Cities and school districts worry they'll lose money and TV time for local programs when the governor signs a bill that gives cable companies the right to negotiate statewide contracts rather than hundreds of local contracts.

The Senate yesterday concurred with changes the House made to the cable-regulation bill. Senate Bill 117 now waits for Gov. Ted Strickland's signature to become law.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Jacobson, a Dayton-area Republican, is designed to foster competition among cable-service providers and lower prices for consumers. It would create a statewide franchise for cable and telephone companies seeking to provide video service in Ohio.

Companies can opt into the state plan as long as a competitor exists within the service area in question.

The legislation would replace the existing patchwork of agreements between providers and individual communities across the state. Those agreements mean big bucks to the local governments that authorize the companies to provide service.

For instance, Newark's agreement with Time Warner brought in about $280,000 last year, said Service Director David Calhoun.

A cause for concern, Calhoun said, is that the definition of gross revenue as defined by the bill is different from the language in the city's current contract. That contract expires in 2010.

That's important because the city receives 5 percent of the money Time Warner makes within the city limits.

Calhoun said it is too early to tell what the difference will be, but he has been told it could decrease by as much as 15 percent.

Jonathon McGee, executive director of the Ohio Cable Telecommunication Association, countered that the bill could actually mean more money for some communities, depending on how their current contracts are worded.

Another worry for many communities is how the bill will affect local access channels. The bill changes the regulation of local channels and allows cable providers to drop channels that it thinks are under-used in some instances.

That throws into question how well public-access channels can be maintained by some communities.

Newark schools use the channels for the high-school broadcasting class and run advertisements for local nonprofits and church groups.

"Of course we want as many people as possible to see our stations," said Karen Truett, district spokeswoman.

The uncertainty is troubling, said Scott Burke, who operates Lancaster Schools Network under contract to the Lancaster city school system.

The network carries City Council and Board of Education meetings, and some limited local, educational programming in a monthly program called Chalkmarks TV.

Rep. Gerald Stebelton, a Lancaster Republican, said the city currently gets $390,000 annually from Time Warner, with 10 percent of that going to the network.

"I don't think it will have any impact on Lancaster city government or the school system," Stebelton said.

The city of Marysville uses its public-access station as a message board, updating residents on things such as community clean-up days, new businesses coming to town, road closures and the like.

Just within the past few weeks, Time Warner installed video equipment at City Hall so that, eventually, City Council meetings, speeches and special events can be televised.

Now, City Administrator Kathy House said, she isn't sure about the status of the channel.

Columbus' public-access channel shut down six years ago because of budget cuts. Still, GTC3, the government-access channel, shows meetings of the City Council, Franklin County commissioners and Traffic Watch, a feed of freeway traffic monitored by robot cameras.

And in Delaware, the City Council approved a 10-year contract with Time Warner on June 11 that included the creation of a community-access channel, city spokesman Lee Yoakum said.

"This was a new agreement with Time Warner that ironically was in the pipeline at almost the same time as the legislation was going through the General Assembly," Yoakum said.

City officials have been watching the cable legislation closely.

"We're seeing in this bill that it lessens the requirements for the franchises to provide this service, so we're very concerned and have questions," Yoakum said.

Dispatch reporters Holly Zachariah, Mary Beth Lane and Dana Wilson contributed to this report.

jjarman@dispatch.com

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