Lawmaker pushes to stop Olelo channel move

The state may not have the authority to block a plan by Charter Communications to move Olelo’s public- access channels to a distant location on the cable lineup, but a key state lawmaker says she wants to send “a strong message” to the cable company that it should listen to Hawaii consumers who oppose the move.

Olelo is the nonprofit community-access television provider for Oahu, found between channels 49 and 55. Charter Communications is the parent company of Spectrum Cable, which has announced a plan to shift Olelo to channels numbered between 182 and 187.

Olelo says it is being pushed off to a new channels “that are hard to find, hard to watch, and far from the main traffic lineup.” Sanford Inouye, president and CEO of Olelo Community Media, described that move as “channel slamming” at a public hearing Thursday.

Senate Bill 36 would require the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to prohibit a cable operator from changing the channel number of a public- access provider, such as Olelo, unless it has reached an agreement with the affected provider.

However, according to Ji Sook “Lisa” Kim, administrator of DCCA’s Cable Television Division, the Federal Communications Commission gives only limited authority to “local franchising authorities” such as hers.

“The federal rules explicitly state that LFAs may not impose requirements on cable operators regarding the provision or content of cable services,” she said. The only authority over channel assignments that the federal rules specifically give to local franchise authorities is to require that cable operators provide 30 days written notice of changes, Kim said.

That suggests DCCA may not have the legal authority to block the Charter plan, but Rosalyn Baker, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health Committee, said she believes there are ways to convince Charter to change course.

Spectrum insists it has the right to make the channel changes, and “maybe they’re right, maybe they’re not right,” Baker said. “I’m working with DCCA to see how we can craft language that will at least make them think twice about being bad corporate citizens in Hawaii.”

“I want them to understand that if they want to be well received in Hawaii, they need to understand what’s important to the local community, and they need to work with us to make sure that the PEG (public, educational and governmental) channels are not being put into Siberia,” she said.

Baker said she plans to amend SB 36 to acknowledge that DCCA would not be required to regulate the channel designations if it is preempted by federal law from doing so. She said she will also ask the DCCA to help draft a nonbinding resolution asking the Hawaii congressional delegation and the FCC to grant more discretion to local franchising authorities.

“We are going to continue to push back as best we can, and hopefully Charter will understand that to do business in Hawaii, and to live up to what they told us when they were going through the merger talks, that they need to be a good corporate citizen,” said Baker, (D-West Maui-South Maui).

Charter said the channel changes will improve the viewing experience. The company said its transformation to a digital system, along with other planned upgrades, will make it easier to find channels using a digital guide and search function.