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Charter defends consolidated Area 19 studio and outlines HD upgrades, outreach and budget surplus use
Summary
Charter told PURA its consolidated New Town studio serves a 20-town Area 19, cited recent investments in HD cameras and a plan to launch the P channel in HD, and detailed a modest PEG surplus while agreeing to provide additional budget and usage breakdowns.
Charter witnesses told the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority that a single consolidated studio in New Town adequately serves Area 19’s 20 towns and that the company has actively promoted community access through outreach, training and PSAs. Counsel and staff questioned Charter’s handling of a past studio consolidation and sought documentary evidence about community engagement and program counts.
Jennifer Young and other Charter representatives said the company had purchased HD cameras and an upgraded switcher last year at a cost reported in filings (about $73,649 cited in testimony) and that it planned to launch the public-access channel in high definition. Charter described its program-count methodology as including repeats and resident-sponsored content; the company counts both locally produced studio programs and resident-sponsored programs uploaded from outside the studio.
Charter said it had accumulated a PEG surplus over several years — roughly $120,000 historically with a current balance of about $45,000 — and used part of that surplus to buy equipment. The company explained its accounting practice for 'rent' as an internal allocation of property tax, maintenance and utilities rather than a third-party market rent figure, and agreed to provide a more detailed, line-item forecast of expected operating expenses for New Town as a late-filed exhibit (LF34).
On consolidation, witnesses recalled that Charter previously closed a small Winstead studio and consolidated operations at the larger New Town facility. Charter said it managed the transition by cataloguing users and equipment and offering training and in-person assistance, and reported recent growth in the number of active producers that it attributed mainly to outreach and promotion efforts.
What happens next: Charter agreed to file supplemental materials requested by staff: two years of training-evaluation data, two years of records for requests/use of P-channel time, an inventory of ENG/E-channel operational status and a forecasted, line-item expense budget for the New Town studio.
