice shall specify the recurring programming
affected by the change, whether such recurring programming was, or will be,
distributed as part of basic cable service or some other service tier immediately prior
to the change and the effective date of the change.
(4) Notice to subscribers. Notice shall be provided to subscribers who are
receiving services affected by such change in writing no later than the later occurring
of thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of such change or within thirty (30) days
i
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of the date upon which the cable television company first knows of such change and
by written on-screen visual message prominently displayed on the affected television
program channel or channels, and on the program listing channel of the cable
television system, if one is provided, at least once each hour for no less than a thirty
(30) day period.
(5) Form and content of notice to subscribers. Notice shall be directed to each
affected subscriber as follows: (i) by the mailing of a separate written notice to the
subscriber's billing address of record; or (ii) by a written notation printed on the
subscriber's regular billing statement; or (iii) by a written notice accompanying the
subscriber's regular billing statement. Such notice shall specify the recurring
programming affected by the change and the effective date of the change. Such notice
shall also inform subscribers of the opportunity to downgrade or terminate service
within forty-five (45) days of the receipt of the notice without charge for such
termination or downgrade. _
(c) Network change. (1) Definitions. For purposes of this subdivision, (i) a
"network change" shall mean the removal of a network from a service tier whether or
not added to another tier or a substantial alteration of the character of a network by
a cable television company or an affiliate it controls except that a "network change"
shall not include the removal of a network from a service tier within thirty-one (31)
days of the date upon which such network was added to such service tier for
promotional purposes, where such promotion was clearly disclosed to subscribers;
(ii) the "character of a network" shall be determined by reference to the nature, mix
and quantity of programming provided on the network and whether such programming
is supported by commercial sponsorship or other means. (The character of a network
which contains a uniform programming format, e g„ an all-shopping channel, an all-
weather channel, an all-sports channel, etc., shall be considered distinct from the
character of a network which includes various categories of programming. The
character of a network shall also include consideration of whether a network provides
programming twenty-four (24) hours per clay or some lesser period of time); and
(iii) "promotes repeatedly and in a significant manner" shall mean a promotion of
the availability of a particular network on basic cable service which is designed to
encourage the public to subscribe to basic cable service to receive such network and
which is conducted by use of multiple media or by the multiple use of a single
medium.
(2) Notice required. Every cable television company shall provide notice of a
network change to the Commission and to the subscribers affected thereby.
(3) Notice to commission. Notice shall be provided to the Commission no later
than the later occurring of forty-five (45) days prior to the effective &te of the change
or within five (5) business days of the date upon which the cable television company
first knows of such change. Notice shall specify the network affected by the change,
whether such network was, or will be, distributed as part of the basic cable service or
some other service tier immediately prior to the change and the effective date of the
change. . If the network change relates to the basic service tier, the notice to the
Commission shall also state whether said network has been repeatedly promoted by
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the cable television company as available on its basic cable service during the six
months immediately preceding the date of the change and, if the network has been
so promoted during such period of time, the notice shall also include the specific date
upon which such promotion was concluded and the number of subscribers who
commenced their subscription to basic cable service during the ninety (90) days
immediately before and after the last day of promotion. If the network change relates
to a network that is being deleted from basic cable service and will not be available
on any other service tier, the notice shall state whether said network continues to be
reasonably available to the cable television company. For purposes of this paragraph
the term "continues to be reasonably available to the cable television company" shall
mean a network, including a broadcast television station, that has been lawfully
distributed by the cable television company to its subscribers as part of its basic cable
service and without a substantial alteration of the character of the network remains
available to the cable television company on the same terms and conditions as before
or remains available to the cable television company pursuant to terms and conditions
as previously agreed. A network shall also be considered to continue to be reasonably
available to a cable television company when, notwithstanding a modification of the
terms and conditions under which it may be distributed or a change in the character
of the network, the Commission so determines in writing based upon consideration
of (i) whether the cable television company is required to offer commercial leased
access and the terms and conditions of such leased access, if any, (ii) the character
of the network relative to the character of other networks distributed on the system
and the manner of distribution of such other network; (iii) the terms and conditions
pursuant to which the network is available to the cable television company relative to
the terms and conditions applicable to the distribution by the cable television company
of other networks as part of basic cable television service; (iv) the extent to which
the network is currently being distributed by other cable television companies in the
state as part of basic cable television service on terms and conditions similar to the
terms and conditions at issue; and (v) the extent to which the cable television
company may have an ownership interest in any network distributed on the system
which is similar in character to the terminated network.
(4) Notice to subscribers. Every cable television company shall provide notice
of a network change to each subscriber affected thereby. Such notice shall be
provided to subscribers who are receiving services affected by any such change in
writing no later than the later occurring of thirty (30) days prior to the effective date
of any change or within thirty (30) days of the date upon which the cable television
company first knows of such change and by written on-screen visual message
prominently displayed on the affected television programming channel or channels,
and on the program listing channel of the cable television system, if one is provided,
at least once each hour for no less than a thirty (30) day period.
(5) Form and content of notice to subscribers. Notice shall be directed to each
affected subscriber as follows: (i) by the mailing of a separate written notice to the
subscriber's billing address of record; or (ii) by a written notation printed on the
subscriber's regular billing statement; or (iii) by a written notice accompanying the
subscriber's regular billing statement. Such notice shall specify the network affected
by the change and the effective date of the change and shall inform subscribers of the
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opportunity to downgrade or terminate service within forty-five (45) days of the
receipt of the notice without any charge for such termination or downgrade.
(6) Additional provisions for network change affecting a premium service tier.
If the notice describes a network change that affects a network that was being
distributed as part of a premium service tier immediately prior to the change such
notice shall also inform subscribers who have incurred installation, upgrade or other
one-time charges relating to such premium service tier within six months prior to the
effective date of the change, or who have prepaid any monthly service charges for said
premium service tier, that they may elect to downgrade or terminate service within
thirty (30) days of the receipt of such notice and obtain a rebate of any such charges.
(7) Additional provisions for network change affecting basic cable service. If the
notice describes a network change which affects a network that was being distributed
as part of basic cable service immediately prior to the change, and the network was
repeatedly promoted by the cable television company and in a significant manner as
available as part of basic cable service at any time during the six months immediately
preceding the date of the change, such notice, or a second notice given in the same
manner as the first notice within thirty (30) days of the first notice, shall contain
additional information as follows: (i) Removal of network to premium tier. If a
network is moved from basic cable service to a more expensive tier, such notice shall
inform subscribers who commenced their subscriptions to basic cable service during
the ninety (90) day period immediately before or after the last day of the promotion,
of the opportunity, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice either (a) to
upgrade to the more expensive service tier which includes the network at no charge
and to receive said service tier for tip to six months also at no charge; or (b) to
terminate service and receive a refund of all installation, upgrade or other one-tirlie
charges paid during the six months prior to the change. (ii) Removal of network
from system. If a network (a) is deleted from basic cable service, (b) was a
substantial inducement to a significant number of subscribers, and (c) continues to
be reasonably available to the cable television company, such notice shall inform
subscribers who commenced their subscriptions to basic cable service during the ninety
(90) day period immediately before or after the last day of the promotion, of the
opportunity, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice, either (aa) to terminate
service and receive a refund of all installation, upgrade or other one-time charges paid
during the six months prior to the change, or (bb) to continue service and receive a
credit in the amount specified in the notice which credit shall be for a portion of the
monthly rate for basic cable service for each month or portion thereof the network
is not available on the system during the six month period commencing with the last
clay of the promotion, or (cc) to continue service and petition the commission for
determination of the amount of an appropriate credit for a portion of the monthly
rate for basic cable service for each month or portion thereof the network is not
available on the system during the six month period commencing with the last day of
the promotion.
(d) Pay per view programming. Subdivision (a) - (c) shall not apply to pay per
view programming.
-5-
(e) Other subscriber rights. (1) Notice required. Every cable television
company shall provide notice concerning the programming and other services offered
on the cable television system and the rates and charges therefor.
(2) Form and content of notice. (i) Notice shall be provided (a) to new
subscribers at the time of installation; (b) to any subscriber who requests a change
in service; (c) to all subscribers at least semi-annually; provided, however, that any
cable television company that bills subscribers only by coupon book and does not
provide regular mailings to subscribers at least quarterly may provide such notice to
subscribers on an annual basis; and (d) to any person who requests such information.
(ii) Notice shall be in writing and (a) shall be provided immediately where a
request is made in person or (b) shall be provided by first class mail sent within ten
(10) business days of the date of any request made by telephone or in writing. (iii)
The notice shall contain a description, materially accurate as of the first day of the
previous month, of all service tiers and the networks provided thereon and the rates
and charges therefor and any other services offered to subscribers and the rates and
charges for such other services. The notice shall also include a statement of
significant rights accorded to subscribers pursuant to Section 824-a of the Executive
Law and the regulations promulgated by the commission. Such statement shall be in
a form as approved by the commission. In addition, notice to new subscribers shall
include a copy of any notice which has been sent to current subscribers pursuant to
subdivisions (a) - (c) of this section within the previous sixty (60) days.
(f) Amendments to existing rules. (1) .Section 590.61(h) of the commission's
rules is amended to read:
590.61 Definitions.
(h) Downgrade charge shall mean a charge imposed upon a subscriber
for implementing a request [for a reduction of services in the amount or
level of cable television services.] by the subscriber for a change in service
to a less expensive tier than the tier currently subscribed to.
(2) Sections 590.62(b) and (c) of the Commission's rules are amended to read:
590.62 Notification of billing practices.
(b) Notice shall be given as follows:
(3) to all subscribers at least [annually.] semi-annually.
t
-6-
(c) Every cable television company (i) shall file copies of its billing
practices and payment requirements with the commission and (ii) shall
maintain on file in its local office for public inspection for a period of two
years copies of its billing practices and payment requirements and
[promotional and general informational materials (including monthly bill
stuffers).] all advertisements, lists or other notifications regarding
programming_sent to or made available to the public. For purposes of this
subdivision, "advertisements, lists or other notifications" shall mean anv
commercial messages which a cable television company originates and
causes to be disseminated to the public or its subscribers by means of
radio, television or print, or pursuant to a printed directive, which relate
to the service tiers, networks or programming offered by said companv to
its subscribers and the rates and charges therefor, except that such terms
shall not include anv commercial message concerning a network or
programming which originates with the network or programmer
independent of the cable television companv.
(3) Section 590.63(f) of the Commission's rules is amended to read:
590.63 Bill format, late charges, collection charges and downgrade charges.
(f) A cable television company may impose a [charge for downgrading
a subscriber's services provided (i) that such charge does not exceed the
cost thereof to the company and (ii) that subscribers have been notified
in writing (print no smaller than ten point) of such charges. In no event
may a downgrade charge be imposed upon a subscriber who is terminating
service completely or who has maintained the same level of cable television
services for six (6) continuous months immediately prior to a request for
reduction in services. This section shall not apply to pay-per-view
programming.] downgrade charge upon the conditions and in the
circumstances as follows:
(1) subscribers have been notified of such charge in writingin in at
least 10 point type:
(2) the charge does not exceed the cost of the downgrade to the
company.-
Q) the downgrade is from a level of service which the subscriber
has not maintained continuously for six 6) months immediatelyprecedin
the date of the downgrade:
(4) the downgrade was not requested by a subscriber affected by
a "significant programming c, hange" or a "network change"within forty-five
(45) days of the receipt by the subscriber of the notice required by Section
590.69A(b)(4) and (c)(4).
6 -7-
(g) This section shall be effective immediately upon filing with the Secretary of
State and shall supersede any Commission rule inconsistent herewith including
particularly, but without limitation, Section 590.69.
4 »
4
May 18, 1990
TO: Cable Systems Operators, Municipal Officials
and Interested Parties
FROM: The New York State Commission On Cable Television
The Commission proposes, in Docket No. 90400, to amend the
primary service area threshold in Part 595.5 (a) (1) (iii) and Part
595. 5 (b) (2) of its Rules. The threshold is the minimum number
of dwelling units per mile of aerial cable plant, above which
level companies are required to provide service at normal rates
and charges. The threshold is currently set at 35 dwelling
units per aerial mile, which number was adopted in 1982 based
on data for the period 1979-1980.
Our staff has analyzed the latest financial and other
available data (for the period 1988-1989) . Based upon this
review, staff proposes that the primary service area benchmark
be set at twenty (20) dwelling units per linear mile of aerial
cable. The basis for this new threshold is staff' s finding that
this is the minimum level at which it is economically feasible
for the average cable operator to offer cable service to
residents in an area contiguous to existing plant while allowing
for a 10 year amortization of debt.
Under the proposed rule change:
1. All subscribers requesting service in an area
containing at least twenty (20) dwelling units per
linear mile of aerial cable shall receive service, at
normal rates and charges, and
2 . All residents located in an area with less_ than twenty
(20) dwelling units per mile shall be provided cable
television service upon their request if they
contribute to the cost of construction (SC) , which-
shall be determined by application of the formula
included in the rules or by a formula or policy of the
cable operator, provided, however, that said formula
or policy is no less favorabfe to the subscriber than
that set forth in the Commission' s rules.
Page 2
May 18 , 1990
All other provisions of Part 595. 5 of the Rules would
remain unchanged and continue in effect. The rule changes
being considered are not directly applicable to exempt
companies.
Before issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the
Commission asked staff to solicit comments upon this proposal.
Therefore, we ask you to . respond to this proposal. Your
responses or comments should be limited to the proposed rule
change. In so doing, please include information concerning the
following: a description- of areas cabled and not cabled; the
amount and number of line extensions built in 1989 ; technologies
used; construction and debt costs; depreciation and amortization
periods; and other relevant information to support your
position.
Small businesses in particular are asked to comment upon
whether there are alternative approaches for ensuring the
extension of cable television services to the maximum extent
practicable in a manner that is economically feasible.
All comments should be submitted on or before June 15,
1990.
r
PROPOSED AMENDMENT
PARTS 595.5
595.5 Requirements for construction of cable television
plant and provision of cable television services.
(a) Definitions.
(1) Primary service ar_e_. shall include each of the
in t
following withhe franchised area:
(i) those areas where cable television plant has
built without a contribution-in-aid-of-construction
by subscribers;
(ii) those areas where the cable television company
is obligated by the terms of its franchise to provide
cable television service without a contribution-in-
aid-of-construction by subscribers;
(iii) any area adjoining an area described in
subparagraph (i) or (ii) of this paragraph and which
contains dwelling units at a minimum rate of 20 [35]
dwelling units per linear mile of aerial cable;
(iv) any area adjoining an area described in
subparagraph (i) and (ii) of this paragraph and which
contains at least the same number of dwelling units
per linear mile of aerial cable as is the average
number of dwelling units per linear mile of cable in
areas described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this
paragraph. The average is to be determined by
dividing the sum of the dwelling units in areas
described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this
paragraph by the number of linear :wiles of cable in
the same areas.
(2) ne extenslcn��e_ shall be any area within the
franchised area which is not the primary service area.
(b) Where a cable television franchise is awarded,
renewed or amended after October 1, 1982 the
franchise will be confirmed or the amendment will
�be ap roved by the commission on e franchise
contains the following additional minimum franchise
standards:
(1) That, within five years after receipt
of all necessary operating
-2-
authorizations, cable television
service will be offered throughout the
authorized area to all subscribers
requesting service in any primary
service area.
(2) That cable television service will
not be denied to potential subscribers
located in line extension areas who are
willing to contribute to the cost of
construction in accordance with the
following formula:
C - CA SC
LE P
C equals the cost of construction of new plant;
CA equals the average cost of construction per
mile in the primary service area; P equals the
lower of 20 (35] or the average number of
dwelling units per linear mile of cable in areas
described in subparagraphs (a) (1) (i) and (ii) of
this section; LE equals the number of dwelling
units reque-sting service in the line extension
area; and SC equals subscriber contribution-in-
aid-of-construction in the line extension area.
(i) Whenever a potential subscriber
located in a line extension area
requests service, the cable television
company shall, within 30 days of the
request, conduct a survey to determine
the number of potential subscribers
located in the line extension area, and
shall inform each of the potential
subscribers of the contribution-in-aid-
of-construction that may be charged.
The cable television company may
require pre-payment of the
contribution-in-aid-of-construction.
The cable television company shall
apply for pole attachment agreements
within 30 days of its receipt of the
contribution-in-aid-of-construction.
Cable television services must be made
available to those who made a
contribution-in-aid-of-construction
within 90 days from the receipt of pole
attachment agreements by the cable
television company.
-3-
(ii) The contribution-in-aid-of-
construction shall be in addition to
the installation rate set forth in the
franchise.
(iii) During a five-year period
commencing at the completion of a
particular line extension, pro rata
refund shall be paid to previous
subscribers as new subscribers are
added to the particular line extension;
the amount of the refund, if any, shall
be determined by application of the
formula annually. The refunds shall be
paid annually to subscribers, or former
subscribers, entitled to receive them.
The company shall not be required to
provide refunds to any previous
subscriber otherwise entitled to a
refund, who is no longer at the same
address and who has not informed the
company of the subscriber' s address-
(3) That cable television service will be
provided to any subscriber who demands
service and who is located within 150 feet
of aerial feeder cable, and that the charge
for the installation for any subscriber so
situated will not be in excess of the
installation charge specified in the
franchise.
(4) Nothing in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision shall be construed to preclude:
(i) the provision of cable
television services by the
franchisee in a line extension
area without assessing a
contribution-in-aid-of-
construction; or
(ii) the inclusion in a cable
television franchise of a
provision establishing a primary
service area which includes at
least all of those areas which
are in the primary service area
as defined in subdivision (a) of
this section.
(5) Nothing in paragraph (2) of this
subdivision shall be construed to preclude:
y i
-4-
(i) the discounting or the waiver
of the maximum contribution-in-
aid-of-construction charge a
cable television company can
charge a subscriber pursuant to
paragraph (2) of this
subdivision; or
(ii) the inclusion of a provision
in a cable television franchise
establishing a formula to be used
to determine the contribution-in-
aid-of-construction charge, which
formula is different than the
formula set forth in paragraph
(2) of this subdivision, provided
that the formula included in the
franchise does not require
payment by the subscriber in a
line extension area of a higher
contribution-in-aid-of-
construction charge than would
result from the use of the
formula set forth in paragraph
(2) of this subdivision.
(c) All cable television companies operating in
the State of New York shall make cable television
service available to all potential subscribers
requesting service who are located in a primary
service area as defined in paragraph (a) (1) of
this section, and shall make services available
in line extension areas as defined in paragraph
(a) (2) of this section at charges which may not
exceed those provided for in paragraph (b) (2) of
this section within the following schedule of
compliance:
(1) prior to January 1, 1984 in any
franchise area for which the original
certificate of confirmation of the franchise
was granted by this commission prior to
January 1, 1979 ;
(2) within five years from the date the
certificate of confirmation was granted by
this commission, in any franchise area for
which the original certificate of
confirmation of the franchise was granted by
this commission after January 1, 1979 .
(d) The provisions of this section may be waived
by the commission if the commission determines
that compliance with the section would not be
possible within the limitations of economic
feasibility.
i
0
��gPo11�TE0�0
CITY OF ITHACA
108 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14950
TELEPHONE: 272-1713
OFFICE OF CODE 607
MAYOR
June 20, 1990
William Demo
Chair,Cable Commission
119 Auburn Street
Ithaca NY 14850
Dear Bill:
I am forwarding your letter to the City Attorney for an opinion on your question concerning
the effective date of application of the provision in the ACC franchise. A particular question is the
franchise provision regarding ACC"s purchase of public access equipment. I would regard that as
separate from the question regarding discounts for senior citizens under the new agreement as to
who qualifies. As I understand it ACC agreed with the Cable Commission to make that discount
retroactive to March 1, 1989 for the new qualifiers. The important thing is to get the discount
program started and to publicize it.
There is absolutely no desire on my part—or as far as I know on the part of any official in
the city—to remove you from the Cable Television Commission. On the contrary I appreciate your
willingness to serve the City in a thankless but important position.
If you would like to discuss any ways in which the work of the commission could be made
more effective,please call me.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Nichols
Mayor
cc: City Attorney
� i C t✓ ( (`uvc w v. �4 r v t cM • l�u b �-
uN✓iDu�� � b
�,.,. t-�-G<, w�i 1 �- i,o��• �.cz.tw-` � �L C �✓t��r l��rc,
1 All
"An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program"
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
June 15, 1990
Mary Jo Dudley, Chair
Community Access Advisory Board
312 First St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mary Jo:
In response to the Access Advisory Board ' s request for
information regarding the expenditure of 2% of revenues received
from City of Ithaca subscribers, I must tell you that ACC and the
City of Ithaca were operating under Temporary Operating Authority
(TOA) granted by the New York State Commission on Cable
Television. Under a TOA, a company continues operating on the
basis of the (then) existing franchise agreement.
The new franchise agreement was approved fully in February of
1989, thus 1989 was the first year of operation under the
agreement which contains the 2% clause. The full 10 years of the
franchise will expire in February of 1999 at which time ACC will
have had 10 years of supporting Community Access Studio at the 2%
rate for the full 10 years of the agreement.
I hope this explanation helps the AAB understand our position,
which is in compliance with the franchise.
''Sincerely,
V" CV 9-/
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
cc: William Demo, Chair
Ithaca Cable Commission
Lauren Stefanelli, . ACC
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
LU
19 S 100648302-90-515 BCA
PERFORMANCE BOND
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, That we, American Community Cablevision, as
Principal, hereinafter called Principal, and The AEtna Casualty and Surety Company, a
Connecticut corporation, as Surety, hereinafter called Surety, are held and firmly
bound unto City of Ithaca, as Obligee, hereinafter called Obligee, in the amount of
Twenty-Five Thousand and No/100--- Dollars ($25,000.00), fpr the payment of which
sum, well and truly to be made, the said Principal and Surety bind themselves, and
their heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, jointly and
severally, firmly by these presents.
WHEREAS, Principal has entered into a written agreement with the Obligee dated
November , 1988, with the Obligee for a Cable TV Franchise under Section XXI 21.1 A
through I of the Franchise Agreement, which agreement is by reference made a part
hereof.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CONDITION OF THIS OBLIGATION IS SUCH, That if the above bounden
Principal shall well and truly keep, done and perform, each and every, all and
singular, the matters and things in said contract set forth and specified to be by
the said Principal kept, done and performed at the time and in the manner in said
contract specified, and shall pay over make good and reimburse to the above named
Obligee, all loss and damage which said Obligee may sustain by reason of failure or
default on the part of said Principal, then this obligation shall be void; otherwise,
it shall remain in full force and effect.
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, It shall be a condition precedent to any right of recovery
hereunder, that in the event of any default on the part of the Principal, a written
statement of the particular facts of such default shall be, within thirty (30) days,
delivered to Surety at its Home Office in Hartford, Connecticut by registered mail.
This obligation may be terminated by the Surety by thirty (30) days advance written
notice to the Obligee, such notice to be sent by Certified Mail. Such termination
shall not affect liability incurred under this obligation prior to the effective date
of such termination.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The Principal and Surety have signed and sealed this instrument
this 1st day of July 1990.
�yT'1PY i'C0.-�l ���iU r�wv� � �-ah'11�'t�n ic��a►�S �v���on ��
American Comimmity Cablevision --—
BY: `T caL
COUNTERSIGNED Kathryn K3ony, ASSISL re
THE AETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY
BY: 41, EN
LIFT.
RET AGENT4arz�aL�rney- act
"ITY CLIRK'S
Ithaca, N.Y.
1 ht k 1 SMA kb I t Anv bunt t T t.ulvu rue u
- Hartford. Corvtacum 06156 ,
LIFE i CASUALTY
POWER OF ATTORNEY AND CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY(SHN-FACT
K NOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS,THAT THE rETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,a corporation duly Qgp nkW under the to"of the
State of Connecticut.and having its principal office in the City of Hanford.Cow"of Hansford.Stet•of ConnedeuL hath meds.constituted and
.000I ted.and doe$by these Presents mea.constitute and a99-- John T. Gulden, 0. J. Robinson, Christopher A.
Perrin, Lore L. Cottrell, Scutt Peter, P. J. NcKinnis, Nora 0. Garza, Ellen G. Potter,
Rebecca L. Sdrwiecker or Nary Besdtsr - -
of Denver, Colorado Its true and WMW Anerney(s)4n•Fact with Anal pow•and authority hereby eonfo of
to sign,execute and acknowledge,at my plow within the United States.or.B the following ins be feed In.within the area there desig-
nated .the following Inotrunma):
by his/her sole signature and aa,any and an bonds.rewilnizences,contracts of indemnity.and other writings obligatory in the nature of a bond.
recognizance,or conditional undertaking,and any and all consents ineidsra thsrsto
and to bind THE AIWA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,thereby as Autry and to the Mme tilt- as B the some wee signed by the duly
authorized oficars of THE AIWA CASUALTY ANO SURETY COMPANY,and all the am of said Anorn•yl Hn-Fam pursuant to the authority herein
given.are hereby ratified and confined.
This appointinent is made under and by authority,of the following Standing R••okidom of said Company which Resolutions are now in full fares
and effect:
VOTED:That each of the following officers:Chairman,Vice Chairman,Preekknt Any ExeeutivaVia President Any Senior Vice President Any Vice
President,Any Assistant Vice President Any Secretary,Any Assistant Socr•tary,may from time to time appoint Resident Vim Presidents,Resident
Assistant Secretaries.Anorney-in-Fact,and Agents to as for and on b*W of the Company and may give any such appointee such authority as his
mnifimle of authority may prescribe to sign with the Company's name and seal with the Company'$a"bonds.recognizance&.Contracts of
indemnify,and other writings obligatory in the nature of a bond,recognizance.or conditional undertaking,and any of said officers or the Board of
Directors may at any time remove any such appointee and revoke the power and authority given him.
VOTED:That any bond.recognizance,contract of indemnity.or writing obligatory In the nature of•bond.recognisance,or conditional undertaking
shall be valid and binding upon the Company when hal signed by the Chairman.the IAcs Chaiman.ties President an Executive vim President,a
Senior Vice President.a Vice President,an Assistant Vice President or by a Resident Vice Presidem pursuant to the pow•Prweribed in the
certificate of authority of such Resident Vice President and duly aftmed and sealed with the Company's seal by a Secretary or Assistant Secretary
or by a Resident Assistant Secretary,pursuant to empower or cit in the certificate of authority of such Resident Aesisunt Secretary;or(b)duly
executed(under seal.if required)by one or more Attorneys-in-Fat pursuant to the pow•prescribed in his or their mnftate or Certificates of
authority.
This Power of Attorney and Certificate of Authority is signed and sealed by facsimile under and by authority of the following Standing Resolution
voted by the Board of Directors of THE ETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY which Resolution is now in full force and affect-
VOTED: That the signature of each of the following officers:Chairman.Vice Chairman,President.Any Executive Vim President Any Senior Vers
President Any Vice President Any Assistant Vim President,Any Secretary.Any Assistant Secretary,and the seal ofth•Company may be affixed'.by
facsimile to arty power of attorney Or to any certificate relating thereto appointing Resident Vice Presidents.Resident Assistant Secretaries or
Attorneys-in-Fact for purposes only of executing and attesting bort&and undertakings and other writings obligatory In the nature thereof,and any
such power of attorney or mRificate bearing such facsimile signature or facsimile seal shell be volid and binding upon the Company and any such
power so executed and certified by such facsimile signature and fusimils seal shall be valid and binding upon the Company in the future with
respect to any bond or undensking to which it is attached.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF,THE ETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY hes mused this instrument to be signed by its Senior
Vice President and Its corporate&wl to be hereto affixed the 8th
day of January ism
IM ArM CASUALTY Aft1D COMPANY
State of Connecticut ) ~ ' my •crit . Kierne
County of Hartford 11
y es.Hartford nicer Vice President
On this @tit day of January .1990 .before ria personally ones JOSEPH P. KIERKM
to me known,who.being by ria duh sworn.did depose and say:that he/she is Senior Vice President of
THE ETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,the corporation described in and which executed the above Instrument,Chet he/she knows the
seal of said corporation;that the seal affixed to the said Instrument is such corporate seal;and that hehhe executed the$aid instrument on behalf _
of the corporation by authority of his/her office under the Standing Maokutions thereof.
d If
a�
•eef yi
'" Wirer s$arrr At. Notary Public
Rosalind R. Christie
CERTIFICATE
I,the undersigned. Secretary of THE XTNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,a stock corporation of the
State of Connecticut.DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing and attached Power of Attorney and Coni me of Authority remains in full force and
has not been revoked;and furthermore,that the Standing Resolutions of the Board of Directors,as sat font in the Certificate of Authority,are now
in form.
Signed and Sealed at the Home Office of the Company,in the City of Hanford.StateConneeticvt Dated this
July •19 90 • 1st ay of
'' f•` M. Welch
is-+922-F�(M191$S
•••••. tory ►RnuTED 114 U 5
RECEIVED JAN 16 1990
1%M
New York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal Officials
119 Washington Avenue Albany, New York 12210 (518) 463-1185
Toll Free Number 1-800-446-9266
Fax # (518) 463-1190
January 11, 1990
RE: Cable Television Revenues
Dear Mayor:
Since cable television rates are a -sensitive concern, I am
forwarding a copy of a NYCOM Memorandum in Opposition and some
supporting information on a bill (5.6117-A and A.963-A) to
establish NY-SCAN statewide. NY-SCAN is a public access station
operated in the Albany area which broadcasts state government
activities such as: oral arguments before the Court of Appeals,
press conferences of the Governor, and hearings conducted by the
Legislature.
Under this bill, the Commission •on Cable Television would
finance the NY-SCAN expansion by increasing the assessment on the
cable operators. The difficulty with this approach is that such
an increase would affect the local revenue for those localities
currently charging a franchise fee between 4.2 and 5.0 percent.
As you will note from the attached information, your municipality
falls within that range.
While the amounts to be raised from local governments are
not substantial, we question why local governments should have to
pay at all. If legislators want to have hearings and other
events broadcast back to their districts, the State should
finance such an activity. Last year the bill was reported out of
committee in each house, and the Senate bill died in the Rules
Committee while the Assembly bill died on the Calendar at the end
of session.
If you feel strongly about this issue, you may want to raise
it with your legislators.
Sincerely,
P1.
ward C. Farrell
Executive Director
ECF:ap
Enclosures
r
rerK +� NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION THEODORE E.MUUMRD
ON CABLE TELEVISION Commizimer
BARBARA T.ROCHMAN
q CORNING 70WER BLDG.,EMPIRE STATE PLAZA Commissioner
ALBANY,NEW YORK 12223 JOHN A dUSSOW
a (518)474-4992 Commissioner
e JOHN A.PASSIDOMO
Commissioner
e" G� W1111"R FINNEBAN-Chairman EDWARD P.KEARSE
Executive Director
December 12, 1989
Mr. Edward C. Farrell
Executive Director
New York Conference of Mayors
and Other Municipal Officials
119 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
Dear Mr. Farrell:
Thank you for the opportunity of discussing with you and John Galiigan,
our NY-SCAN operation and the effect of the proposed bill on franchise fee
revenues In municipalities in New York.
This is In response to your request for additional details about the
municipalities which currently have a franchise fee high enough to be potentially
affected in any way by proposed increased expenditures by the Commission for
NY-SCAN.
We indicated to you that, as of July 1, 1988, we had identified 155
franchises which contained a provision for a franchise fee between 4.2 and 5.0
percent. This number was too high. Our original tally erroneously included a
number of New York City Community Planning Districts. These were incorrectly
counted as Individual municipalities when, in fact, they are part of the ten
franchises in New York City.
The attached lists reflect the above correction and include the franchises
granted or renewed through November 30,1989 which have franchise fees greater
than 4.2 percent of gross revenues.
Since July 1, 1988, the Commission approved 40 new franchises and 76
renewed franchises. Of this total (116), only 17 contain provision for a franchise
fee of 4.2 percent of gross revenue or higher; four new franchises and 13
renewed franchises.
As of November 30, 1989, only 133 of the 1,298 municipalities franchised
for cable TV in New York State would be affected by the Legislature's proposed
bill. The total number of subscribers in the 133 affected municipalities currently
Is about 1,300,000 or about 42 percent of the three million cable subscribers in
the State. Of these 1,300,000 subscribers, 633,500 are in New York City.
Attachment 1 lists the 133 municipalities potentially affected. We've included,as
Attachment 2, a listing of the municipalities where the estimated impact would
be over $1,000 per month; there are only seven municipalities in this latter
category.
Mr. Edward C. Farrell
December 11, 1989
Page 2
e es ate currently that a subscriber's monthly cable TV bill averages
about $30. ere the franchise fee is five percent of gross revenue (less the
on's assessment) the municipality would realize about 4.5 percent or
$1.35. In the aggregate, for the 133 municipalities, this equals about $1,755,000
In franchise fees per month.
The right-hand column on the attached lists is an estimate of the monthiv
effect on franchise fee revenue if the proposed NY-SCAN bill were enacted. The
effect amounts to between$0.04 and$0.05 per month per subscriber. For all 133
affected municipaiitlea,it equates to a totailreduction of about$60,250.per month
or 3.4 percent of the$1,755,000 generated. These figures are estimated assuming
a fixed number of subscribers each paying a fixed amount for their cable service
each month.
In fact, industry revenues over the last ten years have enjoyed an average
annual increase of over 20 percent. In 1979 Cable industry revenues were $166
million in New York and by 1988 they grew to $954 million. We anticipate that
1989 will see revenues between $1.15 and $1.2 billion as the number of
subscribers and the amount each spends on cable TV increases. As these
increases continue to occur, the net effect of the proposed NY-SCAN bill on
franchise fee revenues will decrease accordingly.
1 trust that this information is responsive to your concerns. If you have
additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
DONALD P. BUCKELEW
Director, Municipal
Assistance Division
Attachments
h-
ATTACHMENT 1
MUNICIPALITIES WITH FRANCHISE FEE
GREATER THAN 42 PERCENT
EFFECT ON
MUNICIPALITY NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS MONTHLY FEE
RECEIPTS
Albion (V) 1,048 $42.
Allegany (V) 650 26.
Allegany (T) 1,029 41.
Auburn (C) 9,537 381.
Aurora m 1,318 53.
Aurora (V) 1,548 62.
Bedford (T) 2,621 105.
Blasdeli (V) 862 34.
Brightwaters M 667 33.
Brockport (V) 1,358 54.
Brookhaven (T) (V-CABLE) 39,748 1,987.
Brookhaven (T) (UA CABLE) 50,195 2,510.
Buffalo (C) 76,582 3,063.
Byron (T) 482 19.
Camillus M 363 15.
Camillus (T) 5,780 231.
Canandaigua (C) 3,212 128.
Chestnut Ridge (V) 1,102 40.
Clarkstown (T) 14,636 585.
Colden (T) 491 20.
Depew (V) 4,616 185.
Dewitt (T) 5,571 223.
Dix (T) 95 4.
East Syracuse (V) 934 37.
East Fishkill (T) 4,061 162.
Easton (T) 28 1.
Fayetteville (V) 1,364 55.
Forestville (V) 247 10.
Fredonia (V) 2,435 97.
Gates M 11,191 560.
Geddes (T) 3,472 139.
Grand Island m 4,234 169.
Grandview (V) 124 5.
Greece (1) 22,672 907.
Greenville (T) 240 10.
Groton (V) 827 33.
Hamburg (V) 10,075 403.
Hanover (T) 704 28.
Harrison (T) 4,417 177.
Haverstraw (V) 2,050 82.
Haverstraw (T) 3,196 128.
Hilton (V) 1,286 51.
Hinsdale (T) 341 14.
i
ATTACHMENT 1
PAGE 2
AFFECT ON
MUNICIPALITY NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS MONTHLY FEE
RECEIPTS
Holland (T) 959 38.
Holley (V) 460 18.
Hyde Park ( ) 5,595 224.
Islip (T) 54,403 2,720.
Ithaca (C) 6,795 272.
Jackson (T) 221 9.
Kenmore (V) 4,727 189.
Lackawanna (C) 5,914 237.
Lancaster (T) 2,609 104.
Ledrange 565 23.
Lewiston (T) 2,400 96.
Lewiston (V) 1,184 47.
Uverpooi (1n 700 28.
Manlius (T) 4,104 164.
Manlius (V) 1,428 57.
Marcy (T) 902 36.
Marilla (1) 782 31.
Medina (1) 1,362 $4.
Millbrook (V) 495 20.
Minetto (7) 484 19.
Minos M 943 38.
Montour Falls (V) 460 18.
Montour (T) 125 5.
Mt. Kisco (V) 2,212 88.
Murray (T) 536 21.
New York City 633,500 31,675.
(10 franchises in NYC)
New Hempstead M 763 31.
Newfield (T) 1,007 40.
Niagara Falls (C) 17,240 690.
Niagara (T) 2,905 116.
Niskayuna (T) 4,237 169.
Norwich (C) 3,173 127.
Nyack (1n 1,568 63.
Odessa (V) 184 7.
Ogden (T) 2,694 108.
Olean (C) 6,393 256.
Olean M 561 22.
Orangetown (T) 5,451 218.
Oswego (C) 5,626 225.
Oswego m 721 29.
Parma (T) 1,565 63.
Patchogue (V) 3,148 126.
Penfield (T) 6,897 276.
Penn Yon (V) 1,786 71.
Perinton (T) 8,997 360.
Philipstown ( ) 461 18.
Piermont (1n 497 20.
ATTACHMENT 1
PAGE 3
EFFECT ON
MUNICIPALITY NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS MONTHLY FEE
,RECEIPTS
Pine Plains 492 17.
Pittsford (T) 3,697 148.
Pleasant Valley (T) 1,814 73.
Pomona M 697 28.
Poquott M 181 7.
Port Chester (V) 4,363 175.
Port Jefferson (V) 1,753 88.
Portville M 390 16.
Portville M 652 26.
Poughkeepsie (T) 6,352 254.
Pound Ridge (T) 1,200 48.
Ramapo m 6,286 251.
Reading (T) 38 2.
Rotterdam (T) 7,060 282.
Saratoga Springs (C) 6,683 267.
Schaghticoke (V) 178 7.
Schenectady (C) 14,555 582.
Schuyler (T) 854 26.
Scotia M 1,648 66.
Scriba (T) 1,163 47.
Silver Creek (1) 824 33.
Slone (V) 1,162 46.
Smithtown (T) 25,502 1,275.
South Nyack M 959 38.
Spencerport M 825 33.
Spring Valley (V) 2,917 117.
Stony Point (T) 3,085 123.
Sweden (T) 896 36.
Syracuse (C) 37,000 1,480.
Tonawanda (C) 4,803 192.
Tonawanda (T) 18,686 747.
Upper Nyack (V) 495 20.
Utica (C) 22,421 897.
Valley Falls M 129 5.
Vlg. of the Branch M 423 21.
Wales (T) 252 10.
Warwick (T) 2,626 105.
Warwick (V) 1,731 69.
Washington (T) 266 11.
Washington (T) 328 13.
Washingtonvilie (T) 1,442 58.
Watkins Glen (V) 845 34.
Wesley Hills (V) 740 30.
West Haverstraw (V) 2,789 112.
Wheatfield m 2,242 90.
Whitestown (T) 341 89.
1,299,038 $60,242.
ATTACHMENT 2
MUNICIPALITIES WITH FRANCHISE FEE
GREATER THAN 4.2 PERCENT
& IMPACT OVER $1,000 A MONTH
EFFECT ON
NUMBER OF MONTHLY FEE PER
MUNICIPALITY SUBSCRIBERS RECEIPTS SUBSCRIBER
New York City
(10 franchises
In NYC) 6339500 $319675 $.049
Buffalo (C) 76,582 3,063 .039
Islip ('I) 54,403 29720 .049
Brookhaven (T)
(UA CABLE) 50,195 2,510 .050
Brookhaven (T7
(V-CABLE) 39,748 1,987 .049
Syracuse (C) 379000 11480 .040
Smithtown (T) 25,502 11275 .049
STATE OF NEW YORK -
963--A
1989-1990 Regular sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
(Profiled)
January 4, 1989
Introduced by M. of A. ZINKER, TALLON, ROPPELL, SIDGEL, ROYT, WARREN --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DARBARO, BARNETT* DECKER, DENNETT,
DRAGNAN, CATAPANO, CLARK, CONNELLY, CONKERS, COOMBE, DANIELS*
Dal TORO, DUGAN, EANNACE, EVE, FARRELL, GRANNIS, GREENE, GRIFFITH,
RILL, HILLMAN, JACOB$, LAFAYETTE, LASSER, LEIBELL, LOPEZ, MARSHALL, ,
MAYERSOHN, NcCANN, McPHILLIPS, .R. H. MILLER, MADLER, O'NEIL, ORTLOFF,
PASSANNANTE, PILLITTERE, PORDUM, SANDERS, SCHIMMINGER, BNEENEY,
TALONIE, TOKASZ, TONKO, VITALIANO, ZALESKI -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Governmental Operations -- reported and referred
to the Committee on Rules -- Rules Committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to the Committee on
Rules
AN ACT in relation to authorising and directing the state commission on
cable television to establish and provide for the operation of MY-SCAN
on a statewide basis
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assam-
blv, do enact as follows:
1 faction 1. The success of MY-SCAN operations in the capital district
2 indicates the advisability of expansion and upgrading of such cable
3 television services. It is the intent of this legislation to provide for
4 the establishment of MY-SCAN on a statewide• basis. it is recognised
S that the long-term funding responsibility for the MY-SCAN operation
6 should not cast solely witA the cable television industry.
7 f 2. The state commission on cable television is bereby authorised and
8 directed to establish and provide for the operation of WY-SCAN on a
9 statewide basis. Such operation shall be designed to provide a working
10 analysis of the incremental progress of NY-SCAN, while furthering ef-
23PLAM VION--Natter in italics (underscored) is news scatter in brackets
Is old law to be omitted.
LM3489-04-9
A. 963--11 2 .
1 forts to bring .the workings . of state government to the populace it
2 serves. Services of the up-link facilities and satellite transponder
3 time shall be shared with the existing SMSAT system operated by the .
1 New York Network. The cost for statewide expansion estimated to be ap-
S proximately" two ai111on dollars annually, shall be funded, for a period
6 limited to two years, exclusively from moneys assessed from the cable
7. television industry pursuant to article 28 of the executive law.
9 S 3. Prior to or during the twentieth month after the effective date.
9 of this act, the state commission on'eable television shall report to
10 the governor and the legislature, with 'input from the cable television
11 industry, .regarding the funding and accomplishments of the operation
12 authorised by this act.
13 S 1. This act shall take effect immediately.
M New York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal Officials
Edward C. Farnell 119 Washington Avenue
Executive Director Albany, New York 12210
(518)463-1185
Fax#(518)463-1190
Memorandum in Opposition
June '27, 1989
A. 963-A, M. of A. Zimmer, et al.
S. 6117-A, by Sen. Donovan
AN ACT in relation to authorizing and directing the state commission
on cable television to establish and provide for the operation
of NY-SCAN on a statewide basis
This bill would require the NYS Commission on Cable Television
to provide for the statewide operation of NY-SCAN, a program
now offered by the Commission only in the Albany area. For
the following reason, this bill is opposed.
At present, the Commission utilizes available channel capacity
on Albany area CATV stations to broadcast programming dealing
with state governmental activities. Compared to the extremely
limited amount of programing and that which this bill would
require, it is anticipated that funding necessary to comply
with this bill will result in a substantial expansion of the
budget of the Commission. Under the bill, funds so expended
would be recovered by assessing a charge upon cable television
companies. These companies also pay local franchise fees to
the municipalities which have authorized the companies to operate
within their boundaries. State law establishes a pre-emption
for the payment by cable companies to the state Commission.
Federal regulations establish a maximum percentage of revenues
� ) which a cable company may be required to pay to governmental
agencies. In the event of a substantial expansion of the amount
of monies paid by cable companies to the Commission, the impact
of the state law and the federal regulation is such that muni-
cipalities
uni-
ci a ities at present or in the ruture will ave their local
franchise tees reaucea cue to t e federally imposed ceiling
on the maximum percentage or revenues which a cable company
can be required to pay.
Due to this direct financial impact upon our members, this
bill cannot be supported, notwithstanding its commendable purpose
of distributing NY-SCAN programming across the state.
JHG/dc
�+u
rU
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
February 12, 1990
Mr. Charles Guttman
City Attorney
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Guttman:
With this letter I would like to inform the City of Ithaca of
some changes which are going to be made to ACC 's channel line-up.
We plan to roll out most of the changes on May 1 , 1990. Since
this plan has not yet been fully detailed the timing could
possibly change . If that is the case , I will notify you at once .
I feel it is important to let you know of the planned changes as
soon as possible, hence this letter and the tentative date.
ACC is moving five local signals to its basic cable service tier.
These channels are not new, but have been carried on the upper
tier of our standard cable service . As a result 'of the changes
to the line-up, ACC will offer subscribers a 16-channel basic
cable service instead of the 12-channel basic cable service we
now offer. The cost of the 16 channels will be the same as the
t, planned price for the 12-channel service - $11 . 52 plus franchise
{� fees.
The reasons for the changes are twofold and both in response to
comments from our subscribers. First, we are removing the Prevue
Guide (cable channel 6 ) from our line-up completely. Second,
in response to customer requests, we are moving channels 5, 40
and 36 back to the basic tier. Also, ACC wanted to have all
broadcast (non-cable ) stations on one tier of service . While
this change could be completed with less cost to ACC by removing
cable programming from its basic tier, we choose instead to
increase the number of channels on the basic cable service tier
from 12 to 16 for the benefit of basic cable subscribers . *
Our standard 40 channel cable service will continue to be priced
at $18. 19'per month plus franchise fees. This standard service
is comprised of two tiers of service : a tier of 16 channels
priced at $11 . 52 plus franchise fees and a tier of 24 channels
priced at an additional $6 . 67 plus franchise fees. ACC will add
a new cable channel, the popular American Movie Classics, to this
service level as of May 1 , 1990. I have included information on
AMC for you.
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
I have attached a new channel line-up for your information. All
changes have been footnoted at the bottom of the page for easy
reference. Not all of the changes are directly attributable to
the increase in channels on the basic cable service . For
example, cable channel 7 will begin to carry local origination
material, slowly at first, and we hope with more regularity in
the future. In addition, we will use channel 7 to keep viewers
informed of Pay-Per-View events.
As always, American Community Cablevision remains committed to
providing the highest quality programming and customer service .
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
z4�6, �_
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
enc .
CC: Bill Demo, Chair
Ithaca Cable Commission
Mayor Ben Nichols
* see attached
w
A set-top channel selector will be required in order for a
subscriber to receive the entire 16 channel basic cable service,
unless the subscriber has a cable ready television set. ACC will
be establishing a number of convenient locations around the city
where subscribers will be able to pick up their channel selector
� ( s) . Basic cable subscribers who require a channel selector
will receive the first one at no charge .
There is no fee for an additional basic cable service outlet and
RCC will continue to provide additional outlets free of charge .
A subscriber will still be able to watch 12 channels on his/her
additional outlet without a channel selector; or with a cable
ready set would be able to view all 16 channels without requiring
a channel selector. A subscriber who wishes to receive 16
channels on his/her additional outlet on a non-cable ready TV and
who will thereby need an additional channel selector (beyond the
first free channel selector) will be charged a channel selector
fee of $3. 00 per month plus franchise fees.
0 12 channels without a channel selector on a non-cable ready TV
0 16 channels without a channel selector with a cable ready TV
0 16 channels with a channel selector on a non-cable ready TV
Those subscribers who presently receive our standard cable
service ( 40 channels) on an additional outlet pay a monthly
additional outlet fee of $5 . 71 plus franchise fees for the use of
the channel selector. This will not change .
Y,
ITHACA CHANNEL LINE—UP MAY 1990
01 PAY—PER—VIEW
B 02 ABC-9/WIXT
B 03 NBC-3/WSTM
B 04 PBS-24/WCNY
B 05 CNN
B*. 06 FOX-68/WSYT
B 07 THE WEATHER CHANNEL/L.O. /PPV B
B 07 NEWSCENTER 7, M—F 6-11PM ON TFC
B 08 PBS-46/WSK.G
B 09 WGJOR-9
B 1(i ESPN
B 11 WPIX-11
B 12 CBS-12/WBNG
B lb THE LEARNING CHANNEL
B 13 CABLE. 13, PUBLIC: ACCESS
+ 14 HBO
+ 15 C:INEMAX
+ 16 THE DISNEY CHANNEL
B 17 CBS-5/WTVH
B 18 NPC-40/WICZ
B* 19 PBS-44/WVIA
�Fa 20 ABC-36/WENY
21 MTV
22 USA NETWORK:
* 23 FNN
'4 C—SPAN
* 25 NICK:/NICK::—AT—NITS
* 26 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
-----------------------------------------
AVAILABLE IN REBUILT AREAS
27 CNBC
28 MSG/TRAVEL CHANNEL
29 BRAVO/C—SPAN II
30 DISCOVERY
* 31 AMERICAN MOVIE C:LASSIC:S/TWC
32 HEADLINE NEWS
33 THE FAMILY CHANNEL
34 NASHVILLE NETWORK;
* 35 JC PENNEY'S SHOPPING
36 VIDEO HITS 1
37 'L I•FET I ME
38 BLACK ENTERTAINMENT
39 TURNER NETWOR--` TELEVISION
40 THE LEARNING CHANNEL
41 QVC
42 THE WEATHER CHANNEL
43 THE COMEDY CHANNEL
B=BASIC: SERVICE CHANNEL
+=PREMIUM CHANNEL
*=CHANNEL CHANGE
. �
`
�--ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
Report to Ithaca Cable Commission, Feb. 21 , 1990
o Response to Commission Inquiry
Evelyn Pugsley reported that she had had a senior citizen' s
discount at one time, but was not getting it anymore. In
checking our records we discovered that this was accurate. We
believe that the computer code was accidently removed from her
account . The discount has been reinstated retroactrive to the
time when it was discontinued and Ms. Pugsley has been notified.
We are rechecking all of the accounts for seniors to make sure
that no others were aaffected.
Melvin Creswell ' s converter and remote control were allegedly
damaged in a fire which took place at his apartment complex. ACC
is working w/ Mr . Creswell to clear this up, but per ACC policy,
he is being charged $110 for the replacement cost of the
equipment (normal charge for lost equipment would be $275) . ACC
is unable to locate Mr . Creswell to discuss this with him
directly. He has apparently moved several times since this
incident . Although the fire was not caused by Mr . Creswell ,
he was responsible for the equipment which had been loaned to or
rented by him.
o Selection of Access Advisory Board representatives
ACC has chosen two new access users to represent them on the
AAB. They are Frances MacKenzie and Floyd Johnson. A short bio
for each individual is attached for your information
o Access policies and procedures
ACC has written policies and procedures for the operation and
use of the public access studio in compliance with the franchise
agreement . A copy is being provided to the Ithaca Cable
�
Commission and to the NY State Commission on Cable Television.
This document was reviewed by the AAB and many of their
suggestions were utilized in making it a very usable and
worthwhile guide. Lauren Stefanelli , ACC' s access coordinator ,
WAS the primary author of this document , and ACC would like to
thank her publicly for the fine job she did.
more. . .
1
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
~~
o Channel changes effective May 1990 - see previously delivered
letter .
o Commission Op Ed piece
It appears that the Ithaca Cable Commission is attempting to
solicit negative comments and/or complaints because the tone of
the piece is negative and inflamatory.
Some inaccuracies exist - ACC' s most recent survey (winter
189/90) indicates and equal interest in WBNG and WTVH (34% and
33% respectively) . Also, according to Steve Shaye at the NY
State Commission on Cable Television, concern by local citizen' s
about granting ACC a 15 year franchise was not the primary reason
that they reduced the franchise term to 10 years. The reduction
had more to do with avoiding a precedent and the fact that
technologies change so quickly that in 10 years the system in
Ithaca could be far out-moded. As a matter of fact , all of the
letters received by the commission requesting they disapprove a
15 year franchise were from members of the access show "More Than
the News" - hardly a public outcry as described by your letter .
Would it not be more productive to write a letter which asks
for public input , but which does not color the tone of the input ,
but instead is written in a more objective fashion?
o Survey Results
At an earlier meeting, Barb Lukens informed the commission
that ACC had had a telephone survey done, and that the results of
that survey would be shared with the commission. A summary of
the results are attached.
o Installer Post Cards
Since December , ACC installers have been leaving a post card
with new customers requesting feedback on ACC' s performance as it
relates to the installation process. A summary of the responses
received is attached for your information. I think you will see
that responses are generally very favorable. We will soon be
providing similar response cards for service calls.
o Newsletter Responses
We included a "Please Let Us Know" form in our January
newsletter . To date we have received about 50 responses from
subscribers, and have either called them or written them with our
answers.
2
_ _ -
ACCESS ADVISORY BOARD Some of her productions include :
APPOINTMENTS Investment Strategies , a series of
programs giving tax advice ; Behind
At the February 21 meeting of the the Veil , a documentary on the
Ithaca City Cable Commission, the Mirage belly dancing troupe ;
City of Ithaca and ACC made Gentle Giants , a study of local
new appointments to the Access, draft horses which has won a
Advisory Board . Under an agreement number of regional awards ; two and
made in January, the appointments one half hours of coverage of last
are divided between 1 and 2 year year's Empire State Games ;
terms . Christmas concerts by the Cornell
Chimes and Sage Chapel Choir ; a
ACC's appointees are : series of beautiful studies in
local landscape and a set of logo
1 City Resident - 2 Year Term tapes for the access station .
Floyd Johnson
She has also helped other
Floyd Johnson has been involved volunteers in their efforts . She
with community access for more is a regular cast member for Take
than ten years . He has produced 1 , and has served as a host and
and directed a number of series as interviewer for 'Round About
well as individual programs . His Ithaca , What's Happening , and Our
two best known series were Tai Chi Community.
and Pearly-Mae Time , produced in
the early to mid-1980s . In the real world, Frances works
at Emerson Power Transmission as a
He has also worked, in assorted market analyst.
crew positions, on a variety of
other access productions , includ-
ing Take 1 , The Imani Hour , and
Family Focus .
In addition, Floyd served as one
of our CABLE 13 A. C. E. judges last
year .
Aside from his work with public
access , Floyd works as an
Emergency Shelter Manager for the
Red Cross.
1 Non-City Resident - 1 Year Term
Frances McKenzie
Frances McKenzie has been one of
our most active and productive
volunteers for the past 4 years .
She has produced and participated
in programs of a bewildering
variety . Her technical and organi-
zational abilities have set a high
standard for other volunteers to
strive for.
' KEY FINDINGS
Ithaca Subscriber Survey
December 1989
Cc The basic-cable-service-only* subscribers mainly like their
cable service for the broadcast channels on it and the reception.
CNN and ESPN also drew a fair percentage of mentions as things
liked. Their major reason for not taking the standard cable
service is that they don' t watch much TV.
o The standard cable** subscriber ' s favorite channels on the
channels other than 2-16 (or their perceptions of this service)
are ESPN, USA Network, MTV and Nickelodeon.
o WIXT-channel 9 is the clear preference between the ABC
affiliates, with 56% of the standard cable service subscribers
choosing it , while only 14% chose WENY-channel 36.
o WSTM-channel 3 is the clear preference between the NBC
affiliates, with 54% of the standard cable service subscribers
choosing it, while only 19% chose WICZ-channel 40.
o The two CBS affiliates apparently have similar appeal , with
34% of the standard cable service subscribers choosing WBNG-
channel 12, and 33% choosing WTVH-channel 5.
o Almost two-thirds (64%) of the standard cable service
subscribers would be satisfied if the PBS channel WVIA were
replaced by American Movie Classics, while 28% would be
dissatisfied. ( 18% would be "not at all satisfied. " )
o Approximately 56% of the total subscribers feel that it is
important for the cable company to provide studios, equipment and
a cable channel for community access programming, while 41% do
not feel that it is important.
o Very little use is made of the Prevue Guide channel , with 45%
of the subscribers never using it , and 22% seldom using it .
o Ithaca' s basic-cable-service-only subscribers are more likely
to be older , less likely to have children in the household, and
more likely to be in the lower income groups than are the
standard cable service subscribers.
* basic cable service as defined in this survey is channels 2-13.
** standard cable service as defined in this survey is channels
1-26 or 1-43 excluding channels 14, 15 and 16) .
1
YES NO
• Was your connection of cable service
completed at the time it was scheduled?
YES NO
If not,did we call to reschedule your ILI
connection?
YES NO
• Was your cable connection completed
to your satisfaction? _.L
If not,please explain.
• What was your Impression of the people who did the work?
Excellent Good Average Poor 1,11A
a) Courteous
b) Properly Identified
—
c) Neat about the job
d) Neat In appearance _ —
• Did our representative explain: h`S
Y) O All
a) Your new channels and service?
b) How the channel selector works? 7
c) What prices to expect on your first bill?
• Do you have any other comments or suggestions?
Name Telephone
Address Date
City/State/Zip
'
-
ITHACA CHANNEL LINE-UP MAY 1990
^
PAY-PER-VIEW
B ABC-9/WIXT
B NBC-3/WSTM
B PBS-24/WCNY
B CNN
B* FOX-68/WSYT
B THE WEATHER CHANNEL/L. O. /PPV BARKER
8 NEWSCENTER 7, M-F 6-11PM ON THE HOUR
B PBS-46/WSKG
B WWOR-9
B ESPN
B WPIX-11
B CBS-12/WBNG
B THE LEARNING CHANNEL
B CABLE 13, PUBLIC ACCESS
+ HBO
+ CINEMAX
+ THE DISNEY CHANNEL
B CBS-5/WTVH
B NBC-40/WICZ
B* PBS-44/WVIA
B ABC-3G/WENY
MTV
USA NETWORK
* FNN
C-SPAN
* NICK/NICK-AT-NITE
* ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
AVAILABLE IN REBUILT AREAS
CNBC
MSG/TRAVEL CHANNEL
BRAVO/C-SPAN II
DISCOVERY
* AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS/TWC
HEADLINE NEWS
THE FAMILY CHANNEL
NASHVILLE NETWORK
* JC PENNEY' S SHOPPING
VIDEO HITS 1
LIFETIME
BLACK ENTERTAINMENT
TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION
THE LEARNING CHANNEL
QVC
THE WEATHER CHANNEL
THE COMEDY CHANNEL
B=BASIC SERVICE CHANNEL
+=PREMIUM CHANNEL
*=CHANNEL CHANGE
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CITY OF ITHACA
108 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE: 272-1713
CITY ATTORNEY MEMORANDUM CODE 607
TO: Bill Demo, Cable Commission Chair
Cable Commission Members
FROM: John J. Kelleher, Assistant City Attorney
DATE: February 16, 1990
SUBJECT: Senior Citizens Discounts on Cable TV
Ithaca grants up to a 50% property tax exemption for persons over
65 years of age whose income is under $15,025 per year. The actual
percentage tax abatement is graduated beginning at 20% reduction
at $15,025 and going to 50% at incomes of $12,025 and below. It
is our recommendation that for simplicity' s sake, the Senior
Citizen Cable TV discount be the same for all persons over 65 whose
income is below $15,000 per year.
Proof of age should be by any form of identification issued by a
public agency: a driver' s license, birth certificate, passport,
or other such document should be presented. y0
,Proof of income could be by existing eligibility for property tax
,abatement as certified by the City Chamberlain, income tax return
from the most recently filed state or federal tax return, or any
.other verifiable source. We recommend that once someone is
qualified, we presume that no change has taken place. This would
avoid an annual task of recertifying our seniors for discount.
The form could look like this:
SENIOR DISCOUNT CERTIFICATION
I , , hereby certify that I am over 65
years of age, having been born on at
I further certify that my income in the last
calendar year was less than $15,000 and that I am therefore
eligible for a Senior Citizen Discount on my cable television
rates.
"An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program"
I submit the following documents in proof of the foregoing:
AGE
1. Driver' s License
2. Birth Certificate
3 . Passport
4. Other
INCOME
5. City Property Tax Records
6. New York Income Tax Return
7. Federal Income Tax Return
8. Other
Signature
I hereby certify that I have examined the indicated documents
and that they confirm the facts asserted by the applicant. I
therefore request that the Senior Citizen Discount be extended as
required by the Cable Franchise Agreement.
City Controller
Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance to you.
Jack
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CITY OF ITHACA
106 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE: 272-1713
MAYOR CODE 607
To: Dominick Cafferillo
From: Ben Nichols
Date: March 15, 1990
Re: Senior Citizens' Discount for TV Cable Services
In accordance with the franchise, A.C.C. has agreed to provide the
senior citizens' discount to all those senior citizens whom we certify as meeting
the income level of an annual household income of less than $15,000. The
discount will be retroactive to March 1989. The city must provide a list to
A.C.C. based on the applicant's 1989 tax form.
We need to work out the mechanism of what City office will handle the
necessary procedures.
cc: Barbara Lukens, A.C.C.
William Demo, Cable Commission
Charles Guttman, City Attorney
BN/ta
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4
ItATEO
CITY OF ITHACA
10B EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE:272-1713
THE CHAMBERLAIN CODE 607
TO: Bill Demo
FROM: Debbie Parsons
DATE: June 26, 1990
RE: Senior Citizens Cable Discount
Per our conversations at the last Cable Commission meeting, I am
enclosing a copy of the application and proposed procedures. If this
meets with everyone's approval, let me know, and I'll contact the Senior
Citizen.'s Council to proceed.
I will be on vacation when the Commission meets next, so I won't be
able to attend. If you can let me know next week if you need any other
information, I'll try to get it to you before I leave.
"An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program"
r
1) Applicant will pick up application at City Hall, the Senior Citizen's
Center, or Tompkins County Council for the Aging.
2) Designated representative will examine application and documents provided
by applicant for accuracy and completeness, and will sign the form in the
appropriate location. No copies of the documentation shall be made unless
the examiner has a question about the documentation or the form. Date of
birth is requested to determine date discount should commence, retroactive
to March, 1989 or the first date of service, whichever is later.
3) Chamberlain's Office will collect applications and generate a list to be
sent to AGC. This list will include name, service address and date of
birth, and will be certified by the City Chamberlain or the Office Manager.
Copies of the applications will accompany the list to ACC. Originals will
be maintained by the City.
4) RSVP volunteers will be available during the initial sign up period to
assist applicants and to examine applications. Hours when they will be
available (currently suggested that they would be available at Senior
Citizen's Center) will be announced.
5) Senior Citizen's Center has agreed to include information regarding avail-
ability of applications on their Sunday morning radio broadcast and in
their newsletter.
OFFICE USE ONLY
Examined by
Date By City
APPLICATION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS DISCOUNT FOR TV CABLE SERVICES
1) Names of person(s) requesting discount (Your name as it appears on the
billing from ACC)
(please print)
2) Property address where service is provided
3) Mailing address (if different from above)
4) Proof of age (one of the following) DATE OF BIRTH
Birth Certificate Other (identify)
(Driver's License)
Baptismal Certificate (Medicare Card)
5) Proof of residency (one of following)
- Telephone Listing Lease (or rental
receipt)
Copy of Utility Bill Other (identify)
I certify that I am 65 years of age or older, that I have a total household
income of $15,000 or less from taxable and non-taxable sources. I understand
that failure to provide proof if requested or any deliberate false statement
on this application may be grounds for disqualification from further discounts.
SIGNATURE DATE
APPLICATION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS DISCOUNT FOR TV CABLE SERVICES
1) Names of person(s) requesting discount (Your name as it appears on the
billing from ACC)
(please print)
2) Property address where service is provided
3) Mailing address (if different from above)
4) Proof of age (one of the following)
Birth Certificate Other
(Driver's License)
Baptismal Certificate (Medicare Card)
5) Proof of residency (one of the following)
Telephone Listing Lease (or rental
receipt)
Copy of Utility Bill Other
I certify that I am 65 years of age or older, that I have a total household income
of $15,000 or less from taxable and non-taxable sources. I understand that
failure to provide proof if requested or any deliberate false statement on this
application may be grounds for disqualification from further discounts.
SIGNATURE DATE
a
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION C)
j 7! J U L211990
-� CITY GLEETS Off14E
July 19 1990 Ithaca, N.Y.
W
Cookie Paolangeli, City Clerk
City of Ithaca
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Cookie:
Enclosed you will find a new performance bond from Aetna Casualty
and Surety Company. I would appreciate it if you could forward
this to the proper department. It' s important that the release
form be signed and returned to me as soon as possible.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at
(607 ) 272-7875.
Thanks for your help.
Sincerely,
�f
Fra Wright
Administrative Assistant
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
2
American Television&
Communications Corporation
July 11, 1990 A Time Warner Inc.Company
ATC—Denver
160 Inverness Drive West
Englewood,CO 80112
To Whom It May Concern: 303799-1200
The enclosed surety bond issued by The AEtna Casualty and Surety Company is
being delivered to you as a replacement bond for the National Union (AIG) bond
currently in your possession. We are requesting that an exchange of the bonds
be made (the AEtna bond for the National Union (AIG) bond), and that you sign
the attached National Union (AIG) release form.
If for whatever reason you are unable at this time to return the National Union
(AIG) bond or sign the National Union (AIG) release form, we request that you
accept the AEtna replacement bond. A cancellation notice has been issued by
National Union (AIG) on each National Union (AIG) bond and will be effective
30-90 days after receipt of the cancellation letter.
We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. If we can answer any questions,
please contact Lorraine Cachet or myself at (303) 799-1200.
Sincerely,
Kathry M. Corr
Assit t Treas er
KMC/jmm
Enclosure
Providing entertainment and information choices
19 S 100648302-90-515 BCA
PERFORMANCE BOND
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, That we, American Community Cablevision, as
Principal, hereinafter called Principal, and The AEtna Casualty and Surety Company, a
Connecticut corporation, as Surety, hereinafter called Surety, are held and firmly
bound unto City of Ithaca, as Obligee, hereinafter called Obligee, in the amount of
Twenty-Five Thousand and No/100--- Dollars ($25,000.00), fpr the payment of which
sum, well and truly to be made, the said Principal and Surety bind themselves, and
their heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, jointly and
severally, firmly by these presents.
WHEREAS, Principal has entered into a written agreement with the Obligee dated
November , 1988, with the Obligee for a Cable TV Franchise under Section XXI 21.1 A
through I of the Franchise Agreement, which agreement is by reference made a part
hereof.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CONDITION OF THIS OBLIGATION IS SUCH, That if the above bounden
Principal shall well and truly keep, done and perform, each and every, all and
singular, the matters and things in said contract set forth and specified to be by
the said Principal kept, done and performed at the time and in the manner in said
contract specified, and shall pay over make good and reimburse to the above named
Obligee, all loss and damage which said Obligee may sustain by reason of failure or
default on the part of said Principal, then this obligation shall be void; otherwise,
it shall remain in full force and effect.
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, It shall be a condition precedent to any right of recovery
hereunder, that in the event of any default on the part of the Principal, a written
statement of the particular facts of such default shall be, within thirty (30) days,
delivered to Surety at its Home Office in Hartford, Connecticut by registered mail.
This obligation may be terminated by the Surety by thirty (30) days advance written
notice to the Obligee, such notice to be sent by Certified Mail. Such termination
shall not affect liability incurred under this obligation prior to the effective date
of such termination.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The Principal and Surety have signed and sealed this instrument
this 1st day of July 1990.
Kjy1LY'iGDL-K t(fu zico F Ot*IMUn iCcl+icnS 04A C&A�011
Amer4ican Community Cablevision
BY: `�ca
Lw b, � L' A'T
COUNTERSIGNED Kathryn MIJony, AMISLUBBS-ul 61C
THE AETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY
BY: BY: 0. -94�
�RE ENT AGENT . Garza, Attorney - act
I Mt k IW
I 1 uwuAL I t AMU aunt IT wea .ate r. r
Hl
Me
artiofd.Cofv+arWA 06156 It
LIFE i CASUALTY
• POWER OF ATTORNEY AND CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY(SHN-FACT
It NOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS,THAT THE ATNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,acorporation dulypyanitedunder the lawsoftM
State of Conneehcwt.and having its principal office in the City of Hanford.County of Hartford.Stas of Connecticut,hath made.constituted and
appointed.and does by them presents make.constitute and appdnt John T. Gulden, 0. J. Robinson, Christopher A.
Perrin, Lore L. Cottrell, Scott Palmier, P. J. NcKinnia, Nora 0. Garza, Ellen G. Potter,
Rebecca L. Schmnckar or Mary Besdwr - -
of Denver. Colorado he true and lawful Anomey(sl4n-Peet with fat power and authority hereby conferred
to sign.execute and acknowledge,at any place within the United States.or.It the following fns be filled In,within the area there desi¢
meted .the following Iowa fronds):
by his/her sole signature and act,any and all bonds.reeognizenees.wittroM of Indemnity.and other wrftirgo obligatory in the nature of a bond
recognizance,or conditional undertaking,and any and ON consents incidents 11 110
and to bind THE ETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,thereby a fully and to the some extent ss if the seme were signedby the duly
authorized officers of THE AIWA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,and aB the acts of said Anomey(s)•In•Fact pursuant to the authority herein
given.ere hereby redfied and confirmed.
This appointment is made under and by authority of the following Standing Resolutions of said Company which Resolutions are now in hull tore
and effect:
VOTED:That loch of the following officers:Chairman,Vie Chairman.President Any Executive V6 President Any Senior Vice President Any Vie
President.Any Assistant Vice President Any Secretary,Any Assistant Seeretory,may from time to time appoint Resident Vow Presidents,Resident
Assistant Secretaries.Attorneys-in-Fact.and Agents to act for and on b"of"Company and may give any such appointee such authority as his
certificate of authority may proscribe to sign with the Company's name and seal with the Company's seal bonds•recognizenas•contracts of
indemnity,and other writings obligatory in the nature of a bond,recognizance.or conditional undertaking,and any of said offers or the Board of
Directors may at any time remove any such appointee and revoke the power and authority given him.
VOTED:Thatarmy bond.► —gnizane.contract of indemnity.or writing obligatory in the nature of*bond.recw,gnmrorm or conditional undertaking
shall be valid and binding upon the Company when(a)signed by the Chairman.the Vie Chairman,the President an Executive Vie President a
Senior Vie President,a Vie President.an Assistant Vice President or by a Resident Vie President pursuant to the power prescribed in the
certificate of authority of such Resident Vre President and duly sffested and Baled with the Company's seal by a Secretary or Assistant Secretary
or by a Resident Assistant Secretary,pursuant to the power prescribed in the certificate of authority of such Resident Assistant Secretary:or(b)duly
executed(under seal,if rpuired)by one or more ARomeyrin-Fact pursuant to the power pmuxibed in his or their ertificste or certificates of
authority.
This Power of Attorney and Certificate of Authority is signed and sealed by facsimile under and by authority of the following Standing Resolution
voted by the Board of Directors of THE ETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY which Resolution is now in full fore and effect:
VOTED: That the signature of each of the following officers:Chairmen.Vow Chairmen,President Any Executive Vie President,Any Senior Vas
President Any Vie President Any Assistant Vie President Any Secretary,Any Assistant Secretary.and the seal of the Company may be affixed-by
facsimile to any power of attorney or to any certificate relating thereto appointing Resident Vice Presidents,Resident Assistant Secretaries or
Attorneys-in-Fact for purposes only of executing and attesting bands and undertakings and other writings obligatory in the nature thereof•and any
such power of attorney or certificate bearing such facsimile signature or facsimile seal shall be valid and binding upon the Company and any such
power so executed and certified by such facsimile signature and facsimile oval Malt be valid and binding upon the Company in the future will
respect to any bond or undertaking to which it is attached.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF.THE*TNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY has caused this instrument M be signed by its Senior
Vice President and w corporate sal to be hereto affixed this M
tar of January .tg9p -�
�k THE ATMA CASUALTY AND ETY COMPANY
H
State of Connecticut .
ss.Hanford Senior Vice President
County of Hartford
on this 8th day of January .1990 .before me personally erne JOSEPH P. KIERNAN
to me known.who.being by me duh sworn,did depose and soy:that he/she is Senior Vice President of
THE jETNA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,the corporation described In and which executed the above instrument;that he/she knows the
seal of said corporation:that the seat affixed to the said instrument issuclh corporate eel;and that he/she executed the said instrument on behalf
of the corporation by authority of his/her office under the Standing Resolutions thereof.
.eery: D�
tee. .t �A✓H �t�
'••...r —0-o March]t,WW Notary Public
Rosalind R. Christie
CERTIFICATE
1,the undersigned. Secretary of THE AIWA CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY,a stock corporation of the
State of Connecticut.DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing and attached Power of Attorney and Certificate of Authority remains in full force and
has not been revoked;and furthermore,that the Standing Resolutions of the Board of Directors•as set forth in to Certificate of Authority,are now
in force.
Signed and Sealed at the Home Office of the Company,in the City of Hartford,State Connee6wt Dated this ]•St day of
July .19 90 . y-,-
r��
I1.• W. i
I. CO-+. BY tj - t'
W. Welch
r:'
IS•h922•Fi fury 9165 "• tary PRINTEt1 IN U S A
i
July 2, 1990
National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA
c% Vivienne Douglas
Johnson & Higgins of Colorado, Inc.
950 17th Street, Suite 1850
Denver, CO 80202
Re: Principal: American Community Cablevision
Obligee: City of Ithaca
Bond No.: 02-74-00
Dear Ms. Douglas:
The Aetna Casualty and Surety Company Bond No. 19 S 100648302-90-515 BCA,
assuming the previous obligations of the captioned PRINCIPAL and its SURETY
has been received by this office.
In lieu of returning the original bond, please accept this letter as our
acknowledgement of the termination of liability under the captioned bond effective
July 1, 1990, which is the inception date of the replacement bond.
Signature
Mayor, City of Ithaca
Title
Obligee
July 27, 1990
Date
cc: Dan Burton - National Union, Houston
RpL40/4213
PROPOSED AMENDMENT
PARTS 595.5
595.5 Requirements for construction of cable television
plant and provision of cable television services.
(a) Definitions.
(1) Primary service are shall include each of the
following wif-H'n the franchised area:
(i) those areas where cable television plant has
built without a contribution-in-aid-of-construction
by subscribers;
(ii) those areas where the cable television company
is obligated by the terms of its franchise to provide
cable television service without a contribution-in-
aid-of-construction by subscribers;
(iii) any area adjoining an area described in
subparagraph (i) or (ii) of this paragraph and which
contains dwelling units at a minimum rate of 20 [35]
dwelling units per linear mile of aerial cable;
(iv) any area adjoining an area described in
subparagraph (i) and (ii) of this paragraph and which
contains at least the same number of dwelling units
per linear mile of aerial cable as is the average
number of dwelling units per linear mile of cable in
areas described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this
paragraph. The average is to be determined by
dividing the sum of the dwelling units in areas
described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this
paragraph by the number of linear miles of cable in
the same areas.
(2) (�rj ne extenGiam.-ar„e shall be any area within the
franchised area which is not the primary service area.
(b) Where a cable television franchise is awarded,
renewed or amended after October 1, 1982 the
franchise will be confirmed or the amendment will
°7be approved by the commission on e franchise
contains the following additional minimum franchise
standards:
(1) That, within five years after receipt
of all necessary operating
-2-
authorizations, cable television
service will be offered throughout the
authorized area to all subscribers
requesting service in any primary
service area.
(2) That cable television service will
not be denied to potential subscribers
located in line extension areas who are
willing to contribute to the cost of
construction in accordance with the
following formula: -
C_ - CA = SC
LE P
C equals the cost of construction of new plant;
CA equals the average cost of construction per
mile in the primary service area; P equals the
lower of 20 [35) or the average number of
dwelling units per linear mile of cable in areas
described in subparagraphs(a) (1) (i) and (ii) of
this section; LE equals the number of dwelling
units requesting service in the line extension
area; and SC equals subscriber contribution-in-
aid-of-construction in the line extension area.
(i) Whenever a potential subscriber
located in a line extension area
requests service, the cable television
company shall, within 30 days of the
request, conduct a survey to determine
the number of potential subscribers
located in the line extension area, and
shall inform each of the potential
subscribers of the contribution-in-aid-
of-construction that may be charged.
The cable television company may
require pre-payment of the
contribution-in-aid-of-construction.
The cable television company shall
apply for pole attachment agreements
within 30 days of its receipt of the
contribution-in-aid-of-construction.
Cable television services must be made
available to those who made a
contribution-in-aid-of-construction
within 90 days from the receipt of pole
attachment agreements by the cable
television company.
-3-
(ii) The contribution-in-aid-of-
construction shall be in addition to
the installation rate set forth in the
franchise.
(iii) During a five-year period
commencing at the completion of a
particular line extension, pro rata
refund shall be paid to previous
subscribers as new subscribers are
added to the particular line extension;
the amount of the refund, if any, shall
be determined by application of the
formula annually. The refunds shall be
paid annually to subscribers, or former
subscribers, entitled to receive them.
The company shall not be required to
provide refunds to any previous
subscriber otherwise entitled to a
refund, who is no longer at the same
address and who has not informed the
company of the subscriber' s address...
(3) That cable television service will be
provided to any subscriber who demands
service and who is located within 150 feet
of aerial feeder cable, and that the charge
for the installation for any subscriber so
situated will not be in excess of the
installation charge specified in the
franchise.
(4) Nothing in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision stall be construed to preclude:
(i) the provision of cable
television services by the
franchisee in a line extension
area without assessing a
contribution-in-aid-of-
construction; or
(ii) the inclusion in a cable
television franchise of a
provision establishing a primary
service area which includes at
least all of those areas which
are in the primary service area
as defined in subdivision (a) of
this section.
(5) Nothing in paragraph (2) of this
subdivision shall be construed to preclude:
-4-
(i) the discounting or the waiver
of the maximum contribution-in-
aid-of-construction charge a
cable television company can
charge a subscriber pursuant to
paragraph (2) of this
subdivision; or
(ii) the inclusion of a provision
in a cable television franchise
establishing a formula to be used
to determine the contribution-in-
aid-of-construction charge, which
formula is different than the
formula set forth in paragraph
(2) of this subdivision, provided
that the formula included in the
franchise does not require
payment by the subscriber in a
line extension area of a higher
contribution-in-aid-of-
construction charge than would
result from the use of the
formula set forth in paragraph
(2) of this subdivision.
(c) All cable television companies operating in
the State of New York shall make cable television
service available to all potential subscribers
requesting service who are located in a primary
service area as defined in paragraph (a) (1) of
this section, and shall make services available
in line extension areas as defined in paragraph
(a) (2) of this section at charges which may not
exceed those provided for in paragraph (b) (2) of
this section within the following schedule of
compliance:
(1) prior to January 1, 1984 in any
franchise area for which the original
certificate of confirmation of the franchise
was granted by this commission prior to
January 1, 1979 ;
(2) within five years from the date the
certificate of confirmation was granted by
this commission, in any franchise area for
which the original certificate of
confirmation of the franchise was granted by
this commission after January 1, 1979 .
(d) The provisions of this section may be waived
by the commission if the commission determines
that compliance with the section would not be
possible within the limitations of economic
feasibility.
r
,,ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEYISION
August 16, 1990
John Grow
NYS Commission on Cable Television
Tower Building - Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12223
Dear John:
ACC ' s franchise agreement with the City of Ithaca was written to
include language provided by state regulation which at that time
precluded the use of PEG access for political endorsement. I
quote : "Designated channels shalom not be used for the promotion
or sale of commercial products or services, including advertising
by or on behalf of candidates for public office . "
It is my understanding that the Commission' s present position is
different, and I have to admit that after having read some
materials you sent me in the past I am still not clear as to the
state ' s position on this issue . Both ACC and the Ithaca Cable
Commission would pike to have a statement from the NYSCCT which
will clarify the issue for us. Without such a statement ACC will
have to follow the current franchise agreement.
Can you help?
Sincerely,
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
CC: Bill Demo, Chair - Ithaca Cable Commission
John Fogarty - Associate General Counsel , ATC, Stamford, CT
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
AUc� .3
�R
CITY C1f r�RQ
Ithaca, N, y,
August 23, 1990
Anne Dalton, Municipal Consultant
NYS Commission on Cable Television
Tower Building - Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12223
Dear Ms. Dalton:
I just wanted to inform the commission that American Community
Cablevision will be increasing rates for new installations and
service activation from $20 . 00 to $40 . 00 effective September 1 ,
1990. This change, while not fully covering actual costs, is a
more reasonable reflection of those costs . It affects new
customers only and includes up to 2 outlets per transaction.
Effective October 15 , 1990 there will be some additional changes
which I 've outlined below and which , will affect existing
customers .
New rates :
was will be
Outlet relocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 . . . . . . . $40
Additional outlet installation/activation. . . . . . . . $20 . . . . . . . $40
VCR hookup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 . . . . . . . $10
( free at the time of connection - no change )
If you have any questions regarding these , please call me .
Sincerely,
/(�
/,—
Barbara L. Lukens
General Manager
cc: Town and Village Clerks
Callista Paolangeli, City of Ithaca -Ce-
Carolyn Roberts, Town of Candor 77
Pat Osborn, Town of Caroline
Don Kenyon, Town of Covert ( Supervisor )
Carol Sczepanski , Town of Danby
Susanne Lloyd, Town of Dryden
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 B07_272_14rr,
r -.a
Collene Pierson, Town of Groton
Jean Swartwood, Town of Ithaca
Bonnie Boles, Town of Lansing
Joe Hutchinson, Town of Newark Valley
Lois Minteer, Town of Newfield
Marsha, Georgia, Town of Ulysses
Gina Currie, Village of Candor
Anne Krohto, Village of Cayuga Heights
Mary Jane Neff, Village of Dryden
Liz Brennan, Village of Freeville
Charles .Rankin, Village of Groton
Sylvia Smith, Village of Lansing
Margaret Cornwell, Village of Newark Valley
Dolores Chase , Village of Trumansburg
E
ACC .
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
August 27 , 1990
Mrs. Shirley 0. Hockett
145 N. Sunset Dr.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mrs. Hockett:
I have read your letter to the New York State Cable Commission
and have reviewed the matter with the customer service/billing
representatives here at American Community Cablevision. As you
are aware, I 'm sure , ACC ' s rates increased in March of 1989 . It
is therefore not possible that your annual payment for 1990 would
have been less than the annual payment for 1989 .
Your payment of $139 . 48 was credited to your account, but did not
cover the full year of service . That credit has now been
consumed entirely and you are therefore receiving a bill .
Cheryl understood you to ask her what the cost of service would
be from August ' 90 through January of ' 91 . She calculated the
amount based on the $3. 91 currently billed for August and $19 . 10
per month for the months of September - January, which totaled to
$99. 41 , which assumes the current full rate for service as
opposed to the fact that customers paying annually have been
afforded protection from rate increases which happen within the
period for which they have paid.
The end of 1989 and the beginning of 1990 was a little bit
different this year in Cayuga Heights, because it was at the time
that ACC completed the rebuild in the area, increasing the
channel capacity by 17 channels . There was a charge of $1 .00 per
month associated with this change in service, separate from any
rate increases .
Because of the mix-up and because your intent was to pay
annually, your full 1990 bill will be calculated as follows :
January' s billing was for $11 . 79 because of 1989 activity
and a credit which was given because of a billing computer
problem we experienced.
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 507-272-345£
February thru December is being calculated at $16 . 00 per
month. (We ' ll not charge the extra $1 . 00 per month for the
new services this year as a good will gesture . We apologize
for the confusion surrounding this account. )
$16 per month x 11 months = $176 . 00
$11 . 79 (Jan. )
+$176 . 00 (Feb. -Dec . )
$187 . 79
Of the $187 . 79 , you have paid $139. 48 leaving you with a balance
of $48. 31 . This amount, 48 . 31 , will pay your account in full
through December 1990 as long as there is no change in your
service level .
We will be clarifying, and possibly revamping the manner in which
we handle accounts paid annually. When we have ironed out the
details, we will be sending a letter to all customers who pay on
this basis to explain our policy.
If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact
our Customer Service Manager, Carol (Doc ) McQuade at 272-3456 .
Sincerely,
Barbara L: Lukens
General Manager
BLL/fw
CC: Bill Demo, Ithaca Cable Commission
Carol Jamison, NYSCCT
Carol McQuade , ACC
TO: PETE, CHRIS,JIM AND CHUCK
FROM: TOM
RE: CABLE COMMISSION
DATE: OCT. 19, 1990
Enclosed are the following items of interest:
1) Jim Ferwerda's resume. Ben has it and will present it to
Common Council for approval at the next meeting.
2) A summary of several sections of the New York State Cable
Commission regulations dealing with access channel capacity and the
regulation of speech on access. I still have not received the opinion
letter from the Counsel for the NYSCC regarding political speech. I'll
follow up on it.
3) Some decisions and rules issued by the NYSCC. I just
received the rules, dated April 4th, from the Mayor's office. I'm not
sure whether he just got them or if they have been sitting in the
mountain on his desk. I've also included the NYSCC Weekly Bulletin
for the week of October 5, 1990. As you will see, there is really
nothing that affects our franchise. Unless I get a request to the
contrary, in the future I will only pass on those bulletins that contain
rulings pertaining to us.
CITY OF ITHACA
T V CABLE COI IBIISSION
Tom Terrizzi, Chair
714 N. Cayuga Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
273-2283 (w)
277-3334 (h)
Chris Heegard
4 Woodland Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
539-6643 (h)
255-4021 (w)
Pete Hess
111 W. Jay St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
274-3384 (w)
272-1813 (h)
Jim Ferwerda
312 First Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
273-5255 (h)
255-7365 (w)
s
9 NYCRR§ 595.4 Minimum Standards for PEG Access
(b) Designation of Channels
(1) 1 full time channel for public access
at least one full time channel for govt. and
and educational use
1 additional channel for govt. and ed. use
when first govt./ed. channel is used 12 hrs.
a day for a 90 day period.
(c) Administration and use
(1) Public channel shall be administered by an
entity named by the municipality or, until such
designation is made, by the cable company.
(2) Govt. and ed. channel shall be operated and
administered by committee or commission
appointed by the local govt.
9 NYCRR § 595.4(c)(8)
The cable television franchise shall not exercise any editorial
control over any public, educational or governmental use of channel
capacity designated for PEG purposes.
--- —
ACC
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
October 26, 1990
Hr. Tom Terizzi
108 E. Green St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Hr. Terizzi:
Attached is a copy of ACC's audited financial statements for the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1990. Our efforts during that 12
month period were primarily spent on continuing the rebuild
effort in a more organized fashion and improving customer service.
Ulysses, Trumansburg, the Town of Ithaca, Cayuga Heights and a
portion of the Village of Lansing were rebuilt to the full 60
channel capability and crews started the rebuild work in
Ereeville, Newark Valley and parts of Dryden and Danby.
In addition, a major effort was placed on improving our service
to customers. We did this by reorganizing and cross-training our
technical staff and by making them more available in the less
centralized communities. We also provided additional training to
our customer service representatives and we are continuing to
work on improving the user friendliness of our audio response
unit, which was installed to handle the more routine telephone j
calls, allowing the csr's to spend more quality time with the
customers who require personal contact.
I will be preparing a more complete summary for your community at
the end of the calendar year. If you should have any questions
about this report or anything else, please don't hesitate to
contact me.
;cerely,
Barbara L. Lukens, General Hanager
cc:Hr. .Ben Nichols, Hayor
BLL/mkk
519 West State Street Ithaca, New York 14850 607-272-3456
CITY OF ITHACA
108 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE 272-1713
CITY ATTORNEY CODE 607
November 6, 1990
Bar/aes
Gener
Amenity Cablevision
519St.
th4850
Deas:viewed the Franchise Agreement between the City of
Ithaca and American Community Cablevision and have met with
members of the City of Ithaca Television Cable Commission.
Apparently there are concerns and potential problems regarding
ACC' s responsibility to provide access channels and services.
In Section 14 of the Franchise Agreement, ACC specifically
agreed to provide nine downstream channels designated for public,
governmental and educational access. Any P.E.G. access channels
unused by the City three years after the rebuild was complete
would revert to ACC, provided that if community needs
subsequently required the use of any such channels, ACC would
return the channels to the City six months after receiving
written notice if ACC had a use for the channel and immediately
if there was no use for the channel. I also note 9 NYCRR Section
595.4, Minimum Standards for PEG Access clearly seems to state
that in our situation there must not only be one full-time
channel for public access but at least one additional channel for
government and educational use. Therefore, ACC is not at present
even complying with the minimum state-required standards.
Furthermore, ACC is clearly not complying with the
requirement of the Franchise Agreement that nine downstream
channels be designated for PEG access and that those channels be
available for use. As City Attorney I must insist that ACC meet
its contractual obligations.
It is my further understanding that disputes have arisen
regarding whether the costs for the equipment for bringing these
channels on line is to be paid by ACC out of your general
revenues or paid out of the two percent of gross City revenues
(Over)
An E,i,u n:. h Eme+ w a-,A• — j art. ,,1-,,.,�.. .,
which, under Section 14. 1(C) ( 3) , you have agreed to put aside for
equipment replacement and expansion. It appears clear to me that
the necessary equipment to open up the nine channels should come
out of the' ACC general revenues and not out of these two percent
funds.
In the first place, pursuant to the Franchise Agreement, ACC }
was to immediately designate the nine downstream channels and
have them available for use. Accordingly, the necessary
equipment would have to have been purchased immediately. The two
percent funds obviously come in over a period of time and could
not buy that equipment. On the contrary, the two percent funds
clearly seem to be intended for local programming leads.
I also note in the Franchise Agreement that there are
references to when the rebuild is complete. I would appreciate
you informing me as to when ACC considers the rebuild to have
been completed so that we will have a firm agreed-upon date.
If you wish to discuss this matter further, please feel free
to contact me. Otherwise, please advise me at your earliest
convenience as to what steps ACC is taking to comply with its
contractual obligations under the Franchise Agreement and under
New York State law.
Very tru y ,
-' Chadds' Guttman
"City Attorney
CG/a
cc: Tom Terrizzi, Chair
City of Ithaca TV Cable Commission
1A I
Illr 11111!1 It: PH0 1U, 1, ,Iltt I t111 It
PH I S M11. PA 11tt',10
T E1.E1'11OlJE: 7 1 i 826 ri 14.1
71i :344 1?41
October 31 , 1990
American CommuniLy Cablevision
519 W . SUxLe SLr•eeL
Ithaca, New York 11850
Attn: John Herrewyn
Dear John ,
Thatilc you and Joe Powers for the help in conducting this
test . It was a pleasure meeting you both. Enclosed is a
COPY our field report on our joint test at American Community
Cablevision' s headend site on October 19 , 1990 .
We regret Lhal. conditions are such that we are no longer
are able Lo be caner• i cid on the Ithaca cable system. We had
many v i.rwer•s mid m:111y member's i.11 thc- I l.hatca area we wish we
could con(Jrrlre Lo serve . As indica Led in our report: , Lhe
only prar L i cat 1 so 1 u 1 ion we earn see wo11 l d be Lo 1.1se it signal
r•el ny syst.em which is beyond our• meun-
If you have any other- suggestions where you feel we can
help in gel. l. irig WVIA TV bixelc on the I1,haca cable sysLenl,
please feel free to contact me . Again , thank you for your
cooperation.
Sincerely ,
Bill Flyers
Director of Engineering
WVIA N
Ml- PUBLIC BHOADCAS I INH CLN I E.f1
WVIA TV/44 WVIA rm/90
PITTSTON, PA. 18640
TELEPHONE: 717-826-6144
FIELD REPORT 717•]44-1244
DA'T'E : Friday , October 19 , 1990
PLACE : American Community Cablevision System
Ithaca, New York
PARTIES : William Myers , Director of 1,:nginecr•ing , WVIA TV/FM
George Seymour, Engineering Consultant , WVIA TV/FM
John Herrewyn , Chief Engineer , A.C .C .
Joe Powers , Engineer, A. C . C .
PURPOSE: Joint. t.est. ing and evaluation of WVIA TV channel 44
receive: signal strength at Ithaca, New York for
insertion on the American Community Cablevision
cable system.
TEST SET UP:
4X Wideband Rec. Ant . -► X
( + 15 d13d )
25 Feet, Holden 8228 --- v.- Antenna Mast
and connectors . ( 15 Feet )
( -2 dB )
TesScan 7272 ( sn D2583 )
Field Strength Meter —�► FSM
with UHF Adaptor 7270
TEST SET UP GAIN OVER DIPOLE _ + 13 dB
NOTE : We diel trot have the calibration chart for
the field strefigth meter 11111• :\claptor• . A1. 1
measur•emont.s were made with 1,he tuner compensation
111. mrts i mien ( 1 0 ) which r•esu l t ill :r rending 14 d13
hi �;hr• Ihn�r Ihc• ateLurrl sit;n:11 field st.t•c•ngl.l► .
( continued )
WVIA TV / A .C . C . REPORT 10/19/90 PAGE 2
TEST LOCATION # 1 :
American Community Cablevision cable headend site ,
Snyder Hill Road , Dryden , ground elevation 1499 ft . AMSL,
coordinates 42 25 ' 15 ' ' N . Lat . and 76 25 ' 46" W. Long .
Thi.s • locaLion is 90 miles , bearing 1600 to WVIA ' s main
t.ratismit.t.er , 52 mi les , bearing 2090 to WVI.A ' s W63AII
Marisfield , PA Lrarislator and 50 miles , bearing 183" to WVIA ' s
W25AQ Towanda, PA translator.
Measurement using; WVIA test set up:
WVIA TV CH . 44 F. S. READING = -22 dBmv
TUNER CORRECTION = -14 dB
TEST SET UP GAIN = -13 dB
F. S . ACROSS DIPOLE, CH . 44 -49 dBmv ( 3 . 6uv )
Picture quality was very poor arid the signal level
varied 2 to 3 dB lower than tire above reading due wind gust
variations . Signals from W63AB and W25AQ were riot
measurable .
A . C .C . , his Lwo QCA-MIF log periodic antennas fit
approxi.maLviy the 90 foot. level on their 100 foot tower. The
downlead for hese antennas is MC2 1/2" air cable about 120
feet long . One ant.enria is oriented to Elmira, NY ( bearing
aprox . 220 ' ) and the other antenna is oriented to
Binghamton , NY ( bv aring aprox. 140° ) . A . C . C. installed a
3db splitter in .each line so that a sample could be obtained
from each arit.enna for measurements .
Measurement usin,g the Elmira aritenria :
W63AB CH . 63 F . S . READING = -38 dBmv
TUNER CORRECTION = - 12 dB
ANTENNA GAIN ( 12 . 5 dBi ) _ -10 dBd
CA{31J:/SPI,I i"1'I:It LOSS = + 3 . 5 dB
F. S . ACROSS DIPOLE, CH . 63 = -56 . 5 dBmv ( 1 . 511v )
S i vna I s From W\ 1A TV ('H . 4.1 or W-25AW were not
m� rig ii I-it I cin 1 h.' h: I m i 1.11 iir►Lr•nnri .
( con t. i ni.ied )
e
WVIA TV / A. C . C . REPORT 10/19/90 PAGE 3
Measurement using the Birighamtorr antenna:
WVIA TV CH . 44 F. S . READING = -20 dlimv
TUNER CORRECTION = -14 dB
ANTENNA GAIN ( 12 . 5 dBi ) _ -10 dBd
CABLE/SPLITTER LOSS = + 3 . 5 dB—
F. S . ACROSS D1110LE, CH . 44 = -40 . 5 dBmv ( 9 . 511v )
Picture qual. il.y was poor and the signal level varied 2
to 3 dB lower than the above reading due to wind gust
variations . Signals from W63AB and W25AQ were not
measurable .
WSKG TV CII . 46 F. S . READING = + 5 dBmv
TUNER CORRECTION = -14 dB
ANTENNA GAIN ( 12 . 5 dBi ) _ -10 dBd
CABLE/SPLITTER LOSS = + 3 . 5 dB
F. S . ACROSS DIPOLE , CH . 46 = -15 . 5 dBmv ( 168uv )
Picture quality was good . The signal level remained
relatively constant, despite wind gust variations .
TEST LOCATION #2 :
After testing at the headend site we went to the
residence of Mr. Robert Fletcher . Mr. Fletcher had notified
WVIA and A . C .C . that. he was receiving a good signal from WVIA
TV with a home antenna system.
Measurement using WVIA test set_u ) in front of Mr .
Fletchers residence :
WVIA TV CH . 44 F . S . READING = -20 dBmv
TUNER CORRECTION = -14 dB
TEST SET lit' GAIN = - 13 dI3
F . S . ACROSS DIPOLE , CH . 44 = -47 dBmv ( 4 . 5uv )
The signal level varied 2 to 3 d11 lower than the above
reading; (111V tO Wind dust variations .
l cont. i nu<rd )
WV1A TV / A . C . C . REPORT 10/ 19/90 PAGE 4
We went into Mr. Fletchers home to observe WVIA' s signal
on his TV set . Ile is using a high gain UHF receive antenna
mounted on a rotor about 25 feet above ground and two low
noise preamps in series . The antenna rotor was riot working
so we could not peak it on WVIA' s signal but it did appear to
be oriented in the same general direction as our- test set. up
outside his hone . Channel 44 ' s picture was mostly fair but.
at times would deteriorate to very poor .
EVALUATION STANDARDS :
TASO ( Television Allocation Study Organization ) signal
to noise ratings : ( 6 MHZ bandwidth )
Excellent 44 dB Marginal 23 dB
Fine 34 dB Inferior 17 dB
Passable 28 dB
75 Ohm thermal noise floor @ 62' F, 6 MHZ bandwidth =
1 . 342 uv or- -57 . 5 dBmv.
Ideal :-iignfxl f ield strength requirements :
75 OHM THERMAL N01SE FLOOR -57 . 5 dBmv
TASO EXCELLENT S/N RATIO 44 0313
AMP/DEMOD NOISE 10 d13
FADE MARGIN ( NON CLEAR PATH ) 20 d13__
RECEIVE ANTENNA SIGNAL REQUIREMENT +16 . 5. dBmv
l 6 . 7 my )
Predicted signal field strength , ACC ' s 100 ft . tower :
WVIA CII 44 RECEA VE SIGNAL ( DI POLE: ) -40 . 5 dBmv
8 FT . PARABOLIC RECEIVE ANTENNA 20 dBd
AMP/DEMOD/CABLE NOISE -10 d13
TASO J'ASSABLE, RECEIVE SIGNAL ( . 03 mv ) -30 . 5 dBmv
FADE: t`tAPG I N ( NON CLEAR PATH ) -20 _(ill
TASO lNl }:IZ1O{t H1,J:F.IVE SIGNAL ( . 003 nv ) -50 . 5 ►113mV
( cont i n►red )
WVIA TV / A. C . C . HE'PORT 10/19/90 PAGE 5
CONCLUSION :
It is clear from the above observations and calculations
that channel 44 ' s signal is riot strong enough at A.C.C. ' s
headend site for them to provide their customers with a
consistently good signal from WVIA .
We feel this problem is due to the distance between
transmitting and receiving sites and the curvature of the
earth. In WVIA ' s opinion , the only realistic solution to this
problem would be to locate a receive site closer to WV1A ' s
grade B contour where sufficient signal is available . That
signal could then be amplified and relayed to the Ithaca
headend site using point to point microwave , or possibly a
fiberoptic system. Such a system could cost upwards of
$100 , 000 to install and an additional $1 , 000 to $5 , 000 a year
to operate .
REPORT FILED BY : William L. Myers
Director of Engineering
WVIA TV/FM
Audited Financial Statements
American Community Cablevision
Division of American Television and
Communications Corporation
June 30, 1990
with
Report of Independent Auditors
Ernst &Young
6.
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
Audited Financial Statements
June 30, 1990
Audited Financial Statements
Reportof Independent Auditors.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Statement of Assets, Liabilities and NetAssets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .2
Statement of Revenues and Expenses and Changes in Net Assets.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Statement of Cash Flows. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . .4
Notesto Financial Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .5
tow
i
Ernst &Young
ARCO-Marriott Tower
707 17th Street,Suite 3800
�- Denver,Colorado 80202
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS Telephone:(303)297-9500
Fax: (303)291-6234
' Telex:272936
The Board of Directors
American Television and Communications Corporation
Stamford, Connecticut
We have audited the accompanying statement of assets, liabilities and net
assets of American Community Cablevision Division of American Television
and Communications Corporation as of June 30, 1990, and the related
statements of revenues and expenses and changes in net assets and cash
flows for the year then ended. These financial statements are the
responsibility of the Division's management. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
�- obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are
free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test
basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating
the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit
provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
American Community Cablevision is a part of American Television and
Communications Corporation and has no separate legal status or
existence. Transactions with American Television and Communications
Corporation and other affiliates are described in Note 1.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly,
in all material respects, the assets, liabilities and net assets of
American Community Cablevision Division of American Television and Com-
munications Corporation at June 30, 1990, and its revenues and expenses
and changes in net assets and its cash flows for the year then ended in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
September 18, 1990
- 1 -
{
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
STATEMENT OF ASSETS, LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
June 30, 1990
ASSETS
Cash $ 20,348
- Accounts receivable, less allowance for
doubtful accounts of $122,150 172,306
Prepaid expenses 14,402
_. Property, plant and equipment,
at cost--Note 2:
Land, building and improvements $ 1,809,531
Distribution system 14,616,652
Vehicles and other equipment 2,272,784
Construction in progress 243,982
18,9 2,949
Less accumulated depreciation (7,650,854)
Net property, plant and equipment 11,292,095
Franchise costs, less accumulated
amortization of $1,083,540--Note 2 1,384,875
$12,884,026
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
Accounts payable $ 184,178
Accrued liabilities 494,930
Subscribers' advance payments and deposits 227,993
907,101
Net assets--Note 1 11,976,925
$122884,026
See notes to financial statements
2 -
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
STATEMENT OF REVENUES AND EXPENSES AND CHANGES IN NET ASSETS
Year Ended June 30, 1990
4
Revenues:
Service $6,077,009
Connection and other 1 ,035 ,563
$ 7,112,572
Expenses--Notes 1 and 2:
Operating and origination 2,495,477
Selling, general and administrative 1 ,672,162
•. Depreciation and amortization 1,472,593
Interest, net 662,768
6,303,000
Income before charge in lieu of income taxes 809,572
Charge in lieu of income taxes--Note 4 323,000
Net income 486,572
Net assets at beginning of year 10,584,361
Net advances from corporate office 905,992
Net assets at end of year $11,976,925
See notes to financial statements
3 -
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
Year Ended June 30, 1990
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:
Net income $ 486,572
Adjustments to reconcile net income to
net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization 1 ,472,593
.. Change in current assets and liabilities:
Increase in accounts receivable (104,205)
Increase in prepaid expenses (6,785)
Decrease in accounts payable (408,325)
Increase in accrued liabilities 83,400
Decrease in subscribers' advance
payments and deposits (54,488)
Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities $ 1 ,468,762
Cash Flows From Investing Activities:
Net purchases of property, plant and
equipment (2,357,809)
Franchise costs (413)
Net Cash Used In Investing Activities (2,358,222)
Cash Flows From Financing Activities :
Advances from American Television
and Communications Corporation 905,992
Repayment of long-term debt (207,597)
Net Cash Provided By Financing Activities 698,395
Net decrease in cash (191 ,065)
Cash at beginning of year 211 ,413
Cash at end of year $ 20,348
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information :
Cash paid during the year for:
Interest $ 720,102
Income taxes 323,000
See notes to financial statements
- 4 -
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
June 30, 1990
1. Basis of presentation
American Community Cablevision Division of American Television and
Communications Corporation (the Division) is principally engaged in the
operation of a cable television business. Such operations consist primarily
of selling video programming which is distributed to subscribers for a monthly
fee through a network of coaxial cables. It operates in the City of Ithaca,
New York and contiguous areas under nonexclusive franchise agreements which
are in effect until 1998.
The Division has no separate legal status or existence. The Division's
resources and existence are at the disposal of American Television and
Communications Corporation (ATC) management, subject to contractual
`- commitments by ATC to perform certain long-term contracts within the present
divisional structure. The Divisions's assets are legally available for the
satisfaction of debts of the entire corporation, not solely those appearing in
the accompanying statements, and its debts may result in claims against assets
not appearing therein. The Division is one of several divisions and .
subsidiaries of ATC, and transactions and the terms thereof may be arranged by
._ and among members of the affiliated group. ATC is an 82% owned subsidiary of
Time Warner Inc. (Time Warner) .
2. Significant accounting policies
Property, plant and equipment: Depreciation is provided on the straight-line
basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows :
Building and improvements 10-20 years
Distribution system 8-15 years
Vehicles and other equipment 4-10 years
Franchise costs : The Division has deferred costs incurred to acquire the
franchises. Additional costs incurred to renew the franchise have also been .
deferred. Amortization of franchise costs is provided on the straight-line
basis over periods of up to forty years.
._ Cash• Cash consists of all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three
months or less.
3. Related party transactions
The statement of revenues and expenses and changes in net assets includes
charges for programming and promotional services provided by Home Box Office
�- Inc. , a subsidiary of Time Warner. These charges were based upon customary
rates.
- 5 -
AMERICAN COMMUNITY CABLEVISION
DIVISION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
June 30, 1990
3. Related party transactions (continued)
The Division records charges for selling, general and administrative expenses
that are directly associated with it and a portion of the ATC expenses
($482,747 for the year ended June 30, 1990) which are allocated to divisions
and subsidiaries based upon subscriber levels.
Interest charged.to the Division by ATC ($720,102) was computed by multiplying
68.2% of the Division's average net assets (computed using beginning and end
of year balances) by the average interest rate (9.36% for the year ended June
30, 1990) on ATC's outstanding borrowings; $56,582 of the interest applicable
to construction in progress was capitalized.
4. Income taxes
Operating results of the Division are included in the consolidated federal
income tax return of Time Warner. Time Warner allocates a portion of its tax
liability to ATC as if ATC and its subsidiaries comprised a separate
affiliated group. In lieu of income taxes, ATC charges the Division an amount
which approximates statutory state and federal income tax rates on pretax
income.
5. Leases
Rental expenses for all operating leases, principally office and pole
attachments, for the year ended June 30, 1990 amounted to $137,945. The
Division had no significant noncancelable rental commitments.
6. Pension Plan
'— The Division participates in a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan
(the Plan) which is maintained by ATC and covers substantially all
employees. The benefits under the Plan are determined based on formulas which
reflect employees' years of service and compensation levels during their
employment period.
R Total pension cost for the year ended June 30, 1990 was $11,037.
6 -
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CITY OF ITHACA
108 EAST GREEN STREET
ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850
OFFICE OF TELEPHONE: 272-1713
CITY ATTORNEY CODE 607
November 19, 1990
Tom Terrizzi
Prisoners' Legal Services of New York
102 W. State St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Tom:
Enclosed please find a copy of a letter I received from the
City of Topeka, Kansas regarding Spiegel & McDiarmid. The letter
is addressed to Ralph as he was the City Attorney. I am also
asking Ralph for any information he has. If you have any
information regarding this consulting firm, please let me know or
contact the City of Topeka directly.
Very truly yours,
Charles Guttman
City Attorney
CG/a
enc.
"An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program"
ID L ID fE tY CITY OF TOPEKA
�r Cite Attorney
215 E. 7th Strcct
vA;v Topeka, Kansas 66603-3979
Phone 913-295-3883 _
F 2
JOPCK KO; - ------
November 5, 1990 9
Ralph Nash
City of Ithaca
Ithaca, NY 14850
Re: Spiegel & McDiarmid
Dear Mr. Nash:
Spiegel & McDiarmid recently submitted to the City of Topeka, Kansas a proposal
to assist in the review and renewal of the City of Topeka's cable television franchise. Your
name was provided as a reference.
To assist the City of Topeka in evaluating the proposal I would appreciate your
written opinions, positive and negative, of the services provided by this firm. Any
information which you can provide by November 21, 1990 will be helpful.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
7
e
Brenden J. Long
Assistant City Attorney
BJL/In