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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Cable Communications Commission - 02/15/1999 [[pp x('21 23 30 11, r, ,1 tirns Corpus Christi Cable Communications Commission } .! `a.<) February 15, 1999 , ` ; <"` `° '.'1 \�y 9y 6.��a�r�z^ C0,7 Minutes of the Cable Communications Commission meeting heltl,,DecembeR7;% 1998, in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 1201 Leopard Street, Cokpus[Ch"*isti, Texas. Meeting called to order by Chairperson Mary Beth Nelson at 7:04 p.m. Members Present: Mary Beth Nelson, Norma Torres, and Cefe Valenzuela City Staff Present: Lisa Ortiz-Aguilar and P. C. Gracia TCI Staff Present: Randy Grimes and Robert Hughes Minutes of the Cable Communications Commission meeting of August 31, 1998, were approved. Mr. Cefe Valenzuela moved that Norma Torres be appointed as commission vice-chairperson. Motion was seconded and passed. Mrs. Torres accepted the appointment. Mr. George Balli, 2926 West Mount and president of PAUG came before the Commission to discuss their concerns about programs being aired on Channel 10. His first concern dealt with programs that should not be eligible to appear on Channel 10 and Channel 18 concurrently. Pastor Jerry Vestal, 4222 Driftwood and President of RAUG, presented an outline of church programs from June 6, 1998 to June 5, 1999. He stated that RAUG by-laws do not allow crossover programming unless they meet certain criteria. Rev. Vestal stated that if tapes weren't turned in for 3 weeks, then they can go from Channel 18 to Channel 10. Mr. Balli stated that they wanted to ensure that programs were not aired concurrently on both channels. Mr. Hughes stated that it had happened but not very frequently. Mr. Ron Hudson, 3556 Austin Street, stated that programs had aired on Channels 10 and 18 concurrently. He added that he believed PAUG wanted something in writing. Ms. Lisa Ortiz-Aguilar advised that programs needed to have access to one or the other access channel. Mrs. Torres motioned that programming not be shown simultaneously on PAUG/RAUG channels and that by-laws be changed accordingly. Motion passed. Copies would be forwarded to PAUG/RAUG. Mr. Balli stated that another issue he wanted to discuss was changing the series program from 4 months to 6 months. Mr. Hughes stated that there had been no SCANNED A 2 problems with the current programming schedule for a 4 month time-period. Mr. Hudson added that RAU had used a 6-month programming schedule for a long time. Mr. Hudson added that the issue should be the monitoring of repetitive programs on Channel 18. The Commission approved Hughes suggestion of waiting for the current series programming to expire before beginning a.6 month series on PAUG. Mr. BaIli's next concern was the elimination of all grandfather clauses dealing with recycling of the same program. Rev. Vestal stated that RAUG only allows repeat programming twice every six months. Mr. Hughes added that all first run shows have priority over repeat programming. He also added that the grandfather clause has resulted in only two programs remaining under the clause, and that the other programs were eliminated. Mr. Hughes explained that the two remaining programs air about 16 shows a month with duration of about 30 minutes each. In other words, Mr. Hughes stated, the grandfather clause is taking care of itself. Mr. Hal Suter, 102 Chamber, stated that the referenced shows, Toastmaster and Taxpayer's Association Programs come on after 1 p.m. Mr. Hudson pointed out that everyone should be treated equally on access channels. Mr. Grimes, TCI Manager, said that elimination of those programs could result in more billboard time instead of program time. He stated that these programs fill in time slots that nobody seems to want. Grimes stated that it did not seem fair to do away with these grandfathered programs simply because no one wanted these time slots. Mr. Hudson stated that there was not much dead air and fill time on Channel 18. He wanted to know if this was due to more airing of repetitive programs on Channel 18 and not on Channel 10. Rev. Vestal stated that they had simple rules, which they abide by. Rev. Vestal also added that if Channel 10 had structure and monitored program quality like Channel 18, they would have less problems. Mr. Cefe Valenzuela stated that it appeared to him that nobody was being treated unfairly therefore the grandfather clause should remain. Mrs. Torres added that the intent of the grandfather clause was working well in this case so no change should occur. Mr. Hughes stated that Channel 10 has about 50-55 users while Channel 18 has about 35 users. Mary Beth Nelson then summarized that the Commission did not wish to change the programming system at this time. Mr. Balli asked the Commission about their definition of a program sponsor. He noted that a program adds a listing of all sponsors at the end of the show. Ms. Ortiz-Aguilar informed Mr. Balli that it is not prohibitive at this time because it meets the current advertising rule. She also added that no rule exists that, prohibits the listing of sponsors. 1 3 Ms. Anita Gilmore, Galaxy Video, also questioned the Commission, about the definition of sponsorship. Mr. Hughes stated that perhaps sponsors could be limited to 3 per show. After Mr. Hudson questioned the Commission on how other cities were dealing with this issue, the Commission members requested that Ms. Ortiz-Aguilar research other cities and determine the constitutionality of prohibiting program sponsorship. Mr. Balli stated that PAUG wanted to show repetitive programs only four times a year, which is what RAUG allows under their rules. Mrs. Torres made a motion to allow PAUG to limit programs being aired to only four times a year during the same calendar year. Motion was approved. Ms. Gilmore asked how adult programming could be stopped from being advertised on the TV guide printed in the newspaper. She also stated that Coffee Club programming and Merrill Lynch had possibly violated the advertising rule by airing the signs for a long period of time during their shows. Mr. Hughes indicated that he would review the last tape to check on her concern. Mr. Balli asked what could be done about adult programs so that children could not be exposed to them. Ms. Ortiz-Aguilar stated that the courts had upheld attempts to ban nudity until 10 p.m. Mr. Grimes added that cable companies have been given a "safe harbor" rule that states that adult programs cannot be shown before 10 p.m. and after 6 a.m. Ms. Ortiz-Aguilar added that definition of adult programming needed to be established and placed in writing. Commission members asked Ms. Ortiz-Aguilar to bring a draft to the next meeting for their review. Rev Vestal added that these discussions were healthy and that RAUG had no problems at this time. Mr. Hudson reiterated that the dialogue with access users should continue and that we now have two public access channels. Mr. Grimes stated in his monthly report that the Emergency Alert System had been added over cable and that local broadcasters would not be interrupted. He stated that basic and expanded basic subscriptions were down, but that a new packaging of programs as a result of a focus group recommendation had shown positive results. Pay-for-view has also dropped by 9% according to Mr. Grimes. The addition of programs is a difficult situation as a result of contract negotiations that are done at the Denver office. Mr. Grimes added that a choice to launch the Cartoon Channel and move Science Fiction was his decision. Ms. Nelson stated that people are not happy about changing channels without consideration. Ms. Torres expressed her concern that not enough notice was given to subscribers. 4 Commission members agreed that perhaps not enoughpublic relations had been conducted before making the changes. They also agreed that subscribers needed to know that these decisions for changes were not being made at random. Mr. Grimes stated that programming is not based on Corpus Christi, but on the buying power of cable companies. Mr. P. C. Gracia reported that problems on the island have improved as per a recent conversation with Mr. Southard, the island association president. The Commission thanked all the people who appeared at the meeting and took time to share information. Mr. Hudson encouraged Commission members to attend PAUG and RAUG meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for February 8, 1999. The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. P. C. Gracia Management Assisxirrt A