THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508230143
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
New cable TV contract
As chairman of the Chesapeake Cable Television Commission, I wish to respond to Carl Burns' letter ``Cable TV questions'' (The Clipper, Aug. 18). This letter contained several statements which are not true.
Negotiations between the city and TCI of Virginia have been taking place for about four months to extend the franchise for cable television service. The negotiations are not being held in secret, but they are being held as any business would handle important contract negotiations. The city attorney is acting on behalf of the city.
In 1993, the Chesapeake Cable Television Commission reviewed TCI's performance and recommended to the City Council that the current franchise be extended to allow TCI to start making improvements to upgrade the system: i.e., increase channel capability, extend areas of service, etc. The recommendation was not acted upon and, since the current franchise expires in February, negotiating a new one is now necessary.
Per the City Code, any contract for cable service must be reviewed by the Cable Commission prior to submission to City Council for ratification. I have been assured by the city attorney that this evolution will take place.
Regarding the situation with WCTV-23, in 1993, the Chesapeake Cable Commission also reviewed the operations at then ACC-40. At that time there was no management in place: i.e., half the employees were city employees, half were school system employees, and confusion regarding priorities was standard operating procedure. The commission recommended a plan to manage the station, placing it under the direction of a general manager, thus eliminating confusion regarding duties and permitting more efficient utilization of money, staff and equipment. The city placed the station under the Public Information Department, which hired Meyer Davis as general manager. This management approach has turned the small local station into an award-winning operation and improved programming and quality significantly.
The Chesapeake Cable Commission has discussed, in depth, lack of open public availability of WCTV-23 and the majority of the commissioners agree that operating it as currently done is fine. The program of Shirley Forbes (discussed in Mr. Burns' letter) appears on Channel 10, which is a channel on which programming blocks are sold. The city does not own nor control the programming on Channel 10.
FCC rules do not require public access. Management at WCTV-23 is open-minded regarding citizens who come forward with truly educational/informational suggestions.
The City Council has appointed a Cable Television Commission to liaison between TCI, city government and the citizens. The commission meets the second Thursday of the month and announcements are posted on the electronic bulletin boards of WCTV-23 and Channel 13. The meetings are open for public input; however, attendance by citizens is rare. Cable commissioners' phone numbers are available at the city clerk's office, and citizens are certainly free to contact any of us; most all of us have voice mail. The commissioners are aware of the concerns of the citizens, and most of them want more channels, better quality at a reasonable and affordable price. TCI wants to provide just that, and the commission will review the contract with that goal in mind.
The city would like to get this new franchise in place; however, it will not be rammed through in violation of the City Code. There is no ``drop dead date'' for completion. Simply put, the sooner a franchise is in place, the sooner TCI can begin improvements which will benefit the citizens of Chesapeake.
The franchise vote will be an agenda item at the appropriate City Council meeting; therefore, citizens who desire to address the issue should attend the meeting and sign up to speak.
Marie B. Jones
Chairman
Cable Television Commission by CNB