Chairman Curry brought the meeting to order at 2:30 P.M.
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION
The first agenda item was the approval of minutes for the Cable Board’s August 17, 1998, meeting. Motion was made by Mr. Nelson, seconded by Mr. Rhodes, to approve the minutes of the Board’s August 17, 1998 Board meeting.
Motion carried unanimously. The next item on the agenda was the status report on audit of cable operators. Ms. Piety stated Mr. Karrison made a site visit to Comcast the last week in August and was going to make a site visit to Time Warner in September. Ms. Piety stated that the Board should have a preliminary status report on the audit in October.
The next agenda item on the agenda was the Cable Agency Report. Ms. Winston presented the Cable Agency report which highlighted the events that have taken place at the Cable Agency in the last month. The Agency met with Comcast officials, including Regional, Senior Vice President, Steve Burch, to discuss issues of mutual concern. Out of that meeting, the Agency made a commitment to share with Comcast locally a copy of any FCC filing that directly affects them for Comcast’s review and comment.
The Cable Agency has prepared an Evasion Complaint against Comcast. The Agency has passed along a courtesy copy for Comcast’s review before it is forwarded on to the FCC. The Evasion Complaint stems from media accounts of cash-for-carriage situations by cable networks and operators whereby the networks perhaps offered cash or some form of payola to carry network programming. The Cable Agency intends to ask the FCC in its submission if there is any merit to the media reports and if so, how then it may affect operator calculations of programming costs and how that affects rates. Additionally, the Cable Agency has prepared and forwarded on to Comcast for their review, a 329 rate complaint to the FCC asking if the latest rate hike by Comcast is reviewable by the FCC based on several concerns the Agency has regarding the rate increase in August. The Agency continues to participate in NATOA’s Advocacy Committee developing a database of organizations and individuals who share municipal concerns about telecommunications issues and policies. The Agency also prepared its NATOA State Chapter report for the annual conference. In light of the proposed merger of SBC and Ameritech, the FCC has solicited comment on the takeover and the affects that it will have on consumers. The Cable Agency has concerns that the proposed merger would affect Ameritech’s cable franchises in the Midwest as well as how the merger might affect Ameritech as a potential cable competitor in the Indianapolis and Marion County market. The Cable Agency has worked with both cable operators in mediating a number of customer cable problems with a summary and breakdown of problems included with the Agency report. Time Warner had a total of 35 complaints for the month, and Comcast had a total of 90 complaints for the month with 42 of those complaints being rate complaints due to Comcast rate increase.
Mr. Leonard asked if the Evasion complaint has been submitted to the FCC. Ms. Winston stated the complaint has not been submitted to the FCC. The next item on the agenda was the Channel 16 Programming Report presented by Mr. Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery highlighted some of the activities of Channel 16 for the month of August. In August there were 59 hours and 56 minutes of live meeting coverage. Tape Delay meetings totaled 7 hours and 43 minutes. Special Events Production totaled 6 hours and 28 minutes. In the area of In-Kind Production, Channel 16 had 7 hours and 40 minutes. Series Programs totaled 3 hours. Interactive Information Service Usage total was not available this month due to a computer snafu.
Howard Caldwell and Reid Duffy have agreed to co-host the special being produced by Channel 16 for the Indianapolis City Market. Caldwell will handle historic areas; Mr. Duffy will visit the various food vendors.
In cooperation with Time Warner Cable, Channel 16 will carry Local Government and the Year 2000 Bug, a live nation-wide satellite broadcast on Wednesday, October 7th at 12 noon. The show is being presented by the National Association of Counties. Time/Warner is providing the satellite downlink and will route the program to Channel 16 via the B-trunk cable. The show will also be taped for replays during the following two weeks. Program guides and related print materials will be posted on the Channel website for access by local residents and businesses. Mr. Montgomery also reported that the new Channel 16 van has been delivered and is being modified.
The next agenda item was the Cable Operator’s Reports. Ms. Shary Hoffman-Meadows presented the Time Warner Report. Ms. Hoffman stated she wanted to thank Channel 16 staff for all the work they have provided for Time Warner in putting together a video celebrating the 25th anniversary of the International Center of Indianapolis. Ms. Hoffman-Meadows stated the communication problem she addressed at the last board meeting was not as significant as she thought it was and the problem is taken care of with the subscriber. Time Warner continues to lose subscribers on its full cable service level. Time Warner lost 662 subscribers in the month of August. Time Warner completed 3,330 installs for the month of August with 3,992 scheduled. Incoming calls for the month were 50,385; answering 92.4% within 30 seconds or less. Service calls total for the month was 4,112 calls; 99.8% of those calls were completed within 36 hours. Time Warner planned 23 outages for the month and had 23 outages. Ms. Hoffman-Meadows stated that Time Warner is approximately 85% complete with its upgrade.
The Community Involvement report supports a lot of different community events and programming, including producing and running a commercial promoting the American Cabaret Theatre’s production of Man of La Mancha.
Mr. Curry asked Ms. Hoffman-Meadows if she was satisfied hat the communication issue at the AG’s office and the City had been resolved. Ms. Hoffman-Meadows stated yes.
Mr. David Wilson presented the Cable Operator’s August Management Report for Comcast. Mr. Wilson stated that Comcast’s ending total subscribers are 110,794 full basic customers. For incoming calls, Comcast had 119,451 calls; 85.55% of those calls were answered in 30 seconds or less. Comcast had 156 outages for the month, 2 of them were planned. Comcast received and scheduled 3,187 calls and completed 3,129; 25.7% were completed within 24 hours; 96.4% were completed in 36 hours or by customer request. Comcast scheduled 3916 installations and 3,118 of those scheduled were completed.
Mr. Wilson also stated that during the month of August, Comcast had 85.5 hours of community interest programming aired on Channel 50.. WAV-53 had 166 hours of locally produced programming. Comcast aired and produced 16 public service announcements and 14 Newsmakers segments. Finally on August 6, Comcast hosted an open house for community leaders. Comcast recently finished renovation of its administrative office on 65th Street, and the open house included a tour of that facility as well as a demonstration of Comcast new digital service. Comcast played a role in two events at this year’s Indiana State Fair. On August 23, Comcast teamed with the Food Network in presenting a cooking demonstration and autograph signing by Curtis Aikens host of the show "Pick of the Day". Comcast also hosted a booth with Great American Country, giving away prizes and promoting Comcast’s recent launch of that channel. Mr. Wilson also reported that Comcast was rebuilding in the Speedway area and expects to be finished in October with its rebuild.
The next item on the agenda was the ETC Report. Mr. Donaldson presented the ETC report. Mr. Donaldson stated ETC monthly meetings will be scheduled on the third Thursday of the month in order to accommodate fall teaching schedules of the members. The September ETC meeting will be Thursday, September 17th at IPS center for Instructional Radio and Television. Indiana University received notification of receipt of the City of Indianapolis Capital Equipment Grant for $65,000 which expires June 30, 1999. ETC will re-play Indiana University’s ‘State of the University Message" presented on Tuesday, September 8, 1998. Installation of capital equipment has begun to support the Education/Public Safety Channel. Mr. Curry asked if the carriage of the IPS board meetings was going well from a technical standpoint. Mr. Donaldson stated that he is pleased with the signal quality from Time Warner and Comcast systems.
Under Old Business, Mr. Curry stated there were two resolutions (competition, cable communications) by Mr. Leonard. Mr. Leonard stated he would like to defer action on both resolutions. The Board agreed by consent to defer the two resolutions. Ms. Peggy Piety stated that the Board packets contain fee quotations from Crowe Chizek concerning the review of Time Warner and Comcast rate forms for the 1998-1999 period. Ms. Piety stated if the fee quotation is acceptable to the Board, she will prepare a contract for Mr. Karrison’s signature that formalizes the review. Mr. Karrison has provided two quotations one for Time Warner and one for Comcast. Ms. Piety stated the Time Warner review is the FCC Form 1240 (Basic Tier Only) and the professional fees range from $3,300 to $4,300 for those services. Comcast review is both Form 1240 (Basic Tier rate) and form1205 Professional fees for the form 1240 range from $3,300 to $4,300 and for the form 1205 range $1,900 to $2,300. Ms. Piety stated the amount the City paid for review of these forms last year was $14,800. Ms. Piety stated this quote is less than last year because Comcast in the past has submitted Forms 1240 for both its rebuild and non- rebuild areas. This year Comcast submitted used a single form because their system is almost built out. Motion was made by Mr. Rhodes and seconded by Mr. Leonard to enter into a contract with Mr. Karrison for the review of Time Warner and Comcast 1998-99 rate forms. Motion carried unanimously.
Under new business Mr. Curry stated in regard to the complaint with the Attorney General’s office and Time Warner, he would like to see that the City, Time Warner, and Comcast have a understanding on handling complaints so the customers are well served. Secondly, Mr. Curry stated it appears that a notice of the draft evasion complaint was placed on the Internet and generated some calls which caused some distress to the cable operators. Mr. Curry asked Ms. Piety to take a look at the open door law and whether there should be a change on how the City makes reports to the Board. Finally, Mr. Curry stated the end of the build out is near for both Time Warner and Comcast and he asked the Board to consider whether it is time for a survey of the subscribers of Marion County. Mr. Curry stated this survey would be aimed at the oldest of the build out area, letting the survey be compared to what has been done before. Mr. Leonard asked how much a typical survey would cost. Mr. Curry stated in the past it has been done in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. Mr. Leonard asked how, once the survey is done and the report is back, it would aid the Board. Mr. Curry stated the survey would aid the Board on making a decision whether or not the survey would be beneficial. Mr. Curry stated that if the Board voted the survey would be beneficial then now is the time to do the survey.
No Public Comments.
There being no other business to come before the Board, Mr. Curry adjourned the meeting at 3:45 P.M.
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Mr. Carlton Curry, Chairman
______absent_____________________
Mr. Charlie Hiltunen, Member
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Mr. David Leonard, Member
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Mr. Steve Nelson, Member
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Mr. Stuart Rhodes, Member
ATTEST:
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Ms. Janise Winston, Recording Secretary
