Minutes Cable Teleprogramming 2 7 06
MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING
February 7,2006
CITY HALL ANNEX _1ST FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM #3
MEMBERS PRESENT: Burton Everist, Pauline Maloney, George Herrig, Jennifer Tigges,
Sr. Carol Hoverman OSF
MEMBERS ABSENT: Maria Araeipour. One seat remains vacant on the Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Randy Gehl, City of Dubuque Public Information Officer
Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Mr. Everist called the meeting to order at 5:34pm.
1. Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Ms. Tigges, the agenda was
accepted as published.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the January 10, 2006 Meeting
Upon a motion of Sr. Hoverman, seconded by Ms. Maloney, the Minutes of the
January 10, 2006 Commission meeting were approved as distributed.
3. Public Comment
Mr. Gehl presented Craig Nowack, the new City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator,
now on his second day on the job.
Mr. Gehl thanked the Commission for its recommendation to purchase some new
equipment for City Channel 8 which was approved by the City Council last night.
Mr. Nowack said he was glad to be in his new position in Dubuque and looks
forward to working with the Commission to help make cable access a great
resource for the community.
Mr. Everist thanked Mr. Gehl for his service to the Commission and suggested
sending a letter to the City Manager expressing its appreciation. Ms. Tigges
suggested that Mr. Everist, as today's chairperson, draft that letter.
Mr. Barefoot reported that Professor Craig Shaefer of Loras College commented
that a recent basketball game they telecast had the best video quality he had ever
seen. Mr. Shaefer attributed this to the new cameras, the Anycast station, and the
return feed cable lines that Mediacom installed.
Sr. Hoverman commented that some recent audio problems had been improved.
Mr. Barefoot explained that the problem occurred going from their non-linear
editing systems to tape, and that a work-around had been found.
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4. Access Equipment Expenditures
Mr. Gehl presented a Capital Grant for Access Equipment and Facilities Update,
noting two credits, a 2nd quarter Franchise Fee Adjustment of $2,985.46 and
Interest Earnings of $1 ,221.08, for a total income this fiscal year of $185,187.60.
He added as a debit the amount of $36,800 approved last night by the City Council
for City Channel 8. Mr. Gehl also noted that a previous discrepancy in figures was
attributed to tax, and that another approximately $3,300 could be added to the
balance yet to be awarded for FY 2006, bringing that total to approximately
$26,000. He added that there will be another quarterly adjustment in April.
Mr. Barefoot requested $200 for some Arboretum Green paint from Mautz Paints to
serve as chroma key paint for an upcoming Dubuque Community Schools project.
This would enable them to paint one wall of the Access Studio for chroma keying.
Ms. Tigges made a motion that Mediacom be authorized to purchase up to $200 in
paint from Mautz Paints from the Capital Access Equipment Fund. The motion was
seconded by Ms .Maloney and was approved unanimously.
Mr. Barefoot reported that audio is currently Access's weakest issue. Most recent
upgrades have improved the video. but they are currently in need of new
microphones and music libraries. Mr. Everist suggested that he bring a proposal to
a future meeting.
5. Access Programming and Promotion
Mr. Barefoot noted that the Loras College basketball games were streamed online
as they were being recorded to tape with the Anycast switcher.
Sr. Hoverman said that having the programming schedule roll on the channel is
good. Mr. Barefoot has been looking into getting Access program schedules onto
the TV Guide Channel and the interactive guides. It appears to cost $65 per month
per channel to set up a service where you enter your program information online to
have your listings appear on the TV Guide Channel. It was Mr. Nowack's
understanding that this is a very time consuming process for PEG channels that
tend not to have regular lineups. Ms. Tigges raised the question of funding since
this might be considered advertising. Mr. Everist wondered if there might be
money for a newsletter to promote PEG programming, and Ms. Tigges recalled that
the City used to absorb the costs of a a newsletter. A discussion of alternative
listings services followed, and the possibility of contacting the Telegraph Herald
regarding more detailed listings in the local newspaper.
Mr. Barefoot said that the TV Guide Channel is moving off Mediacom's basic
package because of being channel locked with other obligations. The second
education channel, solely for the Dubuque Community Schools, is getting Channel
19 on February 22nd.
Mr. Everist asked about the promotion of the new PEG equipment that's been
purchased, and Mr. Barefoot responded with his short-term plans for installing that
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equipment and hiring a part-time employee to help with the workload that a server-
based system requires, with the hopes that everything can be operational in a
month. The city-wide expo on April 11 might be the best opportunity to showcase
all these changes.
A discussion of the PEG channel assignments and the evolution of Access
programming assignments followed.
Mr. Everist inquired about the Association Membership and its awards program.
He wants to encourage the program Esther to be submitted for an award. The
status of our membership came up, and Mr. Gehl was concerned because the
dues check has been sent and received.
Mr. Gehl stated that the Cable TV budget presentation before the City Council is
scheduled for Tuesday, February 14.
At 6:15pm both Mr. Gehl and Mr. Everist had to leave because of other
commitments. Ms. Maloney took over as chairperson of the meeting.
6. Revision of Public Access Handbook
Due to time constraints, discussion of this issue was delayed until a future meeting.
7. Access Equipment Grant Process
Discussion on this item centered on the need to get recent purchases up and
running. Mr. Barefoot calculated that it will take $1,540,000 to light all 77 sites on
the I-Net that's being built. The cost for lighting a single site is approXimately
$20,000 for a component system. Mr. Barefoot explained that a component
system might be cheaper to maintain in the long run because replacing an
individual component should be cheaper that having to replace an all-
encompassing system.
8. Mediacom Cable Report
Mr. Barefoot reported that January was a busy month for Access facilities.
o 14 portable camera equipment & lighting packages were checked out
o The FM Radio Studio was used 11 times for more than 21 hours of airtime.
o The studio & control room was used 11 times for more than 30 hours.
o The Mobile Production package was used 5 times. Mr. Barefoot reported that
this is a very popular item, but staffing limitations require that he accompany it
each time it is used.
o Editing bays were used 34 times for more than 84 hours.
o A total of 18 certification workshops were held:
. 9 studio & control room
. 3 non-linear editing
. 6 digital cameras
9. Cable TV Division Report
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Mr. Nowack reported that, as stated earlier, last night the City Council approved the
Commission's recommendation to purchase some new equipment for City Channel
8 and that he's looking forward to updating the channel as he moves forward in his
new position.
10. Future Agenda Items
In addition to the existing agenda items, Ms. Tigges hoped for more information on
the grant process. The handbook revision needs to be addressed as well.
Mr. Barefoot suggested PEG Video-On-Demand (VOD) as a topic whose
immediacy makes it important to discuss. He briefly discussed his understanding
of VOD and where it currently stands at Mediacom. A preliminary discussion
followed.
Mr. Barefoot also suggested PEG promotion as a future topic.
11. Adjournment
Upon a motion of Mr. Herrig, seconded by Ms. Tigges, the meeting was adjourned
at 6:36pm.
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