CAN TV can do

BY Jim Sterne
News Editor
Following protests by hundreds of Chicago residents and multiple hearings before the City of Chicago Committee on Finance, CAN TV’s eight-month-long dispute with RCN is near resolution. On Sept. 3, CAN TV received $645,000 plus interest due since Jan. 7 for Cable Areas Two, Three and Four. The payment arrived one day before the Chicago City Council was expected to pass a resolution calling for daily penalties of RCN in the amount of $750 per franchise violation per area. When told of CAN TV’s payment, resolution sponsor Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) withheld the resolution.
Chicago is divided into four cable service areas: Area One is roughly the Lakefront; Area Two is composed of the North and Northwest parts of the city; Area Three is the West side; and Area Four is the South side south of the Kenwood neighborhood.
In January of this year, RCN sought relief from the City of Chicago on its obligations to construct a cable system in Cable Areas Two, Three, and Four in addition to seeking relief on its CAN TV payments for those areas. The company claims that the “telecom meltdown” halted its ability to move forward with its construction plans.
In the last two years RCN has pulled out of the Portland, OR, market and limited its presence in San Francisco, according to Barbara Popovic, CAN TV’s executive director. “They must have anticipated that things were not quite as good as the stock market was saying,” Popovic added. RCN has not sought relief for its existing franchise in lakefront Cable Area One.
The City of Chicago has been in discussions with RCN and CAN TV for months concerning RCN’s future activity. Agreement was reached in principal by all of the parties, calling for RCN to honor its commitments in Cable Areas One and Two while suspending activity in Three and Four.
RCN plans to move forward in Cable Area Two, which is located to the north and near west, adjacent to RCN’s Cable Area One franchise along the lakefront. The City of Chicago will suspend RCN’s activities in Cable Areas Three and Four during a one-year period in hopes that the company will remain as cable competitors in the future. As part of the suspension, RCN will engage in no activities to build or market their cable system and will relinquish its customers in Area Three and Four. CAN TV will defer RCN’s payment obligations for Areas Three and Four during the suspension period. This means that next year CAN TV’s budget will be down $400,000 but, “Having this payment means we can plan for that decrease next year. This year we anticipated the full payment for all four Cable Areas which was due to us by contract. Getting this money goes a long way in solving our immediate problems,” said Popovic. “We are thankful that CAN TV can now move forward after a challenging year. The payment from RCN gets us back on track with meeting our commitments to the public.”
CAN TV gives every Chicagoan a voice on cable television by providing video training, facilities, equipment and channel time for Chicago residents and nonprofit groups. Cable channels CAN TV 19, 21, 27, 36 and 42 reach more than one million viewers in the city of Chicago. For more information call (312) 738-1400 or go to www.cantv.org.