April 2007 CFB Minutes

April 16, 2007

MEMBERS PRESENT

 Peter Blum, Chairman
Kent Burrow, Member
Lara Beck, Member
Loren Heger, Member

OTHERS PRESENT

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

 The first order of business is the Approval of the Minutes from the March meeting.  Mr. Burrow moves to approve the minutes.  Mr. Heger seconds the motion.  The motion is voted on unanimously.

 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.

 Letters have gone out to notify operator management of the upcoming franchise fee audits to be performed.  It appears to be set for the week of May 14 for the City’s consultant to do an on-site audit of Bright House ’s books for years 2002-2006. 

 The City should be meeting soon with members of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on questions relative to the state telecommunications legislation and how it affects the City. There has been discussions with their counsel and should hear back soon on a chance to meet.

 The Cable Agency has been assisting the City’s Information Services Agency (ISA) with respect to broadband service they wish to explore with Comcast and possible pricing.

 Mr. Maultra participated in a recent conference call to discuss customer service as it applies to recent legislation both at the State and Federal level.  The panel on the call reiterated the need for local authority to assist customers which is reflected in the Multi-Channel News article provided.

 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 March, the Cable Agency received a total of 15 complaints for Bright House .  The high areas of complaints were primarily in billing procedures and service interruptions.  For Comcast , the Agency received 10 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 the Board needs to formally dispose of the FCC Effective Competition situation or just let it go.  Mr. Maultra responded it can just be let go.

 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 March, 2007 Programming and Production Report that was included in the Board packets.  March was a busier month than February.  Channel 16 still covered 47 different events for live and tape delayed meeting coverage totaling 68 hours and 8 minutes. 

 There were 19 hours and 35 minutes of specials and events production for the month of March and 1 hour and 30 minutes of in-kind production for City-County and Government Agencies.  The total for new production in all categories was 91 hours and 43 minutes.  The in-kind services included a CLE for the Public Defender’s Office and for Court Services.

 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 59,367 customers and ended the month with 59,379, giving a system total of 12 customers gained for the month of March.

 On the incoming call report, Bright House handled 63,571 calls out of 63,957 calls received.  59,310 calls were answered in 30 seconds or less, which gave a call answer rate of 93.3% and a busy rate of 0.300%, as represented by them.

 On the Complaint Summaries Report, there were 15 complaints from 11 customers. 

 100% of service interruption calls were addressed within 24 hours.  There were no planned outages, but there were 32 unplanned outages that affected 4,917 customers.  The system reliability for the month was 99.97%, 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 0.04 underground constructions in Villaggio Condos during the month of March.

The Division hosted the VH1 Save the Music grants concert at the Indian Statehouse Rotunda.  Al Aldridge, BHN served as MC of the event and Buz Nesbit, Division President presented the principals of the four VH1 "Save the Music" recipient schools.  The four schools that received the 2006 music grants were school #37, school #84, school #$96 and the Cold Spring School.  The lunchtime concert's guest speaker was State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Sue Ellen Reed.  This year concert showcased 3 of the new schools (#37, #84, and #96) and the Broad Ripple HS Orchestra and Wind Ensemble.  This makes a total of 26-IPS schools that have received VH1 STM grants since 2001 for a total of $750,000 dollars in grants.

Working with the Indianapolis Metro Police Department, the Division launched "Operation Bright Eyes" in Indianapolis mid-month.  Members of the IMPD and Bright House Networks (BHN) held a joint press conference to announce the partnership.  "Operation Bright Eyes" is a mobile neighborhood watch program, where all of the BHN field personnel were trained by IMPD Neighborhood Watch to be cognizant to all activities within the neighborhoods that they travel in for cable service and installations.

The Division was awarded a Finalist Trophy for the 2007 Beacon Awards at a ceremony in Washington DC .  The Beacon Awards honor excellence in Public Affairs throughout the cable industry.  Al Aldridge, Director of Public Affairs accepted the award on behalf of the Division.  The Finalist award was for the Division's creative celebration of the 2006 Customer Service Appreciation Week.

Karl Knerr was selected as one of the winners of the National Bright House Networks "Star Teacher Awards."  Karl, a teacher at Carmel Clay Middle Schools receives a $1,000 cash award; an all expense paid trip for him and his spouse to Universal Studios for the award ceremony and will attend a two-day trip to Chicago for participation in an education/training experience.

Al Aldridge was recognized as an award nominee at the Center for Leadership Development's Minority Achievers Recognition Awards dinner during the month.

The Division participated in the St. Patrick's Day Parade on the 16th by hosting a ceremonial float.  This was the 1st year that Bright House participated in this event.

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 Mr. Earl Harris.

For ETC Programming, IPS produced its annual “IPS Talent Showcase”.  The show will originate from IPS Crispus Attucks Middle School and be seen live on ETC 1 Friday May 4^th.  The show will feature student acts as well as be hosted by IPS students.  Performances included singing, dancing, and dramatic performances.  Show will repeat on ETC 1 after the live presentation.

“The Derwin Smiley Show” will focus on issues relating to young people and will feature guests speaking on the many topics.  Included in future shows will be 21^st Century Scholars, childhood obesity, and school violence. The show will be seen on ETC 1 starting in May.

“The Spot” is a new production from IUPUI students.  The on-going program will include students describing their experiences with civic engagement, research, international study, and campus life. The show will be seen on ETC 2 starting in May.

“The Art of Teaching the Arts” is an eight part professional development series for high school teachers.  It will include strategies for teaching dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. The show will be seen on ETC 1 starting in May.

The ETC Development Update was prepared for the ETC Board by Charlie Wiles.

On suggestion of a Cable Franchise Board member at the March meeting, Charlie is  reviewing an earlier draft of a strategic plan and will present it at the next ETC Board meeting.  A copy will be available at the May CFB meeting.

Mr. Wiles is still working on a advertisement for ETC to place in NUVO free of charge.

Mr. Harris and Mr. Wiles will schedule a meeting with Berenice Rhuel, Wellpoint’s Diversity Director, to further discuss plans for a gathering of community and business leaders at corporate headquarters on Monument Circle .  At the gathering they plan to recruit potential Board members, seek support for new programs, and introduce plans for a television series that promotes good health decisions.  Tentatively titled “Making Healthy Choices/Breaking Bad Habits,” ETC is revising a proposal for collaboration with Indy Parks and the Marion County Health Department. The series will focus on promoting fitness opportunities at Indy Parks, reducing incidents of obesity, promoting active lifestyles, tobacco cessation and wise healthcare decisions.

The third installment of the Global Speakers Series (sponsored by Marian College and Franciscan Center for Global Studies) is airing on ETC throughout the month of April and a fourth program is scheduled for May.  Charlie will be meeting with Franciscan Center Director, Pierre Atlas, and John Clark, Senior Fellow at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, to collaborate on a proposal to seek funds for producing and airing similar programs in the future.

Other funding sources will be pursued to support these efforts as well. It is hoped that this format would work with other communities including the arts and non-profit communities. 

Mr. Harris and Mr. Wiles also plan to redouble their efforts to recruit student interns from U of I, Butler , IUPUI Informatics and Marian College who will add ideas for creative content and help build-up their website. 

Mr. Harris offers to answers any questions that the Board may have.

Mr. Jim Smashey spoke under public comment.

Chairman Blum announces the next Board meeting on Monday, May 21^st, 2007 at 2:30 PM in room 260 and adjourns this meeting.

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