HomeMy WebLinkAboutPresent: Mediacom
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
August 20, 2001
6A
Frank Boyles, City Manager
AGENDA ITEM: PRESENTATION BY MEDIACOM (Bill Jensen, Regional Manager)
PRESENTATION: As directed at the August 6, 2001 meeting, I have asked Mr. Jensen to once
again be present before the City Council to comment about four items identified
in the attached letter.
In addition to the four items noted in the letter, I have also asked that the
following issues be addressed:
· Failure to attend City construction meetings
. Uneven audio volumes on channels
. Failure to provide cable modems in July
After sending my letter and leaving telephone messages for both Mr. Bordwell
and Mr. Jensen, Mr. Bordwell left a voice mail to the effect that they would
provide a letter on these topics. I asked, again by voice mail, that someone be
present. Mr. Bordwell indicated he could not make it but he would ask Mr.
Jensen. I do not know if anyone will be present at the Council meeting.
16200 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245
1:\COUNCIL\AGNRPTS\2001\MEDIACOM.DCA~ EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
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August 13, 2001
Mr. Bill Jensen
Regional Manager
MEDIACOM
2381 Wilshire Boulevard
Mound, MN 55364
Re: Report to Prior Lake City Council
Dear Mr. Jensen:
The City Council would like to invite you to its August 20, 2001 regular meeting beginning at 7:30pm to
report on the following items:
1. Customer Service Report which was not provided/available as of your last presentation to the
City Council.
2. An explanation as to why there was an interruption of service and the live broadcast of the
August 6, 2001 City Council meeting was not possible.
3. Your intended actions to correct the inaccurate cable line-up sheet dated August 7, 2001.
4. The reason for the crawler message on some channels that the signal is weak because of the
digital upgrade.
I have placed you first on the agenda so I expect that this item will be before the Council at 7:45pm.
16200 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (952) 447-4230 / Fax (952) 447-4245
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Basic Cable 52 Comedy Central 256 Toon Disney Espanol 539 Mexicana
2 KTCA (PBS) Mpls.lSt.Paul 53 MTV 257 MTV Espano1 540 Tejano
3 WFTC (FOX) Mpls 54 VHl 258 VH 1 Espanol 541 Folkorica
4 WCCO (CBS) Mpls 55 CMT 542 Boleros
5 KSTP (ABC) Mpls 56 TNN 259 DMX Latin Contemporary 543 International Love Songs
7 KSTC (IND) St. Cloud 57 TBN 260 DMX Fiesta Tropical 544 Brazilian Pop
8 C-Span 58 Odyssey 261 DMX Rocken Espanol 545 Brazilian Beat
9 KMSP (UPN) Mpls 59 EWTN 262 DMX Latin Jazz
]0 Mediacom Promotions 60 CNN 263 DMX Regional Meixican Digital Premium Channel
11 KARE (NBC) Mpls 61 Headline News 264 DMX Tejano 301 HBO
12 Digital Preview Channel 62 FOX News 265 DMX Salsa 302 HBOW
n K:rn IlNll\ Mplo \ 63 MSNBC 303 HBO Plus
J4 Savage Gov't Access 64 CNBC 305 HBO Family
15 Savage Public Access 65 FOX Movies Digital Access Music 306 HBO Family W
16 Savage Educ. Access 66 C-Span 2 501 Showcase 1 307 HBO Signature
17 Prior Lake Educ. Access 67 QVC 502 Showcase 2 308 HBO Signature W
18 Bumsville Educ. Access 68 Home Shopping Network 503 Origens 315 Cinemax
19 Religious Access 69 TV Guide Channel 504 New Releases 316 Cinemax W
20 WGN (IND) Chicago 70 Univision 505 American Originals 317 More Max
21 KMWB (WB) Mpls 78 Turner Classic Movies 506 Sounds of the Seasons 318 More Max W
22 KPMX (PAX! IND.) Mpls 507 For Kids Only 351 Showtime
Digital Access Channels 508 World Beat 352 Showtime W
Family Cable 201 Discovery Kids 509 Body & Soul 353 Showtime 2
23 The Weather Channel 202 Discovery Science 510 Classic R&B 354 Showtime 2 W
24 ESPN 203 Discovery Health 511 R&B Hits 355 Showtime 3
25 ESPN 2 205 Game Show Network 512 Dance 356 Showtime 3 W
26 Fox Sports Net (MSC) 206 FOX Sports World 513 Rap 357 Showtime EXT
27 FX 207 The Golf Channel 5]4 Metal 358 Showtime EXT W
28 Speedvision 208 BBC America 515 Alternative Rock 365 TMC
29 Lifetime 210 Independent Film 516 Progressi ve 366 TMCW
30 Fox Family Channel 211 A& E Biography 517 Classic Rock 367 TMC2
31 USA 212 History Channel Int'l 518 Rock Hits 368 TMC2E
32 Sci-Fi 213 Lifetime Movie Network 519 Soft Rock 369 Flix
33 TBS 2]4 Trio 520 Hit List 370 Sun dance
34 TNT 215 Much Music 521 80's Hits 401 Starz!
35 BRAVO! 218 Women's Entertainment 522 70's Hits 402 Starz! W
36 AMC 223 Health Network 523 Solid Gold Oldies 403 Starz! 2
37 A&E 224 Goodlife TV 524 Today's Country 404 Starz! 2 W
38 The History Channel 225 techtv 525 Classic Country 405 Encore
39 HGTV 226 Bloomberg 526 Big Band 406 Encore W
40 Food Network 228 Inspirational Life 527 Singers & Standards 411 Westerns
41 Court TV 229 CNN/SI 528 Easy Listening 4]2 Westerns W
42 The Travel Channel 230 Outdoor Channel 529 Classical Masterpieces 413 Love Stories
43 The Discovery Channel 231 style 530 Light Classical 414 Love Stories W
44 The Learning Channel 531 Atmosphere 415 Mystery
45 Animal Planet Digital en Espanol 532 Light Jazz 416 Mystery W
46 Nickelodeon 250 Telemundo Int'I 533 Jazz 417 True Stories
47 Cartoon Network 25J Discovery en Espanol 534 Blues 418 True Stories W
48 Disney 252 Cine Latino 535 Gospel 419 Action
49 TV Land 253 Rio De La Plata 536 Contemporary Classics 420 Action W
50 Soap Network 254 Fox Sports Espanol 537 Musica Latina
51 EI 255 CNN Espanol 538 Tropical
Rate Information
Basic Cable $13.50 Digital Choice $59.95
Family Cable $36.95 Digital Value $69.95
Digital Access $49.95 Total Digital $79.95
Digital en Espanol** $5.95 (add on)
***Digital en Espanol is available for $5.95 in addition to Digital Access.
Media<<;:=)
2381 Wilshire Blvd.
Mound, MN 55364
Email: b;ensen(ij)mediacomcc.com
Phone: (952) 472-6764
Fax: (952) 472-7153
Bill Jensen
Reflional Manafler
August 16, 2001
Mr. Frank Boyles, City Administrator
City of Prior Lake
16200 Eagle Creek Avenue Southeast
Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714
Dear Mr. Boyles,
Unfortunately, both Tom Bordwell and myself have a previously scheduled commitment and
will not be able to present the information in person before the Prior Lake City Council on
Monday August 20, 2001. I'd be more than happy to provide any additional information or
discussion as needed at a later date.
However, first let me convey to you the excitement that Mediacom has had in the successful
deployment of our digital services. As promised, Mediacom now has a viable competitive
product to satellite dishes. Due to our recent digital cable launch in Prior Lake, our customers
now enjoy hundreds of digital services. Using state of the art broadband technology,
Mediacom has migrated its premium services to a digital platform that rivals any other
operator in our industry. Prior Lake customers have responded to this option as well. Almost
700 customers that previously did not elect any premium services in the past have now
chosen this popular option. Additionally, we have been successful at converting existing
"analog" premium customers. This is nothing more than great news for the City of Prior Lake.
The increased revenue potential of our digital services and our previously unavailable pay-
per-view services indicate an expected growth of the City's 5% franchise fee collected on its
behalf.
A quick look at the past year of operation also shows several other areas of improvement that
might shed some light on how important Prior Lake is to Mediacom. The active participation
in community events by our employees and our financial participation in community activities
and events differentiates Mediacom from past operators. Those activities have ranged from
sponsorships of school and athletic awards and banquets, Chamber and Rotary events,
Lakefront Days, and many others. Most importantly, this community involvement helps us
deliver the commitment Mediacom made to you, the City Council and our customers: being
an active partner in Prior Lake.
..
Page Two, Mr. Frank Boyles
August 16, 2001
Let me also address the items in your letter of August 13, 2001.
1. Customer Service Report. The 2001 second quarter customer service reports indicate a
reduction of trouble calls comparable to the same time period last year. The detailed
report of the trouble calls will be mailed under separate cover. Again, the installation of
our digital services and removal of the old premium "traps" accounted for much of the
activity. Our busy signal rate has also improved over the same time period. We have
experienced some peak levels on a few days that are out of the ordinary and are
attributable to off-air broadcasters operating at lower signal strength (see #4 below), the
roll-out of new digital services and the introduction of pay-per-view. Customer education
is a big part of our service representative training and with the introduction of these new
services our average time per telephone call has increased. The good news is that
although the average time per call has increased, the nature of the calls have shifted
greatly to questions regarding the improved services. We are talking about how to use the
on screen programming guide and how to order pay-per-views as opposed to problems
with system performance.
2. Interruption of service of the Council Meeting on August 6. This was a simple fix resetting
the modulator level and was accomplished on August 7.
3. Correct listing of the Prior Lake Public Access channel. We have placed ads and used
the text messaging capabilities of our system to alert customers of this change. In
addition, new line-ups will be mailed to each customer.
4. Crawler message regarding digital upgrade. This message is not generated, nor is it in
the control of Mediacom. The local broadcasters in our area are in the process of
installing equipment to deliver their signals in an upgraded digital format. Some are
currently operating at less power while this work is completed. It is expected to continue
for several more weeks.
5. Missed construction meetings. Mr. Barry Paulson has been hired to manage our Cable
Construction and can be reached at 952-472-8589.
6. Internet Update. As you are aware, the City does not regulate the Internet portion of our
business. Because you share our desire and excitement for the delivery of this service,
Mediacom has been providing the City with updates on this portion of our business.
Currently all equipment needed to deliver the service has been installed and is awaiting
needed @Home certification. As you may know, @HOME is our Internet provider but
requires data circuits from Owest to access the internet. Unfortunately, Owest competes
with us in many markets for Internet customers so we're obviously at a competitive
disadvantage on this topic. Every Mediacom person associated with these projects, from
our Chairman to technical field personnel, have completed the tasks needed to deploy
cable modem services as soon as the certification is completed. This could occur literally
within days, or weeks. Rest assured that you'll be one of the first to know when we
activate Mediacom@Home in Prior Lake.
Thanks again for your patience.