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<br />NORTH METRO MEDIA CENTER MEMO <br /> <br />TO: OPERATIONS COMMITIEE <br /> <br />FROM, HEIDI ARNSON <br /> <br />SUBJECf, RESOLUTION REGARDING OPPOSITION TO CABLE RATE INCREASES DUE TO CARRIAGE <br />OF VICTORY SPORTS ONE <br /> <br />DATE: 4/27/2004 <br /> <br />WE HA VB HEARD FROM MANY ELDERLY PEOPLE UPSET BY THIS LACK OF TELEVISION <br />AVAILABILITY. <br /> <br />All of us are concerned about the reduced availability of Twins games on cable television. <br /> <br />The North Metro Telecommunications Commission, which is a Joint Powers Organization <br />serving the communities of Blaine, Centerville, Circle Pines, Ham Lake, Lexington, Lino Lakes, and <br />Spring Lake Park, Minnesota in matters concerning cable franchises, would like to share the attached <br />resolution with you along with our concerns for subscribers, as related to potential price increases for <br />cable subscribers due to carriage of Victory Sports One on Comcast Cable. <br /> <br />First, a brief background of the situation: <br /> <br />· Twins games used to be available to area subscribers, as a part of their Standard cable <br />service, on Fox Sports Net. <br /> <br />· Carl Pohlad created a new sports channel. called Victory One Sports and pulled the Twins <br />games off of Fox Sports Net <br /> <br />· Mr. Pohlad was seeking approxirnately $2.20 per subscriber per month, and wants the <br />channel placed on the Standard Cable tier, no t a digital tier. <br /> <br />· The programming on the channel consists of Twins games, some Gopher sports and a <br />limited number of other teams. Much of Victory Sports' other progwnming is ESPN news, <br />which it carried almost 60 percent of its telecast during one recent week, duplicating a <br />service that is alreatfy available to Comcast customers. <br /> <br />· Victory One has refused to look at proposals from Fox to return the Twins games to Fox <br />Sports Net, which reportedly would offer to double the amount the Twins received last year <br />and which Fox says would put the Twins in the top tier of major league teams. <br /> <br />· While the Cable Commission would like to see the parties come to some agreement so that <br />Twins games can be available to viewers, they do not want to see the cable rates of all <br />subscribers increase as a direct result. <br />