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TC 09-02-92CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Meeting Sept. 2, 1992 Conference Room A City Hall MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by chairman Mike W'mcn at 7:04 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Winch, Caxol Marble, Walter Trefz Absent: Jane Chiavacci, Laird Huntsman Staff present: Donna Krey, Laura Domondon Lee Channel 30 staff: Dave Barney, David Keller Guests: Linda Grodt, Don Yeager, Bill Lauer, Martin Bishop, Ron Fish, Wendy Sefton, Jane Thompson APPROVAL OF AUG. 5, 1992 MINUTES Marble requested that the committee remove "and mentioned TCI has not contacted her about I-Net." in the report for I-Net/Educational effort. Trefz made a motion to approve the minutes as amended; Marble seconded and the motion was passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF THE AUG. 12, 1992 MINUTES -- Wincn motioned to approve minutes of the adjourned regular meeting on Aug. 12; Trefz seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Martin Bishop asked the committee to consider negotiating the franchise to include free or discounted basic cable service for the elderly, disabled and low-income residents. He suggested anything above basic service be charged. Bishop's complex will receive free cable until Dec. 31. He said an eligibility program could be developed with Cupertino Community Services as a resource. Currently, senior citizens and low-income residents are eligible for 15 percent discount. Krey asked that TCI manager Daryl Henderson be informed of Bishop's request. Marble suggested the number of disabled community members also be researched. Discounted/free cable service will be discussed ~t the Oct. meeting. Barney introduced Jane Thompson, new teleconferences producer. Thompson told the committee she will meet with Chiavacci regarding the one-touch session scheduled for Oct. 20. Barney also introduced Ron Fish, an access director applicant, currently employed as an engineer at De Anza. Bill Lauer announced he will step down as producer for the Community Boosters once a replacement is found. Other producers and guests introduced themselves. Written: Wincn distributed a copy of a letter to Ralph Ste'mke, urging him to fill the access director position as quickly as possible. Barney stated that De Anza's application deadline is Sept. 11. He said Keller will remain interim director until Oct. 22. W'mcn's letter to Steinke is no - longer necessary. OLD BUSINESS Status of Re-franchising Effort (Activities, Timelines, Plans, Progress): This item Was postponed until the Oct. meeting due to the absence of Chiavacci and Huntsman. One-touch System - Public Input: The discussion on one-touch also was postponed until the Oct. meeting. Krey asked committee members to consider using some of the same questions used for the telephone survey at the one-touch session. Barney said multiple choice questions with up to five responses could be used. Krey will provide a copy of tlxe telephone survey fo~ Thompson. Options for Grants Program: Krey reviewed four options for the grants program, stating that the committee is not limited to her suggestions. Winch said he discussed the options with Chiavacci and both favored option three, which would suspend grants for one year and use allocated funds for advertisements and other ways to promote community interest. Trefz proposed that funds be used for different purposes every year, such as training, special interests and advertising. Keller said programs produced from grants should be "Cupertino specific", providing some benefit to the city. Marble solicited comments about how grants are spent for producers present. Yeager said grants are used for promotional, administration costs and tapes for featured talent. Committee members discussed Trefz' proposal, saying it offered flexibility and more control over how funds are spent. Winch motioned to adopt Trefz' proposal to do away with the existing grants program and establish a new program that allows the CTVAC to set goals of how money will be spent every year that will include a new application procedure. Marble seconded and the motion carried unanimously. The committee members agreed to discuss the goals of the grants program at the next meeting. The Oct. 15 grants application deadline will not be enforced. NEW BUSINESS Approval of Purchase of Telephone Interface Module for Studio A: Barney told the committee that De Anza would like to purchase a telephone interface module which would cos~ the same or less than a VCR, originally approved on the fixed assets list. The module will allow Ch. 30 to feed program audio to in-bound callers, in compliance with FCC regulations. Trefz made a motion to allow De Anza to purchase the module; Marble seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Infomercials on Channel 30: Krey reported the city attorney told staff and council that he sees nothing wrong with producing infomercials, provided that certain guidelines are followed. She said the council asked for the committee's support to air infomercials on Ch. 30. Irtfomercials will run on the City Channel at least two times per week for three months. Krey reviewed the guidelines submitted by the city attorney. Barney requested a copy of an infomercial contract and said he will discuss the proposal with De Anza's attorney. Infomercials on the City Channel will air around locally produced programs. Trefz said he supports the infomercial project, but does not believe businesses should be charged for production. Committee members discussed the $500 fee for labor charges and most agreed it was nominal. Krey told members three prototypes already produced will be slightly different from the finished product. Trefz asked to review a copy of the contract and prototypes. Infomercials will futher be discussed at the Oct. meeting. Keller mentioned that the city of Mt. View is working on a project similar to infomercials. He will report his findings at the next meeting. Krey assured the committee that the city will have complete editorial control and said she will write scripts for the first few infomercials. Krey stated that Cupertino Village asked councilmember Dean if infomercials can be interpreted and aired on non-English speaking stations. Yeager mentioned that shorter infomercials will be more effective if played more often. - ' REPORT FROM I-NET/EDUCATIONAL EFFORT Marble met with Karen Brunett of the Fremont Union High School District about .- encouraging high schools to participate in public access. She said schools are unable to offer access programs clue to a lack of funds, supervision transportation to De Anza. Barney said a consortium of county offices and local colleges is forming to use ITSF to deliver instructional programming to schools. Marble said she also spoke to Brunett about the ROP program and TCI's offer to provide cable to elementary schools. Marble suggested that a technical person explain the I-Net process to the schools, in layman's terms. Members discussed asking Bill Levan for his help. Barney suggested that cities currently using I-Net be invited to speak. The committee will plan a presentation for educators by the end of the year. REPORT FROM CITY OF CUPERTINO Krey said she informed the council that the CTVAC completed a telephone survey and is planning a public hearing for the re-franchising process. She said Dean Skeels asked if Ch. 30 would be interested in taping the Community Parade because the City Channel does not have the budget to do so. Keller will ask producers if they are interested. TCI's financial records are kept in Bellevue, WA. Documents were received and will be reviewed with Daryl Henderson. She said a consultant hired by the city to perform a technical audit on TCI said tests were incomplete. TCI is working on compiling more complete information. REPORT FROM DE ANZA COLLEGE Keller reported the TV Center is being re-roofed and will be closed through Sept. 3. Ch. 30 will resume a normal schedule on Sept. 8. The center plans to be open the week of Sept. 14 for production. Sign-up for editing time also is in process. Keller reported that a producers meeting in July was well represented. REPORT FROM TCI/UNITED ARTISTS CABLE Krey distributed a report from Henderson who was unable to attend the meeting. ADIOURNMENT Marble motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m.; Trefz seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The next CTVAC meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. in Conference Room A at City Hall. APPROVED: M~l~e Wincn, Chairman ATTEST: