Thinking Out Loud

JCTV Showing New Life In Spite of Mediacom Inattention

Jefferson City's only public, educational and governmental access channel will hold an open house this Thursday from 5:30 to 8:00 to recognize volunteers and supporters. Renovations this summer will incorporate new digital technology funded primarily by a grant from the City.

It's been tough to promote an identity in recent months due to Mediacom's inattention to this small blip on the big cable screen. For example, due to channel realignment lots of potential viewers don't know what channel the station is on. After months of complaining, here has been some progress. Mediacom says it will waive the "box cost" necessary to get the signal. JCTV has a final, definite, location:  Channel 81.

Station manager Gloria Enloe says this will allow her to finalize the website and initiate more marketing and sponsorships. CenturyLink (formerly Emabarq) says it will carry JCTV in its new service package. 

Jefferson City and Lincoln University contribute significant dollars and resources to JCTV. The enterprise has endless potential. Time to move from the theoretical to the actual. 

JCTV did not host the Kennedy - Nixon debate, but maybe someday . . . . . . . . 

 

Locals on CNN Broadcasts: Makeup Recommended

Mediacom's "Newsleaders" effort will broadcast five minute interviews with community leaders. (On the website, be sure to select our "region.") The clips are televised on their channel 43 as part of CNN Headline News. Councilwoman Carrie Carroll and the Mayor were recent invitees. In Carrie's interview she talked about owning a business downtown and her first term on the city council. The Mayor's interview pontificated a little on the local impact of national trends. 

It was the first time I have had makeup applied prior to a TV show. I wonder if they did that for everybody, or just for those who really needed it!

Friend Rene Duenckel was assigned to the task of improving my image. She politely said she would take care of the "shine" at the top of my forehead. 

Embarq Announces Digital TV Service Coming 7-31

City staff announced tonight that there will be second digital cable TV provider in the community very soon. Embarq will be providing competition to Mediacom by the end of the month.  It will be available only in neighborhoods that have DSL capability (but you will not have to use DSL to get the TV signal). Details will be announced at the August 3 City Council meeting. The signal will include the Public Access Channel (JCTV) where city council meetings are broadcast live. No information yet on what the service will cost. 

Having some competition is good. On a broader level, it is clear that technology in the near future will make the box in your house not just where you watch Desperate Housewives or the Cardinal game. It will be the portal to all information coming in and going out, and the primary way you relate to the rest of the planet. The separate worlds of TV, phones, and computers will all be offered in one system, and I am sure the controls will be too small for me to handle.

". . . except on Tuesdays it might be on Channel 7.4"

Friend Steve Mays posted an recent ominous (to some) article by Henry Blodget titled "Sorry, There's No Way to Save the TV Business." His thesis was that TV incumbents will no longer be able to support their cost structures  due to market and technological forces. 

At Monday's city council meeting it was reported that the only Public Access Channel in the Capital City might (after the carrier's year long adjustment to digital) be found on Channels .2, 12, 12.2, 21 or 81 . . . or maybe not at all. This was two weeks after a company representative appeared at a city council meeting and reported that all is well -- and it's just a matter of everyone installing the free box that will not be free next year. Six days later they told the News Tribune there were "a few problems" that still needed attention. 

Well, the problems still exist, evidenced by the report Monday night.

It is pretty clear that public access is not a priority for Mediacom .

I will, therefore, add one factor to Henry Blodget's list of reasons why incumbent TV will be dead in ten years: 

self inflicted wounds.

Marc Backes' Agenda is Really, Really Long Term

In a capital city we rarely look past one fiscal year, and alleged visionaries can look four years down the road to the next administration. Marc Backes returned to Jefferson City for a family funeral and decided to stick around. His website suggests his agenda might be longer than we're used to: www.eternityjc.com Here's his video about why he decided to come back. It's heartfelt, straightforward and challenging. He called me a while back to ask how he could help us be a better capital city. I liked the question and I am still thinking about the answer. 

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CNBC Interview With Mayor Postponed; President Pulls Rank

This week's Squawk on the Street daily segments on CNBC were devoted to interviewing mayors throughout the country about their local economic situation, and whether the recent national financial crisis was being felt locally. Mayors of Jersey City, Long Beach, Kansas City and Youngstown were on the list, as well as Jefferson City.  

I was all wired (literally) for the interview this morning at the secret uplink bunker in the basement of a state office building, but the President wanted to address the nation at 9:30 a.m., and CNBC decided for some reason to show his speech instead of my interview. We rescheduled the session for next week. Well, here's what I would have said:

We have some concerns about sales tax revenues (down 1.7% to date) and a generally sluggish housing market. Most people are watching the national trends, and the November elections, and not buying non-essential consumer goods. Banks are sound, but with inter-bank lending at standstill there are some liquidity issues. The good news is that our state employment base keeps us fundamentally solid. We have experienced some downsizing related to the auto industry (Johnson Controls) and the housing slowdown (ABB) but other sectors (printing and personal care) continue to expand. As a whole we do not see all the prosperity in "boom" years, but right now we are not seeing the desperation when things are going "bust."