HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10111994 - 2.2 C;� a
TO:, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra ,
FROM: a
Phil Batchelor � ;s Costa
o:
County
DATE: October 5, 1994
c�srqcdJK`���
SUBJECT: STATUS OF TCI'S CARRYING OF CSPAN ON ITS OWN DEDICATED CHANNEL
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ACCEPT report from the Cable Television Administrator on the status of CSPAN being
carried by TCI Cablevision of Contra Costa County on its own dedicated channel.
AUTHORIZE the Board of Supervisors to request a member of the County's Federal
delegation to author a bill to require carriage of CSPAN on cable systems as a Public
Broadcast System (PBS) or Public, Education and Government channel (PEG).
AUTHORIZE the Chair, Board of Supervisors to sign a letter to TCI Cablevision of Contra
Costa County urging them to expand their channel capacity as soon as possible and
guarantee that CSPAN will be carried as additional channel space is available.
DIRECT the Cable TV Administrator to continue to work with County Counsel to determine
if there are additional options available to guarantee the carriage of CSPAN.
FISCAL IMPACT: None.
Pa t�
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: XX YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
_APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURES
�z _d�z�- ��
ACTION OF BOARD ON October 11 , 1994 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER
APPROVED the recommendations of the County Administrator on the status of
CSPAN being carried by TCI Cablevision of Contra Costa County on its own
dedicated channel, as amended to include directing the County Administrator to
meet with representatives of TCI Cablevision, the Committee to Save CSPAN, and
the Community College District to determine interim options that would allow
the sharing of a channel with CSPAN and to report to the Board on options for
consideration.
(See Attachment A for Speakers on this matter. )
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
XX UNANIMOUS(ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: County Administrator ATTESTED October 11 , 1994
Cable TV Administrator PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
TCI Cablevision of Contra Costa via CAO
M382 (10/88)
BY �. _ -��ti+� ,DEPUTY
BACKGROUND:
In August, 1993, the Board of Supervisors adopted Cable Television Ordinance No. 93-55
and signed, along with nine cable systems in the County, an Interconnect Agreement.
That agreement followed several years of negotiations with the cable operators and a
telephone survey of 1000 County citizens (50+ in each city) which clearly demonstrated
their awareness of and demand for programming on countywide issues (Copy can be
reviewed in Cable TV Administrator's Office). In July, 1994, Contra Costa Television
began airing on five of the nine cable systems in the County.
TCI Cablevision of Contra Costa County ('TCI")was the only cable system that preempted
another channel to air County programming. The preemption of CSPAN prompted several
concerned subscribers to contact TCI, the Board of Supervisors and staff. The Cable TV
Administrator has had several conversations with Ronda Cohn, TCI Cablevision of Contra
Costa County's General Manager, and directed two letters to her requesting that TCI
dedicate a separate channel to CSPAN.
On September 27, 1994, the Board directed the Chair to sign a letter to TCI asking them
to reconsider their preemption of CSPAN. The letter was faxed and mailed on October 4,
1994.
In conversations, TCI has stated that they do not have enough channel capacity to carry
CSPAN on its own dedicated channel and have only received complaints from one-half of
one percent of their subscriber base ( 300 subscribers out of 83,000) regarding its
preemption.
Effective September 26, 1994, TCI added six channels in all of the County franchise areas,
except portions of the South Franchise (Letter and Program Guides attached), Martinez
and Danville. The channels added include: Bay TV- a 24-hour news, information and talk
cable channel, TV!- a preview channel for new programming some of which is not yet aired
on the system and premium services, Cable Market Place- photo classified ads and
infomercials, Sneak Prevue- a preview channel for current pay-per-view movies and
instruction for ordering and new pay-per-view services.
In accordance with the Cable Act of 1992, local jurisdictions do not have the authority to
require specific channels be aired on a cable system. The County has included language
in Cable Television Ordinance No. 93-55, Section 58-12.002 to require broad categories
of programming as the Cable Act of 1992 does authorize us to do.
The Cable TV Administrator is currently reviewing provisions in the Cable Act of 1992 and
County Cable Television Ordinance No. 82-28 with County Counsel to determine if any
additional actions can be taken. If information becomes available prior to the Board
meeting, an oral report may be given at that time if the Board agrees.
I
October 11, 1994
Agenda Item 2 . 2
SPEAKERS ON THE STATUS OF CSPAN
Louis T. Maracci, Committee to Save CSPAN, 3140 Old Tunnel
Road, Lafayette;
Peter Muller, Committee to Save CSPAN, 7 Bel Air Drive,
Orinda;
Ronda Cohn, TCI Cablevision, 2048 Howe Road, Martinez; and
D. Candy Rose, Contra Costa Community College District,
151 Anahid Lane, El Sobrante.
We're taking television
into tomorrow.
TO Cablevision of �
Contra Costa Count
August 8 1994
g AUG 8 !qQ�. t
I s
t OFFICE OF `
Pat Burke, Cable TV Franchise Administrator
COUNTY ADM1NIS71 RATO
Contra Costa County
651 Pine Street, 11th Street
Martinez, California 94553
Dear Pat:.
I am writing to inform you that we will be making a change in our
channel line-up effective Septemb , - 994, These new channels
will be available in all of the .__County Franchise areas , except
portions of the South Franchise tha a" ve noz D'een rer�urlt to
400 megahertz. On that date, we will be adding Bay TV, TV! , Cable
Market Place and Sneak Prevue to our Expanded Basic services. In
addition, we will be adding two new pay-per-view services,
.Request 4 and Cable Video Store, to our channel offerings.
We are excited about these new channels and we believe it is good
news for our customers. TCI is constantly evaluating our channel
offerings and striving to provide our customers with the highest
quality choices possible.
We recognize that you may receive questions as these changes take
place. I am enclosing a copy of the communication we will be
sending to all our customers in their bills.
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please
don't hesitate to call me at 372-4300.
We will continue to keep you informed of any new developments.
Sincerely,
Ro��
Ronda Cohn
Area Manager
RC/pdb
enclosure
/
i
2840 Howe Rd.
Suite E
Martinez,CA 94553-4000
(510)372-4300
FAX(510)372-8264
An Equal Opportunity Employer
TCI OF CONTRR COSTR CO TEL-5103728254
Oct 05,94 11.58 No.018 P.01
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