WESTBROOK — Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum, is in the midst of digitizing its cable offerings, an upgrade that will change public access channels that broadcast local city council, school board and planning board meetings and other community events.

The goal of the digitization, the company says, is to provide better quality, more high-definition television and greater broadband speed. Local public access stations would be shifted from 2 and 3 to the 1300s.

Tina Radel, Westbrook’s marketing and communications manager, is concerned about that change. 

“It will make our public channels more difficult for viewers to locate, and for some cable subscribers it will require upgrading to digital equipment, which comes with a cost,” Radel said.

“Although we do livestream and archive our programming digitally (at westbrooktv.viebit.com), we feel that this shift will put an obstacle between the public and our televised content,” Radel said. “In particular, we are concerned with reaching certain sectors of the population who may not have computers, mobile devices or the ability to afford the upgrade.”

The Community Television Association of Maine is working with local communities and consumer-interest groups to pressure the cable company not to  relocate public access channels. The association is also working to educate the public about a bill proposed by Sen. David Woodsome of Waterboro that has the support of more than a dozen other legislators. The bill is titled “An Act To Ensure Non-Discriminatory Treatment of Public, Educational and Governmental Access Channels by the Cable Operator.”

Woodsome’s bill would require the public, educational and governmental, or PEG, public access channels be left where they are in the lower digits and require cable operators to get approval from municipalities before that change is made, unless the change is required by federal law. 

Tony Vigue, of the Community Television Association of Maine, said the bill also attempts to rectify Charter’s refusal to broadcast local cable access channels in high definition over the years.

“That to us is discriminatory because they don’t do that with any other channel on their system,” Vigue said.

CTAM argues “pushing the PEG channels into the highest tier of their systems, a practice commonly referred to as ‘channel slamming’ makes it very difficult for viewers to find their municipal meetings. The main reason for “channel slamming,” the association noted in a Sept. 19 media release “is purely monetary since the single digit channel numbers command premium lease rates from shopping networks and the cable operator presently receives no income from the local PEG stations that currently occupy these channels.”

Charter says PEG channels will be available “in the same exact channel packages and tiers they have been in.”  “The only difference is they are grouped in the 1300s, as they are in many other Spectrum markets. Spectrum’s interactive guide and remote make it easy for customers to quickly find and program their favorite channels. We are also running PSAs locally on several popular cable networks to help people find the new PEG channel locations,” said Andrew Russell, director of communications for Charter Communications Northeast.

Vigue said Woodsome’s bill is modeled after legislation in California and Illinois, which prohibited the channels from being moved.

Because Westbrook’s franchise agreement specifically indicates the station numbers of the public, education and government channels, Charter would need the approval of the City Council to make that change. If the change is made without Westbrook’s approval, Vigue said, the city could sue for breach of contract.

At the Oct. 1 council meeting, City Administrator Jerre Bryant said after getting notice of Charter’s intention to change the public access channels, he wanted to have Charter explain the proposed changes so the transition, when or if made, is as smooth as possible.

Spectrum said it will “be communicating with customers about their scheduled upgrade date via direct mail, bill messages, outbound calls and messages that will appear on their television set prior to the cut over.”

Melinda Kinney, of Charter Communications, said in order to receive programming, some customers will need to have a digital cable box. The boxes, according to Spectrum, will be provided free to customers for one, two or five years, depending on their cable package. Going forward, an $8 monthly fee will be attached. Kinney said 85 percent of Spectrum’s customers already have some form of digital equipment.

Digitization is expected to start Oct. 23 in coastal York County and greater Portland in late November. The change is set to take place in Westbrook on Nov. 27. All Charter markets are expected to be updated by 2019.

Michael Kelley can be reached at 780-9106 or [email protected] or on Twitter @mkelleynews.

The Community Television Association of Maine is working with local communities and consumer-interest groups to pressure the cable company not to  relocate public access channels from the single digits to the 1300s, where it will be harder for viewers to find, the association argues.

Melinda Kinney, of Charter Communications, makes a presentation to the Westbrook City Council Oct. 1 about a proposal to digitize the Spectrum television offerings later this fall. The project would move the local access television stations from the single digits to the 1300s, something that concerns the Community Television Association of Maine.