Category Archives: Television

Blogosphere, Television

HOI News picks up “so-called blog” story

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Tonight on the 5:00 news on WHOI, Elaine Hopkins was interviewed regarding a Peoria judge’s ruling that bloggers aren’t part of the news media. It was an interesting segment.

My favorite line, however, was when Tim McGinnis asked Elaine if she always researches both sides of a story and she responded, “Sometimes. It depends on the story.” Well, I have to give her credit for being truthful in her answer. She certainly has never made any effort to look at the pro-rail side of the Kellar Branch issue, or to correctly report the facts about it, either on her blog now or when she was reporting for the Journal Star.

But I digress. The HOI story also includes reaction from local bloggers. They didn’t put names with the comments in case the blogger wanted to remain anonymous and so they could speak more freely. However, I’ve never been one to leave anonymous comments, so I’ll just tell you that mine is the second one (the long one with the links in it). The most interesting story I read on the matter was this one from ABC News:

Despite the rap that bloggers simply “bloviate” and “don’t try to find things out,” as conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak once sniffed, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have altered policies to indicate they’re taking blogs seriously, and a growing number of public offices are actively reaching out to the blogosphere.

The CIA recently updated its policies on Freedom of Information Act requests to allow bloggers to qualify for special treatment once reserved for old-school reporters. And last August, the NSA issued a directive to its employees to report leaks of classified information to the media — “including blogs,” the order said.

Like I said to HOI (and this isn’t original with me), reporting is reporting, whether it’s on the radio, on TV, or on a blog. The medium does not change the nature of the content. We may need to develop some criteria to separate the serious reporters from the crackpots for the purposes of giving media credentials, but I don’t believe “publishes on the internet only” and “isn’t an incorporated business” are among them.

Insight Communications, Television

Cable and Video Competition Law passes

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On June 30, Gov. Blagojevich signed Senate Bill 678 into law. Included in that bill are two acts that impact cable television: “The Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007” and “The Cable and Video Customer Protection Law.”

This bill that passed is far superior to House Bill 1500, on which I commented back in March. A good overview of the bill is provided by the Illinois Municipal League.

Under this new legislation, a cable provider can choose to either get a local franchise license through the county or home rule municipality, or get a state franchise license through the Illinois Commerce Commission. However, even if the cable provider decides to get a state license, the bill provides adequate protection of and compensation to municipalities for the use of their rights-of-way.

Public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access is maintained in this bill (cable companies have to provide it), and the transmission of PEG programming must be transmitted to customers “at no cost to the local unit of government or the public, education, and government programming providers.” It’s also provided that PEG access must be available on the lowest programming tier (i.e., part of the most basic cable package) and have “equivalent visual and audio quality…from the viewing perspective of the subscriber, to that of commercial channels.”

The franchise fee paid to the municipality is set at 5% of gross revenues, which is the maximum allowed by federal law. But here’s an interesting item: the municipality can tack on another 1% of gross revenues “as support for public, education, and government access,” and the cable operator “may identify and collect the amount of the [PEG] programming support fee as a separate line item on the regular bill of each subscriber.” So don’t be surprised if that fee starts showing up on your bill someday — that will be the price you pay for having city council meetings broadcast on channel 22.

Telecommunications companies really win, though, when it comes to build-out requirements. Whereas under local franchise agreements, municipalities usually require cable companies to offer service to the whole municipality, this bill allows companies to target just part of a market area, as long as they meet certain requirements. The Illinois Municipal League explains it this way:

All of the requirements are outlined and can be summarized in the broad general sense — 35% within 3 years and if 15% of the customers sign up in that market area then they must build to 50% within 5 years. The requirements are based on local exchanges. The low-income requirements for service are in the bill, which are 30% in the area.

The bill makes it clear that a cable provider “is under no obligation to serve or provide access to an entire exchange or local unit of government.” But here’s something interesting. In section 21-1101(d)(1), it says this:

…if the holder [of a state franchise agreement] is an incumbent cable operator or any successor-in-interest company, it shall be obligated to provide access to cable or video services within the jurisdiction of a local unit of government at the same levels required by the local franchising authorities for that local unit of government….

So, that sounds like if Insight here in Peoria decided to get a state franchise, it would be required to continue providing service to the whole city. But not so fast — Insight likely wouldn’t be considered an “incumbent cable operator” under this law.

The Act defines “incumbent cable operator” as an entity “that provided cable services or video services in a particular area under a franchise agreement with a local unity of government…on January 1, 2007.” Insight has not had a franchise agreement with Peoria since April 2006 when the last agreement expired. The city has been negotiating a new franchise agreement ever since, but the two parties have not come to terms. So it’s very possible that Insight would not be subject to the “incumbent cable operator” provisions of the Act.

Added to the mix locally is the fact that Comcast is in the process of taking control of the cable system here from Insight, and nobody knows what their plans are. Peoria’s Corporation Counsel Randy Ray had this to say about the new law: “The new Bill changes the landscape. We do not yet know what course Comcast, which is purchasing from Insight will take. As we learn what is going to happen, we will share the information.”

On the positive side, this bill opens up the possibility that cable competition could come to Peoria (or part of Peoria, at least). Most likely this competition would come from AT&T, which already has its phone lines strung all over the city. Whoever wishes to get a state franchise license has to apply to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), and the Act requires that the ICC publish those applications on its website within five days of receiving the application. So far, there have been no applications submitted.

Blogosphere, Television

Eyebrows to take Billy’s place on TV

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Since Peoria überblogger Billy Dennis won’t stoop to being interviewed by WHOI news, Laura Petelle (aka Eyebrows McGee) will be the guest blogger instead. Be sure to check out the live segment during the 5:00 news on channel 19 (channel 8 on Insight Cable). Discussions with Laura are always interesting.

Also, I’ve been rather impressed with WHOI’s news coverage lately (not just because of the Big Hollow story, either). They’ve been reporting on stories I don’t see in any other media. For example, not too long ago, they did investigative reporting on sex offenders living too close to District 150 schools, and just recently they investigated crime in Peoria’s parks.

Crime, Peoria County, Television

Old Big Hollow Dump no more!

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Kudos to Peoria County for quickly cleaning up all the garbage on an abandoned portion of Big Hollow Road and sealing off access to it! Here are a couple of pictures showing the cleaned road and the barricades blocking access:

Road Closed to Big Hollow dump

Big Hollow Road clean

Also, kudos to HOI News for drawing attention to this situation and following up with city and county officials. This was a win for everyone. Hopefully the filthy pigs who dumped their garbage there in the first place will stay away now.

City of Peoria, Insight Communications, State Legislation, Television

Almost a year later, and still no cable franchise agreement

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Cable TVOn April 15, 2006, Peoria’s 20-year cable franchise agreement with Insight Communications expired. As of today, we still have no cable franchise agreement, but City Attorney Randy Ray is hopeful that we will soon. In an e-mail I received in response to my question on how negotiations were going, he said this:

Our attorney is working on what I hope is a final version [of the proposed new franchise agreement]. We are subject to being affected by pending legislation in Springfield.

That is one, long, drawn-out negotiation. No doubt the legislation to which Ray obliquely refers is H.B. 1500, the so-called “Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007.” It’s backed by telcom behemoth AT&T which wants to get into the cable TV business without having to negotiate franchise agreements with each municipality the way cable companies have done for the past 40 years.

Under H.B. 1500, a cable provider such as AT&T would apply not to the City of Peoria or the Village of Morton or any other local municipality for a cable franchise agreement to serve those communities, but rather to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to get franchise authorization. Furthermore, it would preempt home rule, meaning that it would strip municipalities of any authority to regulate use of their rights-of-way by cable operators (e.g., use of utility poles, underground easements, etc.), as they do through local franchise agreements now.

Opponents of the bill, such as the not-for-profit organization SaveAccess.org, say that it does a number of harmful things, including:

  • Shuts down Public, Educational and Government (PEG) stations around the state
  • Drops requirements that companies serve everyone
  • Weakens customer service protections
  • Harms fair competitions

Granted, those are all sound-bite sized talking points, but I think they’re true. Consider:

The first point is a reference to a provision in the bill that states, “Any public, education, or government channel provided under this Section that is not used by the franchising authority or local unit of government for at least 8 hours per day of non-repeat programming for 3 consecutive months may no longer be made available to the local franchising authority….” That’s a lot of public access programming to sustain. Insight provides channel 17 (Illinois Central College) and channel 22 (public/government access), and I don’t believe the two of them combined provide 8 hours/day of non-repeat programming. So I believe it’s fair to say the effect of the bill would indeed shut down PEG stations.

As far as it dropping requirements to serve everyone, local franchise agreements were always concerned with equity — with the same service being available throughout the city (see, for example, §5.1 of Peoria’s 1986 Cable Franchise Agreement). The bill as written would not require total coverage, and in fact would only require that by five years after rollout, 30% of households accessible to the cable operator’s service be low-income.

Since complaints about service would no longer be made locally, but to the state, I think there’s no question that it weakens customer service. Who do you think is going to be more responsive to your cable TV complaint: your city staffer/council rep or a state bureaucrat?

But the last point is the kicker. As a recent article in Multichannel News points out, “As currently written, the bill [H.B. 1500] would hold only incumbent cable operators to current franchises until their statutory end dates.” Indeed, §21-301(2) of the bill states, “Upon expiration of its current agreement, an incumbent cable operator […] shall obtain State authorization from the Commission pursuant to this Article and shall be subject to the provisions of this Article.”

And this may be one reason it’s taking so long to get a new franchise agreement between Insight and Peoria. Insight will want to protect themselves against signing a 10- or 20-year franchise agreement that is going to put them at a competitive disadvantage to AT&T, which will be deploying cable services under a state-granted franchise if this legislation is passed.

The bill has been assigned to the Telecommunications Committee, and there was a hearing on it today (3/22) in Springfield. There is a website set up specifically to oppose this bill called KeepUsConnected.org.

Television

Late to The Office party

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Office CastYes, I know it’s in its third season and it’s won an Emmy, but I had never seen an episode of NBC’s comedy show “The Office” until about a week ago. And now I’m addicted to it.

It’s not that friends hadn’t told me about it before. The lead singer of my old band even told me about it once — said it reminded him of when we used to work together for the same company. It does. But I just never got around to watching it until another one of my friends sat me down and made me watch an episode. Well, that was all it took. I had to see them all, then.

It is hilarious! If anyone is looking for a Christmas gift to get me this year, seasons 1 & 2 are out on DVD. The pranks that Jim plays on Dwight are classic. My favorite is the one where he put all of Dwight’s office supplies in the vending machine and then gave him a sack full of nickels so he could get them back. And, of course, how can anyone not love watching the beautiful Jenna Fischer?

Jenna Fischer

In terms of productivity, “The Office” reminds me most of my time at now-defunct Foster & Gallagher. I worked in the customer service department for their Magazine Marketplace division back in the late 80s and early 90s. I would answer letters and phone calls from people who bought magazines thinking it would increase their chances of winning the big sweepstakes, then cancel them when they didn’t win. I have a list of about 50 different ways our customers spelled the word “cancel.” Most common misspelling: “cancle.”

Well, F&G wasn’t doing real well, and often we would have stretches when very few people contacted us. But they didn’t lay us off during those times, so we had a lot of free time on our hands. The customer service department operated on a team concept. There were two or three (can’t remember now) suites of six agents, plus a team leader and assistant team leader. One Christmas when we were especially slow (and by that, I mean absolutely no one called or wrote us practically the whole month of December), our team decided to decorate our suite as Whoville, and we’d all dress up as Whos. Our team leader was the Grinch, and our assistant team leader was his dog.

We were very productive. We made banners, played the soundtrack to the show on a portable tape deck, brought in lots of treats — including green Rice Krispie treats. I think I have a picture of it somewhere. Hard to believe we actually got paid for that… although we didn’t get paid much, come to think of it.

“The Office” is on NBC Thursday nights at 7:30 CT.

City of Peoria, Insight Communications, Television

Cable franchise agreement still in the works

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Insight Communications’ cable franchise agreement with the City of Peoria expired six months ago, but renewal of the cable operator’s franchise has yet to be signed. I asked City attorney Randy Ray on Monday (10/23) what the status was, and he had this to say:

We have just completed 3 lengthy conference calls. Our attorney is working on a draft. There will be at least one more conference call. We hope to have an agreement in 30 days or less.

It remains to be seen how much longer franchise agreements like these will last. Just this month, California became the latest state to enact statewide cable TV franchises (joining Indiana, Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia), and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are still contemplating national franchise agreements.

Television

“Marie” at 10 p.m.: Much ado about nothing

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Steve Tarter writes about the “chilling effects of censorship that loom down the road,” as tacitly prophesied by WTVP’s decision not to air a special on Marie Antoinette until 10:00 p.m. due to “risque drawings and depictions of the Queen of France” that are shown.

Note that they’re still showing this program, just not at 7:00 when kids could be watching. Apparently, that’s what’s defined as “censorship” nowadays.

But this is the line that really got me: “We look to public television for bold reporting on issues. Will that be curbed now that there’s a threat that the finished product may be too hot to handle for some stations?” This country had much, much stricter decency standards thirty years ago and earlier, yet television was still able to take down McCarthyism and bring Vietnam into our living rooms every night. Don’t tell me TV can’t do “bold reporting” without showing naked pictures and playing unedited four-letter words.

Speaking of which, Tarter adds this: “Kevin Harlan, general manager over at WMBD-TV […] heard rumblings from some groups about some of the language used in the ‘9-11’ documentary run by CBS two weeks ago. New York firefighters had the gall to utter four-letter words while describing the devastation at the World Trade Center.” Tarter apparently is unable to grasp the subtle distinction between “live” and “taped” programming. If the firefighters are on live TV and reacting to a tragedy like 9/11, that’s one thing. No one is arguing that they should somehow have the presence of mind to censor themselves as they watch thousands of people die before their eyes.

But the program he’s talking about is a documentary; all the footage is on tape. The director and editor know exactly what is going to be said and when, and they are completely capable of bleeping out any offensive words at that point. Not only is it technically possible, but it also would not diminish the emotional impact of the program in any way. Who is the person who, upon hearing bleeps or audio dropout during that segment of the broadcast, thinks to himself, “I wonder what those fellows said when that plane smashed into that building?”

We all know what they said. We all know what we said when it happened. Not editing those words out is just the networks’ way of callously exploiting a national tragedy to push the envelope of what kind of language is allowed on broadcast television.

But the point is you’ve got a growing cable/satellite universe unfettered by federal restrictions while over-the-air networks cower in fear lest a community zealot cry foul.

In addition to having to fight for funding, now PBS also must battle with Animal Channel, TNT, History Channel and all the rest on a playing field not even close to being level.

And when was the last time you saw nudity or heard four-letter words on “Animal Channel” (did he mean “Animal Planet”?), TNT, or the History Channel? Hmm? If PBS is getting beaten up by these networks, it’s not because they’re “cower[ing] in fear” over federal decency standards.

City of Peoria, Television

“Target Peoria”: On target or off?

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The town hall meeting is over and already one review has come in: Scott Janz was unimpressed, saying “nobody had any real substantive answers” to the questions raised.

I really want to be positive about it, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed myself — no offense to the participants. I know there’s no magic wand that will solve all our crime problems, and I wasn’t expecting all crime issues to be resolved in a one-hour town-hall meeting.

But I came away from the meeting feeling like all these officials were telling me they’re doing everything they can to combat crime, and there is little else they can do. In fact, it felt like a vehicle for “educating” the public rather than getting public input. Maybe that was the goal, since they’re planning to have three more forums.

The most surprising thing I heard all night was Peoria Police Chief Settingsgaard and Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy passed up a golden opportunity to say they needed more resources, saying they’re doing just fine with the resources they have. Really? Well, that should take a little pressure off the council this budget season.

What did you think of the program?