Channels

Currently the only channel available to WCCA TV is channel 13.

WCCA TV 13 currently airs one-hundred and twenty-three hours of video programming per week or six-thousand two-hundred and ninety-six hours per year. The programming is supplemented by bulletin board messages for nonprofit and community groups. The channel is analog.

WCCA has very little repeated programming, less than twenty-five hours per week, or twenty-one percent. This is highly unusual for an access center and speaks volumes for WCCA’s work in the community and with community producers. Additionally, very few programs are produced by staff, only two hours per week, again, highly unusual. The bulletin board runs only an hour or so during the day and then during the overnight hours for a total of forty-five hours per week or twenty-six percent of total air-time. When we did a comparison of WCCA against other access channels of roughly the same budget serving roughly the same number of subscribers, we found a range of twenty-three hours per week to as high as eighty-five hours per week of bulletin board programming on those channels.13

WCCA has requested an additional channel as per the franchise agreement:

SECTION 6.1—PEG ACCESS CHANNELS

“An additional channel shall be made available for public access when, over a period of six (6) consecutive months sixty percent (60%) of the prime time (7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. each evening) is fully occupied with first run local programming created by local producers on each existing public access channel, such availability to be provided within ninety (90) days of the Issuing Authority’s certification of such use and request for additional channel.”

The request for the additional channel was made in August 2005. It is our understanding that the City (Issuing Authority) did certify that WCCA had met the requirement to trigger the additional channel but that Charter has declined to honor the City’s request. The small amount of time WCCA is able to devote to bulletin board service during the day on channel 13 is problematic for the nonprofits or other community groups who need bulletin board notices to inform the community.14 Also, WCCA has enjoyed a 52% growth in its membership over the last ten years and increased its total cablecast hours by 153%. At that rate, one channel will not be able to accommodate community demand as it continues to grow.

The ability to compress digital voice, video and data into smaller packets would seem to intuitively suggest that “less” space will be needed once the system is completely digital. However that is simply not the case. As technology and community capabilities increase and the access channels become fully interactive and applications become richer, more space will be needed not less. Looking into the future it does not make sense to require a certain number of channels as the definition of how much spectrum equals one channel will continue to change through compression technology. Instead the growing trend around the country is to require a percentage of channel capacity. The trend for a percentage of channel capacity is 10%. This percentage of digital capacity will allow the access channel(s) to grow as the technology grows.

WCCA does have live capability and has programmed live from various remote drop points in the community in the past. Live programming such as from the Performing Arts School or the Columbus Day Parade is highly valuable to community involvement and participation in events. Recently when WCCA tried to cover a gubernatorial rally at the DCU Center, they were informed that they needed two weeks notice from Charter to connect to the drop and there needed to be a Charter technician present for the live cable cast. There was concern expressed by the City that WCCA’s use of the drop could cause the Institutional Network to crash. While we have never heard of this happening in other cities where access channels use Institutional Networks, this is an issue that should be addressed so that WCCA can provide live programming of events and without jeopardizing the Institutional Network. In many cities, a dedicated strand is supplied for live video playback, separate from the city’s capacity. In addition, WCCA is discouraged from doing more remote live programming because it is unclear where the drops are in the City.

The channel has enjoyed its location on 13 for the past twenty years. This is positive since “branding” is as important to a local access channel as it is to network channels. There has been a tendency by cable operators to move access channels on a regular basis. There have also been horror stories from access centers that were “channel slammed” and received no advance notice, sometimes finding out the channel has been moved through viewers calling in.15

WCCA TV 13 has an established reputation throughout the City of Worcester. Moving WCCA from its channel location will cause it irreparable harm. It is important that the new franchise agreement contain a provision that will not allow WCCA TV 13 to be moved by the cable operator.16 It should also include a provision for other acquired channels that limits how often they can be moved and requires compensation for the move. Compensation for moving the channel includes real costs for logo re-design, printed materials, graphic generation, signage, etc. and should include not only actual dollars but also a number of free “avails” and advance notice to the community through bill stuffers.