PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The cable contract renewal process is moving along with negotiations on the horizon.

The Cable Advisory Committee last week authorized the forwarding of a request for response of ascertainment, or a request for proposal, to Charter Spectrum. This concludes the ascertainment process and moves toward negotiations.

Member Shawn Serre explained that this is a motion to authorize the chair to take a document being formulated by outside counsel to the mayor's office so that it can be submitted to the cable provider to kick off negotiations.

"I want to underscore both that you have done so much work and this is yet another product that came out of your investment of time and effort," Chair Sara Hathaway said to Serre.

"But also I want to point out to people that we are hearing your voices, we really understand your frustration. Cable, the way that it's structured in America and maybe just as a practical matter based on the infrastructure that's required, is a monopoly and we get one cable provider and a lot of people have said, 'Why don't we have some competition so we can get a better outcome for the consumer' and it's just not structured that way so there's not a lot we can do."

What the committee can do, she added, is negotiate the license for the public, education, and government access provider.

"I really feel like Pittsfield's negotiation this time around is going to set the standard for the country, from what I understand," she said. "And I think our lawyer is kind of excited to be working for us and good things are going to come out of this."

Serre, who is the executive director of Pittsfield Community Television, has also heard requests for cable competition but it is largely practicality that keeps Spectrum the only provider in the area.

"It's important for people to understand that there is nothing blocking another provider from coming in and competing with Spectrum," he said.

"They would simply have to build their own plant and run their own wires and then start offering that service. There's nothing that says that they couldn't do that. What happens is it's just impractical."

A survey to garner information about the city's cable needs closed on April 19 with 355 responses. This is combined with two public hearings, one that had council chambers filled with support for PCTV's services to the community.

The 38-question survey included sections about PEG access and items on the cable license. Within the responses, about 68 percent are current cable subscribers and about 92 percent have internet service through Spectrum.

An overwhelming majority, 70 percent, of respondents feel it is important to have a Spectrum customer service office located in Pittsfield, which is required in the current license.

About half of respondents watch PCTV at least once a month and over 41 percent said it is "extremely important" that PCTV provides live and on-demand programming on its website and through its app.  City Council coverage is the most popular programming.

PCTV's asks for the upcoming ten-year contract include: continuing to receive the federal maximum level of five percent of gross annual cable revenues for Pittsfield, securing capital funding, having all programming provided in high definition, being carried on every video streaming service offered, occupying lower channels, and maintaining fiber optics connections between PCTV's facilities and the cable headend.

In the last contract, PCTV was given $313,000 for the capital fund and over the last decade, has added over $650,000 of its own money to it.  It is estimated that $1,991,000 is necessary to continue to provide a level of technical quality and to replace the existing facilities over the next decade.

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