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Cable TV Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes

Hingham Community Access and Media

Committees: Cable TV Advisory Committee

2011 Annual Report

In January 2011, the Board of Selectmen approved the articles of incorporation and bylaws proposed by the Committee for a non-profit Public Access corporation, Hingham Community Access & Media Corporation ("H-CAM") to take over programming and operation of Public Access cable television, channel 97 on Comcast and channel 31 on Verizon. The Selectmen also appointed directors of the corporation and provided funding for initial start-up costs. In May, the Board of Selectmen entered into a five-year agreement with H-CAM, prepared by the Committee, covering funding for H-CAM and spelling out H-CAM's obligations to the Town. Funding for H-CAM is provided by capital payments and operational support payments made to the Town by Comcast and Verizon as part of their franchise agreements with the Town. The franchise agreements require capital payments of $200,000 from Comcast and $400,000 from Verizon over the duration of the franchises. In addition, Comcast began paying the Town 4.5 percent of its Hingham cable subscriber revenues in August 2009 for operational support, and Verizon began paying the same percentage in January 2010. In August 2011, the percentage was reduced to 4.2 per cent under the terms of the franchise agreements. The money provided to the Town by Comcast and Verizon can only be used to support Public, Educational, and Government ("PEG") Access cable television, and is not available for the General Fund.

Beginning in March, the Committee began investigating the feasibility of installing robotic cameras in the second floor meeting room in Town Hall, in order to facilitate the broadcast of committee meetings held in that room. This room can be used either as one large room or as two smaller rooms. After some experience broadcasting meetings in this room using portable studio equipment, the Committee determined that the best results for the filming and broadcast of meetings in this room could be achieved if robotic cameras were installed in the room. However, because large meetings that use the entire room and smaller meetings that use only half of the room both need to be able to be broadcast, the room presented a challenge with respect to the placement of robotic cameras. The Committee retained Access AV, the company which installed the robotic cameras in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, to prepare a design for robotic camera installation in the second floor meeting room. Bids were solicited, and in November, the new robotic equipment was installed. This equipment supports both live broadcast of meetings and recording of the meetings for future broadcast. The robotic equipment is more cost-efficient because only one person is required to broadcast and record meetings using that equipment, rather than the four persons who are needed when portable studio equipment is used. Committee meetings, as well as the Selectmen's meetings, are broadcast on the Government channel, Comcast Channel 10 and Verizon Channel 30.

During the summer, a Newtek Tricaster and a green screen were installed in the Hingham High School studio, for use by the Educational cable channel, Channel 22 on Comcast and Channel 29 on Verizon. This equipment provides virtual sets for the productions in the Educational channel studio. The virtual sets obviated the need for new furniture in the studio. They permit broadcasts using a large number of professional sets, which can be changed at the touch of a button. A set of wireless microphones to replace old wired microphones were also purchased for the Educational channel, as well as an "On Air" sign. Cable operational support funds were also used to fund one television production class at Hingham High School and to operate the Educational Channel over the summer.

Sandra Peavey, Chair
Eric Connerly
Joshua Gates
James Dellot
Robert Kirk
Katy Gallagher-Wooley, School Representative
Kate Richardsson, Government Channel Representative