August 2, 2017 Minutes
CTAC – Monthly Meeting Minutes – August 2, 2017
Meeting called to order @ 6:08 PM.
Members in attendance:
Tad Weinstein (West Haven), Chair
George Alexander (Hamden), Treasurer
Johnes Ruta, (New Haven), Advisor, Acting Secretary
Laurel Coleman (West Haven), Advisor
Yvonne Manning-Jones (New Haven), Advisor – new member
Joseph Schofield – CTV Representative.
1. CTV Report – Joe Schofield
CTV had to give up one staff position in order to buy needed equipment. $6 Million taken out of
CT State Fund. CTV spent $35K to upgrade digital equipment. CTV now can broadcast one
channel in HD. Frontier has CTV on an NS Server. Comcast does not provide an HD channel.
The bext CTV Board Meeting will be August 10th; one CTAC member is needed to attend.
CTV management has closed down studio production for the summer in order to do housecleaning.
CTV has acquired a new Switcher – it is a complex unit and performs lots of functions,
90% of the work is done on virtual sets.
CTV is continuing to offer production classes, but there is now a waiting list for these classes.
George Alexander asks if CTV has put the Video Contest Announcement onto the CTV website ?
Joe replies that CTV had never received the email with the announcement. He requests to ask
Peaches Quinn to record a 30 second CTV video announcement for the video contest. A written
announcement should also go onto the CTV Bulletin Board.
Johnes asks Joe about the current functionality of the CTV Channel Listings on the Citizenstv.org website,, because the page links for all three channels, 26, 27, and 96, produced errors ?
Joe answers that he is responsible for the website, and that someone recently working on the site
had blocked access for him and other editors. Until this can be fixed, these pages can be accessed
by removing the “s” from the https:// IP name link from the browser address line.
2. June CTAC Minutes (submitted by Johnes). Requested corrections had been received by the CTAC
Forward list to all members. George makes Motion to approve the June Minutes. Laurel seconds.
Vote carried.
3. July CTAC Minutes: no Minutes taken on the July 5th teleconference call , which Johnes was unable
to connect with.
4. CTAC Correspondence Letters:
a. Roland Garrett’s letter asks about Comcast having raised the rental price of the Digital Tuner –
the second unit price was raised from $2.99 per month to $5.99. This means that if a customer
has five units, their monthly bill rises by $30 more per month!
b. Angel Graham of West Haven wants to know TCM is only available with the Premium
Sports Package ?
c. William Bonn asks why Comcast has changed all the station numbers on the digital lineup,
and unnecessarily has sent many sheets of paper to cover this information ?
d. Another letter to Comcast asks why the monthly Bill keeps chaning the names of payment itsms,
such as “digital converter” to “TV Box” and “digital adapter” to “Service to Additional TV” ?
5. COMCAST Report — submitted by Sharon Codeanne.via message.
Community Relations
- Comcast is a sponsor of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame STEMfems Program
“Women Transforming Our World,” which addresses the critical need for women and
girls to pursue careers in STEM fields.
.
b. Comcast is sponsoring Arte’s “Socialization & Learning Adventures Through Education”
program for low-income Latino youth in New Haven.
Marketing
a. Effective August 15, 2017, the Inspiration Channel will be launched in channel 83.
(Expanded Basic tier).
b. Effective August 8, 2017, due to increased costs, the standard shipping charge for
Self-Installation Kits will change from $9.95 to $15.00.
c. Comcast has just received a Connecticut license to provide cable service statewide.
6. Frontier report – no representative from Frontier is present.
7. Video Contest status: The Applications and entry process are now live on the cableadvisor.org website.
Questions of contest criteria: Does the on-line entrant’s application comply with the rules ?
If NO- the application must be rejected and reapply. If YES – the video will be graded from 1 to 4,
for each category and the content message, according to the Rules Rubric.
8. The Statewide Television Advisory Council now has a new website, designed by a council member
designated as CTSVAC.org
9. The next meeting of the CTAC is set for Wednesday, September 6th, 2017, 6:00 PM.
CTAC Meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM.
Minutes Submitted by Johnes Ruta, CTAC Acting Secretary, New Haven Rep #2