We’ve launched a new feature called “Channel of the Month” and our first recipient of this award is the DC Office of Zoning. We interviewed DCOZ’s Chief Technology Officer, Nyambi Nyambi, about how his office got into video production and how this technology impacted his Division.
Just a quick note to let everyone know that we’re in the process of moving to a new server and as of right now the images are not working properly. We should have everything fixed later this morning. Thank you for your patience.
Update #1: Looks like images are back up and working properly. The only issue remaining appears to be the Channels database, which I’m working on now.
Update #2: Well, looks like I made a bit of a snafu with the database backup before the move. I have to fix the Channels section after the weekend. Sorry about that guys!
With the holidays over, I’m “back in the saddle” as it were. Lots of news came in while I was out, so I pulled together some of the top stories, the biggest of which has to be the $4 million that was “wasted” by the DC Office of Cable Television. In a time when PEG stations are having to fight tooth and nail for every dollar to keep their organizations afloat, stories like this cast a black eye across the whole community. Case in point, Evanston, Il is looking to cutting it’s PEG budget in half due to a loss in franchise fees.
In brighter news, Barnegat, New Jersey is launching a new PEG channel, and Portsmouth, NH is looking to follow suit.
The D.C. agency that regulates cable television in the city “wasted over $4 million” on a high-definition television studio that was never built, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General.
The report, released late last week, says the D.C. Office of Cable Television violated procurement policies by issuing a sole-source contract to a start-up company “without adequate justification and reasonable assurance” that the contractor could do the work.
In addition to the cost of the contract, which was canceled before the project was completed, the cable TV office bought more than $3 million in new HDTV equipment that was never installed or used. [ link ]
Barnegat Township television watchers potentially could be locked into their cable TV arrangement for the next quarter of a century after the Township Committee adopted an ordinance finalizing a contract with Comcast during its Dec. 21 meeting.
The agreement allows for a 15-year contract, with a 10-year renewal option. Comcast will give the township a $65,000 technology grant and two local access channels, which will be used by the municipal government and the Board of Education.
“The most important aspect is the government channel,” Breeden said. “We need to get that channel up and running as early as possible.” [ link ]
A threat by the City of Evanston to sharply cut its contribution to the local community-access television station is making the tiny Evanston Community Media Center the latest front in a fight over money collected as franchise fees.
Evanston, facing a $9.5 million budget deficit, is considering cutting its contribution to the station to $200,000 from about $400,000 that it paid last year. Municipalities collect franchise fees from cable companies and typically pass roughly half the money to the local public-access stations.[ link ]
Given the wonderfully diverse and articulate population of the Seacoast, it is surprising that Portsmouth does not have a public access television channel.
Sensing the potential and responding to the expressed desire of residents, the City Council recently approved the establishment of a nonprofit organization to develop public access television. To be called Portsmouth Public Media Inc., this endeavor could be up and running as early as late this year. It will air programs on the Internet and television simultaneously, and programs will be archived on the Web site providing viewers access at their leisure. [ link ]
Phil Amicone, the Mayor of Yonkers, NY is concerned over the recent ruling by the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) in regards to the moving of local PEG channels from analog to digital channels.
Cablevision, the local cable provider, moved all PEG channels as well as 16 other analog channels to the digital spectrum, thus moving them “further down the dial”. However, Cablevision’s own news channel (News 12) has not moved.
If it is so important for Cablevision to convert its systems from analog to digital in order to free up capacity for more services like high definition television, one can only wonder why important public service PEG channels were the first to be cut from basic analog service (both in Yonkers and in Eastern Long Island) while Cablevision’s own news channel (News 12) was allowed to remain.
Phil Amicone
Amicone’s issue isn’t with the inconvenience that the move makes, but rather the costs involved to watch digital television. Digital plans cost more because they require renting a set-top box. Those that can’t afford the increased costs are left with a degradation in Cablevision’s basic service plan. [ link ]
