[Peace-discuss] Springfield IL: Access 4 producers wish to take over station

[Danielle Chynoweth]

http://www.sj-r.com/entertainment/x1792907114/Access-4-producers-wish-to-take-over-station
<http://www.sj-r.com/entertainment/x1792907114/Access-4-producers-wish-to-take-over-station>

 *Access 4 producers wish to take over station         *
*by Brian Mackey*
*The State Journal Register*
*11/21/09*


 Local public access television producers are hoping to pick up where
Comcast will leave off next month, when the cable provider ceases operation
of Access 4.

  Comcast has said it’s in negotiations with a “third party” to take over
the station, but it declined to say who.

But Access 4 producer and soon-to-be-laid-off employee Darrel Moore said he
and other producers are the third party.

“What’s happened around the country, according to our research, is it’s
(public access programming) usually gone to a private civic organization or
charity,” Moore said. “So I think if the producers band together, they may
be able to rejuvenate the channel.”

Producers are scheduled to meet at the station Tuesday night to discuss the
situation.

Rich Ruggiero, a spokesman for Comcast, declined to verify whether the
producers are the “third party” in question.

“At this point, we don’t want to divulge anything about what we’re planning
right now, but hopefully we’ll reach a point soon where we can,” Ruggiero
said Friday.

As word of Comcast’s decision spread, producers and other veterans of public
access TV in Springfield — some dating back to its local founding in the
1980s — have said it’s a worthwhile service that ought to be continued.

Rich Morris, a vice president and senior wealth management consultant at
U.S. Bank, has been producing “Great Things for Good People” for the better
part of a decade.

The show profiles charities and non-profits that might otherwise not get a
lot of time on television, such as the Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery, the
Sojourn Shelter and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.

“Normally, if you’re running a foundation, you’re on a very limited budget,
and it’s very difficult to get airtime or advertising,” Morris said
Thursday.

But gradual staffing cuts leading up to the Dec. 4 layoffs have made it
harder and harder to tape new episodes, Morris said.
Comcast took over operation of Access 4 several years ago. Before then, it
had been operated at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Gerald Burkhart, director of the Office of Electronic Media at UIS, said
Comcast pulled Access 4 out of the university when UIS decided not to renew
its contract with Comcast to provide cable to apartments and dorms on
campus.

Comcast and predecessor cable companies had paid UIS to operate Access 4.
The station’s budget at the time was about $170,000 per year, Burkhart said,
and Access 4 had one full-time employee, one part-time worker and numerous
student workers.

For about a year, Access 4 has been running with just three part-time
staffers, including Moore, who said he’s paid $11 per hour.

The job consists of working with producers to tape shows, editing the
programs and feeding them into a computer that connects by fiber-optic cable
to Comcast’s “head end,” a facility that collects programming and
distributes it throughout the region.

Moore said there will be little new content in the station’s last two weeks
— most producers have been calling to cancel scheduled tapings as word of
Comcast’s decision spreads. Moore said he called 80 producers of Access 4
programs; most of them are meeting Tuesday night to discuss how they can
keep the station going.

Asked if UIS has considered trying to get Access 4 back on campus, Burkhart
said no. Having Access 4 on campus had benefits for UIS, but the university
now operates its own cable channel and transmits lectures and other events
on the Web.

Despite the proliferation of online video distribution, Burkhart said public
access TV is still an important service.

That sentiment was echoed by Dave Antoine, a retired UIS employee who worked
on Access 4 for many of his 30 years with the school.

“The nice thing about public access (is) it’s almost a reflection of the
community. It’s a way of finding out who are the various types of members in
our community, see how our community thinks,” Antoine said. “We don’t always
get around as much as we’d like. It gives you a broad view.”

Morris said his charity program has generated “well over $1 million” in
donations to groups featured over the years.

“It’s a social responsibility that a company certainly the size of Comcast
has. They are in the media business, and they knew that came along with it,”
he said. “That’s just part of your social cost of doing business.

“I think they need to step up to the plate and continue it, but from what
I’ve seen of the company, that’s not going to happen.”

Brian Mackey can be reached at 747-9587.

*About Access 4’s programming*

Access 4’s Web site says the station serves the Springfield community “by
producing and airing local programming that can’t be seen anywhere else.”

Programs on Access 4 change from day to day, with each program typically
being repeated three times a day.

About half of Access 4 programs are explicitly religious in nature. Others
cover political topics (“Conservative Roundtable”), advice (“Parent
Helpline”), discussions (“Springfield Business and Economic Review”) or a
variety of subjects (“Just Two Guys,” “Talking Toastmasters,” “What’s Up
Downtown”).

The station’s full schedule is available at www.access4springfield.com.

*Cable provider has closed stations in other states*

Comcast’s decision to cease operating Access 4 in Springfield appears to be
part of a broader national trend.

The cable provider has made similar moves in Michigan, Massachusetts and
elsewhere.

And in the Chicago suburb of Mundelein, Comcast has decided to stop
transmitting video of town government and school meetings.

According to a report in the Mundelein Review, Comcast made its decision
after AT&T balked at the rates Comcast was seeking to allow AT&T to transmit
government access programming on its
U-verse service.

Comcast spokesman Rich Ruggiero said the cable provider is trying to get
Mundelein to take over management of government access programming.

“In many cases the communities were eager to take on the management of the
government-access programming because in some cases, they were even able to
produce more programming and more live programming,” Ruggiero said. “And
we’re hopeful we’ll ultimately reach a similar agreement with Mundelein, and
we’re working toward that now.”

Ruggiero emphasized that the Mundelein case is not related to Comcast’s move
in Springfield.

But he did obliquely refer to AT&T and its U-verse service and satellite TV
providers.

“When you look at the people that Comcast competes with for someone’s
entertainment dollar and the obligations that they have or don’t have with
respect to public access programming, we think it’s important to be on as
level a playing field as possible so that we can be as competitive as
possible,” Ruggiero said.

Ruggiero declined to speculate about what might happen to Channel 4 if no
one steps up to take over operation of the community access station.

Comcast has bumped several channels from its analog service (Channels 2-72)
to a digital package (usually a three-digit channel number that requires a
newer TV or converter box), including the National Geographic Channel and
C-SPAN2.

Comcast says this allows a greater number of channels overall because a
single analog channel takes as much bandwidth as numerous digital channels
or up to three high-definition channels.
Ruggiero said the public access decision has nothing to do with this
practice.

*Mayor’s office working with Comcast*

Mayor Tim Davlin’s office is working with Comcast to determine the future of
the public access channel, according to the city’s spokesman.

“Tim Davlin wants to be sure the public continues to have the opportunity to
present their views via a public access outlet such as Access 4,” said Ernie
Slottag, the city’s spokesman.

Under an agreement with the city, Comcast must provide three channels for
public, educational and governmental access programming.

The agreement doesn’t allow any other municipality to use the channels or
for a charge to be imposed for use of the channel capacity.

However, the 55-page agreement, which expires Jan. 1, 2013, doesn’t require
Comcast to operate the channels — only provide them.

Slottag said the city is reviewing whether it would be a breach of the
franchise agreement if Comcast doesn’t find an operator and simply allows
the access channel to go blank.

— Deana Poole
  Comments (1)
  Fighting Ennui
9 hours ago
Report Abuse<http://www.sj-r.com/entertainment/x1792907114/Access-4-producers-wish-to-take-over-station#>
Heck yes, Comcast would be in breach of their franchise agreement, if they
can't provide access programming.

It is a part of the deal they signed to serve the city, that they reserve
those three channels and provide them, in exchange for the right to serve
our city their commercial and paid programming. A franchise is a
money-making machine that's exclusive to one provider: Comcast. Comcast is
trying to play hard ball, hoping nobody cares enough to make them hold to
their contract. Frankly, Comcast has a well-documented nationwide PR problem
over poor service and high prices, and is looking at any way to cut costs
and raise revenue that they can find. They must figure we're too stupefied
watching their commercial programming to notice if they pull the plug on
Access. Don't let them get away with it.

Now, I can sympathize to an extent because Comcast no longer holds a
'perfect' monopoly on the Springfield market: ATT U-Verse and satellite
providers like Dish Network both offer similar programming to Comcast, but
ATT lobbied the state to pass legislation that lets U-verse go anywhere in
the state without needing the franchise agreement with each city. I think
the way to level the playing field is to require U-verse to eat the cost and
to also carry the Comcast access channels, or make every Springfield
provider chip into a common pooled fund for whomever is going to run the
channels. It can't really cost much technically for U-verse to offer it: you
can see Champaign's 2 municipal channels on ATT Uverse Springfield now, but
not our own. Ironically, if Mayor Davlin holds a town hall meeting or
special Council session here to discuss U-verse, you won't be able to WATCH
it on U-verse, only Comcast. That is, until Comcast pulls the plug. ATT
could put Access on now, but Comcast is being catty about fees. They are
basically asking ATT to pay them for the programming they contracted to make
free to everyone. That's maybe smart business, but poor policy.

Access gets a lot of ribbing for not being 'cool' or 'slick' or
'commercial', and it has it's share of boring or crazy stuff... but what it
does is unique and vital: all the other channels are there to make money off
of you and SELL you something. Only Access and PBS channels are there to
TELL you things, not sell you. If commerce is behind a channel, then
commerce decides what that channel will and won't tell you, can and can't
show you, if its good for you or not... That is an unhealthy thing for a
democracy, and we knew it when we made up the franchise agreements. Access
is a public need and a public good, it is part of a trade to use our
public-owned airwaves, and it doesn't matter if it is not a 'revenue stream'
for Comcast: they made a deal, signed contracts, and they MUST abide by it.
If they abrogate it, the city should sue, at least for the money to run it.

Think about major issues facing this city: High school upgrade plans. High
Speed Rail. Zoning and development. Police and fire issues. There is no
place on commercial TV where you could watch the whole debate for these
meetings, beginning to end. Channel 20? You're lucky if they spend ten
seconds to tell you a headline that there WAS a meeting, after it is over.
ONLY ACCESS CHANNEL TV would give you the ability to see the whole event,
uncut and un-edited, without bias, and really know what was said and by
whom. We should be mad as heck that this service was promised in good faith
and now, after a rate hike, Comcast wants to get out of their responsibility
to provide this service, because they are lazy. Fair is fair. They promised.
They must continue to deliver.

And we really need to re-visit the state communications bill that gave ATT
the unequal access to the market. Our legislators were more interested in
telecom lobbyist money than our right to know and express ourselves in local
access media. Shame on them. This is the result. Raymond, Larry, you've
dropped the ball on this; make it right again.

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