Cable Advisory
Council Area 2
Present at Fairfield Town Hall – Gerry Speno, Jody Eisemann, Bob Greenberger, Howard Jacobson; Milford – Mike Manente, Paula Patterson, Dennis Guaglianone; Orange – Pat Tancreti, Ron Davis; Stratford – Bruce Alessie; Cablevision – Deb Hutton, Gary Shaw
Call to Order at
Membership Action Plan Howard reported that the current vacancies
are as follows:
Treasurer’s Report Paula stated that the opening balance is $5,216.65 with disbursements totaling $71.61, leaving a closing balance of $5,145.04. Paula explained to Howard that she had already sent in the request to Cablevision for the annual stipend. Debra replied that the check request is currently being processed.
Announcements the next GATA meeting will take place October 24th and all members are invited to attend. The first draft decision from the DPUC, was postponed until October 20th.
Chair’s Agenda
Senior Discounts Howard read some of the letters to the
council dating back to May 2001 at which time council members were very
concerned with the higher costs for programming and seem to favor a discount for the elderly and disabled. One
letter Howard read suggested a waiver from rate hikes for seniors and the
disabled after hearing that
Bill Varg and Al Vosburger,
Deborah Hutton, Cablevision (CV) explained that in Litchfield the seniors are required to fill out a form to receive a discount but the offer was grandfathered when CV acquired the franchise. She affirmed that Cablevision is looking to expand digital and to give customers more channels for their money but they must remain competitive. Deborah reminded the members that Cablevision’s president has been in the news supporting al la carte programming but she maintained that unless the rest of the major cable industry players agree on this need not a lot can be done. There are two major obstacles in the way of a la carte programming: one is that the entire system would have to be digital and the other is that providers may be skeptical about signing contracts because their channels may not be chosen as a la carte by as many subscribers as when previously packaged. The change would mean a reduction in viewership and a loss of advertising revenue, she said, citing the failed YES network as an example of Cablevision trying to market al la carte.
Gerry responded that the senior population is expanding and that Cablevision should at least be concerned about their market share. Deborah added that during the refranchising process, a question regarding senior discounts was posed to a Cablevision representative who clearly stated that a discount was not being considered by the company. She reported that Cablevision has to move some of its channels to digital because they are being mandated with a timeline by the federal government. She said the company is trying to make the transition as easy as possible. Pat made the point that he felt that the seniors should have the same rights as any other group, Bob questioned whether options regarding changes and offers by Cablevision such as the free or discounted digital box were communicated to customers and Deborah affirmed that all affected subscribers were definitely notified.
Bruce asked Deborah about the Dolan Family’s offer on the table to take Cablevision private. She responded that her guess is that they intend to continue management of the company but confided that they probably would do things differently if they did not have to answer to Wall Street.
Customer relations Howard introduced a subscriber
from
His second letter to the governor
was turned over to the DPUC which provided him with a response similar to an
email he received the AG. The AG said that his office lacks the authority to
regulate the programming choices or the rates charged for anything other than
the basic tier of cable service. Francis asked how can the DPUC, his own mayor,
I-Net Upgrades Gerry reported that he has discovered while doing an inventory of I-Net sites in Fairfield that some of the wiring appears to have been moved or disabled at a high school during an upgrade of lines by a third party vendor for a classroom production studio and at the town library during a major renovation. Few officials were aware of previous I-Net wiring sites and this lack of communication with the vendor has eliminated two of the town’s original transmit/receive locations. He said he was worried about similar happenings in other Area 2 towns. Deborah reported the Cablevision has made an effort in its other franchises to have one main contact person in each town to work with Cablevision technicians. Gerry added that they are still trying to determine where responsibility lies. She advised that it remains the town’s responsibility to pay for any repairs to lines originally installed by Cablevision. Deb added that when a job is set up, the job completion team tracks the I-Net request on their system. Dennis said it might be helpful if the chief officials of the towns were alerted to the situation and could possibly perform an audit of the sites and explain the proper procedures to anyone doing construction projects. Howard agreed and asked Pat Tancreti, I-Net committee chair, to work with Dennis and GATA members to devise a similar plan for consideration by town officials.
Old/New Business None
Towns No
reports
Cablevision Nothing further to report.
Public Comment Tom Castelot, president, Sound View Community Media, was in attendance.
Adjournment: