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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997/07/14 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular 1 Minutes St. Louis Park Cable TV Advisory Commission Meeting of July 14, 1997 at 7:00pm St. Louis Park City Hall (5005 Minnetonka Blvd.) First Floor Community Room 1. Call to order By Chairman Tony Raiber at 7:02pm. 2. Roll Call Attending were Chairman Raiber; Commissioners Ken Huiras, Jill Boddy, Bob Jacobson, Bruce Browning and Mike Ganyo; Arlen Mattern of Paragon Cable; and John McHugh and Reg Dunlap of City staff. 3. Approval of Minutes Moved by Commissioner Huiras, seconded by Commissioner Browning, approved 6-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda Moved by Commissioner Ganyo, seconded by Commissioner Boddy, approved 6-0. 5. Communications from Paragon Cable Mr. Mattern said that even though summer is usually slow for cable companies and a time when subscribers are lost, Paragon has actually increased subscribers by 200 since January of 1997. He said that the Youth Service Luncheon in April was a big success, and that several students from St. Louis Park were nominated. Commissioner Ganyo asked about the general turn around time on switching from standard to basic cable. He has been billed for basic after calling Paragon to switch service 5 weeks ago, but is still receiving standard, and he prefers to receive the service he’s paying for. Mr. Mattern said 2-3 days, usually, but that traps were in short supply at the beginning of the year so that may be the reason for the delay. 6. New Business a. Annual Filings Commissioner Ganyo asked about the year end balance for Nortel on the balance sheet, that he was confused about some of the entries. Mr. Mattern said that he couldn’t help with that portion of the materials. Mr. McHugh asked if a converter is required to receive basic cable service. Mr. Mattern said no it isn’t, and that the reference will be corrected. Commissioner Huiras asked about promotions. Mr. Mattern said that 2 different spots are running to promote cable tv through the cable tv consortium, and that a nice brochure has been mailed that targets non-subscribers. Mr. McHugh asked what the optional line protection plan was, and the list of technical specifications for inside wiring done by subscribers. Mr. Mattern said that line protection is an option in other systems owned by Time Warner, and that legal doesn’t 2 want anything changed in the mega bill stuffer, including the reference to inside wiring done by subscribers. b. Subscriber Survey Requirement Mr. Dunlap said that staff had several background discussions with Mark Hammerstrom (Paragon’s acting Director of Marketing) about the survey, who had shared information from several metro wide surveys. The information about FCC and National Cable TV Association customer service standards showed Paragon was doing an excellent job, but did not include information about complaints, which are referred to in the St. Louis Park franchise. Mr. Dunlap said since Paragon had asked that the survey be waived for several years because they did not derive any value from it and was expensive, City staff looked for ways to benefit the subscribers at a reduced cost for Paragon. One such possibility would be for Paragon to provide NASA or MNDot programming on the Institutional Network, so that Community TV could provide this programming to the subscriber. Another possibility discussed was to do a more limited survey including more questions about local programming. Mr. Hammerstrom did not prefer these alternatives to the survey requirement as it had been done in the past. As discussions concluded Mr. Hammerstrom said that after being notified in writing that the survey would be required, he would draft a proposal. Commissioner Browning said that in the past responses haven’t stood out or been surprising, that it was the same thing you hear in the complaint logs. He said he began to question whether it’s worth the time or effort. He said that maybe a better approach would be to have telemarketers do it by first asking, “the City and Paragon Cable ask your help in the following survey.” Commissioner Jacobson asked if this was the survey that had all the fine print in it, and suggested that it should be done over several years to make it shorter. Commissioner Huiras asked what the survey was aimed at; that he was more concerned about why people aren’t subscribing. He asked why there were 300 disconnects on the latest monthly report. Mr. McHugh said that lots of people think of cable costing $1 per day, not realizing that basic costs much less. Commissioner Browning said that Paragon hasn’t really addressed selling basic very well, or promoted it. Mr. Mattern said that customers want that lower price, but want the full lineup of services, and more channels, as well. Commissioner Jacobson said that getting clear reception was the best value of cable, and that not enough people know about that, and that he’d like to see brochures go out with water bills. Commissioner Ganyo said that since 1994, options have changed, and that we need the survey to be true to the franchise. Commissioner Jacobson agreed, and said maybe it should be tried different ways, like by phone one time, by mail another time. Commissioner Browning made a motion for a Commission subcommittee to design the survey working with Paragon and City staff, and it was seconded by Commissioner Ganyo. 3 There was more discussion. Mr. Mattern said that he had met with Mark Hammerstrom earlier today, and passed along these comments for him: that upon written request, Paragon will do the survey; that it appears that City staff had a pre-formed opinion on the survey, and that proposing an alternate to the survey (carrying MNDOT and NASA programming) was of concern to him; that the cost of the survey is passed along to subscribers; and that he believed that the surveys provided to the City staff met the survey requirement. Mr. Dunlap said that the surveys provided were done metro wide or in the Southwest Suburbs, not in St. Louis Park as the franchise states. Commissioner Browning said he saw a local news channel carrying a MNDOT signal after the recent storm. Commissioner Ganyo said that the discussions showed that the need for a survey is less important than those 2 channels. Mr. Mattern agreed. Mr. McHugh said that those 2 channels have never been listed on the survey. Commissioner Ganyo said that it seems like the Commission is moving to not do the survey ever, and that if we bargain for 2 channels, we might need to protect the right to do the survey. Commissioner Jacobson said it should be a vehicle so people can respond without intimidation, that the real reason it should be done is to ask if people are satisfied with the service. He said there are lots of missing links here, beyond the scope of the Commission’s activities. Mr. Dunlap said that the survey requirement was in the franchise because of concern that dated to when there were, for example, 36 channels on the system but 50 channels available, so that the subscribers could voice their preferences. Commissioner Huiras called for the question, and the motion passed 5- 1, with Commissioner Jacobson opposed. Commissioner Ganyo and Commissioner Jacobson volunteered to serve on the survey subcommittee. Commissioner Jacobson said the Council should be invited to join the subcommittee, to find out their concerns , and Mr. McHugh said they’d be notified about it. c. Providing basic cable service for Cable TV Advisory Commission members Commissioner Huiras said this was on the agenda at his request, after a discussion with an Apple Valley staff member who said their Cable Commission received full cable service, premium channels and all. Mr. Mattern said that the ethical practices board would have a field day with that, if the company were involved. Mr. Dunlap said that this should be a Council decision because of the effect on other Commissions and volunteers, and perhaps should be deferred because it was getting late. Commissioner Huiras said that it could be discussed further at a later meeting. d. Update regarding adult pay-per-view scrambling Mr. Mattern said that during the FCC Safe Harbor hours, it is OK to run the audio of the programming. Commissioner Ganyo asked if there wasn’t a system to fully scramble the picture and audio. Mr. Mattern said that the signals are fully scrambled and require a converter box, but that some cable ready TV’s can hear the audio. There have been a few complaints about that in the past, so the company can place a trap (or filter) on the 4 cable drop to the subscribers home. There is no cost to the subscriber for this feature, and the customer service representatives are aware of the policy. e. EAS update Mr. Dunlap said that the FCC had planned to have the new rules for cable operators in place by July 1, but that the rules & requirement have been postponed indefinitely. The system is to be improved to allow a full screen graphic with a message during the interruption, rather than a blank screen. 7. Old Business--none 8. Reports Mr. McHugh asked if 93 basic subscribers was correct, since there were over 700 in April. Mr. Mattern said he’d double check. 9. Communications from the Chair Chairman Raiber said that Commissioner Huiras and he attended the July 7 Council meeting, and that the Commission’s School District funding request went right through, including the equipment grant. 10. Communications from City staff Mr. McHugh said that he had sent a request for information on the carriage of MNDOT and NASA through to Paragon, and that he expected to have an answer in 30 days or so. He also had a request from Paragon for right of way assistance related to the Hutchinson Spur property. 11. Adjournment Moved by Commissioner Browning, seconded by Commissioner Huiras, and passed 6-0 at 9:20pm. Respectfully submitted,