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PUBLIC DOCUMENT-TRADE SECRET DATA HAS BEEN EXCISED Comcast of Minnesota Page 4 • Between 60% and 81% of customers said they "never" watch 7 of the 8 channels, with between 78% and 94% saying they "seldom" or "never" watch each of the 8 channels.4 Comcast's mass-communications expert confirms that the NSCC staff's PEG demands are excessive. For more than fifteen years the NSAC has had the use of eight channels. Despite the laudable efforts of the NSAC's staff and volunteers and the expenditure of millions of dollars, the NSAC has been unable to properly utilize this channel capacity. When considering (for example) that the local ABC broadcaster serving 1.7 million homes using a large professional staff and a multi-million-dollar budget covers local government, education and public-interest topics on a single channel, it defies logic that 8 channels are necessary to cover the local government, educational, and public-interest events in the NSCC's subscriber network of fewer than 60,000 homes. The result has been a dilution of PEG content, stale and repeat programming, and a lack of interest and viewership. Moreover, the NSACs PEG channels are competing in a growing marketplace of local-information sources: newspapers, local websites, broadcast stations, neighborhood weeklies, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, just to name a few. Unlike fifteen years ago, it is easier and cheaper than ever for anyone to create and publish video content to the world — without the need for expensive studio equipment and not confined to the limited reach of the local cable system. The expert report of Professor Amy Kristin Sanders (of the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication) analyzes, explains, and confirms these issues. That report is attached as Exhibit 6. Comcast's proposal strengthens local PEG channels. In light of the above, Comcast will make available at no cost 3 standard-definition channels and 1 high-definition channel on its basic tier for PEG programing. This is more than enough channels to meet the actual need or interest in PEG programming. Comcast's proposal is designed to strengthen the NSAC's PEG offerings by consolidating content onto 4 high-quality channels. Instead of filling 8 channels with several dozens of repeats of stale programming that turns away potential viewers, 4 strong channels with fresh programming will be of greater value to the community. As a further benefit to help strengthen PEG channels, Comcast will assist the NSAC in getting detailed program listings on the digital channel guide. The digital channel guide is provided by a third-party vendor. Comcast will facilitate the NSAC contacting that vendor to make arrangements for it to 4. See Ex. 3.