Cable Committee discusses local programming

    The Washington Cable Committee met Tuesday afternoon to discuss adding programming to the local access cable channel in the city that would include, among other things, televising city council meetings.

    Lee Grassley, a representative of the cable company Mediacom, presented cost estimates of the equipment the city would need if it wanted to televise council meetings or do any other kind of public access programming. The essential items on Grassley?s list, which include microphones, cameras and video editing equipment, are expected to cost approximately $95,000.

    The Professional HDV Camcorder was the single largest expense in the cost estimate report at $12,795. Grassley said three such cameras are recommended, which would mean that the cameras would comprise roughly one-third of the total cost of the project.

    Grassley told the committee that there are two kinds of programming that can appear on a cable access channel. One of those is to use the channel as a ?bulletin board? that displays news and events. The other kind of programming is video, which requires the installation of fiber-optic cables. 

    When the committee members asked Grassley about the cost of the project, he said that the city should look into a grant from the Riverboat Foundation to cover a portion of the cost.

    ?Waterloo received a grant from its local casino for its channel,? said Grassley. ?If you made a good case to the Riverboat Foundation, they?d probably give you some dough.?

    Grassley talked about some of the legal restrictions public access channels operate under, particularly regarding raising revenue. He said public channels cannot have direct advertising where a business promotes one of its products. However, he said businesses are allowed to sponsor events and have their name mentioned as a sponsor on the air.

    Mayor Sandra Johnson was in attendance and asked Grassley how the addition of local programming would affect Mediacom?s market share. Grassley answered that he did not know how to quantify the change in market share.

For the full article, see our Feb. 3 print edition.