TC 11-04-92CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Regular Meeting
Nov. 4, 1992
Council Chambers, City Hall
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by chair-tan Mike W'mcn at 7:07 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present: Wincn, Len Batchelor, Jane Chiavacd, Carol Marble, Laird Huntsman (entered 7:20)
Absent: None
Staff present: Donna Krey, Laura Domondon Lee
Channel 30 staff: Dave Barney, Ron Fish
TCI staff: Daryl Henderson, Chris Hernandez, Wendy Sefton
APPROVAL OF OCT. 7, 1992 and ocr. 20, 1992 MINIYrES
Chiavacci made a motion to approve minutes from both meetings held in October; Marble
seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
COMMUNICATIONS
Oral: There were none.
Written: Wincn read a faxed letter from Bruce McK~, which stated McKeeVer's
dissatisfaction with East Bay news insertions, rather than South Bay on CNN.
NEW BUSINESS
Public Hearing to determine commUnity satisfactio~ with TCI: Wincn gave a brief
overview of the public hearing format and encouraged residents to discuss their concerns.
Erv Conens said he was not happy with a rate increase on his cable bill. He also mentioned
that he was concerned about future service and costs. :
Isabel Atkinson suggested that the franchise be open to other companies to encourage
competition. She also was unhappy about rates increases. Krey told Atkins°n that TCI has a
non-exclusive contract and the city would consider other proposals. However, TCI owns most
cable companies in the area and it is unlikely another cable company would approach the city
because set up costs would be high..
Barry For~:~men-t.~ that he was not,pt-eased with service ~d~si~' qdai~ty. He
commented that the equipment must be "agingt' and that his television set hasgone blank, on
occasion. Ford requested 24-hour service and maintenance capabilities. . ,
Winch asked Henderson to respond to the residents' comments. Henderson said TCI
tracks outages monthlY: and introduced technical manager Chris Hern~:dez. Hernandez
explained the company's maintenance program and tracking efforts for outages; He said some
causes of outages were "PG & E-related". Chiavacci suggested publicizing ra~ increases before'
bills are sent and Marble inquired about the frequendes of increases. '
Henderson statec~zthat TCI needs to meet certain standard~ and is obligated to': inform the
dty 30 days before a rate increase. Annual increases are expected in the future '~.~'~d fibe~ optics arid
a Sunnyvale feed will be installed by Jan. 5, 1993. Residents will be informedof channel line,Up
- changes that will occur.
Hernandez stated advantages of fiber optics: preventir~g piEture fade, increasing picture
quality and less maintenance.
Barbara Rogers was concerned that programming on "The ~ng Channel" is not listed
in the "TV Guide" and that programming on the public access channel is not as good as in the
past. She asked that the city maintain a stronger hold on public access and issues, such as.
equipment storage and insurance. Krey told Rogers that the committee was aware of problems at
the access channel and Dave Barney might be able to answer any specific concerns.
Hunter Jackson said he enjoys educational programming on cable and mentioned "Th~
Learning Channel" used to provide schedules to TCI. Jackson also noted that the City Channel
produced a basic guide for programming. Krey said the City Channel guide was eliminated
because of budget cuts, however, condensed schedules are available. Jackson expressed his
concern for the future of programming and requested definitions for: down-time, degraded
service, upgrading system plans and outages.
Henderson said cable guides were discontinued because of cost and demand factors,
however, discounts for "TV Guide" are available to subscribers. Hernandez provided technical
definitions for Jackson.
Winch asked Henderson for benchmark comparisons to other cities, according to standards
followed by TCI. Chiavacci requested that reports reflect the number of times outages occur,
instead of the number of service calls. Huntsman asked for clarification of definitions requested
by Jackson.
Henderson said the amount of time, location and number of subscribers affected by outages
are reported monthly and available for review.
Barry Ford said TCI should provide pro-active maintenance and suggested that backup
systems be in place if power is down. Hernandez stated that standby power is ready and batteries
are tested evei3, month. TCI does not perform continuous monitoring.
Chiavacci asked Henderson about the flexibility of the on-screen guide and asked if listings
could include programming on the access channel. Henderson responded that the Cupertino
office can recommend to the Hayward facilitY that on-screen guides be sped up, but local program
schedules cannot be fed in.
New access director Ron Fish introduced himself and welcomed comments about public
access.
Jackson asked the committee about local-tracking plans. Huntsman summarized Jackson's
request. Wincn told the group that a telephone survey recently was performed and the
committee is planning more hearings. With no further comments from the audience, the public
hearing was closed.
Future dates for public input sessions: Huntsman suggested scheduling time for public
hearings during the next few regular meetings. By consensus, committee members agreed that
the first 15 minutes of the December and January regular meetings will be set aside for public
hearings. Scheduled time will be advertised in the December and January issues of the Cupertino
Scene, press releases to local newspapers and the City Channel. Information about the
November public hearing was provided in the Scene (October and November issues), the SJ
Mercury News, Cupertino Courier and City Channel. Residents who responded to an informal
survey in the Scene also were notified.
ADIOURNMENT
Huntsman motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m.; Batchelor seconded and the
motion passed unanimously. The next CTVAC meeting will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 7
p.m. in Conference Room A at City Hail.
Cable Television Advisory Commit~ee - Special Meeting Public Input for
Cable-Rela~ed Issues - October 20, 1992
ATTEST:
APPROVED:
/8~airperson