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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1980.09.23111 BURL I NGAME , September CALIFORNIA 23, I9B0 A specialat 8:00 Pto hear p meeti ng .l\4., bY roposai s of the Buri i ngame Ci ty Counci l was Mayor R.D. Martin in the City Hal I from s i x Cabl e TV fi rms . cai I ed Counci I to order Chambers Al I counci I members were present. .I . TELEPROMPTER OF BURLINGAME, INC. Mr. [,laterman said that they propose the most current technology avail- abl e in terms of system des i gni ng and con s truc ti on, a 52 channel ,400 megahertz system, fully two-way operational to meet the needs ofthe city. Engineering and financial studies made prior to their bid establ i shed the highest number of cabl e miles essential to the sys - tem and a proper receiving iocation. In terms of construction period, they calculate twelve award of franchi se. Landscapi ng that may be uprootedwill be repl aced wi th identical or simi I ar pl anti ngs. based on a 40 month term. By the end of the forty mont scriber owns the converter. There is an annual payment no deposit. They propose a free installation period of i ncl udes all three of thei r premi um servi ces. months f romor di sturbed The package for the basic subscriber rate is forty channels of entertainment and special programs. In addition, five optional paid TV services, including Home Box 0ffice, Show Time, Front Row and Reuters IDR. tli th channel capaci ty proposed, channel s are reservedfor future applications. five channels for local access and institu-tional use in the city and two channels for other future uses. Someof the proposed uses in welfare are burglar, fire, and medical systems, energy management systems, play cable, and home computer termi nal s. The system, technically, will provide all of the services mentioned. There is significant support of locai programming efforts. Thefi rm offers $200,000.00 i n studi o equi pment, whi ch wi I I i ncl ude a fixed studio, a mobi le van, two portable studios. Approximately $400 ,000.00 in annual operati ng costs has been proj ected to effec-tively provide a suitable system. The firm offers a franchise fee of 5%, This will result in annual revenues of approximately $70,000.00 to the ci ty. An advance pre- payment of $100,000.00 for future franchise fees will be made by Teleprompter upon acceptance of the franchise award. Mr. l,rlaterman said that in the early years of construction and operation franchise fees to the city will be at a Iow level . Also, $10,000.00 annual payment will be made to a non-profit foundation, function and member- ship to be determined by the Council. 2. STORER CAPITAL TV, INC.Jeff Eaton, Franch i se Representati ve. Mr. Eaton described their rates as very low, allowing a great dealof flexibiiity. They will prov'ide two outlets in every home for theprice of one. They will waive any installation charge when the sub- scri ber purchases any one of thei r premi um servi ces. For those who do not have a converter on thei r television, thei r converter is hs, pla 30 a1 expen- ars. Capi t dol I the sub- n requi ri ngdays. Thi s Storer's construction commi tment is di tures over a ten-year peri od wi lI I to Il months. reach 3.7 mill ion Storer' s subscri ber network, or "A'nels downstream and four upstream. cable, is two-way, has 40 chan- Institutionai network, or "B" cable, is separate from the "A" cable.It inter-connects communi ty schools, libraries, government facilities,police, fire and whatever other service the city may deem essential. Access facilities are avai I abl e to individuals and organi zati ons ona first-come, first-served, non-discriminatory basis. I Presented by 0i ck I'laterman. LLz There is a one-time $25,00 fee for availability of the access chan- nel s. Thei r proposa l is based on the cabl e systemall homes within the community. There willStorer provi di ng techni ci ans , equi pment and bei ng able to serve be a studi o wi th color, mai ntenance of equi pment. Haywa rd ,franchise Concerning fibre-optics, this is basically a new technology. The telephone company is doing the most extensive work at the present t i me . Storer is proposing a system of extremely low rates, flexiblerates, with a variety of quality access facilities and an exten- si ve i nsti tuti onal network. 3. UNITED CABLE TELEVISI0N C0RP0RATI0N Mark Van Lux, Vice-Presi-dent of Marketinffies, United has i nstal I ed a San Leandro and Fosterto Uni ted recently. cable television system for theCity area. Cupertino awarded a Mr. Van Lux menti oned that cab le television and over cha I ) enge to the industry. the Baythe past Area is ayears has difficul t I ocati on for proved a defi ni te Their proposals include a thirty-five channel, three megahertz system, offering over forty-five differentservices. United's system is fully capable, two-way, two -way . hundred programmi ng ful Iy acti ve They propose five per cent of the gross revenues for the franchisefee. 0ne per cent add i ti ona I to that will be dedi cated to fundi ng publ i c access, i.€., about $12,000.00 a year. The system is designed for 400 megahertz, but they will, currently,deliver 300, tlhen 400 proves feasible, the system will be expandedfor the extra channels. Each subscriber will have a remote con-trol , a programmabl e converter to di al the thi rty-fi ve channe l s and forty programmi ng servi ces on thei r system. They consideLit important that they build the system for Burlin-game. It wi 1l not be dependent on a neighboring system. It wili have its own facilities, its own origination faci 1i ti es here. Itwill not be an extension of a neighboring system, They have made avai I abl e and specifical ly reserved a significant i nterest, a per- centage in thei r I ocal cabl e television operati on in Burl i ngame, which they will offer to members in this community should they choose to invest in the system for a permanent ownership in thesystem. They feel it important that peopie in Burl ingame arewilling to risk their money, dollar for dollar, to be sure the sys- tem works. He stressed tha t work televi sion. cabl e tel evi si on shoul d remai n i ndependent of net- Uni ted has no other business than cab le TV. 4. AMERICAN TELEVISI0N 0F CALIF0RNIA, INC. Ted Kruttschnitt, I ocal busi nessman. He stated that, as a matter of record, Arnerican is the i nnovator and fastest growi ng company i n the i ndustry.sidiary of Time, Inc., it is second largest in terms ofof subscribers nationwide, based on system commitments hand, and should be the number one firm by December. Ieading A sub- numbers now i n 0ver the I ast fi ve years , on awarded more franchi ses thanin the room comb i ned. Fred Dressler of American: now serves over one million communi ty as an independent a nationwide basis, Ameri can has beenall of the other cable TV companies The company was founded in subscri bers. They operate cabl e system, They bui I d I i th 968 andn eache sys tems 113 they are a!rarded and provi de excel i ent servi ce. Tom Fl avi n, Ameri can's Manager of Market Devel opment: Ameri can has already contacted various institutions and community groups in Burlingame to determine their needs and interests. In August, they sponsored a workshop to assist the groups in identifying specific programming opportunities. The school district, Easter Seal Society, Recreation Department, Library, Police Department andFire Department have all identified specific community programming opportunities, American will provide the hardware, the studios, cameras, lights, the mi crophones , the staff support, pay the sal ari es. They pro- pose one per cent of their gross revenues to be used for program- mi ng access and local ori gi nati on offeri ngs. Thi s is on top of the provi si on for studi os , cameras , etc. Thi s i s an annual com- mitment and demonstrates the company's desire to see that the channel s and equipment do not lay idle. To see that the money is spent v'rhere the Council wants it spent, American has proposed a community corporation of local residents that will determine how funds are spent, for which programs ' andin whi ch areas. They propose an aggressive construction schedule to complete the system ei ght months after ai I permi ts are obtai ned. Ameri can has its ot.,n construction company if local labor is not available. David Carr, locai attorney: He and Mr. Kruttschnitt have con- sented to become stockholders, directors, and officers of the Iocal subsidiary. They believe American has the ability to keep thei r promi ses wi th regard to constructi on, servi ces , rates , pro- g ramm i ng sys tems . Wayne Si nkunas Capi ta1 Ci ti es is a corporati on wi th one-ha lf billion dol I ars in assets. Its teievision stations consist of network affiliates ABC and CBS in Philadelphia, Houston, Buffalo, Newhaven, Durham- Ral ei gh, and Fresno, Cal i forni a. Radio stati ons are I oca ted in several I arge ci ti es. Capi tal Ci ties is in the publ i shi ng busi- ness. Approximately two years ago, Capital made a commitment to enter the cable communications fieId. This company promises to bui Idcolor studios, mobile vans, everything mentioned in ear'l ierpresentations. To be successful, it takes a marriage between theCity Council, City staff, educators, service organizations and the publ i c. Cabl e TV, I ocal ori gi nation, publ i c access, educati onal access, and most important, governmental access can only work where there is total cooperation. Two months ago they acquired one of the major multi-system opera-tors i n the Uni ted States, Cabl e-Com-General . Thi s company has 215,000 subscribers in twelve states. This gives management, experti se, and experi ence to Capi tal Cities. Capi tal Ci ti es proposes the I atest state-of-the-art, 400 megahertz,54 channel system; institutional two-way, inter-connect frominception. They propose a locai studio, a mobile van with power equi pment. They propose to gi ve the ci ty $10,000.00 for the pur- pose of buying any type of equipment they want.purchase for Burl i ngame Hi gh School a camera and and provide an annual $5,000.00 scholarship to agoing into the communications media. 6. BURLINGAI'lE TELE-C0MMUNICATI0NS Paul AIden They vide I oca propose too recorders,I student This company is already in this area, consequently, Burlingame's system would not be dependent on anyone else's system. They havean exi sti ng head into Mi lIbrae and it is supplyi ng virtual ly allthe services they are proposing for Burlingame, j 5. CAPITAL CITIES PENINSULA CABLE They have construction crews on hand, because they are constructing all over the Bay Area. They have an intimate knowledge of utilities and will be able to install a system for Burlingame promptly. They can provide service faster than any other applicant proposes. The day the company is awarded the franchise they can start sending from their Millbrae head-in and service can be turned on very rapidly. They recommend careful consideration of rates proposed by alI compani es. General ly, focusi ng on 1ow rates i s not the best approach when considering cable TV systems. They propose a current state-of-the-art, 54 channel, 400 megahertz sysiein. il so, a "B" sys tem (institutional ). Thei r representati ves have vi si ted wi th the school s , fi re and pol i ce departments and several communi ty organi zations. Expandability they propose to build into the system is very important. llhen the new satellite goes up in 1981 , there wil l be twenty-four more servi ces avai I abl e. Burl i ngame shoul d not have to do Iri thout the services because the capacity was not built in. Thev offered two tiers of services: FX services, three different movie services (one offering only G or PG movies), nineteen sitel Ii te servi ces , a free company cabl e guide paid for and ma to subscribers' homes each week, remote keyboards for municipa and educational uses, full color studios, mobiIe units, public access, and I ocal ori gi nati on, and the fundi ng, facilities and equi pment to support those efforts. The eompany has just rebuilt the Millbrae system, accomplishing everything they promised and completing the work one year earlier than schedul ed. ledI I In San Mateo they were totally de-regulated. wi l l have bu i l t one hundred twenty pl us mi l estion and have added upward of ten new services ei ghteen months. By of in February they rebu i I t construc-the last They know this area, they can literally start stringing co-ax from Millbrae to the homes in Burlingame very quickly. END OF PRESENTATIONS Mayor Martin acknowledged the excellent presentations and announced a second publ i c heari ng will be schedul ed. ADJ0URNMENT l0:15 P.M {;;#*r 4<t-{ Hi I I C i ty Cl erk I' 11,4