Minutes of Cable TV Regulatory Commission Meeting 11 12 08MINUTES OF CABLE TV REGULATORY COMMISSION MEETING
November 12, 2008
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM #2
MEMBERS PRESENT: Ron Tigges, Kevin Stevens, Andy Bellings, Walt Webster, Charlie
Ellis (participating by phone).
MEMBERS ABSENT: None.
OTHERS PRESENT: Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Kathy McMullen, Mediacom
Lee Grassley, Mediacom
Mike Kohler, Mediacom
Gary Olsen, Dubuque Community Schools
Mr. Ellis called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Mr. Ellis turned the chair over to Mr. Webster for
the duration of the meeting.
Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Bellings, the agenda was approved
unanimously as distributed.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the January 9, 2008, and September 10, 2008, Meetings.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Tigges the minutes of the January 9,
2008, meeting were approved 3-0, with Mr. Ellis and Mr. Bellings abstaining.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tigges, seconded by Mr. Bellings, the minutes of the September 10,
2008, meeting were approved 3-0, with Mr. Stevens and Mr. Webster abstaining.
3. Public Comment.
None.
4. Mediacom Digital Tier Proposal
Bellings asked about legality of proposal in light of franchise language requiring PEG
channels to be in basic tier.
Grassley said the proposal is legal because it puts PEG in digital basic tier. Said franchise
allows this to happen if City and Mediacom agree. He stated that Mediacom has suggested
some things to give the community in exchange for moving the channels, but it is open to
other ideas as well. Mediacom is interested in tailoring the agreement to be a win-win for
both parties. Benefits will extend to other communities on the same general network as
Dubuque: East Dubuque, Galena, Asbury, Epworth, Farley, Dyersville. Mediacom is
continuing discussions on this proposal with Iowa City. Waterloo has asked for language to
amend its franchise. This change does not have to happen immediately. He hopes
Mediacom can provide enough information tonight to continue the dialogue.
Nowack went over the things Mediacom has offered in this matter: 1) Increasing the hours
of PEG VOD; 2) Stream the PEG channels on the Internet; 3) Carry PEG channels
unencrypted on the digital tier; 4) Maintain PEG channel/position; and 5) Making available
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(free for how long?) some simple converters to enable non-digital households to see PEG
channels. Nowack passed along information he received last week that 41 % of Dubuque
subscribers get the digital tier and will not be affected by proposal. Of the 59% who don't
subscribe to digital tier, some will have digital televisions or will have purchased a digital
converter. It's that percentage of the 59% who aren't in that category that will be unable to
see the PEG channels.
Nowack proposed that making some of the PEG channels simultaneously available in HD
and SD is worth discussing. The financing of this venture could come from the $300,000
per year update money required by the franchise agreement. From a practical standpoint,
the school district channel and the government channel make the most sense since the
pool of producers of the programming for each is very small.
Grassley re-emphasized the inevitability of digital. In 2012 there won't be any more analog
TV to watch so people will have to go digital somehow.
Bellings wanted confirmation on exactly what is going to happen. Nowack stated that the
federal government has required full-power broadcast stations to stop broadcasting an
analog signal on February 17, 2009. At that time, people who watch television by receiving
over-the-air signals via an antenna will have to be able to receive digital signals in order to
be able to watch television. Cable providers are required to continue providing an analog
signal to customers for an additional three years. While satellite providers do not have that
requirement, it is expected that they will comply for competitive reasons.
Kohler said Mediacom recognizes that it has a contract now and is perfectly willing to abide
by it. This is a proposal to be considered for what's best for the City given the inevitability
of whenever the complete switch to digital TV occurs. Why is now a good time for this
proposal? Now there is a general awareness of the digital TV transition because of the
federal mandate for February 2009. Generally there is a buzz about the conversion to
digital. The urgency for Mediacom that ultimately will benefit the City by way of increased
franchise fees is to stay competitive with satellite. Now Mediacom is motivated to be at the
table and to commit to considerations that will benefit the City. If we wait to consider this
switch until the inevitable date of all digital, Mediacom will be out of motivation. Mediacom
knows that in the short term there will be some pitfalls, that there will be some confusion
and frustration on the part of subscribers. Mediacom is committed to a large-scale public
awareness effort and consumer education to get every possible person converted. The
percentage of the 59% that do have digital capability will still be able to see the PEG
channels at no extra expense or effort.
Kohler said that a percentage of Mediacom customers have Internet service but not the
video service. Those customers would be able to see the PEG channels on the Internet.
He clarified that the streamed PEG channels that Mediacom is offering is for Mediacom
subscribers only; it would not be available to "the world" but only in "Mediacom's world."
Mediacom's world, by the way, goes beyond just the Dubuque area and includes any
Mediacom subscriber anywhere.
Kohler said one of the points he wants to make today is that if the Commission is not
prepared to vote affirmatively today because you don't have complete enough information,
that Mediacom is not seeking a vote. This does not have to be done right away. He does
suggest that because Mediacom's competition is significant, Mediacom needs to keep pace
to keep its share of the market, which ultimately benefits Dubuque's PEG users and the
City. The ball is in the City's court because Mediacom will continue to respect the franchise
and follow your lead on what you think is the best course of action.
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Nowack said the City is very aware that going ahead with this proposal is at odds with the
message the City and Mediacom have been sending to local residents regarding the digital
transition, which is that if you are a cable subscriber, you will not be affected by the
transition.
Tigges asked about the federal mandate. Is it to just carry broadcast signals in analog after
the transition, and is PEG included in that?
Grassley responded that the federal mandate applies to broadcast signals only. Access
channels are a local issue.
Nowack said the Dubuque franchise requires the PEG channels to be on the most basic
tier. He also brought up the point that the 41 % with digital service may have some sets that
are analog only and won't be able to receive the PEG channels.
McMullen stated that the main customer concerns she hears about are getting more digital
channels and getting more HD channels. She hears that every single day.
Tigges asked about the offer to provide converters for people without digital capability and
if that would be at no cost until 2012. Kohler said that that could be discussed. What
Mediacom had in mind was providing a free converter for a household's primary set and
$1.99 per month per converter for each additional set for a trial period and we could work
together to determine what a reasonable time period is.
Kohler stated a concern raised by a discussion earlier in the day with Olsen, that there be
no household without the capability of receiving the PEG channels. That is the main
concern about this proposal everywhere.
Ellis asked if it was too simplistic to assume that if someone called up and said they could
no longer receive a PEG channel, that they could come down to the office and pick one up
and that will make things work. Kohler said that is what will have to happen.
Tigges wanted confirmation that converter boxes that people are buying with the federal
coupons would allow people to see the PEG channels and Kohler and Grassley said yes.
Nowack told of a letter that Kohler had shared with him earlier in the day going to
Mediacom subscribers in Springfield, Missouri, which showed that PEG channels were
moving to different channel positions - up in the 80 range - on the digital tier. Kohler
added that this market was okay with changing channel numbers; Mediacom is not
suggesting that for the Dubuque market.
Ellis had some thoughts on the consumer education portion of this proposal. He wondered
if it would be possible for McMullen and Nowack to work together prior to any mailings or
advertisements regarding this change. He would like Nowack to be able to sign off on any
communication to the public in order to minimize confusion. Kohler said that Mediacom
would be more than willing to develop a market strategy regarding this change in concert
with the City. Neither part wants to have an avalanche of calls and complaints regarding
this matter. At minimum there would be direct mail, cross-channel promotion, and
advertising in the appropriate local print media. Ellis reiterated that he would want the City
to be involved to have some control over how this is presented. Kohler said Mediacom
would commit to having mutual sign-offs on these things.
Ellis asked how quickly HD channels would be rolled out after bandwidth is freed up with
the moving of the PEG channels. His concern is touting more HD channels as the reason
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for making this change, and then rolling out additional HD channels so slowly that it
becomes a negative perception in the community. Kohler asked if immediately would be
too soon, because they want to do that and have the channels teed up and ready to go.
Tigges asked if Mediacom is currently unable to add any additional HD channels in
Dubuque because there is no more bandwidth for them. McMullen said that is not true, but
they cannot add as many as they would like to. Tigges asked what percentage of
Dubuque's bandwidth is now in use and Kohler said he did not know.
Kohler said that he didn't think Mediacom would be able to match the satellite competitor's
claims of 100 HD channels in one fell swoop, but Mediacom has talked to Wall Street about
being able to offer 40 HD channels. In addition to the PEG channels, Mediacom will be
working on moving other analog channels to the digital tier.
Ellis brought up the claim of higher Internet speeds. He would like those speeds to be
available to residential users rather than only business users to be part of an agreement.
Kohler said the advent of DOCSIS 3.0 would allow Mediacom to serve both business and
residential customers very well. He pointed out that Mediacom has increased the basic
download speed four times, up to 20 meg, with no price increase. Kohler pointed out the
economic development benefits of being able to point to Dubuque as a progressive city of
100 meg speeds.
Nowack pointed out that adding HD channels will come at a price. Tigges also said that
people will have to subscribe to the HD tier in order to receive them. Kohler said that this is
not necessarily true. If you have HGTV now, Mediacom could add HGTV HD and people
with an HD set with a digital tuner could tune it in and watch it as part of the digital family
package.
Ellis brought up a comparison with the general state of the Internet. Sites are not created
for the lowest common denominator. In general, people want a rich web experience that
requires a visitor to have the technical capability to enjoy that experience. People that have
not made the investment in a fast Internet connection or a faster computer are left behind
because they technically can't experience the content. He doesn't want to punish the
people that have made that investment. In the same vein, he imagines the level of people
wanting the HD content is pretty high. In his mind he can forego the universality of PEG
channels with the rich and vibrant experience of HD television.
Bellings brought up the converse side of this reasoning. The City as steward of the cable
franchise agreement must look out for residents. There will be people who will no longer
be able to watch the PEG channels because of this proposal. And these may affect the
people with the least amount of resources and knowledge to get aset-top box to be able to
continue watching PEG.
Webster said there is no doubt in his mind that PEG channels have a tough road to hoe
and need all the help they can get so people can have easy access to them. He feels this
should be the Commission's goal.
Tigges does not want it to sound like we are trading PEG channels for HD channels.
Without knowing the current capacity of the system, it's hard to know.
Kohler does not see it this way either. He thinks an added benefit of this move is the
heightened awareness of the PEG channels which may bring more viewers to them. He
repeated what he has long heard from Olsen, that PEG channels are a distinguishing
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feature of cable service. Satellite services don't have them, nor does any other service. He
thinks this is providing for PEG's long term benefit and increasing interest.
Tigges thinks this proposal is worth pursuing, but the devil is in the details. Bellings agreed.
Bellings was unclear about Nowack's proposal to have SD and HD versions of Channel 19
and Channel 8. Kohler said Mediacom would favor having this content available in HD
because it is a competitive advantage for them.
Webster concurred that the proposal is worth considering. He said we need to
accommodate HD because it is coming, but we also have to make sure the programming
stays accessible.
Mr. Stevens moved that the Regulatory Commission continue to consider this proposal at a
meeting in December and ask Mr. Nowack to prepare a list of items to be requested from
Mediacom in exchange for moving the PEG channels to the digital tier. The motion was
seconded by Mr. Webster and approved unanimously.
5. Mediacom General Manager's Report
Upon a motion by Mr. Bellings, seconded by Mr. Tigges, this item was tabled until the
December meeting.
6. Staff Report
Upon a motion by Mr. Bellings, seconded by Mr. Tigges, this item was tabled until the
December meeting.
7. Future Agenda Items/Comments 8~ Concerns
No new items were discussed.
8. Adjournment.
Upon a motion by Mr. Tigges, seconded by Mr. Bellings, the meeting was adjourned at 6:35
p. m.
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