The following February 1, 2012 email from Jay April, president and CEO of Akaku: Maui Community Television, to DCCA Kealii Lopez challenges Oceanic Time Warner’s unilateral moves of several public access channels from analog to digital signals.
Digital signals take much less bandwidth than analog, so the company can create several digital channels in place of a single analog channel.
But one immediate practical impact of the move to digital is that the signal becomes unavailable to certain viewers without a special electronic translator.
April says “nearly half of cable subscribers” on Kauai and the Big Island fall in that category.
In any case, if you’re interested in or concerned about the future of public access cable, you’ll want to read through the letter.
Aloha Director Lopez,
I just got word that Oceanic Time Warner has just effected the migration of PEG Channel 55 from analog to digital on the Big Island and Kaua?i cable systems. What this means is that effective today nearly half of cable subscribers on those islands cannot view any educational PEG channels without first obtaining special equipment. It also means that nearly 40% of the bandwidth dedicated to public benefit by federal law has been taken for commercial use without compensation or due process. As you are well aware, Oceanic Time Warner has done this in violation of existing neighbor island Decision and Orders that govern their franchise agreements. You have also been made aware of a similar case in Michigan (Dearborn v. Comcast ) where a TRO was granted by the 6th Circuit against the cable operator for possible violation of Federal Law for doing almost exactly the same thing. In that case, because the LFA chose to enforce rather than ignore it?s franchise agreement, the City of Dearborn obtained a settlement that restored the channels to the analog tier, guaranteed the channels on digital and HD tiers, and received $250,000 in compensation. You also know that we fully appreciate that digital and IPTV is the inevitable future of cable technology and we support efforts by our educational partners to add learning on demand services. We need to point out however that this particular migration at this time is not only premature, it is in violation of agreements now in place. There has also been misinformation put forth to our educational partners that their digital success is linked to abandonment of analog spectrum now. We know that this is not true and that there is no reason why education cannot move forward with digital improvements while simultaneously remaining on the analog tier until this issue is resolved.
I want you to know that my colleagues and myself do appreciate the ongoing conversations we have had with the Department and yourself regarding this issue going back as far as September of 2011. We are concerned, however that apparently very little has been done to stop the erosion of PEG channels on your watch. The Maui DOE channel 56 is already gone and Akaku is concerned about a similar event taking place with Channel 55 on Maui?s cable systems to go along with Oceanic?s recent rate hike, and we need to know now where the Department stands on this issue. Since Maui County will be entering into a franchise renewal negotiation in the near future, the failure of the Department to enforce its Maui contract cannot help but send the wrong signal to Oceanic that will impair our ability to achieve a fair franchise agreement in 2013. The harm does stop there. Apart from a major channel branding and marketing disruption, the loss and dissolution of public benefit bandwidth as a result of this move costs us money and audience we will never get back; diminishes the ability to be treated on a par with commercial services such as local broadcast channels; and inhibits community broadband efforts by usurping electronic spectrum from the public sphere. It creates significant barriers to viewership; blurs the distinction, definition, placement and jurisdiction of PEG channels; and due to the significant barrier of finding out about and acquiring special equipment, reduces DOE and UH stations to what amounts to dedicated institutional channels with limited viewership. This ignores the general wider public audiences who can still benefit from educational programming and pay their taxes to be able to have free and open access to it. What this migration does to put it simply, is to allow the cable operator to appropriate 40% of our electronic parkland for its own commercial use. The math to support this metaphor is as follows: 2 analog channels (55 and 56 )equal 8 digital channels and the 2 digital channels that supposedly replace them( 355 and 356) do not amount to enough bandwidth to even compensate for 1 analog channel. So if analog channels were acres of parkland, you are down sizing 5 contiguous acres of parkland to 3 acres and, in return for those two lost prime acres, you get 1/2 an acre located way out in the boondocks where you need a special key (digital cable box) to get in. It is difficult to see how a deal like that is in the public interest.
It was encouraging to hear Cable Television Administrator, Yabusaki not rule out some sort of “legal action” in his recent testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection but as defenders of the little that is left of public benefit electronic real estate, we are deeply troubled by the implications of this most recent encroachment. If there was a time that the DCCA would stand up and enforce our neighbor island contracts, the time is now. I would like to once again, respectfully request that you will let me and the public know whether or not you intend to exercise your authority as Director to do that or, alternatively whether you can facilitate a reasonable quid pro quo on behalf of the PEGs as soon as possible. It will also help me to sleep better knowing that another PEG channel won?t be unilaterally moved to digital Siberia as I sleep.
Sincerely,
Jay April
President and CEO
Akaku: Maui Community Television
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For the most part the Olelo programs were the best that Oceanic Cable offered its viewers. I am close to canceling cable due to poor quality programs…Bring back access to community programs on Olelo.
Come on. At some point we need to get a little closer to the 21st century. These hold outs may have to ditch their rotary dial phones, too.
In this particular case Jay April has it right. The original franchise agreement with cable suppliers required them to compensate the public with the allocation of “bandwidth” for public use (not number of “channels.”) For example the government (public) was granted 4 strands of interisland fiber optic to run its iNet system in addition to broadcast channels for public access. This was in return for the use of public rights of way and easements to install their infrastructure. In other words, the public obtained certain valuable communication assets, in addition to money assessed the cable customers to support public access programing.
An analog channel represents a lot more bandwidth that a digital channel (in other words the capacity is about 1/50th). It’s not a one-to-one trade and the switching from analog to digital represents a serious reduction in the public compensation for granting the franchise rights.
Try paying your taxes in pesos instead of dollars and see what happens!
There a lot wrong with how public access assets have been managed and the unhealthy relationship between the (now monopoly) Time Warner cable, the public access managers (PEGs) and the Government administrators (DCCA). Ms Lopez was the GM at Olelo for many years, and fought DCCA attempts to exercise fiscal oversight. Certain assets had accumulated in the non-profit PEG operators that DCCA felt belonged to the public, and which Olelo (among others) litigated to hold onto. Their position being that the PEG money was not public funds and that all assets and investments made on behalf of their profitable “non-profit” operation and was their property. Federal authorities described the PEG relationship to DCCA as the “tail wagging the dog.” Lopez was just appointed by Governor Abercrombie to run the government department she was previously suing.
To say this situation needs watching would be an extreme understatement.
All of this is documented in the minutes of DCCA meetings with it’s Cable Advisory Commission public meetings.
Keith, please cite the source/context of your statement that federal authorities described the PEG relationship to DCCA as the “tail wagging the dog.”
This was stated in a phone conversation between me and an FCC official in Washington, DC, when I worked as a Special Advisor with the City’s IT department and served on the Cable Advisory Committee (DCCA).
The “context” was a discussion on the State’s ongoing litigation with Olelo in it’s attempt to execute a RFP for the management of PEG operations. Olelo basically contended that the State had no authority to do this, and that all operating funds passed to Olelo became privately held funds and all assets accrued to its 501 C corporation. Their contention was that the Olelo’s facility, equipment and money accumulated in their bank accounts (which was in the multi-millions) were no longer owned by the public. In fact they used money provided by the state administrated cable surcharge to fuel their litigations to thwart attempts at government oversight.
The guy I talked to in Washington actually laughed and asked how we let things get so out of control. He also reiterated that the franchising authority (the State) had ALL the control and could shut it all down if it chose.
As the City’s representative on the CAC, I was interested in why the PEG (Public Access, Education and Government), where each of the three is supposed to have equal access to facilities and funding was totally dominated by Olelo (essentially the “P”). The City Council was (and probably still is) paying Olelo for the “right” to broadcast public meetings, even though it is granted by law access to these channels and production capability. Olelo (the “P”) took over everything and tried to make profit center out of the “E” and “G” by selling their rightful share of access back to them.
All of Olelo’s commercials that they produced and ran were also an illegal use of assets. They shouldn’t be “advocating” anything, much less how the State is threatening the people’s first amendment rights, when they were really trying to recover control of public funds and assets.
If the legal franchising authority (the State) is the only one empowered by the Feds to impose a cable user surcharge on customers of the cable provider, it is causing the creation of public funds. If it collects the these funds it has total authority on any entity that is allows to “manage” those assets on behalf of the public. That gives it the right to put out an RFP or even “fire” that entity. In other words, it would perfectly legal, in my opinion, to ask the current corporate entity operating Olelo to turn over it’s keys and walk away.
Hey Keith –
I think you misunderstood the laws and regulations – there is no legally established allocation of PEG resources to serve the different functions… we’ve certainly seen examples around the nation where cities have taken all the funds and only provide “G” programming serving political interests of incumbents without any provision of free speech, community access or education services… other examples where only “E” services are funded .. Hawaii’s PEG providers actually provide services across the service spectrum with real access for uncensored local voices …
Since DCCA requires cable operators to pay 4% of gross video revenue with 3% going to PEGs and 1% going to PBS Hawaii (the only place in the nation to do this) – I wonder what is your take on the PBS Hawaii funding – that is not audited nor subject to any of the strict oversight which the PEG organizations are required to meet..
Very interesting.
I guess I’m not the only one who thinks, meaning knows, that oh-see-a-nick bears watching.
They seem to be overpriced in all their services, voip, internet and cable t.v. I guess we could call ’em consistent.
These guys ‘sposed to be providing a service for their monopolistic ways…
Maybe they need to be sort of slapped around a little bit, huh?
As a former OC/TW employee, I’m not surprised by their behavior. They’re notorious for moving around channels for no apparent reason and they are extremely over-priced. Which is why I haven’t subscribed to them in 15+ years. Directv is much better and less expensive. And it’s NOT Oceanic. I will never subscribe to them again.
On Oahu, the deletion of analog channel 49 seems to be illegal under both federal law and DCCA’s order to Oceanic–but I’m not an attorney.
So I emailed the Director to ask about that. But I never received a reply.
DCCA should act on their own and require that Oceanic reverse the removal of the analog channels. It’s seems clear to me, after checking, that public access television is to be provided on the lowest tier of service, which in Honolulu is Basic (analog) Cable.
I think the PEG channels should have both digital and analog for a stated time period and anyone who needs a set top box and can somehow prove that they can’t afford it should get one for free. OTW makes millions of dollars a month profit from all the video addicts in Hawaii and much more across the country. And their internet speed sucks. Today I am getting 1.84 down, .89 up.
One more thing “PEG” is a figure of speech, it is not intended to be 3 entities but one non-commercial public access entity. The City pays for their programming because it costs more to broadcast than the fee’s provide. TV is expensive. Keep the funds together. Jay April is the biggest fighter for Community Access Television in Hawaii, he should be supported and congratulated.
I’m with Gozinya: analog video is right up there with rotary phones. The federal govt recognized that broadcast TV (remember that) needed to move to digital years ago. This is about Akaku flexing its muscle to keep the people of Maui in the past –for broadband as well as video services — until/unless Akaku can get more (something, anything) for themselves.
For those who are richer and younger, it’s a simple “duh” response … but if we abandon legacy services like broadcast and analog cable, we risk further impoverishing the least connected – esp. low income, native, elderly, remote rural.
The result is to favor wealth and privilege while hindering access for diverse local community voices …
One analog channel is equivalent to about 30 digital channels (I erroneously said 50 earlier), or 5 HD channels. So, by swapping out the 6 analog channels for 15 digital channels the public gets shorted 165 channels. So, the public got its compensation cut to 1/12 of what it should be.
Sean,
I understand that there is no mandate for allocation between the P, E and G, and that any formula that the franchise authority wants basically goes. However, in Honolulu, Olelo has come to dominate and control the whole ball game. With Olelo’s past CEO now the director of DCCA and the deputy director from Olelo’s law firm this is not likely to change.