In a previous blog post, I talked about two meetings happening on Monday. The first is the Sound View Community Media board meeting on Monday at 8:30 AM. The second is the Woodbridge Government Access Television Commission meeting scheduled for 6:00 PM. There are many issues that I hope will get discussed at these meetings and here are some of my thoughts on some of these issues.

Signal Reliability

Back in July, there some reports of the PEG channels going out sporadically. Cablevision was reporting that the signal was okay at the head office in Norwalk, but that perhaps there were problems in Milford. This was to be investigated, but I haven’t heard anything more on this.

In addition, various people reported problems with the PEG channels over weekends which seem to have been related to the video server that Sound View uses in their office in Bridgeport. Apparently, there has not been technical support available to address this issue and if the video server goes down over the weekend, it remains down until Monday. This is also still being investigated. It is not clear if the two different problems are related in any way.

SVCM Policies – Representatives of Elected Officials

Various people have contacted me for follow up on DPUC Docket 08-06-03 which encouraged SVCM to develop of Board policies to help prevent the problem which gave rise to the complaint. My recollection of the discussion from the previous SVCM board meeting was that they claim their policies preclude ex-officio board members representing the elected officials in the region from attending executive sessions.

I believe that they can legitimately make that part of their bylaws, but I also believe that it is a poor decision further alienating SVCM from the communities it is supposed to be serving. It is my hope that SVCM will make every possible effort to avoid going into executive sessions and consider making exceptions to this whenever possible.

I did note that I was the only representative of an elected official at the most recent SVCM board meeting and I believe that both SVCM and the municipalities in the region should make a concerted effort to get more representatives of elected officials to attend their board meetings. I have been in discussions with people from various towns to encourage better attendance of representatives of elected officials.

I should disclose that I’ve had these discussions with people from Milford and that I am actively working to support a candidate that is running against the current mayor. SVCM is particularly difficult for me in that I end up wearing many hats and I have to be careful about properly respecting each role.

SVCM – A Satellite Office

Also in the DPUC ruling on docket 08-06-03, they wrote: “The Department would advise SVCM to carefully consider setting up a satellite Public access studio to address the needs in the Milford/Orange/Woodbridge area.”

I have not heard anything about this and hope to get a chance to discuss this with members of the SVCM board. I do believe that a satellite Public access studio would be of great benefit to public access and should seriously be considered by the SVCM board.

Digital Slamming

Cablevision is moving the public access channel from an analog signal on channel 77 to a digital signal on channel 88. While over the air broadcast signals have all moved to digital, this is not the case for cable signals and many people still watch analog cable channels on old analog televisions. Cablevision had offered to help with people losing signal as their favorite channels went digital, but not everyone is aware of that and the help appears to be temporary. Because of this, the move from analog channel 77 to digital channel 88 may make it harder or more expensive for some people to access the public access channel, with the overall move to digital, this may only be a temporary bump.

Nonetheless, it is an important issue to keep an eye on, since there is a growing problem with cable companies moving PEG channels from a low channel number where people may find the channel via random surfing off to very high numbers, a sort of digital Siberia, where people are much less likely to randomly find the channels.

In addition, I’m told that The League of Women Voters of Litchfield County is studying the issue of diminished access to some channels, including PEG channels and others.

On a broader basis, I’ve been told that the Alliance for Community Media and Dearborn, MI filed a petition with FCC last January, primarily complaining about AT&T's delivery of PEG programs, but also asking for redress on digital slamming by both Comcast & Cablevision.

ACM-NE Video Festival and Workshops

On Saturday, November 7th the Northeast Region of the Alliance for Community Media (ACM-NE) will hold a Video Festival and Workshops at the West Hartford Town Hall. Currently the planned tracks for the workshop are on Advanced Production Skills and Public Policy, Grassroots Organizing and Lobbying.

So, those are the issues that I'm looking at right now. If you live in the Fairfield, Bridgeport, Milford, Stratford, Orange or Woodbridge area, and have other thoughts for these meetings, please let me know immediately.

In addition, no matter where you live, let me know your thoughts on public access television in your area and the issues you are seeing.