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 The agreement between the college and Comcast technically does
not need city council approval. However, early in the discussions
Lincoln College indicated that they would not move forward with
their plans without the blessing of the city. The reason the college
took this position is because Comcast was proposing to give the
college the current local Public Access channel that combines Public
Access, Education, and Government (P-E-G), commonly referred to as
CITV5 in Lincoln.
For several years, CITV5 was a programming network owned by Tim and
Celeste Rogers. The couple ran local programming and sold
advertising to support the business. They worked with Comcast and
blended their paid programming into the Comcast public access
programming, offering all of this on the Comcast's Channel 5.
The Rogers’ produced programs such as "Wednesday Night Live" and
"Talk of the Town," while Comcast provided public services such as
community announcements and the live airing of the Monday night city
council meetings.
 When Lincoln College and Comcast reached their agreement last fall,
Comcast stated that Channel 5 would be changed from a P-E-G channel
to an E-G channel, and would eliminate the public access portion.
At that time, Snyder and the city aldermen discussed what Comcast
should do for Public Access. Snyder indicated that the franchise
agreement between Comcast and the city states that there could and
even would be a second channel earmarked for Lincoln for public
access. However, that channel has never been established. According
to Comcast, it was not established because there was sufficient air
time for all public programming on Channel 5, so a second channel
was not needed.
The city took the position that if the college were to have an E-G
channel, then the city was entitled to a separate Public Access
channel. Comcast, however, has not agreed to this, saying it does
not have the money and manpower to operate a separate channel in
Lincoln.
The Council discussed all of this at length in October of last year,
and the end result was they wanted to table giving their approval to
the college, in order to gain negotiating leverage with Comcast
regarding the second channel.
This week, Snyder told the council he felt that the city was holding
back the college from implementing a new program for its students.
He said he saw no indication that Comcast was being affected by the
stall, and he wanted the council to consider moving forward with a
vote. John Malone of Lincoln College was present Tuesday night.
Snyder asked him to come to the speaker's table and address the
council.
Malone began by saying that he and college president John Blackburn
have had numerous discussions about the situation. The two men
understand that the relationship between the city and Comcast is
complicated. He said the college doesn't want to get entangled in
that part of the problem. He said the college respects the city of
Lincoln and wants to work with the city in offering a new
programming format through the college.
He told the council that the college has put their work on hold
waiting for the city and that the college does not want to move
forward in the agreement with Comcast without the blessing of the
city.
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He went on to say that he believed the college could provide
the full gambit of programming the city is interested in trying
to keep. He noted that at the moment, the public programming on
CITV5 consists of four entities. Malone said there was no reason
those four, who do their own taping, could not continue to do so
and submit their tapes to the college for airing. He said that
WLCN radio in Atlanta is also in the business of taping
community events and local sports, and airing them on Channel 5.
He said that too could continue if WLCN wishes.
In regard to the city council meetings, Malone said he
understood fully that the city has always wanted the Tuesday
night workshop sessions aired on Channel 5. He said he agreed
that these meetings should be aired. He noted that after having
attended several of the city’s committee of the whole meetings
for the college, he can clearly see that having the Tuesday
meetings aired would be very important to the council and the
residents of Lincoln.
When Malone was finished, there were not many comments from the
aldermen. Snyder said that he felt the city could continue its
discussions with Comcast regarding another channel for Lincoln
without holding up the college. He told the aldermen he wanted
them to vote on this for the sake of the college.
Michelle Bauer also commented saying she felt that the concerns
of the city had been addressed by Malone and that the city was
looking at the best they could probably get at this time.
Snyder asked if the city could take the item off the table next
week and vote one way or the other, and received a nod of the
head consent.
Before leaving the table, Malone commented that he would promise
the aldermen that the college will not disappoint them with its
programming.
[Nila Smith]
Related Articles
City of Lincoln reviews contracts with Comcast
and Lincoln College
LC to take over CITV5
City of Lincoln wants Public Access put back
in Comcast agreement
City of Lincoln continues talks on television
agreement between Comcast and Lincoln College
Loss of Public Access portion remains sticking point
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