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from: MLive

Comcast apologizes for local access changes
by The Associated Press
Tuesday January 29, 2008, 4:46 PM

WASHINGTON -- Comcast Corp. apologized today for the way it handled a proposed shift of community access programming in Michigan that would force customers to get converter boxes or new TVs to continue to watch local government meetings and high school football games.

Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and congressional Democrats criticized Comcast and AT&T Inc. for giving the public, educational and governmental programming, or PEG programming, what they termed "second-class" status.

"PEG programming deserves first-class treatment, not second-class billing," said Dingell, D-Dearborn.

Dingell sought answers after government and consumer groups complained about Comcast's plan to move the programming into the 900-level digital channel range in Michigan, part of a larger transition that cable companies are undergoing from analog to digital services.

David L. Cohen, Comcast's executive vice president, told the panel that "in retrospect, we failed to communicate adequately our goals and to work cooperatively with our local partners to produce a 'win' for everyone."

"That is not the way we want to do business -- in Michigan or in the rest of the country -- and I want to apologize for that," he said.

Cohen said Comcast was "now engaged in friendly, and what I am sure ultimately will be fruitful, discussions" with Michigan officials, including Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly Jr., who also testified before the committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

O'Reilly said he was hopeful the parties could reach an agreement that would be "ironclad" for consumers.

Comcast has wanted to move the PEG channels to free up bandwidth so it could offer other services, including high definition stations, to consumers paying premium rates.

The changes would require subscribers with analog televisions in Michigan to buy digital, cable-ready TVs or rent or buy a digital converter box for each set.

Earlier this month, two judges ruled that the cable provider cannot move the community access channels higher up the dial. The temporary order by Macomb County Chief Circuit Judge David Viviano potentially could affect 400,000 Comcast customers in Michigan.

In a separate case, a federal judge in Detroit issued a similar ruling in a lawsuit filed by Dearborn and Ingham County's Meridian Township.

About 60 percent of the 1.3 million Comcast subscribers in Michigan are already digital customers and would not be affected by the changes, Cohen said.

Comcast has offered to provide customers with a free converter box for a year and charge customers $4.20 a month afterward.

But O'Reilly said that many Comcast customers faced a $3 per month increase in February for the service, undercutting the benefit of the free converter box for a year.

During the hearing, Dingell raised concerns that the changes would force consumers to pay additional fees for programming currently guaranteed with basic cable services and might prevent some viewers from seeing emergency weather notices.

Cohen countered that Comcast was "not discriminating against PEG channels and are, in fact, taking special care to ensure that the public can access them."