Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Traverse County

December 30, 2009

East Bay joins fight against Charter

Cable provider shifted public access channels up the dial

By SHERI McWHIRTER

TRAVERSE CITY -- The city is garnering support for its lawsuit against Charter Communications, a dispute prompted by the cable provider's shift of public access channels.

East Bay Charter Township recently joined Traverse City and the Mid-Michigan Area Cable Council in a suit against Charter after two public access channels were moved from long-standing positions on the dial. Northwestern Michigan College may join the fight, too.

"Having the channels moved is not convenient for our residents with reception problems and such," said Tracey Bartlett, East Bay treasurer.

Charter recently moved two public, educational and government access channels -- known as PEG channels -- and Traverse City officials balked, predicting customers would experience FM interference problems at the new spots.

City commissioners tried to halt the PEG channel switches by filing a federal lawsuit, but a judge denied a temporary retraining order request.

So on Dec. 1, Charter moved Up North 2 and NMC 13 to channels 97 and 96, respectively. They are now in a block with other PEG channels on 98 and 99.

Since then, East Bay Charter Township agreed to join the fight against Charter, while NMC mulls its options.

Bartlett said East Bay's cable franchise agreement with Charter does not allow the cable provider to digitize channels. The township's participation in the suit thus strengthens the overall argument against Charter's planned digital switch, she said.

Tim Ransberger, Charter's government relations director for Michigan, said the PEG channels are available to both analog and digital cable customers.

"We did not move the channels to a digital tier as of yet," he said.

Additionally, digital cable customers can still tune into channels 2 and 13 to view the PEG stations because Charter "channel mapped" them, a service analog customers don't have, Ransberger said.

NMC could join the group suing Charter, and will decide after attorneys from both sides gather Jan. 5 to discuss a possible settlement.

College trustees authorized President Tim Nelson to retain counsel and intervene in the suit. He said he will decide after that settlement negotiation meeting.

Lawyers for Traverse City and the Mid-Michigan Area Cable Council presented reports about television picture and sound quality woes experienced by dozens of Charter customers during a Dec. 15 hearing before Federal District Court Judge Thomas L. Ludington in Bay City.

Ludington ordered plaintiffs to file amended complaints by Jan. 14, prior to the next scheduled hearing on Jan. 19. He also directed plaintiffs and Charter to work toward a settlement.

"We'll see what comes from that," said Karrie Zeits, Traverse City's attorney.

In the meantime, Charter received few calls about interference problems on the new PEG channels, Ransberger said.

"If people are experiencing any difficulties, they should call us," he said.

The toll-free number to call is 1-800-438-2427. An additional hotline was set up for PEG channel issues -- 1-877-976-1625 -- and customers can send e-mails to joegm@chartercom.com, Ransberger said.

Interference often is caused by loose connectors or deteriorated cable lines that technicians can remedy, he said.

The PEG channel changes are part of Charter's efforts to free bandwidth to offer new high-definition and digital services to customers throughout northern Michigan.

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