NEWBURY — The town is being short-changed by cable TV giant Comcast on its public access programming, according to the chairman of Newbury's Cable TV Advisory Committee.
Chairman Paul Daubitz and committee member Douglas Packer told selectmen this week that they have been "stonewalled" in efforts to get Comcast to put up adequate funding for local programming.
Newbury's latest 10-year contract with Comcast expired in October 2006, and the town and company have been attempting to come up with a new agreement.
"We don't feel that Comcast is negotiating with us in a meaningful way," Daubitz said at a Tuesday evening "public ascertainment hearing" aimed at learning what local services residents want and need.
With heavy, wet snow falling outside, only one local resident made it to Town Hall for the hearing, but selectmen Chairman Vincent Russo said he would accept public comment for another 28 days, which works out to March 25. No one from Comcast attended.
Daubitz said the company closed its Newburyport studio and referred Newbury instead to its Amesbury facility, which he said was inconveniently located.
He also said Comcast offered to budget only one-half of 1 percent of its Newbury-derived revenue to fund local programming, while Newburyport receives 4 percent.
The Cable Advisory Committee is interested in telecasting local meetings, such as those of the Triton Regional School Committee, and generating original programs.
Comcast officials have told the committee that Newbury residents are not interested in raising their cable bills to pay for local programming, Packer said.
Daubitz estimated it would cost $70,000 to buy the equipment needed to do local public access programming.
He said Newbury is a "multimillion dollar cash cow for Comcast." Ninety-five percent of the households in town are connected to cable TV, he said, with bills averaging $100 to $150 per month each.
He said Comcast could underwrite the local access programming component itself, without adding to individual customers' bills. Daubitz said Comcast had saved money by closing the Newburyport studio but had not passed the savings on to customers.
Instead, he said, the company has told negotiators for the town that a half-percent is its only offer and to "take it or leave it."
"These people are impossible," Packer said of Comcast representatives. "Not difficult, impossible."
Daubitz said he has tried to entice Verizon to bring its new cable service to Newbury, but company officials have said they are not ready to do that.
Packer said the only incentive for Comcast to improve its public programming is for individual Newbury subscribers to cancel their service. Selectman Joseph Story suggested holding public meetings for residents to explain what other options were available, such as satellite television service.
The lone resident to offer testimony in the hearing, Steven St. Arnault of Central Street, said public access TV "contributes to the transparency of the local government process."
Written or e-mail comments will be accepted until March 25. Written comments should be addressed to the Board of Selectmen, Town Hall, 25 High Road, Newbury, MA 01951. E-mail comments should be addressed to selectmen@townofnewbury.org.
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
