Cable access channels to move in St. Charles County
Charter making room for more high-definition stations
Charter Communications officials are planning to move four local government access stations from their current location on the dial to a new location in the 900s, said Charter spokesman John Miller.
The stations for St. Peters, St. Charles, Lindenwood University and O'Fallon would move to channels in a new "government programming corridor" that also would include C-Span 2 and 3 by May 13, Miller said. The St. Charles County government station, channel 18, would move at a later date.The move will free up space for Charter to debut eight new high-definition channels. But Charter customers who do not already subscribe to digital cable would have to rent a converter box for $5 per month for each TV to catch shows broadcast on the government stations.
The potential cost to consumers has raised concerns amongst government officials who also worry about losing audience members because of the move.
St. Charles city officials have questioned Charter's ability to move the stations under the current franchise agreement. In August, a new state law went into effect giving Charter the ability to operate under a state franchise agreement rather than honoring local franchise agreements with each municipality. City Attorney Mike Valenti said he is looking into the legality of the issue. A representative from Charter was expected to discuss the matter with City Council members during their meeting Tuesday.
But Miller said any concerns should be put into context. He said only a small percentage of people actually watch government programming and that 70 percent of Charter's customers already have digital service. They wouldn't have to pay the $5 monthly fee.
"Tens of thousands of people keep calling us because they want high-definition channels," Miller said.
Meanwhile, local governments have been exploring other ways to make sure residents have access to government programming. St. Peters currently Web casts its Board of Aldermen meetings online.
"It was very important to us that we can make this important information available to people - as many people as we can," St. Peters spokeswoman Lisa Bedian said.
Bedian said online viewers can skip between different parts of the meetings, which are displayed in chapters: from the work session to public comment or debate of a specific bill.
"That's something else that makes it really convenient in addition to having the great access," she said.
St. Charles, St. Charles County and O'Fallon officials are hoping to make their meetings available online by the end of the year.
"Quite frankly, we're kind of disappointed channel 21 is moving," said Tom Drabelle, spokesman for O'Fallon.
Drabelle said the city was beginning to do research into broadcasting online and would launch a publicity campaign to inform viewers that the station would move.
"We really want residents to have another option," he said.?ยจ
Charter is moving government access channels May 13.
O'Fallon channel 21 will be 991
St. Peters channel 10 will be channel 992
St. Charles city channel 20 will be channel 990
Lindenwood channel 26 will be channel 989
