HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-08-CAC-rpt Cable TV For Lexington.pdf 6 `Z / CA'
M � _
iI b l ,f 11 W G f' �L/y .1r r {
-
/ If /
4 W()C
OP (1
ta te<
L ,T .cw c CoMsf .
rttCf
CABLE COMMUNICATIONS (CATV) FOR LEXINGTON?
REPORT OF
THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO
THE LEXINGTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN ON
CABLE TELEVISION AND CABLE COMMUNICATIONS
AUGUST, 1974
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY NANCY ANSCHUETZ, FRED BAILEY,
RICHARD BARNES. SANBORN BROWN. ROBERT CAIN, LOUIS CONRAD,
JAMES CORR, HOWARD CRAVIS, PHILIP CUNNINGHAM. EDWIN FARR,
J . DAVID KUHN, WILLIAM PAGE, CHAIRMAN, DAVID REINER,
IRA STEPANIAN, JOHN WARD, GRAYDON WHEATON, MARTHA C. WOOD,
ALFRED ZABIN
A. LEE WHITMAN. JR . . ADVISOR, FROM THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES
COMMITTEE
PATRICIA EWING, LARRY STINE. ADVISORS
REPORT OUTLINE
PAGE
VOLUME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
I . SUMMARY 1
II . INTRODUCTION 2
III . RECOMMENDATIONS 3
IV. USES FOR CABLE COMMUNICATIONS IN
LEXINGTON
1. PUBLIC ACCESS & LOCAL ORIGINATION 5
2. EDUCATION --- 7
3. LIBRARY SERVICES -- 10
4. GOVERNMENT & MUNICIPAL SERVICES ---- --- 12
5. HEALTH & OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES --- 14
6. SERVICES TO THE LEXINGTON
BUSINESS COMMUNITY 15
V, PROCESS BY WHICH LEXINGTON DECIDES WHAT
IT WANTS FROM CABLE COMMUNICATIONS AND
GOES ABOUT GETTING WHAT IT WANTS 19
(RECOMMENDED PROCESS)
VI . DESCRIPTION OF A CABLE COMMUNICATIONS
SYSTEM FOR LEXINGTON; SYSTEM
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS --- 21
VII . OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION OF A
LEXINGTON CABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM -- --- 33
VIIA. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS -•-- 40
VIII . PRESERVATION OF PRIVACY ---- 43
VOLUME 2 RESULTS FROM THE TOWN-WIDE QUESTIONNAIRE
ABOUT INTEREST IN CATV FOR LEXINGTON
SIN SEPARATE VOLUME)
Section I - I
SECTION I SUMMARY
OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF, THIS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
HAS SURVEYED LEXINGTON CITIZENS REGARDING THEIR INTEREST IN
HAVING CABLE TV, HAS STUDIED THE COST OF AN APPROPRIATE
SYSTEM FOR LEXINGTON, AND HAS EXAMINED ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF
OWNERSHIP AND WAYS OF OPERATING THE SYSTEM WHICH WOULD FILL
LEXINGTON'S NEEDS,
CABLE N AND CABLE COMMUNICATIONS WOULD APPARENTLY BE
WELCOMED BY THE MAJORITY OF LEXINGTON CITIZENS. A SYSTEM
APPEARS TO BE ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE WITH PRUDENT MANAGEMENT.
THE SYSTEM COULD PROVIDE BASIC SERVICES AT THE START, AND
THEN EVOLVE OVER THE YEARS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SERVICES
AS THE REQUESTS FOR THEM DEVELOP,
BECAUSE OF THE HIGH INTEREST IN THIS SUBJECT, THE
DECISIONS ON WHETHER TO HAVE CABLE, AND WHEN AND HOW, SHOULD
BE MADE BY THE REGULAR POLITICAL PROCESSES IN LEXINGTON,
INVOLVING TOWN MEETING AND PERHAPS EVEN A TOWN-WIDE REFERENDUM
TO GUIDE THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN, WHICH HAS THE ULTIMATE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESE DECISIONS.
THIS REPORT SHOULD SERVE AS AN INFORMATION BASE FOR THESE
POLITICAL PROCESSES.
e
Section II - 2
SECTION II INTRODUCTION
On February 12, 1973, the Board of Selectmen made its first appointments
to the Advisory Committee on Cable Television Additional appointments
were made on March 19, 1973, April 9, 1973, and on April 22, 1974
The Advisory Committee was instructed to explore the options for cable
TV in Lexington, examine the potential uses (including the costs and
technical requirements for these uses), and to present the options to the
Board of Selectmen as a basis for any further decision that the Board may
wish to make regarding what to do about CATV in the town
Activities of this Advisory Committee over the past year and a half
have included the following
I Co-sponsorship, with Cary Memorial Library, of an open information
meeting attended by representatives from several interested Lexington
organizations, including the Lexington School Committee, the PTA Council ,
the Council of Congregations, the League of Women Voters, the Lions Club,
Lexington Outlook Club, the Lexington Planning Board, the National
Organization of Women, the Fire Department, the Town Meeting Member Associa-
tion, FISH, the Commission on Suburban Responsibility, Masterworks Chorale,
American Field Services, American Association of Retired People, Cary
Memorial Library, the Lexington Minute-Men, Methodist Weekday School ,
Masonic Supreme Council , and the Minute-Men Vocational-Technical High
School
Attendees heard talks by John Ward, Fred Bailey, Robert Cain, David
Kuhn, Richard Barnes, George Gibson (head of MM V-T High School Audio
Visual Department), on description of what a cable system would be in
Lexington, and what it could do in government services, library, education,
and local origination of programming These talks are now available in
tape cassette form at Cary Library, for borrowing
2. In January, 1974, 170 Lexington households were surveyed in
1-hour interviews by the Committee with help from several organizations
The results are presented in Volume 2 of this report
3. The Committee has represented Lexington at various seminars on
Cable TV given throughout the state Committee members have attended
several lectures on the subject, sponsored by University of Massachusetts
on types of ownership, financing, etc The Committee has met with members
of the State Commission on proposed , dies and regulations A joint
meeting with the Arlington and Bedford Advisory Committees has been held
to discuss multi-town cooperation '
4 The Publicity and information Sub-committee has written several
articles for the Lexington Minute-Man These, coupled with a fact sheet
which has been widely distributed, have kept the consideration of what
to do about cable in Lexington an open process Town Meeting Members
answered questionnaires on quality of reception in their areas to town
Section III - 3
SECTION III RECOMMENDATIONS
1 THAT THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN BRING BEFORE THE 1975 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
THE QUESTION OF THE FORMATION OF A PERMANENT LEXINGTON COMMISSION ON CABLE
COMMUNICATIONS WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR PLANNING FOR AND REVIEWING THE OPERATIONS
OF A CABLE SYSTEM IN LEXINGTON (SEE STEP 7 OF SECTION V, VOLUME I ) (ALSO SEE
SECTION III , TABLE I , DRAFT OF WARRANT ARTICLE, ON NEXT PAGE )
2. THAT, AS A PRECURSOR STEP TO SUBMITTING THIS QUESTION TO TOWN MEETING,
THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN REQUEST FORMAL STATEMENTS OF INTEREST (OR NON- INTEREST)
AND/OR COMMENTS FROM THE APPROPRIATE TOWN COMMITTEES, BOARDS, AND AGENCIES
( INCLUDING THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, THE CARY MEMORIAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES,
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT)
3. THAT, IF AND WHEN THE LEXINGTON COMMISSION ON CABLE COMMUNICATIONS IS
FORMED, IT BE CHARGED BY THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN WITH THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBILITIES
A HOLDING HEARINGS CONCERNING THE APPROPRIATENESS OF INITIATING THE
FORMAL PROCESS (SPECIFIED BY THE STATE CABLE COMMISSION) FOR DECIDING ON WHETHER
TO, HOW TO, AND WHEN TO INSTALL AND OPERATE A CABLE SYSTEM IN LEXINGTON
B IF APPROPRIATE, FORMALLY INITIATING AND IMPLEMENTING THIS STATE
MANDATED PROCESS
C RECOMMENDING, TO THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN, THE FORM OF OWNERSHIP OF
THE CABLE SYSTEM, INCLUDING METHOD OF FINANCING, (CONSIDER BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC
OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION)
D. RECOMMENDING THE METHODS OF OPERATING THE CABLE SYSTEM AND OF
REVIEWING ITS OPERATIONS
E IF A DECISION IS MADE BY THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN TO PROCEED WITH
CABLE IN LEXINGTON, ARRANGING FOR THE FIRNANCING AND INSTALLATION OF THE SYSTEM
(THROUGH A PRIVATE FRANCHISE OR SOME FORM OF PUBLIC OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION)
F REVIEWING THE OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM TO INSURE ITS OPTIMUM USE
FOR THE CITIZENS OF LEXINGTON
G PROVIDING FOR ADEQUATE LEGAL AND TECHNICAL PROTECTION OF LEXINGTON
CITIZENS' RIGHTS TO PRIVACY
4 THAT, IF AND WHEN THE LEXINGTON COMMISSION ON CABLE COMMUNICATIONS IS FORMED,
IT BE ASKED BY THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS
FROM THE TOWN-WIDE SURVEY ABOUT INTEREST IN HAVING CABLE TV IN LEXINGTON
A THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL INTEREST IN HAVING CABLE: TV IN ORDER TO GET
BETTER RECEPTION RECEPTION QUALITY VARIES OVER A WIDE RANGE IN LEXINGTON
B HIGH PERCENTAGES OF LEXINGTON RESIDENTS HAVE A STRONG INTEREST IN
LOCAL ORIGINATION AND LOCAL ACCESS TV PROGRAMMING ALSO, THERE IS A RELATIVELY
HIGH LEVEL OF DISSATISFACTION WITH CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TV PROGRAMMING (VIOLENCE, ETC )
C ENOUGH PEOPLE ARE EVIDENTLY PRESENTLY WILLING TO PAY ENOUGH TO
SUPPORT ECONOMIC OPERATION OF A CABLE SYSTEM IN LEXINGTON
5 THAT THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO HAVE LEGAL ADVICE AVAILABLE
ON CABLE LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS, ETC , IN ANTICIPATION OF THE TIME WHEN THIS WILL
BE NEEDED IN THE LICENSING PROCESS
6. THAT A DUAL CABLE, 3 TO 6 TRUNK HUB CONFIGURATION SYSTEM (RATHER THAN A
SINGLE CABLE SYSTEM) BE CONSIDERED FOR LEXINGTON, (SEE SECTION VI FOR DETAILS)
7 THAT A VIGOROUS LOCAL ORIGINATION OPERATION (ESSENTIALLY LEXINGTON'S OWN
TV STATION SERVING LEXINGTON PURPOSES) BE A REQUISITE FROM THE VERY BEGIINNING,
WHEN AND IF LEXINGTON DECIDES TO HAVE CABLE
Section III - 4
SECTION III
TABLE I
DRAFT OF WARRANT ARTICLE FOR THE 1975 (ANNUAL) TOWN MEETING
TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL VOTE TO AMEND THE GENERAL BY-LAWS TO
ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE TO BE IDENTIFIED AS THE LEXINGTON
COMMISSION ON CABLE COMMUNICATIONS, TO BE CHARGED, BY THE
BOARD OF SELECTMEN WITH THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBILITIES
A. HOLDING HEARINGS CONCERNING TUE APPROPRIATENESS
OF INITIATING THE FORMAL PROCESS SPECIFIED BY THE
STATE CABLE COMMISSION) FOR DECIDING ON WHETHER TO,
HOW TO. AND WHEN TO INSTALL AND OPERATE A CABLE
SYSTEM IN LEXINGTON.
B. IF APPROPRIATE. FORMALLY INITIATING AND IMPLEMENTING
THIS STATE MANDATED PROCESS .
C. RECOMMENDING. TO THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN. rHE FORM
OF OWNERSHIP OF THE CABLE SYSTEM. INCLUDING M:THOD OF
FINANCING. (CONSID RING BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC OWNER-
SHIP AND OPERATION) .
D. RECOMMENDING THE METHODS OF OPERATING THE CABLE
SYSTEM AND OF REVIEWING THE OPERATIONS .
E. IF A DECISION IS MADE BY THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN TO
PROCEED WITH CABLE IN LEXINGTON. ARRANGINFOR THE
FINANCING AND INSTALLATION OF THE SYSTEM (THROUGH A
PRIVATE FRANCHISE OR SOME FORM OF PUBLIC OWNERSHIP AND
OPERATION) .
F. REVIEWING THE OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM TO INSURE ITS
OPTIMUM USE FOR CITIZENS OF LEXINGTON
G. PROVIDING FOR ADE9UATE LEGAL AND TECHNICAL PROTECTION
OF LEXINGTON CITIZENS RIGHTS TO PRIVACY.
AND APPROPRIATE FUNDS THEREFORE: OR ACT IN ANY OTHER MANNER IN
RELATION THERETO.
Section IV - 5
SECTION IV
USES FOR CABLE COMMUNICATIONS IN LEXINGTON
In addition to the use for better reception of the present broadcast
channels ( listed in Section VI, Table I ), the committee has examined uses
for local origination, public access, education, library services, government
and municipal services, health and other social services, services to the
Lexington business community and the two-way services which could develop
in these various uses The committee has been fortunate in having on it,
or serving with it, people with direct, first-hand experience with local
origination, public access and educational uses
1 PUBLIC ACCESS AND LOCAL ORIGINATION
by Louis Conrad and Patricia Ewing
If and when cable comes to Lexington, local origination and public
access have to be (by Federal and State regulations) inaugurated as soon
as possible
The town-wide survey shows that a public access channe had 31% high
interest and another 35% with some interest (.total 66%) , Under the public
access regulations, Lexington citizens would be given the lV studio to
make their presentations, air their gripes - speak out on The issues
However, all local public access speeches may have to be taped and libelous
statements -- statements of personal attack -- would be deleted Clubs,
service groups, fraternal organizations, etc , could make use of this
time to tell what their groups are doing -- to tell the public about
fund-raising events -- and to increase membership Information about job
openings and training opportunities -- which had a 21%, 60% and 40%
interest response -- also could be included
As to local origination, the possibilities are endless It all depends
on who has the cable TV contract -- and what kind of stipulations are
included as to when it will begin -- how much time will be devoted to it
Local origination could and should include (judging by the interest
as expressed in the questionnaire) live coverage of town meeting, Selectmen,
School Committee, and other town board meetings Local or gination could
also include high school athletic contests, programs for local talent,
local news and weather, cultural shows done locally, religious programs
and church services
Local origination would also include any filmed tapes, canned programs,
syndicated stories and such things as Little Rascals old movies, etc In
some towns, over 50% of all "local origination" is canned programming of
questionable quality at best Cable viewers, accustomed to the sophistication
Section IV - 6
of network stations, are naturally disappointed The cable company, in
some cases, can be excused to a large extent because of the expense involved
in TV programming However, sometimes it does seem evident that a cable
company's interest in local origination is limited to sparking community
interest enough to attract customers to buy the cable services In some
cases, bursts of local government and community coverage seems to occur
mainly when the cable company is seeking favor with these groups Local
origination is not profitable for the cable companies, and this tends to
make it a means to an end
The utlimate fate of local origination, therefore, lies with the
community itself The cable companies are grateful for any programming
done by someone else, that cost them little more than air time. It is
here that public access and local origination overlap In theory,
communities are lead to believe that they are going to see X number of
hours daily of programs of local interest In reality, this will only
happen if community members and organizations are willing to provide the
majority of the content of these programs
A public access channel is required by law, and yet few communities
have a separate, operative public access channel This is not strictly
an evasion of the law on the part of the cable companies holding the
franchises The channel technically is there for the asking, and when
someone wishes to use it, it will commence operation In the meantime,
the local origination channels, apparently in most existing cable systems,
can adequately handle public access needs for some time
In fact, the person or groups wishing public access in the system's
early stages are best served by the local origination channel , as they
will be assured of some viewers. This winter, one nearby town did get
its public access channel operating Almost immediately the public had
access to four-letter words on their TV In this case, the cable company
denied the responsibility for editing public access programs The person
responsible for previewing the tape did not consider the language obscene
in his judgment, but segments of the community did However, it does
seem reasonable to expect that problems relating to "who says what" can
be coped with successfully Channel 2, (44) for example, has had no
such problems because it instructs people in advance about what the
language and other groundrules are The public access channel can and
should serve the community
It is very important that there be strict time compliance and adherence
to schedule, in operating the local origination and public access channels
This should be one of the highest priority criteria to be met by the operator
of the cable system.
Section IV - 7
2 EDUCATIONAL USES
by Richard H. Barnes
A Cable Television Advisory Committee within the Lexington Public
Schools staff developed the list of potential uses for cable TV and cable
communications as shown in Table I Additions have been made to this
committee's list by Lucy McCaffrey who teaches the TV course at the
High School
At the November 29, 1973, Public Information Meeting, George Gibson,
Chairman of the Audio-Visual Section at the Minute-Man Regional-
Vocational High School , volunteered the possibility of using the school 's
TV studio as the head-end base for local educational programming for the
region According to Gibson, about $500,000 has been invested in equip-
ment and facilities which could be shared A tie-in to whatever system
may be installed in Lexington would have obvious advantages
On the subject of sharing facilities and information, the Chairman
of the Advisory Committee to the Board of Selectmen has suggested to the
School Committee that, at an appropriate time in the process of designing
and developing a cable system for Lexington, the School Committee consider
the possibility of initiating the formation of an Educational Advisory
Committee (on Cable TV) with representation from the Lexington School
Committee, the Minute-Man Vocational-Regional High School and its School
Committee, the Lexington Public Schools Administration, the Cary Memorial
Library, and the Lexington PTA Council This Advisory Committee would be
charged with the responsibility for assessing the potential educational
uses of one or more cable channels as sharing of video equipment ,
allocation of educational access channel time, and generating and sharing
video library material
The high interest, expressed through the town-wide questiornaire, in
locally originated educational programming for both children an( adults
seems to indicate that careful attention should be paid to this use in
Lexington As FCC Commissioner, Nicholas Johnson, astutely observed
"All television is educational television The only question is , what
is it teaching?"
Section IV - 8
SECTION IV-2
TABLE I
I INSTRUCTIONAL
A DAYTIME CLASSES (PRE-SCHOOL - 12)
1 TEACHER CREATED PROGRAM
2 BASIC AND/OR ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS
a FILMS
b PANELS
c SCIENCE, LANGUAGE -- INSTRUCTION
d SAFETY
e. INTERVIEWS (CURRENT EVENTS, ARTISTS --)
f FIELD TRIPS
g COMMUNITY RESOURCES
h TRAINING FILMS (VIDEO)
1 POLITICAL VIEWS, BROADCAST OF TOWN MEETINGS
j OTHER
B EVENING CLASSES
1 ADULT CLASSES
a. BASIC
b ENRICHMENT
c. TOWN MEETINGS, POLITICAL VIEWS
2 STUDENT CLASSES
a BASIC
b ENRICHMENT
C. HOMEBOUND
1 TUTORING
2 BASIC AND/OR ENRICHMENT
D TRADE TAPES WITH OTHER DISTRICTS
II IN-SERVICE EDUCATION
A TEACHER PROGRAM
I CURRICULUM AREAS
2 GUEST SPEAKERS, ARTISTS, ETC
3 SHARING PROGRAM
4. OTHER
B. ADMINISTRATOR PROGRAM
1 UNIVERSITY PROGRAM
2 PRIVATE CONSULTANT
3 EXECUTIVE TRAINING
4 LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS
5 OTHER
C SPECIALISTS PROGRAM
1 GUIDANCE
2 ART EDUCATION, MUSIC EDUCATION --
3 COLLABORATIVE (COLLEGE, HOSPITALS --)
4 OTHER
Section IV - 9
SECTION IV-2, TABLE I (continued)
III STUDENT INITIATED
A CAREER OBJECTIVES
1 TRAIN FOR ROLE OF PRODUCER, DIRECTOR --
B SHARING OF PROGRAMS
1 CURRENT EVENTS
2 BASIC CURRICULUM AREAS
3 ENRICHMENT AREAS
4 VIDEO AND BROADCAST PLAYS (LIVE)
5 SPORTS
IV OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING
A STUDENT
B. ADULT
C COLLABORATIVE ( INDUSTRY, HOSPITAL, --)
D INTER/INTRA PROFESSIONAL (PSYCHOLOGISTS, THERAPISTS, --)
E TEACHER TRAINING (CHAP 766)
V ADMINISTRATIVE NEEDS
A CENTRAL OFFICE
1 TEACHER ORIENTATION PROGRAM
2 SUPERINTENDENT-FACULTY DISCUSSIONS
3 SUPERINTENDENT-STUDENT DISCUSSIONS
4. SPECIAL TOPICS
5 SUPERINTENDENT/ADMINISTRATOR - PUBLIC
6 SCHOOL COMMITTEE - PUBLIC
7 REGISTRATION
VI SCHOOL COMMITTEE NEEDS
A MEETINGS
B. SPECIAL TOPICS
C PUBLIC DIALOGUE SESSIONS
VII PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION PROGRAMS
TWO-WAY SERVICES
MANY OF THE ABOVE CAN OR MUST BE OPERATED WITF A TWO-WAY
CONTACT IN ORDER TO BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE
Section IV - 10
3 LIBRARY SERVICES
by Robert E. Cain
Combining a rich source of informational and recreational materials
with a medium of mass communication increases the effectiveness and use
of both Today more than two-thirds of Lexington families use Cary
Library With cable television, the library can reach out to serve even
more people who support it with their taxes
Libraries in other communities already have experience working with
cable television In Mobile, Alabama, a city of 190,000, the public
library has been designated as the administrator of public television
and cable communications The Mobile Library offers a variety of library-
originated programming as well as visual reference service In Casper,
Wyoming, the Natrona County Public Library (serving 54,000) originates
both programming and visual reference service Cable has not yet come to
the Huntington Public Library (population 12,000) on Long Island, but the
library is preparing for its advent with an active program for training
people in the use of video equipment and the production of community
information on video-cassettes Are any of these activities appropriate
for Lexington, and, if so, which?
Several legal requirements affect the way that cable television could
be used at Cary Memorial Library State regulations require thEt the
cable operator provide the library with a free cable drop End ottlet
Federal regulations dictate that a cable system in one of the tcp 100
markets (such as Lexington) provide a public access channel , an educational
channel , and a channel for local government uses Thus the library will
have the capability of broadcasting video signals as well as several
channels on which to display its transmission
The Cable Advisory Committee's survey showed that almost 60% of
the respondents had a high interest in additional adult or children's
educational courses shown on television Over 75% of the respondents
expressed at least some interest in these offerings 29% of the respon-
dents made trips in Lexington at least once a week for extracurricular
education ( including libraries) Another 29% did so less than once a
week. These figures indicate a strong interest in programming that either
schools or libraries might generate as well as a willingness to exert
some effort to take advantage of courses and services offered
How will the library use cable television to meet the needs thus
expressed? The library plans to build a collection of video-cassettes
which can be viewed in the library or broadcast over a cable television
system Eventually, individual cassettes may be circulated to those
with playback facilities in their homes The library may also tape
and broadcast its story hours and other events or produce regularly a
program describing new books and services
Section IV - II
LIBRARY SERVICES (CONTINUED)
Visual reference service would be still another way of extending library
service Library users could view on their television screens the answers
to reference questions requiring visual presentation -- graphs, illustrations,
wiring diagrams, recipes, maps, forumlae and other materials The reference
questions would be initiated over the phone and voice contact would be
maintained until the question was completed The service could be offered
at selected hours of the day or whenever the library is open While the
number of visual reference questions asked in Mobile, Alabama, has been
low, the service has effectively publicized the library's information
potential and resulted in a tripling of regular reference questions
But the library's primary role will be as a catalyst for programming,
utilizing the tllents of Lexington's citizens When the library addition
opens in 1975, it is hoped that video equipment and a small viewing room
will be available at the library for use by those interested in producing
their own tapes Tapes of events of histr�ical and continuing community
interest will become part of the library's collection Library personnel
will be available to train people in the use of the equipment When, and
if, Lexington does decide to have cable television, the library will have
a bank of video materials to be used in programming and will have developed
among interested patrons a facility with video technology which will make
public access to and expression on cable television a living reality
If two-way applications of cable television come to Lexington, the
library will be able to offer additional services. Inter-library loan
may be improved if Cary Library can broadcast its requests to many other
libraries at one time. Print-outs of magazine articles from other libraries
could be available at Cary Library and in homes within minutes after a
request is made. Shut-ins may benefit too, as library materials could be
transmitted directly to the home, where a print-out device would make a
hard copy And library service might be more scientifically determined if
the library were able to use the cable system to poll the community about
its desires
Several policy questions must be decided as Lexington moves toward
cable television What kind of studio facilities will Lexington have and
where will they be available? To what extent will community agencies
coordinate the purchase and use of video equipment and the production of
community programming? Where will video tapes on Lexington subjects be
collected so that they may be utilized to best advantage by all the
community?
The Reference Section at Cary Library has a collection of cable TV
literature and information available
Section IV - 12
4 GOVERNMENT AND MUNICIPAL SERVICES
by Fred C. Bailey
4 I Introduction
The potential of cable when applied to the full gamut of government
and municipal services is in many respects a direct function of the size
of the community being served and/or the number of subscribers connected
to the system The comments to follow will be directed at Lexington and
are not intended to describe the potential for, say New York City Three
major areas will be covered the application of cable to town government;
police, fire and public safety services;and other municipal services
4 2 Application to Town Government
The use of a cable system in town government can commence with
installation of the basic one-way system and would probably occur in
three principal forms
a Municipal (or state or other governmental unit) news
At the local level , this could include no-school announcements,
disaster warnings, streets-closed or water shut-offs, changes
in landfill hours, public health announcements, etc
b. "Specials" on specific Lexington town (county, state,
etc ) departments These would be designed to acquaint the
viewer with the personnel , operations, and special problems
faced by the unit Regular programming might be utilized in
the case of output from, for Instance, the Town Manager's office
c. Live (or delayed) transmission of town meetings or of
the meetings of major town boards (selectmen, planning, appeals,
etc. ), either on a regular basis or on a special basis
As the level of sophistication of the system increases and two-way
capability Is installed, it is conceivable that expressions of oiinion
could be solicited under items b and c above, and the "yes" or "rio" vote
transmitted from the subscriber to the source rather simply Ger erally
speaking, however, the principal function of this segment would, for the
time being, consist of transmission of information from the municipality,
or other unit, to the subscriber
4 3 Public Safety Police and Fire Service
With a simple downstream cable system, use of the system in the
public safety sector is limited to the following three areas
a Public safety education, either system-wide, or limited
to selected groups, such as certain professionals or elementary
school children, for instance.
b Intra/inter-agency communication With the basic cable
system this would be limited to one-way communication Possible
uses are dispacthing on police or fire or centralized public
safety calls
Section IV - 13
4 GOVERNMENTAL AND MUNICIPAL SERVICES (CONTINUED)
4 3 Public Safety Police and Fire Service (continued)
c. Alerting systems to call back off-duty emergency personnel
The potential for the system in public safety application rises
tremendously when two-way capability is added The most elementary
two-way system would permit the installation of digital street alarm
systems for summoning police and fire departments or ambulance An
alarm box could be provided at any location on the cable route With
increasing sophistication of the upstream portion of the system, voice
communication from the boxes will be possible, and three further --
and powerful -- uses become possible
d Home and business, fire or burglar alarm system, in which
the appropriate sensors are scanned by a computer at the system head-
end at a very high rate. In the course of this interrogation, any
sensor that has been activated triggers the computer to sound the
alarm and identify the location of the sensor
e. Video surveillance of critical intersections, parking lots
or specific trouble spots
f Complete inter-agency communications
In summary, the cable can provide a number of services not now
available in the public safety sector, and can augment - or provide at
less cost - a number that are now being used
4 4 Other Municipal Services
In general , application to any other municipal services would require
two-way systems of varying degrees of sophistication All utility meters -
water, electric and gas - could be read by a suitable cable connected
computer, after appropriate meters were installed In Lexington, the
municipal distribution system (water and sewer) could be monitored and
controlled using the cable system as the communication link and eliminating
leased telephone lines now used for monitoring
At the highest level of system sophistication and with a suitably
large municipal base, cable could be used in criminal justice administration,
environmental monitoring and control , health care, social services, and
regional communication
Section IV - 14
5 HEALTH AND OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES
by Martha C Wood
Most health and social service agencies in Lexington preferred not
to commit themselves to specific uses of cable until cable for Lexington
comes closer to reality However, most of these agencies certainly could
use local channels for educational programming This would include both
public education and educating agency volunteers for specific jobs The
public education programs could be locally produced or films made by
national or state organizations of these service agencies These could
nclude disease recognition and prevention, mental health support films
and programs on nutrition -- such as wholesome and inexpensive meals for
elderly citizens living alone Lexington FISH feels it could benefit
from training programs for its volunteers and undoubtedly this could
potentially be the case for Red Cross, mental health volunteer case
assistants such as the Metropolitan State or the Visiting Nurses
Association homemakers The Board of Health could use local channels
to announce clinics for free vaccinations, dog rabies shots and similar
services The "well elderly clinics" could also be publicized and gain
greater visibility Potential health danger warnings could, of course,
also be broadcast with recommendations for local precautions to be taken
Another service aspect would be requests for volunteers for local programs
or requests for donations of furniture and similar needs such as the
recent requests for furnishings for the Committee of Aging Drop-in Center
or the Mystic Valley Mental Health Association's adolescent residence
Services available locally could gain wider public awareness so
those who need, deserve and are eligible for those services are aware of
them.
Volunteer training programs might benefit from the two-way potential
of cable since it would allow questions and answers on the spot
Another great benefit of two-way cable could be an emergency button
to call for medical help Another could be an arrangement by which
elderly, living alone, could check in with a central agency at a specified
time daily to say they are all right If the button wasn't activated, an
attempt could be made to contact them by phone and if this failed, someone
could be sent to the home to check to make sure all was well
Section IV - 15
6 SERVICES TO THE LEXINGTON BUSINESS COMMUNITY
by Nancy Hoff Anschuetz
6 I Definition (see footnote at the end of this section)
For the purpose of this section, the "business community" is
considered to include industrial organizations (headquarters or
branch offices of organizations with major components or major clientele
out-of-town); retail merchants; service-oriented businesses; professionals;
and professional , community and business organizations
6.2 Character of the Lexington Business Community *
The Lexington business community contains a cross-section of
businesses excluding only heavy-industry It is important to take this
nearly full spectrum into account when considering the variety of services
that may be of interest either in the short term or long term. A
representative sample of Lexington businesses and professions, as
extracted from the Chamber of Commerce membership list and from The Town
Book, is given in this section The list is known to be incomplete,
since many businesses and professionals are not members of the Chamber
of Commerce, but it indicates the types of business which could be served
by cable TV in one or more ways
Industrial organizations ( 17) Service oriented Businesses (28)
Headquarters (Raytheon) ( I ) Real estate offices
Electronics or science related (11 ) Printers
Publishing ( 2) Movers i
Other ( insurance, financial , Electricians
leasing) ( 3) Insurance agents
Retail merchants (40) Travel agents2
Food stores Builders
Pharmaciesl Funeral homes
Jewelers Beauty shops
Cleners
Fuel oil dealersi 1/2 Secretarial services
Gasoline stations/garages
Package stores Professional (approx 75 professionals)3
Florists2 Doctorsl
Clothing stores Dentistsl
Hardware/paint/lumber suppliers Lawyers
Restaurants Architects
Stationers Surveyors
Nurseries 4
Furniture shops Other Businesses ( 13)
Shoe shops Nursing homes (2+)
Automobile dealers Private schools (2+)
Camera shops Banks ( 6)
Variety stores Motels ( 3)
Gift shops
See next page for footnotes
* Appendix E of Volume 2 of this report provides more recent information on
the character of the Lexington business community
Section IV - 16
6 SERVICES TO THE LEXINGTON BUSINESS COMMUNITY (CONTINUED)
6 2 Character of the Lexington Community (continued)
Note 1 These establishments have special communication needs in
responding to emergencies
Note 2 These establishments have special communication needs in
responding to reservations for service
Note 3. The Chamber of Commerce lists only 7 professionals; the
Town Book lists 58 doctors, dentists and osteopaths; we estimate the total
to be about 75
Note 4 Several other businesses in Lexington are of special interest
with respect to cable applications because of their needs as subscribers
or because of the special transactions they conduct
6 3 Possible Initial Services
The following is a list of possible services which could be provided
initially if the demand for them were sufficient These services presume
the availability of only one-way broadcast cable They require, however,
enough channel space to handle both specialized dedicated channels and
channels shared by different businesses (and therefore may require what
we have defined elsewhere as the Level II system)
I Low cost advertising - specialized local advertising by local
businesses to residents, added to locally originated entertainment
programming Examples retail commercials, business announcements
2. Shopper information channel - continuous announcement of bargins
and specials for shoppers, using an all-advertising channel or channels
Example hours scheduled on a channel for specific categories of
merchandise (e.g , food, advertising, clothing advertising)
3. Rented communications - rental of spare channel capacity to
businesses and industry for their dedicated use The organization in
question would provide its own terminals Example inter-company video,
computer data connection, etc.
4 Special business programming - special television programs
produced by or for local businesses, intended for specialized local
audiences Examples business news reports, news of Chamber of Commerce
activities
6 4 Potential Later Services
Later, more sophisticated services could be provided as more
sophisticated capability is added to the terminal system The list from
items 5 through 8 presumes the availability of two-way cable with a
minimal terminal at the subscriber location - a touch-tone pad for
instance - to communicate options or selections Inbound information
(from subscriber to cable head-end) would be identified by origin, but
outbound information would be broadcast
Section IV - 17
6 SERVICES TO THE LEXINGTON BUSINESS COMMUNITY (CONTINUED)
6 4 Potential Later Services (continued)
5 Catalog shopping - an additional capability to I or 2 above;
shoppers could select or reserve items shown In commercials or on
advertising channels
6. Security alarms - fire and break-in alarms could be transmitted
over the cable from business locations to the police or fire departments
The business would require a special terminal
7 Business surveys - in response to broadcast survey questions,
subscribers could respond to queries The technique could be used for
inexpensive market research
8 Travel and recreation reservations - in response to broadcast
travel and recreation announcements, which would include fees and
schedules, shoppers could review schedules or reserve seats or tickets
In the case of restaurants, menus could be studied and tablEs reserved
6 5 Services in the Far Future
The following list of business services to Lexington presumes the
availability of full two-way cable, with video, audio, and data origina-
tion terminals available to any subscriber willing to pay for them
(Level IV) Hard copy output would be available to subscribers
Transmissions would be selectively addressed both from subscriber to
cable head-end and from head-end to individual subscriber Computer
services would be available over the cable.
9 Cashless financial transactions - transfer of funds from one
business or bank to another and bill paying from the home as well as
bank services to the home, electronically
10 Specialized newspapers - newspapers printed on a terminal in
the home which contain only the types of information requested by the
subcriber, who, if not interested in sports, for example, would not
have the sports section printed in his home Output could alternatively
be made available as video
11 Request catalog shopping - similar to 5 above, this service
provides for individual requests for catalog information with personalized
response to the requestor (over a shared channel ), with follow-on selection
and purchase
12 Work at home - secretarial services and managerial services
performed in the home with the aid of video, audio and data communication
with the office or customer/client Examples dictation; typing by
part-time employees working at home; access to company files by employees
at home, both for retrieval and for storing new file information
13. Message recording and answering services - recorded messages
and answers would be stored and retrieved by businesses and professionals
as well as by their customers and clients Examples doctors and patients,
realtors and clients
Section IV - 18
6 SERVICES TO THE LEXINGTON BUSINESS COMMUNITY (CONTINUED)
6 5 Services In the Far Future (continued)
14. Direct mail - advertising, either hard-copy or video, to
selected audiences, perhaps those who had registered an interest in a
particular product line, for instance, hardware The cable could also
transmit feedback from the audience as a form of electronic business
reply card Could be used by grocery stores, department stores (even
if they are external to Lexington, but serving Lexington customers)
15 Sales information - an additional capability to I , 2, and 5
above, interactive programs, possibly video-assisted, would describe
or show goods as requested by consumer and advise him, if requested, of
the price, location, delivery time, etc In addition to retail goods,
sales services such as real estate listings could be displayed The
buyer could make rapid comparisons of prices, determine nearest store
that stocks the products, etc.
16 Credit cards - in addition of item 8 and 15, credit card
verification services could be performed, and credit card transactions
recorded and billed
17 Rental computer services - the cable could be used as a medium
for transmission of data to and from rented computer serviceE
18. Private business video - photos, video-tapes, and closed
circuit television could be transmitted from one business location to
another over private channel capacity An example might be video
conferences for business groups
6 6 Further Information
The business community itself should provide information to
augment the brief review presented here and aid in defining the future
course of cable services in Lexington What is the actual interest of
the business community in cable in Lexington? What services other than
those presented here might businessmen and professionals desire or
suggest? What would their commitment to cable in Lexington be?
Presentations of the capabilities of proposed or envisioned
Lexington cable systems should be made to the business and professional
community The presentations should include the services listed here
Questionnaires directed specifically to business services should be
prepared and answers solicited using them
Parenthetically , the Chamber of Commerce might be interested in
preparing a more complete directory of Lexington businesses and professional
services One of the values of such a directory would be as an aid in the
collection of this data about interest in cable Such a directory would
aid in more comprehensive data collection
Section V - 19
SECTION V
PROCESS BY WHICH LEXINGTON DECIDES WHAT IT WANTS FROM CABLE COMMUNICATIONS AND
GOES ABOUT GETTING WHAT IT WANTS, (RECOMMENDED PROCESS)
WHO RESPONSIBLE APPROPRIATE
FOR ACTION COMPLETION DATE
1 FIND OUT WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT; FIND
OUT WHAT LEXINGTON WANTS AND CAN
GET FROM IT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY, 1974
2. SUBMIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT
TO THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE AUGUST, 1974
3. SEND COPIES OF VOLUME I (OR SECTIONS
OF IT) TO THE APPROPRIATE TOWN
BOARDS AND AGENCIES, AND TO TOWN BOARD OF
MEETING MEMBERS SELECTMEN SEPTEMBER, 1974
4. REQUEST FORMAL STATEMENTS OF INTEREST
(OR NON- INTEREST) AND/OR COMMENTS
FROM
A SCHOOL COMMITTEE v,
--B. CARY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
C TOWN MANAGER, TOWN COUNCIL,
TOWN CLERK, FIRE DEPT ,
POLICE DEPT , TREASURER/
COMPTROLLEJ LIAISON OFFICER BOARD OF
FOR ELDERLY, PLANNING DIRECTOR SELECTMEN SEPTEMBER, 1974
D LEXINGTON HOUSING AUTHORITY
E PLANNING BOARD
F MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL-
TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL COMMITTEE
G COMMISSION ON SUBURBAN RESPONSIBILITY
H APPROPRIATIONS AND CAPITAL
EXPENDITURES COMMITTEES
5 APPEAR BEFORE APPROPRIATE TOWN BOARDS,
COMMITTEES, AND AGENCIES TO DISCUSS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/
IMPLICATIONS FOR THESE ORGANIZATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE DECEMBER, 1974
6. HOLD PUBLIC HEARING TO REVIEW CABLE
1 COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS AND
THE FORMAL STATEMENTS OF INTEREST
(FROM SEPTEMBER 4); GET COMMENTS BOARD OF
FROM THE PUBLIC SELECTMEN DECEMBER, 1974
Section V - 20
SECTION V (continued)
WHO RESPONSIBLE APPROPRIATE
FOR ACTION COMPLETION DATE
7 INSERT ON THE 1975 ANNUAL TOWN
MEETING WARRANT AN ARTICLE ENDORSING
THE FORMATION OF A PERMANENT
LEXINGTON COMMISSION ON CABLE
COMMUNICATIONS WITH RESPONSIBILITY
FOR PLANNING AND REVIEWING THE
OPERATIONS OF A CABLE SYSTEM IN BOARD OF
LEXINGTON (See Section ill , Table 1 )---- SELECTMEN DECEMBER, 1974
8. FORM THE LEXINGTON COMMISSION ON CABLE
COMMUNICATIONS; CHARGE IT WITH THE
RESPONSIBILITIES LISTED IN SECTION III , BOARD OF
RECOMMENDATION 3 SELECTMEN MAY, 1975
9 CARRY OUT THE RESPONSIBILITIES LISTED LEXINGTON FROM MAY, 1975
IN SECTION III, RECOMMENDATION 3 COMMISSION ON, (AS A
ON CABLE PERMANENT
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION)
10. REVIEW AND GUIDE THE ACTIVITIES,
POLICIES, ETC , OF THE LEXINGTON
COMMISSION ON CABLE COMMUNICATIONS BOARD OF
FROM TIME TO TIME AS APPROPRIATE — SELECTMEN FROM MAY, 1975 ON
Section VI - 21
SECTION VI
DESCRIPTION OF A CABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR LEXINGTON;
SYSTEM DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
by
JOHN E WARD
I Introduction
The traditional cable system basically served as a master antenna to
provide high quality reception for all the broadcast television signals in
the area served, plus, if there were spare channels on the cable, as a con-
duit for other TV signals which the cable operator chose to acid Such added
TV signals have included imported broadcast TV signals from stations in other
areas, continuous weather information, newswire and stock market tapes
(displayed alpha-numerically), local orignation "cablecasting' by the operator,
a school channel , a municipal government channel, one or more pay-cable channels
showing non-broadcast movies and sports events for an extra charge, and so
forth The industry also began to be aware about five years Ego that it is
possible to send signals back up the cable from the subscribers to the head-end
(which is not possible in broadcasting) In the ensuing period, a great deal
of development and testing of two-way concepts and hardware has been done but
as yet there is little or no operational two-way usage, primarily because a
viable market for two-way services has not yet developed
It is cable's ability to bring more TV signals into the home than
there is room for in the crowded radio spectrum, plus its two-way video and
data potential , that has excited interest in cable as the communications
system of the future This same interest has evoked a good deal of regulatory
activity that has placed both service requirements and service restrictions
on cable In its 1972 rewrite of the cable television rules, for example,
the Federal Communications Commission required that new cable systems have
20 channel capability, immediately provide local origination, school , municipal
government and public access channels, adhere to technical quality standards
on the signals delivered to subscribers, and prepare to offer (by 1977) an
undefined two-way capability
(A) Permissible Signal Carriage
The FCC also established itself in 1972 as the arbiter of the broadcast
TV signals that a cable system is permitted to carry, and ruled that a cable
system must obtain an FCC Certificate of Compliance listing its permitted
signal carriage before it is allowed to operate In general , the 1972 FCC
regulations are more limiting than previous regulations, although two "distant
import" signals are now allowed ( in the Boston Market, for example, two New
York City independent stations can be carried) The limitations comes from
Section VI - 22
(A) Permissible Signal Carriage (continued)
defining the area stations that can (and must) be carried on the basis of
mileage (a 35 mile radius from the Boston Post Office, for the Boston/Worcester
market), rather than as previously on the Class B signal contours of the stations,
which often extend much greater than 35 miles Thus a new cable system in the
western part of the Boston market cannot carry the Manchester station (Channel 9)
or the three Providence stations (Channels 6, 10, and 12) as do "grandfathered"
systems operating or franchised prior to 1972 (e g , Malden and Somerville)
Not being able to carry Channels 9, 10, and 12 may be come detriment to the
attractiveness of a Lexington cable system, since our reception quality
questionnaire indicates that a substantial number of Lexington homes now
receive one or more of these channels (see footnote, Table I ) Including
educational stations, on which there is no limitations unless local educators
object, a Lexington cable system would be permitted to carry E maximum of 14
broadcast TV signals, as shown in Table 1 To this would be added local origina-
tion, public access, municipal, and school channels, plus perhaps Heather,
pay-TV, news and stock market channels, for a total of about 20 channels (the FCC
required capacity)
(B) Channel Capacity
Twenty channels can be obtained in two ways -- by use of dual 12-channel
cables, or use of a channel converter providing up to 35 channels on a single
cable (converters can also be used on dual cables to provide many more than 35
channels) The present state-of-the-art in cable technology, and more particularly
channel converters and upstream transmission, is such that the committee feels
that it would be unwise to install a single-cable system in Lexington and that
our options for the future would be much better protected by installing a dual-
cable system. The reasons for this are complex, and have to do with as yet
unresolved problems in inter-channel interference in systems carrying more than
about 20-25 channels on a single cable and in two-way transmission on a single
cable. A dual-cable system also provides a much more flexible balance between
downstream and upstream channel capacity Per-subscriber costs of dual-cable
and single-cable converter systems are roughly comparable at nediun to high
penetration
(C) System Configuration
The final background concept to be discussed before getting into specific
system options for Lexington is the "hub" configuration, with independent trunks
serving different sectors of the town This becomes most important for the
non-entertainment uses of the cable If the town were wired as a "tree network"
with just one trunk, as most cable systems have been in the past, that one trunk
would set the total number of downstream and upstream channels available for the
whole town If, however, several trunks emanating from a "hub" are used, the
total upstream channel capacity is the capacity per trunk multiplied by the number
of trunks A hub configuration may or may not increase downstream capacity If
all downstream signals are sent to the whole town (ie, on all trunks), then a hub
Section VI - 23
SECTION VI
TABLE I
FCC ALLOWABLE BROADCAST SIGNALS CARRIAGE
FOR A LEXINGTON CATV SYSTEM*
CHANNEL
35 MILE RULE 4
(ALL BOSTON 5
OR CAMBRIDGE) 7
38
56
25 NOT YET BROADCASTING
68 NOT YET BROADCASTING (PAY-TV)
SAME MARKET RULE 27 WORCESTER
EDUCATIONAL 2 BOSTON
44 BOSTON
II DURHAM ( IF NO OBJECTION)
36 PROVIDENCE ( IF NO OBJECTION)
DISTANT IMPORT WOR (NYC)
WPIX (NYC)
TOTAL CHANNELS 14
*BASED ON INTERPRETATION OF DOCUMENTATION FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS CABLE COMMISSION
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT ONE OR MORE ADDITIONAL SIGNALS MIGHT BE GRANTED BY THE FCC ON
A WAIVER BASIS PARTICULAR CANDIDATES WOULD BE CHANNELS 9, 10, AND 12, WHICH CAN
PRESENTLY BE RECEIVED BY MANY LEXINGTON RESIDENTS (THE FCC WOULD NEED PROOF THAT
THE PROVIDENCE STATION WOULD BE "SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED" BEFORE IT WOULD PERMIT ITS
INCLUSION IN THE ALLOWABLE SIGNAL LIST FOR LEXINGTON THE SAME WOULD APPLY FOR
THE MANCHESTER STATION )
9
Section VI - 24
(C) System Configuration (continued)
configuration has no greater downstream capacity than a single-trunk system.
If, however, any selective downstream transmissions are made that do not use
all the trunks in a hub system, then the same channel (s) on the other trunks
can be used for some other downstream transmissions, resulting in a net
increase in downstream capacity
A large portion of the downstream channels will of course always go out
to the whole town all broadcast-TV stations, local origination, public access,
etc Where the added upstream/downstream channel capacity of the hub configuration
becomes important is in setting up one-way or two-way video links between specific
locations such as School A and School B, the library and its East Lexington branch,
the library and a school , possible police and fire uses, etc This selective
capability need not be provided for initially in the head-end equipment, but can
always be added later if the cables are installed in hub configuration Thus the
hub configuration, just like the dual-cable layout, provides e good deal of
flexibility for future expansion at very little added initial cost It is suggested
that Lexington might be divided into three to six sectors, each with a separate
dual-cable trunk runaway running from a head-end/studio located somewhere near the
center of the town It is of interest to note that this is e>actl') the configura-
tion on the new cable system that started operation in Lawrence, Mzssachusetts,
in January, 1974 The Lawrence system has three trunks
2 A MINIMUM SYSTEM (LEVEL I )
The Level I system defined by the Committee in its town-wide interview
questionnaire is a minimum system meeting the FCC requirements, with the excep
tion that it does include studio equipment for local origination, which is not
required by the FCC until a system has 3,500 connected subscribers (a 37%
penetration in the case of Lexington) The committee feels that a vigorous
local origination operation (essentially Lexington's own TV station serving
Lexington purposes) is one, if not the main, requisite of a Lexington cable
system and should be included from the very beginning
It should be recognized, however, that no local origination operation
in any cable system in the United States as yet pays for itself; also there is
little evidence that its presence on the cable is much inducement to a house-
holder to become a cable subscriber, at least with the type of programming
that most cable operators can afford to produce We believe that the success
of a local origination channel in Lexington will depend in large degree on the
dedication and initiative of town and private organizations in developing program
material on a continuing basis for the entertainment and/or edification of the
residents at large The production of material that can compete successfully
with the standard TV fare for the viewer's attention is of course not an easy
thing to do, or inexpensive unless much of the labor involved is on a volunteer
basis The challenge here is whether Lexington residents and organizations want
to make the local origination channel a real communications system on town issues,
events, and the interests and activities of various groups
Section VI - 25
2 A MINIMUM SYSTEM (LEVEL I ) (CONTINUED)
The basic system configuration, which is designed to permit easy expansion
to higher levels without laying new cables, uses dual-cable trunks arranged in a
hub network, as described in the Introduction No attempt at an engineering
layout for the town has been made However, it is clear from an inspection of
the map that the town itself is laid out in a hub configuration, with the major
arteries radiating from the Center It would appear that perhaps six trunks
along the following streets would achieve the desired sectoring of the town
Mass Ave east; Waltham Street; Lincoln Street/Mass Ave west; Bedford Street/
Burlington Street; Hancock Street/Adams Street; and Woburn Street/Maple Street
These are only suggestions, but indicate the general idea (see Table 2 sketch)
It is assumed that the head-end/studio would be located somewhere near the
Center so that the trunks cnuld radiate from it, and that the system antenna
would be located elsewhere on a higher place of ground Possible antenna
sites that have been suggested include Whipple Hill , and sites near the town
or the MDC water storage tanks A cable length between the antenna and the
head-end of up to six miles is quite feasible (cf , the Lawrence system)
and the antenna could be anywhere within the town boarders, or even outside
them
It is assumed that the minimum system would operate as a dual-cable
system, without CATV converters A dual-cable system transmits 12 channels
(2-13) on both cables but with different programming on each cable, and each
subscriber is provided with an A/B switch to select between cables as desired
Based on experience of the Malden system which operates in this way, a total
of 18 channels would be usable, not 24 as it would appear The reason for this
is that the transmitted signals of Channels 4, 5, and 7 are so strong in the
Malden (and Lexington) area that they interfer with cable reception and these
channels can, therefore, not be used on either cable Although 18 channels �F�, Ac
does not quite meet the minimum FCC requirement of 20 channels, it is believed c" `'�j
that it could still be certified on the basis that the number of channels can `i,-, cr
easily be increased by adding converters, as in Level II r "-
A requirement of the 1972 FCC regulations is that all new systems must
be installed with the capability for easy expansion to two-was transmission c.14
on the cables, and this requirement is satisfied by installing amplifer housincs
that include provisions for simply plugging in the necessary cross-over net-
works and return amplifiers when two-way operation is desired Most CATV
equipment manufacturers now include such housings in their stEndard product
lines
Section VI - 26
SECTION VI
TABLE 2
ONE POSSIBLE CONFIGURATION OF CABLE TRUNKS FROM A CENTRALLY
LOCATED HEAD END IN LEXINGTON
CI- ..,,,,,,
C 0
4-
Po
'ea dam ;'
au
0.
F.
w
Pyr I.
ti
h SA
me.,,.�.�r+'x"'e`.xmzs
Section VI - 27
3. AN INTERMEDIATE SYSTEM (LEVEL II )
As described in the committee's interview questionnaire, the Level II
system would be the same as the basic system except that converters would be
added (at a cost of $40 per subscriber) to increase the number of usable
viewing channels, a pay-cable channel might be added showing non-broadcast
programming such as sports events and first-run movies at an extra cost of about
$6 per month, and some two-way operations such as school interconnections might
be effected
Converters now on the market provide for up to 36 channels on one
cable, although few, if any, systems have as yet successfully used that many
without running into inter-channel interference problems -- a range of 25-30
seems like the present state-of-the-art In adding converters, there is
considerable flexibility in how one organizes the upstream/downstream channels
in a dual-cable system. If both cables are operated in sub-split mode, with
four channels upstream and up to 36 channels downstream, then system capacity
would be 8 channels upstream and 50-60 channels downstream (72 downstream
maximum) It is probably more likely that one would want to make one of the
cables a mid-split ( 16 channels each way), or even upstream orly, in order to
obtain better balance between upstream and downstream Also it is a little
hard to imagine what one would find to put on 60 downstream channels Any of
these variations are easy to implement by simply plugging in the proper
amplifier modules and the appropriate types of converters
(A) Two-Way TV Interconnections
Two-way operations envisaged for a Level II system involve only video
channels, not data services To create a two-way TV link between two schools,
for example, a camera signal from School A would be inserted on an upstream
channel , and would be received at the head-end where it would be up-converted
to a downstream channel frequency and placed on the trunk cable leading to
School B. The return path from School B to School A would be similar The
schools could be on the same trunk, in which case a total of four channels
are needed out of the trunk total (two upstream and two downstream), or on
different trunks If on different trunks only two channels per trunk would
be needed -- one upstream and one downstream each Note that any school
could also broadcast to all other schools, or to the town at large, depending
on what downstream channels and trunks the signal is placed on at the head-end
Municipal offices, the library, and the police and fire departments could have
similar two-way, closed circuit or origination connections (The option would
exist to have these connections private, if and as appropriate )
Equipment requirements for connections as described above are fairly
modest once the cable itself is equipped with two-way amplifiers At each
origination point, a camera ($500-$2,000) is required, plus a cable modulator
($1,000) At the head-end, an up-converter ($1 ,500) is needed for each
upstream channel used, one for a simple origination or two per two-way video
connection The two-way amplifiers total cost would be in the $80,000-$100,000
range.
Section VI - 28
(B) Pay-Cable
Pay-cable hardware is currently in quite a state of flux. A system
currently used by one of the largest pay-cable organizations (Home Box Office,
a subsidiary of Time-Life) is to assign a converter channel for the pay opera-
tion, and provide converters only to pay-channel subscribers (this is feasible
only where the standard service is non-converter) Where the standard service
uses converters, it is also possible to fix the converters of non-subscribers
of the pay channel so that they cannot receive It Many other schemes have been
and will be devised, including merging the pay-cable operation with a full
two-way data system, as in Levels III and IV, so that charges can be made on a
per-program-watched basis instead of on a complete monthly package of programs
The general opinion in the field at this time is that per-program operation is
preferable to a monthly subscription package, but no current hardware for per-
program operation in one-way cable systems has been completely satisfactory
Pay-cable operations are usually conducted by indepencent organizations
that have contracted for or own the rights to the programming that Is to be
sold, and either lease cable channels and operate the serviceE themselves, or
sell the programming to the system operator on a percentage bsis It is
important to recongize that in addition to the hardware question, pay-cable
itself is new and relatively untried concept All told, there are perhaps
not more than 100,000 pay-cable subcribers in the whole country at the present
time (Home Box Office has 20,000 subscribers in 25 cable systems), and some
pay-cable operators have already gone out of business Typically, about
15-20% of the subscirbers in a cable system also become pay-cable subscribers,
and if system penetration is 30% then pay-cable penetration is only 20%x30% or
6%. The key is whether the pay-cable organizations can gain access to program-
ming that will sell to enough subscribers
To give a feeling for what a subscriber might get for his flat monthly
fee of about $6 In a subscription system, Table 3 shows the July, 1974,
schedule for Home Box Office, totaling about 200 hours of programming not
available on broadcast TV Home Box Office, which started operation in 1972,
Is a network operating on leased AT&T and private microwave I nks It currently
serves 25 systems in New York and Pennsylvania from its production center in
New York City, but is extending its network to cover New EnglUnd Several
Greater Boston systems expect to carry Home Box Office within a year's time
fi
ti
Section VI - 29
SECTION VI
TABLE 3
TYP I CAL PAY-CABLE PROGRAMM I N G
JUIY 10 Premiere Movies
Jesus Christ,Superstar July 1 3,9, 12, 15, 18
Run,Stranger,Run July 2,6,8, 11
State of Siege July 2,6,8, 11
The New Land July 5, 13, 14, 16, 17 19 22,'24
P.74 Judge Roy Bean July 13,22,24
The Getaway July 13 14, 16, 17 19
The Hireling July 21,t3,25 26,27
Crazy Joe July 21,23,25,26,27
Jeremy July 28,29,30,31
Across 110th Street July 28,29 30, 31
Encore Performances
isHigh Plains Drifter-July I,3,12; 1776-July 4
Godspell-July 4; Lost Horizons-July 4;Mean
Streets-July 5;Battle for the Planet of the Apes-
month's July 7• The Neptune Factor-July 7'Summer
Wishes,Winter Dreams-July 10;The Stone Killer
-July 10;Charlotte's Web-July 20;Bang the
highl• is Drum Slowly-July 20;Save the Tiger-July 20;
The Emigrants-July 24
Sneak Preview-July 28
on Football,the 3 Bs and Tennis
World Football League July 10, 17 31
Home Yankee Baseball July 18, 19 25
Boxing July 8, 15,22,29
Professional Bowlers Association July 7 21,28
e/ World Team Tennis July 9 11, 16,23
/�
Special Features
flue Country Music Classics Music Shop Classical
��// Concerts
Childrens Classics,Cartoons,Mulligan Stew
Arts,Crafts&Hobbies
Adventure Stories
Coming in August
Tom Sawyer,Avanti and other current films
unedited and uninterrupted
More sports and specials
2
Section VI - 30
3 EXPANDED TWO-WAY SERVICES (LEVELS III AND IV)
Beyond the services discussed for Levels I and II , we get into services
that those in the cable industry characterize as "Blue Sky", not because they
are not technically feasible at the present state-of-the-art, but because
the subscriber equipment costs for providing them become very substantial
and no one yet knows what the market for them will be when and if they are
offered The main concept is the use of one or more downstream and upstream
channels per trunk to provide high-speed, time-division multiplex data services
With a million bits per second per channel , a head-end computer can be in
simultaneous communication with terminals in the homes of 10,000 - 30,000
subscribers, and all sorts of services have been proposed such as home shopping
and banking, fire and burglar alarms, meter reading, town-wide referenda,
and so forth
It seems clear that some or all of the "Blue Sky" will someday come
to pass, but when and how much is not possible to predict at this time Much
of the industry enthusiasm of a few years ago has cooled off in the face of
the following facts
home terminals for even the simplest services currently
cost about $300, with a potential of reduction to $100
if large-scale production becomes a reality;
wiring a home with a fire and burglar alarm system
costs $500-$1 ,000 over and above the home terminal ;
message printers and full keyboards each add perhaps
$100 or more to the cost of the terminal ;
banks, stores, and libraries are not yet ready to
do business remotely and electronically, and are
not moving very rapidly in this direction because
they don't see the prospects of many subscribers
being equiped with two-way terminals in the near
future
Whatever the future of two-way, interactive communication on the
cable, the basic dual-cable, hub-network suggested for Lexington should
have the capacity and the flexibility to accommodate it as it evolves
Little more can be done about two-way data services at this time
318V0 0NflOHOa30Nfl AO S3111,1 6 ON 1011 ON 1 5311W
318V3 GZL `0N3-0V3H 3NO WOUJ SNN0a1 XIS 3AVH 01IIOM W31SAS
`0012213d HV3A XIS 01 332:1H1 V 2:13A0 03HIM 38 O1flOM A19V80ad £ 310N
A110VdV0 AVM-OMI 3AI9 01110M W31SAS OISV9 SIH1 01 SNO11100V Z 310N
3HIVNN011S300 PL61 'Aavf1NVf
NI 03NId30 SV 30IAa3S 113A31 310NVH O1f10O W31SAS SIHI L 310N
33d HINOW/000` 1$ --- S13NNVHO NaOA M3N Z
SNVIOINH031 Z --- 3ONVNJINIVW
(S311W 8 X 005` 1 --- 1VIN3271 1Of10)
aV3A/310d/5-17$ X S310d 00£'5 1V1N3H 310d
1 dV]A/000`Z $ a3MOd
000'tZ;' I$
000`bbc' I
000'081 $ = NOI1VH13N3d %0b
I
000'b6L' I$
000'bbc' I
000'0517 $ = NOIIV813N3d %001
i 38110H/05$ = (HOIIMS 1S00 '8 'V V dOHO) dfl-NOOH
;
1E00 1VIIdVO )00'17b5' I$
)00'001 1N3Wd I fld3 01 01115
)00'05 811H 01 S311W Z ? VNN3INV
)00`051 9:13Al2j0 JO S13S 9
)00'1,170` 1$ cW31SAS OISV9
1 1500 1V11dV0 3
I 30311V1SN1 SV A11OVdAVM-0M1 ON '0
V33AVM-NMI ON 0
NOIIVNIGIa0 1V301 '8
NYIWIXVW 'AlIOVdVO 13NNVHO 81 HUM 8/V HUM S318V0 OMI V
1WIIWINIW 3aV8 1
I 13A31
b 319V1
IA NOIIO3S
LC - IA u0!4395
Section VI - 32
LEVEL II
II INTERMEDIATE SYSTEM; BARE MINIMUM, PLUS,
A. PAY TV
B. MORE CHANNELS ABOVE 181
C ADDITIONAL CAPITAL COST
SUBSCRIBER COST OF CONVERTER $402 /HOUSE
D PATCH THROUGH UPSTREAM $2,500 X 10 = $25,000
NOTE 1 COULD BE AS HIGH AS 26 CHANNELS DOWN AND 25-30 CHANNELS UP
FOR COMBINATIONS SUCH AS 26 CHANNELS UP ON ONE CABLE, AND
16 CHANNELS UP AND 16 CHANNELS DOWN ON THE OTHER CABLE)
NOTE 2 THIS IS THE HIGH SIDE OF A RANGE OF $30 TO $40/HOUSE
LEVELS III AND IV
111 FULL TWO-WAY SYSTEM1 ( INTERMEDIATE SYSTEM PLUS )
A SRS HOME TERMINAL3 $ 300/HOUSE
B. COMPUTOR AND MEMORY AT HUB/STUDIO $60,000 - $100,000
C TELETYPE SYSTEM $ 160/MONTH
TOTAL LEVELS I, II , III , IV
LEVEL I CAPITAL $1 ,344,0002
COMPUTOR & MEMORY 100,000
PATCH THROUGH 25,000
$1 ,469,0004
ADDITIONAL STUDIO EQUIPMENT 400,000
$1 ,869,000`
NOTE 1 (SAME AS NOTE 1 UNDER LEVEL II )
NOTE 2 THESE COSTS DO NOT INCLUDE THE CAPITAL FOR EITHER THE HOME
CONVERTERS ($50/HOUSE) OR THE SRS HOME TERMINALS ($300/HOUSE)
NOTE 3 THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE FIRE AND BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM, EXCEPT
FOR CONNECTION TO HEAD-END THROUGH SRS, ($300/HOUSE IS CURRENT
COST AND IS PROBABLY ON THE HIGH SIDE, SINCE COST WILL COME DOWN
WITH INCREASE IN SALES/MANUFACTURING VOLUME)
NOTE 4 MUCH OF THIS WOULD NOT BE NEEDED IF THE STUDIO AT THE NEW MINUTE-
MAN VOCATIONAL/TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL WERE AVAILABLE
Section VII - 33
SECTION VII
OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION OF A LEXINGTON
CABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM
by
J DAVID KUHN
As cable TV has grown, it has usually been managed by private enterprise
As one explores the literature on the subject, one finds an almost unanimous
assumption that however a city uses a system, whatever implications and require-
ments it imposes, and whatever its franchise and licensing fee, the system will
be built and managed by commercial standards
There are exceptions. About a dozen small towns, most of them with
little or no television available to residents at the time, undertook to build
a cable system when no private entrepreneur came forward Monthly fees in
such municipally-owned systems are exceptionally low, and profits are typically
used for further reduction in charges rather than for programming
In the late sixties, as the "golden promise" services of cable and the
really healthy profits of some systems became apparent, the concept of public
ownership became more fashionable Reasoning was two-fold why should not
cable, a public utility in many respects, be publicaly owned as many others
are? And why should not profits from a system go to the general welfare - to
reduce taxes or to produce some of the special public information needs of
which cable was so uniquely capable?
Responding to this reasoning, a number of towns instituted studies by
public spirited committees of citizens to explore the feasibility of public
ownership Among these were Detroit, Michigan; Dayton, Ohio; Jacksonville,
Florida; San Bruno, California; and the Bedford-Stuyvensant Redevelopment
Corporation in Brooklyn, New York. Except for San Bruno, these cities are
still in the study stage, though some imaginative schemes for public owner-
ship and hybrid public/private management have grown out of these efforts
One modern, municipally-owned system was carried forward and is now in
its third year of operation in San Bruno, California Because the rate of
subscription, critical to cash flow and ultimate liquidity of any system, has
been higher than projected, the system is nearly a year ahead of schedule in
construction The manager of the system expects the utlimate projection of
some $200,000 of surplus revenue in the seventh year will be met
The response of the Cable TV industry to the municipal ownership
question has been, perhaps unsurprisingly, negative. The level of argument
on either side has not always been terribly well informed, When reduced to
essentials, however, the issue seems by no means to be clearly decidable
on principle It is, in fact, one of those typical questions of government
and public service which must be analyzed case by case The financial
requirements of the decision are obviously of great concern to any public
body faced with conflicting demands on the public purse
Section VII - 34
Having set aside arguments on principle, let us turn back and state
them for the record and for clarification as the Board of Selectmen will
undoubtedly hear them. The question might be "Should Lexington opt for
town ownership of its cable TV system?"
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR
1 The public interest would be better served
Cable will be more than a newer and crisper conduit for currently
existing news and entertainment It will be a broadband communications
system with a capacity for wide choice of programming Public ownership
is the form most likely to reflect public needs, especially in the area
of information about civic affairs In addition, publicly-owned TV
systems are historically much more innovative than commercially run systems
A town-owned system would respond to local needs, while a commercial system
would probably be a subsidiary of one of the vast multiple-system operators
directed from New York or Hollywood
II There are financial advantages
Capital is much cheaper in public markets than in private ones The
subscribers to a town-owned system would not have to subsidize interest
rates now the highest in history State and Federal moneys may be available
to help build the system. And finally, any profits the system makes after
its initial start-up years would all go to the public good, for programming
or other ways to benefit the community
ill The quality of service is likely to be higher
The city can and would make changes in equipment and programming
rapidly It would wire marginal or unprofitable areas of the town as a
public service ' Even a well-written franchise agreement would not force
a commercial operator to do these things without great difficulty As
with any human enterprise, motivation is everything The town could achieve
first-rate management by contracting for it, as COMSAT has clone
IV Censorship need not be a problem of public ownership
The town could, and probably ought to, place program control in the
hands of a broadly community-based public board The dangers of First
Amendment restrictions on programs, and the converse of instrusions on
privacy by two-way systems, are thus minimized
Section VII - 35
ARGUMENTS ON THE OPPONENTS
I Control of communications should be divorced from the government
Whatever the safeguards tacked onto municipal ownership, the prospect
of city government with ultimate control of the evening news is a frigh-
tening one Public boards are likely to be appointed by the government,
and thus will reflect established interests. The probability of two-way
cable in most homes is one which requires the maximum distance between
government and control of the devices. The motive of the private sector
is profit, not power That's a better safeguard than the most ardent
professions of interest in the public welfare
II The financial "advantages" do not always work for the best
There are enormous capital costs and very little revenue in the first
several years of a cable system's life There is a substantial risk,
inherent in all business and accentuated in this one, that profitability
may never be attained Private speculative capital is the proper engine
for such an undertaking, not public bonds or tax funds. The town has
problems far too pressing to take such risks with its limited resources
Further, private capital can write-off Its losses against taxes a Federal
subsidy, in effect Towns have no such advantage
III Towns and cities, in general , are not known for their efficiency
The prospect of a system necessitating sensitive and complex management,
being run by uncaring civil servants, is not a pleasant one. Again, a
business must please its customers or it will lose them A bureaucrat really
does not care if he loses them.
/;dlr
But Lexington need not restrict„to'the pbies of choice these arguments
would seem to imply It is important, it seems to us on the Committee, to
distinguish the different facets of a cable system which are in fact at
stake when one talks about ownership and operation The parts are usually
mixed together, and are in fact interchangeably in the above typical argu-
ments. They are a) Plant ownership, b) Control of content, c) Benefit
from profits
To Illustrate what differences can occur when one takes these elements
separately The town could contract for the construction of and own the
cables, amplifiers, and studios of a system. It could turn over management
of the system to a private cable company on a long-term contract Programming
decisions would thus be virtually identical to those of commercial systems
In this arrangement, Lexington could then distribute the profits of the
system as the Board of Selectmen and the town decides Such an arrangement
is entirely feasible.
Section VII - 36
Another arrangement that may have more appeal is semi-public owner-
ship, as in Gary, Indiana, where local citizens funded the company There
is a possibility of municipal ownership with outside management working
for a Board of Directors either elected or appointed by the Board of
Selectmen Profits could go entirely for community programming, or for
related educational functions like libraries and adult education A non-
profit corporation, or a new public Cable TV Authority are other possibilities
A sample organization chart„ in Table 1
appears
We do not, by the enumeration of infinite choices, intend to confuse,
nor to avoid a recommendation, but rather to illustrate pie flexibility
which is possible as Lexington tailors a cable TV system %kits own needs
The needs are not those of Arlington nor Lincoln nor any other neighboring
town, though clearly some problems, and facilities, are and may be shared
Lexington is Lexington and should develop and make its choice on owner-
ship and operation through its own effective political processes
Form of ownership is thus one of the considerations to be faced by the
town, and by the Board of Selectmen Some of the factors which would contri-
bute information for this decision are as follows
Making the best use out of cable in Lexington
Lexington may wish to try out some uses at the frontiers of cable's
capabilities Its citizens are used to being involved in town government,
and it has a very high proportion of technically interested and capable
people within its borders At present such experiments would require some
additional cost over the normal cable services An on-going commission on
Cable Communications would establish a Cable Services Support Group which
would be able to provide support in technical equipment, operations, and
programming aid to groups interested in these experiments The Support
Group would have the expertise and contacts to formulate proposals for
outside funding Such aid might come from educational institutions, State
and Federal government businesses, etc An example of the moneys available
is a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to explore the
delivery of social services in four towns around the country
If Lexington feels it would like to take some initiative to get the
most out of cable communications, it should consider whether a public
system would be more or less receptive to this desire than a privately-
owned one.
School and library interconnection
Eventually, it is likely that the schools in the area will have
considerable video capability and Cary Library has a growing collection `eg,/
of video cassettes The Minuteman Vocational-Technical High School is k2/iA
to have a substantial television training facility A Lexington cable re
system may well utilize and interconnect these facilities to avoid
duplication and share costs especially of the program storage library
SECTION VII
TABLE I
LEXINGTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
LEXINGTON CABLE COMMUNIICATIONS COMMISSION
OFFICE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
(FRANCHISE AIIIINI ATION, ETC.)
GOVERNMENT ACCESS EDUCATI(NAL ACCESS CORPORATION FOR
POLICY ADVISORY POLICY ADVISORY COMMUNITY ACCESS
BOARD BOARD (INDEPENDENT, NON-
PROFIT PUBLIC
CORPORATION)
(TO RECOMMEND POLICY ON USE OF (TO MANAGE THE PUBLIC
DEDICATED CHANNELS, SHARING OF AND COMMUNITY ACCESS
FACILITIES, SOURCES OF FUNDING, CHANNELS; BOARD OF
ETC. ) TRUSTEES TO BE APPOINTED
BY THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN)
CDC
-9-
3.
G
w
Section VII - 38
School and library interconnection (continued)
The town will of course have one or two channels at its disposal for
educational uses under any form of ownership, but, even so, which owner-
ship system is most likely to provide the most value for Lexington?
Citizen feedback and participation
Some of the possibilities in televised town meetings, citizen feed-
back on issues, and the like could be financed by the town out of the fee
paid to the town by the cable system, public or private. However, the town
should consider whether any eventual surplus revenues, probably six or seven
years hence, might be more available for use on the above mentioned
activities, under one form of ownership as compared with other forms
Subsidy may be sought for innovative social and political programming,
as well as educational The emphasis so far has been on the attitude and
flexibility of the system to such innovation However, if Lexington gets
to the point where a grant proposal is being developed, the town should
consider the nearly universal preference ( in attitude of in,titutions likely
to be interested in supplying funding) towards non-profit oterations run
in the public interest The example of Channel 2 needs onl) to he mentioned
We should perhaps quickly add that it is not envisioned that such experiments
as a Lexington Cable System might carry on would compete for funds with
Channel 2.
EXAMPLES OF OTHER TOWNS HAVING OR CONSIDERING MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP
San Bruno, California
San Bruno lies about 20 miles south of San Francisco, and has a
population of some 37,000 It is within 5 miles of the transmitting towers
of the five major TV stations of the area, and within 30 miles of four
others Reception, however, was poor to fair for most residents
The city had pending several applications for franchise in 1971 from
commercial cable companies The City Council and many residents were not
happy with the record of commercial firms in neighboring towns, however,
and the Council undertook a postcard questionnaire of its 10,000 households
Thirty-seven percent responded, and of the answers, 60% indicated they would
become cable subscribers Moreover, 64% favored municipal construction
and operation of the system.
The Stanford Research Institute, intrigued by the figures, did a
market survey and confirmed them as accurate It further projected expenses
against revenues, with interest figured at 7% on the $550,000 loan, and
predicted profitability of some $204,000 by the seventh year The first
several years, characteristically, would be marked by heavy expenditures
for capital plant and virtually no revenue
Section VII - 39
So the town went ahead on a municipal ownership and operation basis
San Bruno officials report to the writer that connections to homes have
proceeded faster than expected and that further construction has thus been
accelerated The rosy financial picture, they caution, is due, in part to
contracts with three large new appartment complexes which will bring in
$324,000 of surplus revenue over the next ten-year period
The density of residences appears to be higher in San Bruno than in
Lexington, certainly when taking into account the degree of appartment
living in that town
San Bruno borrowed $505,000 from surplus water system moneys to
fund their initial construction, figuring a 7% interest on the money as
operating expense
Since this system was founded within the past few years, unlike
most publicly owned and operated systems, it is regarded as the only
true model of modern municipal ownership in the United States by authori-
ties like the Cable TV Information Center of the Urban Institute in
Washington
Its success has been controversial The cable TV industry has taken
some pains to analyze the San Bruno experience in terms which are generally
highly unfavorable The criticisms go so far as to question the actual
financial health of the system, though its public records are subject to
audit as are those of any city agency The San Bruno Cable System operating
personnel do not regard most of this criticism as justified
Information supplied by Leo Van Dusen, City Engineer, 567 El Camino
Real , San Bruno, California 94066
SOME MASSACHUSETTS TOWNS CONSIDERING PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
Wakefield, Reading, Sterling, Ashburnham, Middleboro, Concord, Arlington,
Peabody, and Salem have committed themselves in principle to a form of public
ownership, usually municipal Several of these towns have municipal electrical
companies and thus already have experience in management of a public utility
service
As far as we know, in no case has a Massachusetts town proceeded so
far as to build a municipal system, much less to establish an operating
record, however brief
In Framingham in May of this year, a group of residents submitted a
franchise application to the town as a public corporation, "a company
organized and controlled by people from Framingham," thus triggering the
state-required decision process by that town
Section VII A - 40
SECTION VII A
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
by
IRA STEPANIAN
Lexington should prepare itself for the day when it must, or would
like to, entertain the idea of having Cable TV in the town It may be
forced to consider the likelihood if a private entrepreneur seeks a cable
franchise for the town In such an event the considerations will range
from the moral character and economic stability of the applicant(s) to the
intent of the applicant(s) in its building proposals, its pricing policies
and other considerations
However, whether or not private parties express an interest in
bringing Cable TV to Lexington, the town will have as an alternative
consideration the possibility of financing, building, and running a
municipally-owned and/or operated system. The myriad general questions
surrounding this issue are not dealt with here, but rather ust the
economic effect
Table I , "Financial Model of Lexington Cable", together with Table 4
of Section VI , highlight the basic costs for building and maintaining a
system which could provide services identified under Level I and Level II
as defined in Section VI of this report In addition to the costs indicated
are the selling, general and administrative costs of the two technicians,
a system manager and sales, which would amount to approximately $40,500/year
Allowing an additional $25,500 for miscellaneous and contingent expenses,
the total cost to run a system once it is operating would be about
$100,000/year, excluding financing costs The cushion for miscellaneous
expenses plus the 5% growth in SG&A expenses shown in the Table should
be sufficient for inflation over the years
Financing for the project is assumed to be accomplished through the
Issuance of 5% short-term notes during the building period and a 5% bond
issue to refund the debt at the end of the building period (Year 3)
Debt reduction, or the availability for it, is begun in Year 5, although
this may not be the desired or necessary way of handling the debt reduction
Highlighting some of the implications of the Table it may be noted
that the town is assumed to have a maximum of 9,000 households, all of
which will be passed by cable. Capital expenditures, which are heavy during
the building period, continue indefinitely as new homes are connected or
disconnected (such costs are capitalized for purposes of the Table)
Section VII A - 41
Saturation ( i e , subscribers at year end as a percent of homes
passed at year end) is shown to continue to grow until year 10 when it
reaches 60% Whether or not this is realistic requires some interpretation
of the town survey For example, at the Table's assumed subscriber fee of
$6.00/month, the survey indicates that 32% of the town would subscribe for
Level II services If we assume, however, that subscribing households
would be willing to pay $5/month plus $I/month for a second set (a question
not asked in the survey), the subscriber saturation level (at $5) would be
57 5% for Level II services The $5/month basic cost and the $1/month
additional set cost are at the low end of the industry's average rate
scales
Depending on how one chooses to interpret the questionnaire results,
and on what assumptions one chooses to apply in constructing a table such
as Table I (Section VII-A) it is possible to reach widely different conclu-
sions as to the economic viability of a town-owned cable system for Lexington
For illustration, however, assume the building and operating cost
figures in Table I are realistic; assume also that the town survey accurately
reflects the town's views on an overall basis There would be reason to
believe that the attainable saturation level is somewhere between 32% and
57 5%. Table I indicates that the break-even point for the town lies
somewhere between 35% and 40% At that level all cash requirements, including
on-going capital expenditures, can be generated by the system Any level
above that begins to generate cash to repay the debt created to build the
system. Using the Table 1 cash availability figures for debt service, the
peak requirement for the town is in year 4 at $1 ,683,000 If the saturation
level reaches 50%-55% by year 8, the system can be self-sufficient assuming
a total 20 year bond issue in year 3 or year 4
Obviously, as Table 1 shows, if all available data from the survey
is disregarded, the pessimist can see a total disaster financially and the
optimist can see substantial reductions in Lexington's tax rate (or virtually
free cable services) in due course However, the present state-of-the-art
of cable, together with the interests indicated by Lexington residents, seem
to result in the following the financial considerations for a town-owned
or financed cable system range from somewhat risky (i e , costly), to
self-sufficient within reasonable parameters of assumptions
C (7 C
SECTION VII-A
TABLE I
FINANCIAL MODEL OF LEXINGTON CABLE
YEAR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 10
Homes in area 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000
Homes passed by cable 3600 66o6 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000
Moles of cable 45 85 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125
Beginning subscribers ---- 450 1320 2250 3150 3600 4050 4500 4950 5175
Additions 450 870 930 900 450 450 450 450 225 225
Ending subscribers 450 1320 2250 3150 3600 4050 4500 4950 5175 5400
Average subscribers 112 885 1785 2700 3375 3825 4275 4725 5062 5288
Saturation at year end . 12 5% 20 0% 25 0 35.0% 40.0% 45 0% 50.0% 55 o% 57 5% 60.0%
Capital expenditures $ 473M 494 496 45 23 23 23 23 11 11
Revenues $ 8M 64 128 194 243 275 307 140 364 350
Cost of service, $ 50M 100 105 110 116 121 127 132 138 145
SG&A
Interest-net $ 13M 40 68 83 83 81 79 74 69 62
Total costs $ 63M 140 173 193 199 202 206 206 207 207
Cash flow (annual) $ (55hm) (76) (45) 1 44 73 101 134 157 173
Cash flow (cumulative) $ (55M) (131) (176) (175) (131) (58) 43 177 334 507
Cash required or $ 528M 570 541 44 (21) (5o) (78) (111) (146) (162)
( ) available for debt service C
(annual)
Cash required or $ 528M 1098 1639 1683 1662 1612 1534 1423 1277 1115 0
( ) available for debt service
(cumulative) `—
a
A
N
Section VIII - 43
SECTION VIII
PRESERVATION OF PRIVACY (WITH RESPECT TO CABLE TV)
by
ALBERT P ZABIN
This discussion of the problems of privacy is not intended to be
an exhaustive legal document It is simply intended to be a summary of
the problems so that those groups of persons considering the issue of
cable TV in Lexington will have an awareness of the problems that cable
TV can pose to the rights of privacy and to understand the various considera-
tions that must be used in establishing a cable TV system. The right of
privacy is essentially a legal term with no fixed meanings It encompasses
rights recognized by law and customs which have little in common with each
other, other than a common name Further, there are two aspects of the
issue of privacy 1) the issue of the seeming or perceived invastion (may
exist in a one-way CATV system) which is really one of the credibility
of the licensing authority and licensee, and 2) actual issues of control
or use of technology which may invade the privacy of individuals This
may be illustrated by the telephone which we have In our homes The phone
is obviously a two-way device and people generally have the confidence
that when the phone is on the "hook", it is inactive and no one can use
it as a microphone to listen to conversations in the house Cable TV
needs to inspire similar confidence
The most obvious issue of privacy is the right of privacy from
unwarranted eavesdropping This may be a problem simply because cable
TV has the capacity for two-way transmission and reception Thus, it
is technically possible to install a transmitter in the subscriber's
home and transmit any sort of signal into the system. Since cable TV
offers the possibilities of services far beyond the mere transmission of
television programs and many of these services require some sort of trans-
mission from the subscriber's terminal , many subscribers face a potential
problem that their privacy may be invaded directly by unauthorized trans-
mission from their home At present, Federal Communications regulations
require that any transmitting device in a subscriber's set must be subject
to deactivation by the subscriber It is said that this regulation is
not rigorously observed in all systems Consequently, at a very minimum,
any CATV system franchisee in Lexington, should be required to observe
this requirement rigorously Furthermore, it is entirely feasible to have
a transmitting device ( in the home) activated "upstream" ( ie, at the TV
station), and it would certainly seem that not only should the subscriber
be able to turn off his transmitter and receiver, at will , but they should
not be able to be reactivated without a direct and positive act on the
part of the subscriber (except for such prenegotiated things as meter
readings)
Section VIII - 44
A second problem which arises from a two-way transmission system
is protection of the information transmitted to and from the subscriber
Since it is possible that CATV two-way systems can provide polling
services, bank account information, credit information or any other
information which a user would be likely to consider private, the
information back and forth must also be protected from unauthorized
disclosure There are technically feasible ways of equipping each sub-
scriber with a special decoder so that other subscribers on that channel
would not be able to request or receive information which he considers
to be private The cost of these various devices varies from $35 per
terminal to $600 per terminal ; and while it is not the purpose of this
section of the report to discuss in any detail the economics or engineer-
ing problems of maintaining privacy, we wish to point out that full
protection of privacy may well be a substantial and additional expense
to the subscriber of non-program CATV services
It is also feasible for the franchisee to determine what each sub-
scriber is listening to at any particular time. At first, this hardly
seems to be a significant problem, and, yet, it may well have very serious
privacy and civil liberty overtones For any number of reasons, a
particular subscriber may not wish anyone else to know what he is listening
to. The reasons may be innocuous, as an adult having someone catching him
in the act of listening to Sesame Street, or it may be that a subscriber
is listening to a highly controversial political program, and does not
wish that fact to be made public There is a significant difference between
telephone polling, which some TV program rating organizations engage in
to determine listener preferences, and a poll taken simply by receiving
a signal from a subscriber's set In the traditional telephone type poll ,
the person being polled is entirely free to refuse to participate in the
poll On the other hand, if the subscriber is being polled by virtue of
a signal sent from his set without his consent or knowledge, his ability
or right to remain silent is taken from him without his knowledge While,
at the present time, this may not seem to be a terribly significant problem,
the potential for a "chilling effect" on the exercise of cRii liberties
certainly is there This Country has seen within the last cuarter century
a period of time where some people did, in fact, lose their jobs or suffer
other unfortunate consequences simply because they held views which were
believed to be disloyal; and on occasion it was determined that ome
persons held disloyal views simply on the basis of what they reac and with
whom they associated A cable system established in a town is not just
for the immediate present, but for the future, as well , and there, obviously,
must be some planning even for contingencies which one may now not reasonably
foresee or desire.
Thus, any system which is installed must have built into it adequate
safeguards so that no signals, which will give information concerning the
subscriber, can be requested from a central data bank or transmitted from
his set unless he takes a positive step to permit transmission
Section VIII - 45
! fi
To what extent should CAN franchisee be permitted to reveal to third
persons information concerning subscribers which it has obtained while
opeating its system? This problem has somewhat characteristics to other
problems relating to privacy in other fields For some years the Registry
of Motor Vehicles was making available to mail order concerns the names
and addresses of registration holders in Massachusetts This practice,
when it was discovered, created much discomfort and antipathy on the part
of citizens. This right of privacy, even if not a legally recognized right, A, 2
extends to the right not to have information which one gives out for one
person used for another The need to have one's privacy protected is
certainly a perceived need, and it is one about which people, rightly or
wrongly, tend to become very emotional and about which they also tend to
hold very strong feelings To a very great extent the success or failure
of any CATV system, particularly in Lexington, will depend on how well the
citizenry feels the questions concerning privacy have been examined and
handled, with regard to both the seeming and the actual peril
COPIES TO BOARD MEMBERS
MR. O;CONNELL