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Minutes of Cable Teleprogramming Comm. Mtg. 11 12 08MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING November 12, 2008 CITY HALL ANNEX - 2nd FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM #2 MEMBERS PRESENT: AI Vincent, Jennifer Tigges, Sr. Carol Hoverman, George Herrig, Pauline Maloney. MEMBERS ABSENT: Burton Everist. One seat is vacant on the Commission OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Barefoot, Mediacom Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Lee Grassley, Mediacom Mike Kohler, Mediacom Kathy McMullen, Mediacom Craig Schaefer, Loras College Gary Olsen, Dubuque Community Schools Ron Tigges, Cable Regulatory Commission Ms. Tigges called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. Acceptance of the Agenda Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Mr. Vincent, the agenda was accepted as published unanimously. 2. Approval of the Minutes of the October 7, 2008, Meeting Upon a motion by Mr. Vincent, seconded by Ms. Maloney, the Minutes of the October 7, 2008, Meeting were approved unanimously. 3. Public Comment There was no public comment. 4. Mediacom Digital Tier Proposal Grassley provided an overview of Mediacom's proposal to move Dubuque's PEG channels to the digital basic tier. Bandwidth is key to a cable company, and analog channels require a significant amount of it. Since digital television is coming anyway, with the first phase coming in February 2009, Mediacom is proposing to accelerate the PEG channels to digital to free up the bandwidth those channels require. Freeing it up will allow Mediacom to immediately enhance the viewing experience of Dubuque subscribers by adding HD channels. This will allow them to stay competitive with satellite providers. Mediacom will be moving some analog channels (besides the PEG channels) in order to offer more HD and faster Internet speeds. In 2012 PEG channels will go digital anyway, but if that process can be accelerated it can be done so it's awin-win situation for both sides. Nowack passed along some information that Mediacom recently provided. In Dubuque, 41 % of subscribers have digital service; 59% do not. Of the 59%, an unknown percentage has digital capability, either a digital television or a box to convert the digital signals to analog (converter boxes such as are being purchased through the federal government's coupon program). Kohler said this is not a Mediacom attempt to take unilateral action to get around the franchise agreement. Mediacom is perfectly willing to abide by the terms of the franchise. Mediacom is putting on the table some considerations for the City to decide if this is right for Dubuque. To stay competitive, Mediacom wants to add more digital channels, both SD & HD. This proposal is about capitalizing on what is the inevitability, that at some point everything is going to convert to digital. Now Mediacom is motivated to bring some considerations to the table for this change to happen. If we wait until the point at which Mediacom can go ahead and move the PEG channels to digital without City approval, Mediacom's motivation will not be there. Mediacom is here to suggest that we work with the City to address the consumer education and public awareness on how to do this most effectively, and to address the 59%. A portion of that 59% has digital capabilities now. For the portion that does not, Mediacom is offering to supply simple converters thatawill enable them to receive the PEG channels. The terms of supplying those boxes need to be worked out with the City. Mediacom is proposing one free box for a household's primary set for a reasonable period of time. Additional analog sets can get boxes for $1.99 per month per box. The goal is to not leave anyone behind in this proposal, but there is always risk. 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 (available only to Mediacom subscribers no matter where they are); 3) Carry PEG channels unencrypted on the digital tier; 4) Maintain PEG channel/position; and 5) Making available (free for how long?) some simple converters to enable non-digital households to see 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. Vincent said that he does not see a big benefit to Dubuque in this proposal. The big benefit goes to Mediacom who has a competitive problem. He thinks the proposal is worth investigating, but he wondered if Mediacom might be able to come up with an offer that is better than what is currently on the table. Tigges thought there was going to be a period of time already slated for free converters for things like nursing homes. Grassley responded to Vincent's assertions that the benefits of this proposal are mostly for Mediacom. He said that Mediacom will be able to provide higher data speeds for its Internet service by utilizing DOCSIS 3.0. Currently, DOCSIS 2.0 allows Mediacom to grab one channel and provide generally 20 meg speeds on it. DOCSIS 3.0 will allow Mediacom to grab four channels and provide 100 meg speeds. Grassley said that providing more HD channels certainly benefits Mediacom. Providing faster Internet speeds will be a great benefit to businesses here. The benefits that more bandwidth allows will also extend to other communities that are a part of the local network here. Kohler recounted a recent Mediacom conference where a man demonstrated the power of DOCSIS 3.0 by downloading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in five minutes. Also in response to Vincent's assertions, Kohler said that every subscriber Mediacom loses to a satellite service, there goes one PEG viewer and one household's franchise fee. 2 Kohler said this is not a PEG for HD trade-off. Down the line, Mediacom is looking to transition all channels to digital. He asked if there was anything in this proposal that enhanced the PEG environment in Dubuque. Is the Commission satisfied that there is nothing that needs to be done to ensure the long-term future of PEG in Dubuque? If the answer is no, then maybe there is nothing further to discuss. Nowack said that if this were November 12, 2011, then we would be looking at PEG going digital in about three months' time. Tigges said at that point we would probably be paying for some of these changes ourselves. Vincent said that it is always possible, especially if the people scream loud enough, that the complete digital transformation might not occur. Kohler thought that unlikely, but not impossible. Schaefer asked about 2012 and the requirements of the franchise. Nowack said that PEG channels have to be on the most basic tier available in the system. According to Schaefer, what Kohler is saying is that in 2012 the PEG channels go digital but the City does not get those things that Mediacom is offering in this proposal. Kohler agreed. Schaefer asked if this were to happen tomorrow, what would happen to the broadcast basic subscribers that currently get about 20 channels. Would they lose a quarter of their channels? Kohler said no, because the commitment is to make sure that everyone has the ability to receive those channels by supplying a simple set top box that converts the digital channels to analog. Schaefer said that the people with the broadcast basic package are on it for a reason, usually because they want to pay as little as possible to receive some television signals. Kohler said it was his understanding that 11 % of Dubuque subscribers have the broadcast basic package. Nowack said that some of that 11 % probably already have the equipment to receive digital signals. Kohler said it's the people with the analog- only sets that we are concerned about because they will need a way to receive the digital signals. Tigges said she is a customer with five television sets. One has a Mediacom box. She has two coupons coming from the federal government for two converter boxes. That leaves two sets for which she'll need the free Mediacom converter. Kohler said that a free converter is only available for the primary set in the household. Since she has a Mediacom box already, she would not be eligible for a free converter. Tigges said that she would then have four sets that would not work. Kohler said no. The converter boxes she would buy with the federal coupon will work for two of her sets. So Tigges said that the free converters would only be offered to people who have the broadcast basic package. Nowack said no. People who subscribe to the non-digital family package would also be eligible. Schaefer asked that if he had a government converter box, would he need anything else. The answer was no, he would receive the PEG channels with the government box. Schaefer asked what people expect to happen to PEG viewership. Nowack said it would have to decrease because it is not possible to identify everyone who would need a converter box and supply them one. Grassley said undoubtedly there would be a gap and viewers would be lost. He reiterated Mediacom's commitment to a consumer education program to help people understand. Kohler thinks making this change now will shine a very bright light on PEG programming and increase community awareness of it. As PEG goes HD, more and more people, especially younger viewers who demand the newer technologies, will watch it. 3 Olsen said his superintendent told him in no uncertain terms that he is opposed to anything that will remove the school district's presence in the community. Forty per cent of the school population is in free or reduced fare lunch programs and their parents can't afford another financial burden. Olsen said another concern of his is the loss of market share to the satellite dish, that he cannot reach the satellite subscribers. When he asks, half the class raises their hands and says they can't get Channel 19 because they have the dish. On the one hand he doesn't want to lose market share; on the other, he doesn't want to lose the audience he has. Kohler said he is worried about the older subscribers who will not understand what is happening. A team would have to be in place to respond immediately to people who call in and ask what just happened here. Hoverman mentioned the population in nursing homes and wondered how this would affect them. Barefoot thought that most nursing homes could be handled under commercial sales. Kohler said nursing homes present a problem with both private rooms and public areas. Hoverman said that PEG provides Dubuque on television because there are no local stations and it is very important for that reason and she would hate to lose even one viewer. Vincent said he thinks this is worth investigating because we are going there anyway. If we wait will we be behind the curve? Nowack said the main concern is the percentage of the 59% who will lose the ability to watch the PEG channels and what success rate can we have in finding them and giving them the ability to see digital PEG channels. The advantage in waiting is that three years from now some of that percentage will have acquired the ability to view digital television. Ron Tigges said he just found on the Internet the fact that in 2012 the FCC will vote to determine if the requirement for cable to provide analog signals will be renewed. Hoverman said that one of the ways people watch PEG is that they come across it when they're channel surfing. If the ability to find those channels is not there when they surf, a portion of PEG viewership will be lost. Kohler said they still will have that ability with this proposal because of the converters Mediacom will provide. Vincent moved that the commission investigate and discuss the Mediacom proposal. Maloney seconded. Approved 5-0. Tigges thought the commission should set up a three-year HD budget to see what our equipment needs will be in an HD environment. Schaefer said that one of the gems of Dubuque is the PEG environment, that you don't see this kind of activity in most communities. Whether or not you like the programming, the focus and commitment is there. Grassley reiterated Mediacom's commitment to PEG, saying the company is as equally vested in PEG as the people in the room here. 4 5. Access Equipment Expenditures Gary Olsen presented a request for $38,527 for new remote-controllable cameras for The Forum boardroom, an HD camcorder, an HD board for the Sony Anycast, and some miscellaneous items related to televising school board meetings. He noted that the single- chip cameras currently in use for school board meetings are old and not producing very pleasing images. He also is re-using the robotic controls from the old system. Mr. Herrig moved to approve $39,000 to purchase the equipment in this request. The motion was seconded by Mr. Vincent and approved unanimously. 6. Adjournment Upon a motion by Mr. Vincent, seconded by Ms. Maloney, the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m.