I am reaching out to you because the new cable franchise agreement between Time Warner, the City and other municipalities in Tompkins county affect us personally.
All public access shows will now be on channel 13. The loss of channel 78 means we have only one play for our shows during prime time. It means that any time we want to air broadcasts that are not scheduled as a regular show, the odds are they will end up in a time slot inconvienent for viewing by the public. Future growth will be constrained due to lack of prime time hours available to us.
This major change was not addressed during the recent "public comment" session held in both the City and the Town of Ithaca. Certain changes were alluded to regarding possible reduction of hours of operation of the studio and fees to those living in areas not joining this agreement. As if this were not enough cause for alarm, no mention of the reduction of broadcast channels was made.This is in violation of the rules set forth by the Public Service Commission. A true public hearing as called for under PSC regulations was not held. Copies of the franchise agreement were not available to the public before or during the "public comment" session with the City Common Council even though they were requested by me. At the Town of Ithaca session, copies of an agreement that subsequently underwent significant change were distributed that did not mention any reduction of service.
Ithaca has been served by two public access stations for over ten years. The changes that affect the future needs of our community are impossible to predict. The loss of an outlet for our views can have signficant effects. Free speech must be defended and we seem to be the ones who must confront a situation directly affecting us.
Please contact the PSC with any concerns that you might have about this pending agreement at 518-474-2213. Time is short. We only have a few days to air our views.
Kenny Ritter
Producer, The Luminary News
(607) 277-6300
theluminarynews@yahoo.com
