May 2007 CFB Minutes

May 21, 2007

MEMBERS PRESENT

Peter Blum , Chairman
Richard Curry Jr., Member
Loren Heger, Member

MEMBERS ABSENT

Kent Burrow , Member
Lara Beck, Member

OTHERS PRESENT

 Chairman Blum calls the May meeting of the Marion County Cable Franchise Board to order.

 The first order of business is to welcome the new Cable Franchise Board Member, Mr. Richard Curry Jr., who is a Council appointee.

 The next order of business is the Approval of the Minutes from the April meeting.  There is not a quorum with members who were present at that meeting so it will be tabled until the June meeting.

 The Next item on the agenda is the Cable Agency Report submitted by Mr. Rick Maultra, Director of the Cable Communications Agency.

 Mr. Maultra thanks the Board for the opportunity to highlight some of the things that the Cable Communications Agency has been involved with during the past month.

 The City’s consultant and the Agency have been acquiring financial data for the Comcast 2006 franchise fee audit.  The auditor was in town last week to perform the on site franchise fee audits on Bright House Networks.  Board members and the Agency met with the auditor prior to his on-site review.

 The City has been in discussions with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission regarding the Comcast INET commitment to the Township Fire Departments. The City Consolidation team and Public safety considers the connections to be a priority and urgent matter.  Comcast Regional VP Rusty Robertson contacted Mr. Maultra last week and said that they stood ready to spend the money and get the township fire departments connected. 

Mr. Robertson also stated that Comcast would send the Cable Agency a letter to memorialize this.

 The Cable Agency has been and will be working on a project for Emergency Management called Continuation of Operations (COOP) which will provide required data to be utilized by the City in the event of an emergency.

 The Mayor’s Office issued a press release with respect to the webstreaming initiative noting that Channel 16 had launched the service as well as providing video on demand (VOD) services.  The Agency/Channel 16 is getting positive response every day from UNIGOV departments as to the benefit the on demand features provide them.  The Agency and Channel 16 is also talking to the Information Services Agency about the expansion of more VOD product to the other City websites.  Consequently, this would expand the contract with Granicus and in all probability make this truly an enterprise wide venture.

 The Cable Communications Agency has been serving as a consumer advocate to Indianapolis and Marion County cable subscribers in assisting them in mediating cable complaints on their behalf.

 For the month of May, the Cable Agency received a total of 21 complaints for Bright House .  The high areas of complaints were primarily in billing procedures and service interruptions.  For Comcast , the Agency received 17 complaints since the Agency’s contact information has been taken off of Comcast ’s billing statement.  The high areas of complaints for Comcast were derived from billing procedures and programming.

 That concludes Mr. Maultra’s Agency Report and remarks and he will answer any questions that the Board may have.

 Chairman Blum asked if Mr. Lewis is going to prepare a final report for the Board from his visit and Mr. Maultra responded that he will be.

 Chairman Blum asked if any of Mr. Maultra’s NATOA colleagues have told him how long he can expect to receive calls from Comcast customers.  Mr. Maultra responded that with the new arrival of the State legislation, it’s a new area and its uncharted territory.

 The next item on the agenda is the Government Access TV Programming Report with Mr. Ken Montgomery, Manager of Channel 16.

 Mr. Montgomery will go over the April, 2007 Programming and Production Report that was included in the Board packets.  April was a relatively normal month for Channel 16 with 57 hours and 9 minutes of live and tape delayed meeting coverage.

 There were 16 hours and 32 minutes of specials and events production for the month of April.  For In-Kind Production, Channel 16 included an hour and 17 minutes for the 2007 Primary Election Inspector Training video that was done by Nick Hess.  Channel 16 also did a 6 hour video for the Human Resources New Employee Training Program.  For Series Programs, Channel 16 did a Focus on Health and an Off the Bench Program.

 The total for new production in all categories was 85 hours and 3 minutes. 

The In-Kind Services were tracked at $9,885 for materials and services for the month of April if Channel 16 would have charged.

 With that, Mr. Montgomery will answer any questions from the Board.

 The next item on the agenda is the Cable Operators Management Reports by Bright House Networks. 

 Al Aldridge, Director of Public Affairs for Bright House Networks will present their operator’s management report that was distributed to the Board. 

  Bright House began the month with 59,379 customers and ended the month with 59,117, giving a system total of 262 customers loss for the month of April.

 On the incoming call report, Bright House handled 55,877 calls out of 56,063 calls received.  53,538 calls were answered in 30 seconds or less, which gave a call answer rate of 95.8% and a busy rate of 0.191%, as represented by them.

 On the Complaint Summaries Report, there were 21 complaints from 18 customers. 

 100% of service interruption calls were addressed within 24 hours.  There were no planned outages, but there were 42 unplanned outages that affected 3,114 customers.  The system reliability for the month was 99.99%, as reported by Bright House .

 100% of total service calls were addressed within the next business day, unless as otherwise directed by the customer.  There were no appointments kept outside of the 4-hour service window during normal business hours, unless requested by customer.

100% of standard installations were performed within seven business days after the order was placed.

There were 0.03 underground constructions and .08 aerial constructions in the Verenda Building and at 1701 West 15^th Street during the month of April.

The Division was renewed its sponsorship with the Net Literacy Project.  This project assists youth and seniors with understanding the Internet and how to use the Internet in a safe-connect environment.  This was their 2nd year of being a sponsor by providing funds to offset the project.

Several members of the Division volunteered to relieve 5th and 6th grade teachers at IPS School 51, so that the teachers could have an In-Service training session.  The Division continues to work with the After School program each week.

The Division was a corporate sponsor of the Ruth Lilly Education Center 's An Evening with Three Chefs.  This is the 6th Annual version of this fundraiser for the RL Education Center.  This was their first year as a sponsor of this event.

Al Aldridge was elected to serve as the 2007/2008 President of the Board for the Indianapolis Public School Education Foundation (IPSEF). 

This is Mr. Aldridge’s 6th year as a member of the Board and was the former Secretary of the Board.

Members of the Division continue to volunteer with the Indianapolis Public Schools Education Foundation, Gideon's Gate, the Indiana Cable Telecommunications Association, the YMCA, the 100 Black Men, LEAD, Inc., the Indianapolis Chapter, the Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Indiana Hemophilia Foundation, and IPS School 51.

The next item in the agenda is the ETC Monthly Report submitted by Ms. Tamika Williams.

ETC Programming included “ Teen City ” which was created by and is produced by IUPUI graduate Tina Webter-Fabayo.   The show gives teens the opportunity to discuss openly issues facing them in an effort to bring about positive change.  Show topics include Teen Dating, On-Line Predators, and Sibling Rivalries.  “ Teen City ” will be seen on ETC 1 starting in June. 

 IPS produced its annual “IPS Talent Showcase.”  The show originated from IPS Crispus Attucks Middle School and was seen live Friday May 4^th on ETC 1.  The show featured student performances and was hosted by IPS students.  Students were seen singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments.  Replays of the show can be seen on ETC 1 throughout the month of May.

 IPS Television high school interns produced stories for the show “IPS Digest.”  One story focuses on providing tips to high school students for getting into and preparing for college.  Another story focuses on the Super 70 project and the affect it will have on the city.  “IPS Digest” can be seen on ETC 1.

 IUPUI has started its summer class session.  14 Community Learning Network courses can be currently seen on ETC 2.

 Ms. Williams offers to answers any questions that the Board may have.

 Jean Coughlin with Public Access of Indianapolis spoke under Public Comment regarding the PEG Channels.

 Mr. Jim Smashey spoke under Public Comment.

 Chairman Blum announces the next Board meeting on Monday, June 18^th, 2007 at 2:30 PM in room 260 and adjourns this meeting.

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