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TC 09-01-93CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Meeting Sept. 1, 1993 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by chairman Mike Wincn. ROLL CALL Present: Wincn, Len Batchelor, Jane Chiavacci and Carol Marble. Absent: Laird Huntsman Staff: Donna Krey, Laura Newman De Anza College: Ron Fish TCI Staff: Daryl Henderson, Tom Lacey, Stefan Bucek Guests: Sam MacNeal, resident; Linda Crrodt, producer; Mike Betz, Cupertino Courier APPROVAL OF JULY 7, 1993 MINUTES Marble asked that the words "cable in the classroom" be inserted in the second sentence under Oral Communications. Also in the fourth paragraph on page 3, include the words "as well as cable in the classroom" after I-NET. And under I-NET/Educational under REPORTS, insert "I- NET" between installing and cable. Batchelor made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected; Chiavacci seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Introductions of guests in the audience were made. Sam MacNeal, a resident of Cupertino, stated he had last been at a meeting three years ago and wanted to see what progress had been made since that time. Linda Grodt distributed infomlation she picked up at the NFLCP conference held in Atlanta which included pamphlets on re-franchising She also passed around a newspaper clipping from 10 years ago about the access channel and said the Saratoga News prints a copy of its public access channel lineup of programs which she would like done in the Cupertino Courier. Written: Donna Krey distributed copies of articles from the San Jose Mercury News regarding the new cable rules and the new laws on must-carry and retransmission. Krey also read a short letter from former access director Suzanne Orcutt who is now working for Stanford University. NEW BUSINESS TCI briefing on Cable Act effects: Daryl Henderson introduced Tom Lacey, general manager of TCI, and Stefan Bucek who gave an overview of the re-regulation rules that have gone into effect since the new Cable Act was enacted. Materials from a recent meeting were distributed which included the new channel lineup cards, a comparison list of the old Cupertino/Los Altos channels versus the new ones and what changed, a sample of a benchmark procedure. He went on to state that the only broadcast channel they have not reached an agreement with is KPIX (Channel 5). If there is no agreement by Oct. 6, TCI will drop the station from its lineup. He feels there will be agreement prior to that time and this is an example of what could happen. Page 2 Krey asked for information that could be disseminated to Cupertino customers when there are calls about rates for the San Jose system and the Cupertino channel, which costs less than the San Jose system. Bucek informed her that the difference is not due to the number of subscribers, but the number of channels that are carried on a system. Rates will go down for households with additional outlets. MacNeal asked why certain promotional channels were included in the basic rate formula. Bucek responded, saying the formula was calculated on system capacity, not content. Discussion was held on some of the various aspects of the new Cable Act. If a city elects to certify, it would become the agent for basic rate regulation. Expanded basic will continue to be regulated by the FCC. Increases in rates will be tied to the annual CPI. Lacey stated that the access channels remained in present channel locations. Educational channel positions were also preserved. Ron Fish expressed concern about the possibility of channel realignment. He has a publicity campaign planned and would like some reassurance that the channels will not change in the near future. He was assured there were no plans at this time to realign the access channels. Krey asked TCI whether anymore must carry channels would be added. She was assured that if there was, there would be a 90-day period for processing. Daryl Henderson was asked to provide information about the amount of franchise fee money lost by the city since cable bills will be going down. OLD BUSINESS Status of re-franchising effort: Krey informed the committee that the first meeting with TCI on the re-franchising negotiations was held. It was agreed not to discuss the negotiations until both parties agree to the disseminate any information. Some of the other items discussed were the possibility of including a community member at future meetings where specialized issues were discussed, such as educational concerns. Technical issues will be the topic at the next meeting which is set for Sept. 9. Negotiators also agreed to meet twice per month and to keep the meetings to approximately 2 hours in length. Publicity for Public Access: Jane Chiavacci reported that the Cupertino Courier will be running the Fall lineup for public access beginning this month. Ron Fish also reported that he had been in contact with one of the reporters from the Courier and stories about access programs and producers would be forthcoming. He also said TCI would continue running a PSA about access on a rotation basis. Fish also distributed T-shirts to the members displaying the new logo. Discussion of Cogswell College as Access Site: Wincn reminded Henderson about this item which had been discussed at a previous meeting. The committee had requested cost estimates for moving access operations from De Anza College to Cogswell College. Henderson will provide cost breakdowns at the next meeting. NEW BUSINESS Discussion of TCI representative for educational cable talk: As a result of the city meeting with educational representatives, the idea of having a TCI spokesman discuss new trends in educational cable was brought up. The purpose of the meeting would be to find out what's out there for educators in the way of cable in the classroom. October 13 was tentatively set for the presentation. Henderson will confirm the date and speaker with Marble, who will then notify the educators. Page 3 Discussion of report required by council: Len Batchelor presented a draft report to the committee which had been requested by Councilmember Goldman to explain the relationship between the city and De Anza College and the benefits of the public access program, the number of citizens involved, what might be lacking, what makes it successful. After discussion, Krey was asked to edit the report for presentation at an upcoming council meeting. REPORTS TCI: Henderson reported on two recent power outages that occurred in Cupertino. He said there was a toll free number for contractors to use during construction. Publicity for planned outages was felt to be slightly lacking. Henderson said they would be working on a better way to get the word out. He also talked about the tremendous increase in the number of calls being handled by TCI due to the Sept. 1 changeover. He said the staff is working very hard to respond to the calls within the specified time. Premium channels were down 20 during the past month. A copy of a "Converter Training Tape" will be provided for possible use on The City Channel. Henderson also reported that a purchase order has been issued for the I-NET project, for Monta Vista, Homestead and Portal school sites. The status at Cupertino High School was also discussed. De Anza College: Fish informed the committee that every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. access runs TCI information. He said that this information had included the converter training tape and could provide notice of planned outages. He also talked about the acquisition of the new video toaster which will reside in Edit Suite A. All of the new equipment should be installed by the end of the month. Training sessions for all the producers will be scheduled. Fish also told the committee about his trip to Atlanta for the NFLCP conference. He said the one common problem among all access channels is how to attract viewers. He also picked up a lot of valuable information and expressed his hope to attend again next year. I-NET/Educational: Carol Marble expressed her gratitude to Dave Barney and Bill Levan for their help in putting together all the information which was provided to Don Brown at a recent briefing on I-NET and educational issues. City of Cupertino: Krey informed the committee about The City ChannePs involvement with the upcoming election. The first phase will be a three-minute platform from each candidate. These will run throughout the month of October through the election. The second phase will be live coverage of the candidates' forum that is sponsored by the League of Women Voters and AAUW, which is mid-October. The third phase is a special show where the candidates would meet with the media and have an informal exchange of ideas and question and answer type of event. This is a tentative program and it is hoped it will occur. On Election Night, there will be updates on the race. ADJOURNMENT Marble made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 p.m.; Batchelor seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The committee will meet next on October 6. ATTEST: City Clerk APPROVED: er~o~'~'~-'-- .