Cable Panel Questions City Funding of Channels

THOUSAND OAKS —  Cable TV commissioners are questioning the amount of money used for city government programming and want to ensure that other channels get equal funding.

The Citizens’ Advisory Cable TV Issues Committee specifically questioned a City Council appropriation of more than $200,000 for high-tech editing equipment that may only be used for Channel 10, the government access channel.

“My question is what level of programming that they are doing justifies this level of sophisticated equipment?” said Ken Yas, a committee member.

He and other committee members want more funds from monthly surcharges to subscribers earmarked for public access Channel 8 and education access Channel 20. Committee members decided to conduct their own study of the programming budget.

Unlike many cities, which allow residents to operate the government channel, city officials in Thousand Oaks control all Channel 10 operations, according to Yas.

“[Funding] should be more equitable,” he said.

Two of the three providers servicing Thousand Oaks--TCI and Falcon--add a surcharge to their monthly bills as part of their 10-year franchise agreements with the city.

TCI charges 51 cents per bill, and Falcon charges 48 cents.

Committee members were already upset with the City Council, which ordered that the government channel get the lion’s share of fees charged to TCI for access programming. About 80% of a one-time $250,000 fee paid by TCI went to the channel, while the two other access channels, Channel 8, the public access channel, and Channel 20, the school access channel, received $25,000 each.

“We had no choice in the distribution,” said Alan McDaniel, TCI’s local access manager.

Committee members say they have gotten little help from city staffers regarding the study of public access financing.

“The staff is constantly going out of its way to impede our efforts to engage these questions,” said committee member Tom Emma.

The committee, however, believes the city has no legal authority to block the study, and will move forward. Yas said he expects it will be complete by Christmas.

Caroline Milton, the city’s media services coordinator, said the City Council bought the editing equipment for Channel 10 to ensure government meetings would be a priority.

“The city felt it wanted to have the equipment whenever it was [needed],” she said.

GTE also competes for a share of Thousand Oaks’ 40,000 cable subscribers.

Committee members said distributing surcharge funds more equitably will entice more residents to produce programs on the two other channels, particularly Channel 8.

As much as 90% of the programming on public access Channel 8 is produced by nonresidents.

The committee’s study will include a survey of subscribers’ interests.

If the ratio of locally produced shows jumps from 10% to at least 50%, a more popular program lineup will evolve, Yas said.

“People from Thousand Oaks doing shows about Thousand Oaks will result in a more diverse and mainstream programming mix,” he said.