The Newcastle Board of Selectmen will meet next month with representatives of cable provider Time Warner, local delegates to the Lincoln County Television (LCTV) Board of Directors and other residents to discuss the community’s contract with Time Warner.
Newcastle officials hope residents, particularly cable subscribers with comments or concerns about the service, will attend the Mon., Sept. 12 public hearing, which will precede the signing of a contract with the company.
The hearing will begin at 7 p.m.
The contract has three negotiable aspects – franchise fees, public education and government grants and length, Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier said.
At present, Time Warner customers pay a three percent franchise fee ($2.10 on a $70 bill) and Time Warner relays the fees (about $10,000 per year) to Newcastle.
Newcastle and Time Warner can agree to modify the fee within a range of zero to five percent, although Grenier is not recommending any change.
The town can also request public education and government grants. Newcastle is considering requesting funds for technology improvements at Lincoln Academy, including broadcast equipment at Nelson W. Bailey gymnasium and Parker B. Poe Theater.
A petition is circulating asking Time Warner to include a capital grant for the purchase of live transmission equipment for the town office, Selectwoman Ellen Dickens said.
Time Warner can provide the grants at no cost to subscribers or can pass the costs along, Grenier explained.
If the selectmen opt to pursue a no-cost grant, they’ll need to persuade Time Warner, Grenier said.
The town could choose to use the third and final negotiating point – contract length – as a bargaining tool, as a longer contract (15 years instead of the traditional 10, for example) might be more attractive to the company.
If the parties agree to a grant and Time Warner chooses to pass the cost directly to consumers, the payments will be spread out across the town’s subscribers over the length of the contract and will not include interest, amounting to “pennies” on the typical cable bill, LCTV Station Manager Mary Ellen Crowley explained.
Time Warner has not chosen to do so in other area towns, Crowley said. “It’s a smart way to pay for equipment,” she said.
