Community TV Station Fights Move

By Bob Allen

Channel 2 has struggled to stay alive over the last 18 years. Local governments have cut its funding. Staff has been shaken-up. The studio has relocated several times. But in the past year, the public access channel has gone through a kind of rebirth. It's now called Up North 2 and is housed in the refurbished studio of the Land Information Access Association, or LIAA. There are more people than ever going through training classes, making videos on all kinds of subjects and getting them on the air.  

But the name Up North 2 will be defunct when Charter bumps it to channel 97 in December. LIAA's director, Joe VanderMeulen says Charter officials handed down a corporate decision without any discussion about what local interests are at stake.

"Apparently Charter knows what's best for our community and they will impose their solution on us whether we like it or not," says Vandermuelen. "And there's nothing we can do about it. So we've been told."

A spokesman for Charter says there's no legal requirement for them to negotiate channel numbers with cable access stations. And their decision to reassign channels is purely a business decision. Tim Ransberger says it's all tied in with the push toward digital television and high definition TV sets. Moving Up North 2 and Northwestern Michigan College's channel 13 will make room for new services for more people.

What the company plans to do is keep all the PEG channels together. PEG stands for public, education and government. The government channel where the various commission meetings are broadcast already is channel 99. And Traverse City Area Public Schools has channel 98.

Ransberger figures people will migrate to find the public access station.

"Channel 99 found its audience," he says. "And people know if I want to watch the council meetings I go to 99."

Charter also plans to convert the PEG channels to digital. On the digital spectrum it will assign them numbers up the nine nineties. Advocates for public access strongly disagree with that move too. Christine Maxbauer is a Grand Traverse County commissioner. She says it makes more sense for PEG channels to be near TV stations that also broadcast local content.

"If people are going from 7&4, 9&10, they're going to hit the PEG channel," she says. "I don't want it difficult to find."

Joe VanderMuelen is contacting other cities across the state where Charter provides service. He hopes they will form a coalition to speak with a stronger voice to protect local interests. And Traverse City officials are considering what legal grounds there may be to contest Charter's decision.