TC 02-02-94Cable Television Advisory Committee
Regular Meeting
Feb. 2, 1994
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by chairman Laird Huntsman.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Huntsman, Carol Marble, Donna Poggi, J.M. Winch
Absent: Jane Chiavacci
Staff: Donna Krey, Laura Newman
TCI Staff: Darryl Henderson
De Anza College: Ron Fish
Guests: Linda Grodt, Len Batchelor
APPROVAL OF JANUARY 5, 1994 MINUTES
Carol Marble made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Mike Wincn seconded
and the motion passed unanimously.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Oral: Linda Grodt, producer, distributed a copy of a newsletter written by the Newark
access people with an article on children's issues which mentioned her show, "Silicon Kids."
Donna Krey also pointed out the article in the Scene which profiled Huntsman as chair of the
committee.
Written: A proposal to air Cupertino Public Access programming on Sunnyvale's
empty access channel was distributed. Huntsman requested this item be placed on the agenda
for discussion at the March meeting. A subcommittee comprised of Wincn, Donna Poggi and
Ron Fish was put together and requested to explore any potential problems that might be
encountered regarding the technical and mechanical side of the proposal. A
report/recommendation will be provided for the discussion at next month's meeting.
Wincn also informed the committee that TCI sent a response to his letter regarding
intermittent outages in the system and the 24-hour outage at De Anza College. A copy of the
letter will be included in the next packet.
OLD BUSINESS
Status of re-franchising effort: Krey informed the committee that at the last session
of the negotiations, technical items were discussed. Concern about the I-NET problem at De
Anza was also discussed. She will provide a log of down-times to TCI at the next meeting.
Bill Levan from De Anza and Dave Carlson from TCI were to come up with a testing
procedure for the system which would be acceptable to both of them. They were then going
to perform the test together on the system to see if it met with FCC standards. Due to Levan's
illness, tests were performed individually. However, the results showed that TCI is in
compliance with all of its signals. This is the first time in the last three months that
everything has been okay.
Page 2
Subjects to be covered at the next meeting will include educational needs of De Anza
College and the two school districts. TCI may talk about its interest in hooking up all the
classrooms.
Consideration of 1994 grants policy: Fish told the committee that he was not able to
discuss the possible topics for the 1994 grants policy at his producers' meeting. However, he
has approached several producer groups and they have expressed interest in environmental
issues. Wincn made a motion that the committee set its grants topic this year for
environmental issues and any issues surrounding environmental aspects. Marble seconded
and the motion was passed unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
Budget discussion - 1994-95: Krey told the committee that budget work papers were
going to be distributed in the next couple of weeks and she wanted to know whether there was
anything the committee wished to request for the upcoming budget year. She outlined the
budget procedure for new committee member Donna Poggi. Huntsman requested that
discussion of committee goals be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. After discussing
these goals, the committee would then be able to provide Krey with input regarding the 1994
budget.
Discussion of role of local television during emergencies: This item was continued
to the next meeting due to the absence of committee member Chiavacci.
1-NET/Educational: Marble reported that Homestead High School has its cables all
in and is up and running in the library. They are using Express Exchange. Karen Bumett
from the Fremont Union High School District told her that I-NET is in but a modulator is
needed in order to use it, which is the responsibility of the school. Krey informed the
committee about a meeting with representatives from Pacific Bell in which the city expressed
interest in participating in any pilot projects they might have for the education community.
Don Brown was going to contact Pac Bell to get the process started.
City of Cupertino: Krey distributed invitations to committee members to the annual
Commissioners' Dinner which has been reinstated this year. This event is held to recognize
current, incoming and outgoing commission members.
As an information item, she informed the committee that The City Channel received a
new switcher and the work area downstairs will have to be rewired and programming will not
be shown for one week.
Krey also told the committee about a special documentary on early Cupertino history
which Kellyn Yamada put together with assistance from Judith Carson-Croes, the Historical
Museum's director. It is available for check-out at the library and will be played on The City
Channel once they are back on air.
De Anza College: Fish distributed copies of his access director's report. He was
asked to bring copies of the Cupertino News Show to the next meeting.
He informed the committee that 14 access shows were entered for the BACE Awards
and he felt good about the chances for receiving awards. The banner is still hanging across
Stevens Creek Boulevard. Edit Suite A has been completed.
Fish said the policy for providing videotapes for access producers was discussed
among a small group of producers. Winch made a motion to include the following wording in
the Producers Agreement:
-- Page 3
"SECTION 13 - VIDEOTAPE PROVISIONS
A. CUPERTINO COMMUNITY TELEVISION will provide videotape to all new
producers on a one time basis to complete a first show. Cupertino Community Television will
supply tape for "Air Copy," and this tape will remain the property of the station. All other
videotapes must be supplied by the producer." Poggi seconded and the motion passed
unanimously.
Fish will provide a copy of the TCI promotional tape he had been running on the
access channel. The committee will review the show and discuss it at the next meeting.
Huntsman praised Fish for his energy and enthusiasm in contributing to the success of
the access channel.
He requested that at the next meeting the committee review the format and content of
the reports received from the Access Channel, the City of Cupertino and TCI.
TCI: Henderson reported that the Bell Atlantic/TCI merger is close to being finalized.
He said the FCC will probably extend the rate freeze. It is anticipated that the
benchmarking process and how they are evaluating cable rates may be changed, which means
that the most recent Form 393s may be amended again.
Copies of his report were distributed and he explained the statistical information to
Poggi.
He said the billing system will be changed from Cable Data to Cable Services Group
and it will affect the appearance and cycle of the bills. This will be effective beginning with
the April bill. An insert will be provided for customers to assist them in reading the new bill.
Customers will be allowed to choose a due date.
The Cupertino office will close its telephone and administrative services the week of
March 7 and most employees will be relocated to the San Jose office.
Huntsman told Henderson that he would like to see an area that addresses technical
problems added to his report. This will be included in the discussion at the next meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Poggi made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:28 p.m.; Marble seconded and the
motion passed unanimously. The committee will meet next on March 2.
ATTEST:
City Clerk
APPROVED:
~airperso/n