Minutes Cable Teleprogramming 7 10 07MINUTES OF CABLE COMMUNITY TELEPROGRAMMING COMMISSION MEETING
July 10, 2007
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM II
MEMBERS PRESENT: Sr. Carol Hoverman, George Herrig, Pauline Maloney, Jennifer
Tigges.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Burton Everist. Two seats remain vacant on the Commission.
OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Barefoot, Mediacom
Boyd Card, Hempstead High School
Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Mr. Herrig called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m.
1. Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Ms. Maloney, seconded by Ms. Tigges, the agenda was
accepted unanimously as published.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the June 12, 2007, Meeting
Upon a motion of Ms. Tigges, seconded by Sr. Hoverman, the Minutes of the June
12, 2007, Commission meeting were approved unanimously.
3. Public Comment
Sr. Hoverman said that at different times she has asked different people if they
have seen a particular access program and they would say, "Where did that come
from? I saw something I liked on one of those middle channels." They are
appreciative of the programming, she said, but they do not know much about it.
Mr. Herrig said that local access programming does not get very good publicity in
the Telegraph-Herald TV supplement. It is difficult to find and does not stand out
like programming on the other channels. Mr. Barefoot suggested that the
Commission and local access people approach the TH as a group to get better
publicity. Ms. Maloney explained that occasionally the paper does feature access
programming, usually when the producer writes something up and sends it in. Mr.
Barefoot mentioned that the paper only gives listing space to three of the four non-
governmental access channels along with CityChannel 8, so one channel is always
absent on any given week.
4. Access Equipment Expenditures
Mr. Card introduced himself as a teacher at Hempstead High School who teaches
a course on video production. Five years ago he started with eight students; now
he teaches three sections with 19 students each. He listed many of the videos that
his students produce.
Now he would like to take his course to the next level to be able to produce videos
for broadcast. He is requesting funding for a Tricaster production unit which
combines a switcher, titter, keyer, and media storage and funding for a Sony
HVRA1 U digital camcorder. He stated that he requested and received a DRA
grant for one of these cameras, and he already has another good quality camera.
So the one additional Sony camera would give him three quality cameras to use in
his field productions. This new equipment will give him the capability of creating
finished videos on location, or videos that do not need as much post-production
time to complete.
Ms. Tigges said that she is very familiar with the Tricaster and she could provide
Mr. Card with support for it. She also stated that it won an award from the Alliance
for Community Media a couple of years ago and that it was designed for public
access productions. Mr. Barefoot added that people were packed around the
Tricaster booth at NAB in April.
Sr. Hoverman moved to approve up to $16,000.00 for these items. The motion
was seconded by Ms. Maloney and approved unanimously.
A discussion followed about what access channel would carry the programming
produced by Mr. Card's students. Mr. Nowack suggested the obvious place would
be the school district's educational access channel, Channel 19. The others
agreed, although they recognized that Gary Olsen, who runs Channel 19, is
extremely busy producing programs and might not have the time to incorporate
these shows. Mr. Nowack thought that the new automation system that Channel
19 is getting might help in this regard. Mr. Herrig wondered if the Commission
should collectively suggest to the school district that some additional help for Gary
might not be a wise investment given the good public relations that the channel
provides.
Next, Mr: Barefoot presented a request for various pieces of equipment and
software to continue the upgrade of the public access facility. His request, totaling
$13,000.00, is for additional software for the virtual studio, a new computer and
software for the FM radio station (he noted that the FM studio is connected to the
TV studio to provide enhanced audio capabilities), LED meters, monitors, and a
timer for the studio control room, and monitor racks for the production van. Ms.
Tigges made a motion to approve $13,000.00 for this equipment. The motion was
seconded by Ms. Maloney and approved unanimously.
A discussion followed regarding the potential of the FM studio, who is listening,
how to receive it, and the possibility of producing podcasts from it.
5. Access Programming and Promotion
Ms. Tigges stated that she does not believe the Commission needs to do any
promotion to bring more people in to produce programming. She thinks we need
more community awareness that the five PEG channels are available for viewing.
Mr. Barefoot agreed, saying that years ago he was worried about losing his job
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because the access programming was not there. Now, he says, there is not
enough time to get all the programming ready for air.
The access web site was discussed. Ms. Tigges said it was out of date, and there
was not much available information on it. She stated that it needs its own domain
name and more attention.
Mr. Nowack brought up cross-promoting the access channels: playing promos for
the individual channels on each of the channels would give them each more
exposure. Ms. Tigges wondered about placing a "Dubuque TV" bug in the corner
of access programming actually produced in the city. When producers filled out the
form to get their shows on the air, they could check off a box giving permission for
the bug. Mr. Barefoot said that his assistant, Dustin, is doing on-screen listings
similar to the government channel in order to let viewers know about upcoming
programming.
Ms. Maloney mentioned that the Commission also needs to focus on getting more
commissioners. Currently, there are two vacancies. More than one commissioner
stated they it is difficult to find someone who lives within the city, a requirement to
serve. Ms. Tigges remarked about the change in the scope of this Commission
with the current franchise agreement, particularly with the Capital Grant for Access
Equipment and Facilities. Mr. Barefoot suggested partnering with a local company
who could help publicize access television in general and Commission vacancies in
particular.
Mr. Barefoot mentioned some joint ventures he is involved in with Gary Olsen at
the school district. "The Garden Organic" is one of them. This past weekend they
videotaped the kids down at the farmers market. Last month they taped at a co-op
in Wisconsin. They hope to continue with "Garden" until the fall at which time they
have plans for a new series entitled "Doctor Doctor", a partnership with The Finley
Hospital. Then early next year, they will begin the third season of "Kids in the
Kitchen."
He reported that the Tschiggfries have been tweaking the third installment of their
steamboat series. They recently were taping in New Orleans. He also plans to
make a note to get viewership numbers for the PEG VOD. He was supposed to
have received some reports by now, but has not.
6. Mediacom Cable Report
Mr. Barefoot reported that he has re-done the master control room. Once he
purchases the racks approved in the grant this evening, he will put the new
equipment in the production van. This all should occur in time for Loras football
this season.
Mr. Barefoot also stated that he has been going through obsolete equipment and
throwing some of it away. He offered any of the remaining inventory to any non-
profit group that might need it.
7. Cable TV Division Report
Mr. Nowack reported that the upgrade of the TV control room is continuing. Next
week he hopes the custom workstation will be installed. Once that is in, he can
take delivery of the new non-linear editing system that was approved for this year's
budget, as well as the new DVD duplicator/printer. Otherwise, he is continuing to
purge old equipment. Eventually he hopes to move the growing DVD library of
completed productions out of his office into the control room.
He is also working on the web-streaming component for CityChannel 8 that was
approved for the FY08 budget. It will not be the one-stop solution that he had
hoped, and it may involve getting high-speed Internet service from Mediacom.
He reminded Commissioners about the annual Boards & Commissions picnic
coming up on July 30tH
8. Video On Demand
Mr. Barefoot stated that he hopes to get a report soon from Des Moines that tells
how much the PEG VOD is being watched. Also in the works is the ability to play a
source in Dubuque and have it recorded on tape at the server at Des Moines which
will make it quicker to get material on the server. Later, he hopes that gets
expanded to an IP to IP connection.
9. Future Agenda Items
The Commission agreed to keep the two programming and promotion items in
Section 5.
10. Adjournment
Upon a motion by Ms. Tigges, seconded by Sr. Hoverman, the meeting was
adjourned at 6:50 p.m.
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