The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About10/02/2014WATERLOO CABLE TV COMMISSION October 2, 2014 4:30 p.m. 1st Floor Conference Room City Hall 715 Mulberry St. I. Call to Order —Chairperson Larry Herzog. II. Roll Call III. Approval of Agenda, as proposed or amended IV. Approval of Minutes of August 7, 2014 V. Citizens Oral Comments VI. Financial Report VII. Chairperson's Report VIII. Report of Mediacom Net IX. Report from CT Production Coordinator X. New Business i. Frequency of meetings XI. Unfinished Business XII. Adjournment Suzy Schares, CMC City Clerk/Human Resource Director WATERLOO CABLE TV COMMISSION October 2, 2014 4:30 p.m. 1st Floor Conference Room City Hall 715 Mulberry St. I. Ca11 to Order —Chairperson Larry Herzog. II. Roll Call III. Approval of Agenda, as proposed or amended IV. Approval of Minutes of August 7, 2014 V. Citizens Oral Comments VI. Financial Report VII. Chairperson's Report VIII. Report of Mediacom Net IX. Report from CT Production Coordinator X. New Business i. Frequency of meetings XI. Unfinished Business XII. Adjournment Suzy Schares, CMC City Clerk/Human Resource Director WATERLOO CABLE TV COMMISSION August 7, 2014 4:30 p.m. First Floor Conference Room Members present: Hutchens, Herzog, Sherbon, and Scott. Members absent: None. Also present: DeAnne Kobliska, Ed Stoffer. Moved by Scott, seconded by Hutchens that the agenda, be approved. Ayes: Four. Motion carried. Moved by Hutchens, seconded by Scott that the minutes of November 7, 2013, be approved. Ayes: Four. Motion carried. Citizen Oral Comments None Financial Report None. Chairperson Report None. Report of Mediacom Net Hutchens state that Mediacom has increased their Starz package drastically. CT Production Coordinator Report Ed Stoffer gave update on Council meetings and Public Access programs. Hutchens asked Stoffer if a live stream with the Public Access channel could be placed on ones lap top/computer. Stoffer said he would check into it. New Business 1. Sherbon reported some recent customer service issues with Mediacom. Unfinished Business 1. Scott followed up on request to review the franchise agreement for Mediacom personnel's presence at our meeting. Kobliska responded that it isn't addressed in the agreement. Moved by Hutchens seconded by Sherbon to adjourn at 5:01 p.m. Ayes: Four. Motion carried. DeAnne Kobliska, CMC Administrative Secretary Mediacom the power to simpirry August 20, 2014 Ms. Suzy Schares City Clerk 715 Mulberry St. Waterloo, Iowa 50703-5783 Subject: SEC Network Launch Dear Ms. Suzy Schares, Mediacom is happy to announce that for the next 30 days it will be providing a preview of the SEC Network on the Sports and Information Tier on channel 188 and also in the HD Pak in high definition on channel 761. The SEC Network will be permanently added to the Mediacom channel line-up on or around September 22. If there are any questions please call me at 319-395-9699 ext. 3461 or e-mail me at Igrassley@mediacomcc.com Sincerely,] 01"-Lt- .t'ub't Lee Grassley Senior Manager, Government Relations Mediacom Communications Corporation 6300 Council St. NE • Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 • 319-395-7801 • Fax 319-393-7017 Mediacom the power to simpify August 28, 2014 Ms. Suzy Schares City of Waterloo 715 Mulberry St. Waterloo, Iowa 50703-5783 Dear Ms. Schares The purpose of this letter is to inform you that, on or about October 1, 2014, Mediacom will be implementing the following rate adjustments:18 Product: Old Rate: New Rate: Net Change: Regional Sports Surcharge N/A $2.83 $2.83 Late Fee $7.50 $8.50 $1.00 Standard Installation, Repair, or Reactivation Fee Varied Separate Charges $49.99 N/A College and professional sports play an important role in the lives of many Americans. At Mediacom, we strive to bring our customers the most popular games from the most popular teams in the areas we serve. Years ago, the biggest games were primarily shown on local broadcast television. In more recent years, however, professional teams and college conferences are raking in huge amounts of money by selling off their TV rights to regional sports networks ("RSNs") like FSN, Comcast SportsNet, the Big Ten Network and the newly launched SEC Network. As the games get spread out over more channels, the cost of delivering sports content has risen. Up to now, Mediacom has absorbed many of these costs. Unfortunately, we are now forced to make some pricing changes. As noted above, on or about October 1st, Mediacom will institute a Regional Sports Surcharge equal to the increases that RSNs in your market have demanded we pay to them since the start of 2011 and that we have not previously included in customer bills. 18 Depending on the terms of their offer, some customers currently on promotional rates may not receive this rate change until the expiration of their respective promotional period. The Regional Sports Surcharge we are instituting varies by market based on the total number RSNs carried in the Family TV tier and the wholesale rate charged by each RSN. The Regional Sports Surcharge does not apply to customers that only subscribe to the Local Plus TV tier, as there are no RSNs carried in that level of service. Similar to the Local Broadcast Station Surcharge that Mediacom instituted in 2012, we hope the Regional Sports Surcharge will bring more transparency to our bills and help consumers identify some of the primary causes behind rising cable and satellite rates. Greater transparency is only part of the solution, though. Recognizing that many consumers are frustrated by the current state of affairs in the video marketplace, Mediacom filed a petition on July 21, 2014, asking the Federal Communications Commission to adopt new rules that would allow expensive channels to be sold a la carte, create options to purchase channels on an unbundled basis, ensure consumers have access to free online video content, and prevent unjustified wholesale price discrimination (see https://mediacomcable.com/site/about news 25 07 2014.html). In response to the petition, the FCC opened rule making proceeding No. 11728 to seek comment from interested parties on the issues raised by Mediacom. Comments are due September 29, 2014, and we would invite you community to submit comments to the FCC on behalf of your residents. Despite the increasing wholesale cost pressures faced by our business, Mediacom appreciates the opportunity to continue to serve your community's telecommunications needs. If you have any questions, please contact me directly at (319) 395-9699 ext. 3461 or e-mail me at lgrassley(c�mediacomcc.com Yours sincerely, (At Lee Grassley Senior Manager, Government Relations Mediacom Communications Corporation 6300 Council St. NE • Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 • 319-395-7801 • Fax 319-393-7017 August 29, 2014 Ms. Suzy Schares City of Waterloo 715 Mulberry St. Waterloo, Iowa 50703-5783 Dear Ms. Schares: In addition to the sports tier surcharge referred to in the previous letter, on or about October 1, 2014 Mediacom will be increasing the digital tuner charge from $3.50 to $6.50. This change in your area is being made in order to standardize equipment charges throughout the company If you have any questions, please contact me directly at (319) 395-9699 ext. 3461 or e-mail me at Igrassley(c�mediacomcc.com Yours sincerely, Lee Grassley Senior Manager, Government Relations