Council Against Moving Channels

By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 28, 2007

TAMPA - City council members told a representative of Bright House Networks that they don't care for a plan to move government access TV stations higher on the dial.

The word "litigation" came up from council members on more than one occasion, and by the end of the meeting, Councilman John Dingfelder asked the city's legal department to look into filing a motion for injunctive relief to keep the government access channels where they are.

"To me, those are extremely important channels the public should have ready access to," Dingfelder said. "I urge this community to write to you and urge you to leave it alone."

At issue is Bright House's plan to rearrange its cable TV lineup so that a viewer in Hernando County, for example, will have the same lineup as a viewer in Hillsborough County. As part of the plan, public, educational and governmental, or PEG, channels will move.

Additional Box Fee

Carlos del Castillo, vice president and general manager of Bright House, said that PEG channels will remain on the basic tier. However, the 30 percent of customers, or roughly 20,000 people, who don't have digital cable service will need to pay $1 a month for a box that provides those channels, if they want them.

Sal Territo, chief assistant city attorney, said the city sees it differently.

"We disagree with their rationale," Territo said. "Those people will no longer be able to receive the PEG channels, which, in reality, is creating a separate tier."

This month, City Attorney David Smith, in a letter to del Castillo, wrote that moving the channels "would be a breach of the spirit in which your franchise was granted. All subscribers of Bright House Networks should have the opportunity to view the PEG channels, not just those willing to pay extra for that service."

He also questioned the legality of Bright House's proposal, claiming federal law requires cable networks to place PEG channels on the lowest tier available.

He also wrote that charging viewers for a cable box in order to view PEG channels is not right.

Councilman Tom Scott worried about whether elderly cable subscribers would be able to afford the extra $12 a year.

Councilwoman Mary Mulhern agreed that it's an economic issue, and said she is concerned that people won't be able to watch government television.

Viewership Survey

Mindy Snyder, the city's cable television manager, came to Thursday's council meeting armed with statistics from April's survey on viewership of the city's cable station. She said that 62 percent of cable subscribers are aware of the station, and 70 percent watch it while channel-surfing.

The ability to land on the city's Channel 15 or the county's Channel 22 by surfing is critical, Dingfelder said.

Having those stations low in the lineup enables TV viewers to easily land on them while flipping for something to watch. If the channels are moved up, that would be less likely, he said.

Del Castillo disagreed and argued that viewers channel-surfing on the digital tiers will be just as likely to land on PEG channels.

The change is scheduled to take place Dec. 11.

In other action, the council:

•Talked about establishing a trust fund to help pay for affordable housing projects.

•Approved a measure to move nearly half a million dollars initially intended for various downtown projects to help pay for a redesign of Curtis Hixon Park. Projects that won't be funded include a downtown circulation study and turning some one-way streets into two-way roads.

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or

egedalius@tampatrib.com.