Minutes_Cable TV Regulatory 1 9 08MINUTES OF CABLE TV REGULATORY COMMISSION MEETING
January 9, 2008
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM #3
MEMBERS PRESENT: Walt Webster, Ron Tigges, Kevin Stevens.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Charles Ellis. One seat remains vacant on the Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT: Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Kathy McMullen, Mediacom
Mr. Tigges called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
1. Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Mr. Webster, seconded by Mr. Stevens, the agenda was
approved unanimously as distributed.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the November 14, 2007, Meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Webster, seconded by Mr. Stevens, the Minutes of the
November 14, 2007, meeting were approved unanimously as distributed.
3. Public Comment.
No one was present to address the Commission.
4. Status of Telecom Projects in Dubuque.
Mr. Nowack had nothing to report on this item and suggested that it might be
removed from the regular agenda and incorporated into his Staff Report if there is
anything to discuss.
5. Franchise.
Mr. Nowack informed the Commission that the coalition the City joined to oppose
the FCC's Second Report and Order on local franchising filed its stay with the FCC
on or about December 21, 2007. This is a necessary first step, he said, in order to
request a stay in the courts.
6. Legislation
Mr. Nowack had nothing to report on legislation.
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7. Mediacom General Manager's Report
Ms. McMullen reported that Mediacom has moved two of its HD channels to the
expanded basic tier. Now the HD tier has only five channels on it and Mediacom
has reduced the rate for that tier by three dollars to $6.95. She said subscribers
need to have a box and an HD set in order to see these channels.
Mr. Nowack asked if someone without an HD set could now see the ESPN HD
channels. Ms. McMullen answered that they needed to have a box to see ESPN 1
& 2. They can see off-air channels if they have a digital tuner. Mr. Tigges asked if
they could see the ESPN channels if they had an ATSC tuner, but Ms. McMullen
said no.
This sparked a long discussion about the digital television transition and what it
means to Dubuque. Mr. Nowack said that he is preparing a program for
CityChannel 8 to explain the digital television transition. Ms. McMullen offered to
have her technical supervisor, Darin Dean, come to a meeting to explain how
Mediacom is going to handle its own digital transition. Mr. Stevens moved to place
the Digital Television Transition onto the agenda so the Commission could better
understand this important event. The motion was seconded by Mr. Webster and
approved unanimously.
Mr. Tigges requested that Ms. McMullen keep the Commission informed of the
timeline for Mediacom's digital conversion. Among the concerns raised during the
discussion was the very real possibility of Dubuque subscribers with no cable box
for their analog sets not being able to watch any television once Mediacom
converts to a digital signal.
8. Staff Report
Mr. Nowack shared a couple of pictures he had taken earlier in the day when he
replaced the faulty temperature sensor in the weather station on top of City Hall
Annex. The Fire Department assisted in this endeavor by allowing him to go up in
their cherry picker. Everything now appears to be working.
He informed the Commission that people interested in the Video Producer position
have until the end of day Friday to request the Civil Service exam. The end of
January is the deadline for returning those exams. Until someone is on board, he
has hired former Cable Franchise Administrator Merrill Crawford for a few hours
each week to help with on-air graphics and scheduling.
Mr. Nowack invited the Commission to attend the Cable TV budget hearing on
February 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Historic Federal Building. The Cable TV Division is
the last presenter that evening.
Mr. Nowack has several shows in production or soon to be in production, with
subjects including the winter farmers market, the digital television transition, and
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the library renovation. He is also waiting for the equipment to come in to convert
the Federal Building Media Room into a studio.
If the Commission is interested, Mr. Nowack offered to try to schedule a meeting at
the Federal Building so they can see the facilities there. He mentioned that
another Commission regularly meets there at the same time, so the Regulatory
Commission will have to find an alternate time. Consensus among the
commissioners was that an earlier start time, perhaps at 4 p.m., would work.
9. Future Agenda Items/Comments 8~ Concerns
Mr. Tigges reiterated the earlier decision to add the Digital Television Transition to
the agenda.
10. Adjournment.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Webster, the meeting was
adjourned at 5:56 p.m.
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