Read some of the latest on public access problems in other Comcast cities/towns....
It sure seems that Comcast is trying to eliminate their Public Access
commitment/ budgets to pay for the AT&T Broadband acquisition.
They assumed $30 billion of AT&T debt!

In Jersey City, this past spring, our public access Channel 51 shows
were constantly pre-empted by the YES channel which simultaneously
plays on Channel 29 & 39!

Jersey City doesn't need 3 channels of YES sports at the expense
of local public access....

After my written complaint , the State's Board of Public Utilities informed
Comcast that it's against FEDERAL REGULATIONS to pre-empt
public access TV. Comcast's argument that their renewal agreement
with JC allowed preemption at will is moot.... another example of the
anti-citizen empowerment attitude of former Mayor Bret Schundler's administration!

The following are letters addressed to Comcast and the City of Jersey City regarding the inadequacies of the Public Access facilities provided by Comcast. The 1998, 15 year renewal contract granted to Comcast by the Schundler administration stipulated a bare bones $25,000 budget for equipment for use by the public. There are no studio facilities, unlike Cablevision's facilities in Bayonne and Union City, and very limited hours where the public can sign-out equipment.

My recent letter that follows files a complaint in the preempting of public access by the YES channel. Please note that of the 40 or so politicians, who I broadcast faxed my letter to, only Senator Jon Corzine's office took an active interest! No one from Mayor Cunningham's office or the JC City Council got involved!!!! The SNJ Office of Cable TV responded to my letter and Comcast's. They dispute Comcast's contention that they have the right to preempt public access with any programming they see fit including the YES channel/sports.

Peter Lyden
Comcast Cable TV
Regional Director of Govt Relations
800 Rahway Avenue
Union , NJ 07083

A year ago, June 10^th, I wrote to Paul Mackey, Asst Corporation Counsel for Jersey City regarding the city’s contract with Comcast. The intent of the letter was to highlight the obsolete and poor quality of the equipment for Public Access. The letter is posted on-line at http://www.talkingpolitics.net/public_access_tv.htm. Much of the equipment dates back to the late 80s’ when Comcast bought the system from Cable TV of JC. You’d be hard pressed to find any organization using computers or tape decks from that era. On July 9^th2002 , Paul Mackey met with you, who then represented Bob Smith the Regional Director, and Ruben Rodriquez, Comcast’s Public Access Coordinator.

Nothing really came of it. We have no studio unlike Cablevision which provides 2 studios in Hudson County alone. We also have no access to Comcast after 5pm to pick up equipment etc. Instruction on use of the cameras is only available from 9am to 5pm Monday-Friday. People do work.

My public access TV show, Talking Politics, has been on the air since May 2002. In April and May 2003, I and many of the public access producers were repeatedly pre-empted by the YES channel featuring the NJ Nets. Simultaneously, the YES channel was playing on channels 29 and 39! We don’t need 3 channels of YES. Channel 51 is PUBLIC ACCESS. One of my shows was cut short to show the Nets warming up but there was no audio! That went on for 10 minutes. So what was gained? Basketball with no audio. No one even knew the NJ Nets were playing on Channel 51 except those tuning in for a public access show! We’ve also been pre-empted with the Discovery Channel!

If the shows do air, when the operator shows up, another problem, the shows feature screeching audio, continually clipped/glitched audio, or quivering horizontal lines throughout the picture with this grainy darken background. Many of the tape decks in the control room are marked “Broken” since many are original equipment. There’s still 3M equipment in there!

I’ve heard that $14,000 was finally approved for new equipment from an original request of $40,000! Woopie! The entire control room needs to be re-wired and new decks installed. We need more cameras, and tripods to replace the broken ones. I commend Ruben Rodriquez, who does the best he can straitjacketed by the lack of funds, but the meager $14,000 doesn’t cut it. I and most of the producers use digital cameras and edit the shows digitally. We also copy the show from mini-dv to SVHS tape. We can’t do much better than that, all digital! The shows look great on the monitor but once it hits the Comcast airwaves, it looks like crap.

In May, I featured a show on a major artistic event in Jersey City , the Grace Church Artist Gala. It looked great on the monitor. I was so pleased. I sent out over 500 emails and advertised on the website. The first night it played, the audio was SCREECHING and continually glitched, the faces were all blotched and the colors bled onto this grainy background. It was literally painful to watch!

I know you still have 10 years left on your contract, thanks to former Mayor Bret Schundler. I’ll probably be around when it comes up for renewal and this time I will fight for changes including new equipment and a studio. But if my neighbors are any indication, you won’t have much of a franchise to fight for in 10 years. Many are switching to Verizon DSL which now is only $34.95 and satellite TV which is $39.99 and carries more channels than Comcast. I pay $ 85.66 for basic, non-digital cable and internet service. Since many of my email subscribers have satellite, I provide copies of my show to the JC Public Library. My neighbors are your middle class subscribers who are slipping away and the RCN Corp. benefits from the Newport waterfront build out.

I’m sure cost reduction is your mantra but it could be the franchise’s death. This homogenization of the media through “The Comcast Network / CN 8” doesn’t give people much reason to have local cable. We don’t care what’s happening in neither Philadelphia nor the NJ suburbs and there’re plenty of cooking shows on the air. We’re the 2^nd largest city in the state and in the political news daily with all the corruption trials going on, which will continue for some time. We want local coverage!

In the market place, businesses try to distinguish themselves from the competition. Good solid public access and local coverage is the way, otherwise soon everyone will be going to satellite. I’m not thrilled having a cable wire visibly running the entire length of my house to get to my computer. This is just one reason people cite for switching from cable plus the cost, and the lack of specialized, mostly European channels. Improvements in technology are working against you while you nickel and dime Public Access.

I’m requesting additional funding now for new control room equipment for Public Access and re-wiring it to improve the poor transmission quality. Supposedly the work your technicians did in April was to improve transmission but the result was imperceptible. But then again that’s when the pre-empting of public access with YES started. Interesting….

I have been a cable subscriber since 1987 when Cable TV of Jersey City first installed the cable lines. On July 10th 2002 , the day after your meeting with Paul Mackey, my Internet account was sabotaged. Your folks had no record of my account in your computers even though I’d been an Internet subscriber since August 2000. It took numerous technical calls and two visits from your technicians to get my account back on-line. Finally on Monday, July15th, order REF # 893983, your technician delivered a new modem and new account number. It was their last option since my account had been so decimated internally. As for cutting my wire from the middle of the street, I experienced that immediately after my www.StopBretSchundler.com website went live. I couldn’t figure out how “they” knew which cable was mine since my tenants’ cables went untouched. So this time, I’ve decided to broadcast fax this letter to all the elected officials in Jersey City, select members of the NJ State Senate and Assembly, US Senators Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg, Representative Robert Menendez, and the press.

Comcast's response to my letter through the Office of Public Television who I had contacted. Comcast states they have the right to pre-empt public access. The SNJ Office of Cable Television disputes that fact and their response follows...

SNJ Board of Public Utilities' response to my Comcast letter. In essence they say Comcast is wrong in using a dedicated public access channel for alternative programming such as YES sports. It is against federal statute.

Comcast responded that the Jersey City ordinance renewing their contract for 15 years ALLOWS Comcast the right to preempt public access programming at will! That's another fine example of citizen empowerment preached by former Mayor Bret Schundler & former City Council President Tom DeGise, the current Hudson County Executive. The State of NJ Board of Public Utilities replied that FEDERAL LAW reigns and they have NO RIGHT to preempt public access tv shows.

2002---- My initial letter to Comcast via Jersey City.... A meeting was held July 8, 2002 between Paul Mackey and Bob Smith's representative from Comcast as a result of the letter below. The result--- no studio, no additional equipment, no evening hours unless by appointment.... but my internet service account was internally decimated. Took a week of calls and visits by Comcast technicians who in the end threw up their hands and set me up as a new customer with a new modem.... Comcast made their point but it didn't work.... The battle continues.

Monday, June 10, 2002

Paul Mackey, Esq.
Ass’t. Corporation Counsel
Law Department
City of Jersey City
280 Grove Street
Jersey City , NJ 07302

Dear Paul,

As discussed, herein lies my analysis of Comcast of Jersey City’s equipment, facilities and policies for public access channel television producers. As you know, Jersey City ’s renewal of the Comcast contract, Ordinance 98-012, dated 2/27/1998 , defines the Public Access equipment requirements at Section II. C1(b). It states:

Within six (6) months of receipt of a Renewal CPA, the Company shall purchase two (2) packages of video field production (“VFP”) equipment to be used by public access users, and editing equipment to be used in conjunction with that VFP equipment, at an initial cost not to exceed $25,000, with repair and /or replacement as needed due to wear and tear and obsolescence.

Generally speaking, a “package of video field production equipment” consists of (1) a camcorder, (2) a tripod, (3) microphones of various capabilities along with cables, stands and windscreens, (4) a portable microphone mixer, (5) lighting fixtures of various capabilities operable on both ac and dc power, cables, accessories, stands, bulbs and batteries, and (6) monitoring capabilities, i.e, portable tv monitors.

“Editing Equipment” is the means by which the “raw” footage recorded by the camcorder(s) is
processed to produce a finished television program. There are 2 types of editing systems.

The traditional videotape based system [“linear”] generally consists of (1) 2 videotape machines, a player and a recorder, which are linked by a control box, (2) 2 tv monitors to show the picture on each videotape machine, (3) a graphics unit which allows titles, etc. to be superimposed on screen; (4) and an audio mixer which allows the sound tracks to be adjusted.

The more recent computer based system [“non-linear”] generally consists of a PC or Macintosh based computer system which runs, exclusively, one or more software programs to (1) edit the footage and (2) to allow more specialized processing [“special effects”] and manipulation of the video and audio. These computers may store the raw footage and edited segments on their internal hard drives or on external hard drives. These systems have graphics capability built into the editing software. A necessary item is a dedicated video recorder to allow footage to be input to the computer and finished programs to be output onto videotape for playback on the channel.

Over the last several years there have been significant technological advances in video and computer technology. For instance, Comcast has just purchased an i-MAC G4 computer which will allow editing of video. This is a great advance over the old S-VHS videotape editing system. Similarly, the old S-VHS camcorders have been partially replaced by new mini-dv format digital camcorders. This is an improvement in quality and ease of use. However, there are related items of significance which need to be addressed. The editing equipment is housed in a room at the company’s premises on Kennedy Boulevard . This is also the location where the camcorders for use in the field are located.

The chart at the end of this letter details the equipment available for public access producers and equipment needed to adequately produce a show. Except for a few recent purchases in 2002, most of the equipment predates the 1998 renewal of the contract! Some of this equipment has also been routinely used by the company in satisfaction of its other franchise requirements, such as the taping of the city council caucus. Some of this equipment is outdated; others, such as the Amiga graphics pc, has functioned poorly for many years. Other items of an ancillary nature have never been available. The “Book Value” for the existing equipment is approx $6,150.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles dictates that television production equipment be depreciated over three years so much of the existing equipment, prior to 2002 purchases has no book value. Most of it is well over 5 years old and predates the renewal. From a practical viewpoint, there is also a need for regular maintenance and repairs to be made on a timely basis to this equipment which is specified in the contract. There are also consumables such as light bulbs and various cables that get replaced as needed. [Users provide their own videotape.]

Inherent in this analysis is the realization that there would need to be an annual assessment of equipment with corresponding purchase and / or replacement of major or minor items in order to maintain this $25,000 level of support. Compared to cable access operations around the country, this is relatively small when you take into consideration the population – almost a quarter of a million people – and their inner city needs. State law provides that a community assessment study may be done at the time of a franchise renewal – but this was not performed.

On a related issue, our franchise agreement does not require, and Comcast does not voluntarily provide, any studio space within which to utilize this equipment in order to tape a studio discussion; i.e, what was recently needed for my “Talking Politics” program to record candidate forums for the recent election. As you know, we found that the only studio readily available to us was at the County Vo-Tech / High Tech High School in North Bergen . Unfortunately, we did not have a satisfactory experience there; and it resulted in newspaper stories detailing the police action believed to be due to political interference. This was unprecedented in this country – three police departments “raiding” the taping of an allegedly unauthorized election forum program!

Unlike Bayonne to the south, and North Bergen , Union City etc. in the north, these towns served by Cablevision do allow public access producers the use of a studio on company premises, after appropriate training has been completed.

Therefore, I have also listed desperately needed equipment to put together an entry – level studio type production system that would provide the function of a two camera studio, the minimum, with titling/graphics capability. This would allow studio discussion shows/roundtables to be produced with two cameras and the ability to place graphics such as titles, names, credits and other information on-screen during the show.

This entails an investment by Comcast of approx $8,710. Combined, if all items are purchased, the total would be $14,860 which is 41% less than the $25,000 appropriated under the Comcast agreement with Jersey City !!!

In addition, other major obstacles exist.

Access to the equipment

The Comcast editing system, and the checking out of camcorders, is generally only available Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm , when Ruben Rodriquez is on the premises. Ruben is the Public Access Coordinator for Comcast of Jersey City and Comcast of the Meadowlands. In addition it is my understanding that he also performs other duties for the company at other locations which takes him away from the Jersey City site. Additionally, since these hours are general business hours, the public also works during those hours, so they can not use the editing system or check-out cameras for production of their public access programs. Realistically, public access producers need access to these items during evening hours and weekends.

Ancillary Equipment

In order to properly produce a program, audio, lighting and other equipment as detailed above is
required.

Maintenance

The poor condition of the old early ‘90’s Amiga pc, which produces graphics for the S-VHS videotape editing system, has been problematical for several years. There are no operating manuals for the 3.1 version software installed and the software operates erratically which can only be fixed, if there are no problems with the pc, by re-loading the software, which we understand is no longer on site and/or available.

Camcorders will require regular cleaning and service to replace parts damaged in normal day to day use. The company’s present policy appears to be to hold one in reserve until the other one breaks and has to go in for service. As a practical matter with this type of equipment there needs to be a certain amount of redundancy and regular maintenance and a budget for as – needed repairs. We have suggested the purchase of 2 less costly “consumer-grade” digital camcorders for new and/or less experienced producers. These cost approximately $500 each and are the types of units commonly sold in consumer electronics stores.

Public Access Studio

As I mentioned above, there is no public access studio at Comcast. My production group for “Talking Politics” has faced this problem. It is my understanding that the franchise agreement provides that Comcast continue to produce a certain number of hours of programming for the City, such as "Council Perspectives" & the Mayor’s show. These programs are taped at the Comcast studio in Jersey City . Therefore, I am asking that qualified public access producers also have access to that studio and the set used for production of the City’s show. [The public access tv equipment would be brought into the studio for use; Comcast’s studio cameras and control room would not be used.] This would allow shows dealing with important public issues the ability to tape their shows on “neutral”, i.e., non-governmental property.

Annual Assessment

Once the concerns detailed here have been addressed, in order to proceed forward, the cable operator should be required to provide an annual report of the condition and status of the equipment, along with a plan to replace and or supplement equipment as appropriate to meet the needs of the producers. There should also be a summary of the usage, maintenance and repair and consumables purchases.

Training

The cable operator should be required to schedule, at a minimum, several training classes every year for new users. This could occur four times a year to be supplemented as the need rises.

These classes and the availability of the equipment should be advertised on channel 51 along with the channel schedule.

Graphics PC for Public Access Channel and Community Bulletin Board-

Due to the break down several months ago of the aged [pre-1990 ?] graphics unit which provided the channel schedule for channel 1, the government and educational access channel, Stan Eason of the Mayor’s office requested that a replacement unit be provided. Comcast responded by removing the graphics pc for channel 51 and moving it to channel 1. Consequently, this has resulted in a black screen with CBS FM playing in the background when no public access programming is airing. Mr. Rodriguez has ordered a computer card for another piece of equipment to replace the character generator but it’s been months! I’ve complained about this to his boss and the JC Manager. It appears to have no priority with Comcast’s internal purchasing department.

But why did they take the public access character generator when the contract, Section IID reads:

                        Within twelve (12) months of issuance by the Board of a Renewal Certificate of
            Approval, the Company will provide the City with a personal computer based character
            generator whose cost shall not exceed $5,000. The Character Generator shall be
            installed in City Hall for use by the City for the cablecasting of non-commercial public
            notices, announcements and information only on the City Channel. The City shall own
            and have complete responsibility for said equipment and shall be solely responsible
            for all messages generated on or by that equipment.

Since the City has no public notices posted to Channel 1, once a replacement graphics pc is finally secured for channel 51, it can display the programs schedule, equipment and training availability and also carry community announcements on a community bulletin board, a non-commercial public information function this City has not had for several years, if ever.

There is a growing consensus that it is time for Comcast to dedicate Channel 51 solely to public access programming and community information. It currently operates from about 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm Monday through Friday. At all other times it carries MTV2, and formerly, The Box, both commercial music channels. While this practice of sharing channel space may be allowable under the law, it is not believed that this is the best practice.

The chart below lists existing and needed equipment. The total of the approximate Book Value and Approx Cost to Buy New is $14,860, if all the items are purchased. The $8,710 is a small investment for such a lucrative, renewal contract that Comcast got from Jersey City . Other much smaller cities and towns across the State and country have received much better deals.

Paul, should you wish to obtain more information on the nature and operation of public access, educational access or government access channels, there are resources available on the web at: www.alliancecm.org and www.natoa.org . If you wish to see what other towns have received at renewal time see, www.buskegroup.com, a private consultant representing cities against the cable systems. NOTOA is the National Assoc. of Telecommunications Officers & Advisers on the city, county, and state levels.