Let’s chat about cable television.
In fact, we all need to have a conversation with California government on Thursday about some of the worst customer service in America.
No, not about the current kerfuffle between Disney and DirecTV. Satellite TV is not the same as cable TV when it comes to government regulation.
On Thursday, September 5th, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will host public hearings about cable franchise administration and customer service standards at the Monterey Park City Council Chambers.
“This is the first time cable franchising has been reviewed in more than 15 years in California,” says Chris Miller, Pasadena Media’s Chief Operating Officer. “And (it’s) a rare opportunity to fight for community media, digital equity and consumer protections.”
And Pasadena Media, like other public access, educational and government (PEG) television providers throughout California, has some very specific beefs with the likes of those cable providers.
Beef number one is cable TV companies like Charter/Spectrum actually downgrade the signal of PEG channels before sending them down the cable into homes, making it difficult to see fine details.
They don’t do that with other content providers.
Want to sound off to the state agency that regulates companies like Charter/Spectrum and AT&T? Then you need to go and be heard.
“Most cable companies are transmitting community channels via outdated standard definition resolution, even though most community channels deliver programming to them in high-definition resolution,” says Miller. “Can you read those City Council meeting slides on cable?”
Beef number two has to do with program guides.
“Many cable companies, including Charter/Spectrum, have not been providing them (for community media channels), depriving consumers of their ability to locate, view, record and otherwise take advantage of services they are paying for,” says Miller.
Pasadena Media is one of the few community media operators that streams in full high-definition resolution to what are known as “over-the-top” services like Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV, and the channel experience there is far superior compared with the same service provided by local cable TV providers.
Cable providers can get away with lousy PEG channel quality because they really don’t want community channels on their services at all. So if the transmission quality looks crappy, so much the better.
Ready to talk to some California bureaucrats face to face and tell ’em what for about your cable television service? Here’s what Miller recommends…
“We are asking you to encourage the CPUC to develop and enforce customer service standards by doing one or more of the following, in order of preference:”
- Be in Monterey Park tomorrow (Thursday 9/5) and sign in prior to the 1 pm start time to provide public comment (or before the second hearing at 5 pm)
- Provide public comment at a virtual hearing on 9/19 via telephone at 1-800-857-1917 (Passcode: 6032788). Again, please call before the 1 pm or 5 pm start times in order to register for public comment.
- Submit written comments by visiting https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:56::::RP,57,RIR:P5_PROCEEDING_SELECT:R2304006 or by emailing [email protected] and referencing Proceeding # R2304006 as soon as possible but by no later than September 30.
Want to sound off to the state agency that regulates companies like Charter/Spectrum and AT&T? Then you need to go and be heard.
DEETS
- Monterey Park City Hall, Council Chambers
- 320 W. Newmark Ave., Monterey Park
- CPUC hearings at 1 pm and 5 pm (sign-in prior to the meeting start time to speak)
I would love to go, but I have no immunity to Covid due to my immune system. With Spectrum, I am continually losing my connection, on a weekly basis, and yet my rate has gone up, twice. I depend on the internet to direct voice over sessions, which is the only way I can continue to work. The poor service for ever increasing prices is not an entertainment issue for me, but my access to income.
There will be two additional opportunities to make your opinion heard, and neither involves leaving your home:
Provide public comment at a virtual hearing on 9/19 via telephone at 1-800-857-1917 (Passcode: 6032788). Again, please call before the 1 pm or 5 pm start times in order to register for public comment.
Submit written comments by visiting https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:56::::RP,57,RIR:P5_PROCEEDING_SELECT:R2304006 or by emailing [email protected] and referencing Proceeding # R2304006 as soon as possible but by no later than September 30.