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175 <br /> <br /> program for all those people who do not subscribe. Mrs. Jones stated Viacom would <br />be willing but it takes training for people to do it; that there are approximately <br />10,000 homes and it would take a lot of time to go to those 10,000 homes on a sys- <br />tematic basis. She stated she felt the problem can be solved in other ways. <br />Councilmember Mercer asked how long this would take. Mrs. Jones stated it could <br />take anywhere from 6 to 18 months to implement the technique to control the problem. <br />Councilmember Mercer asked if the Citizen's Advisory Council was aware that Escapade <br />would be offered when negotiating the rate increase. Mrs. Jones advised that they <br />had knowledge of this program and that Viacom had offered lock boxes for those who <br />wanted parental control of this programming, and that notices had been sent out <br />regarding this device that was available. She stated there are approximately 10,000 <br />basic subscribers, 5,000 premium subscribers, and 1,100 subscribers to Escapade, <br />with approximately 200 lockouts valley-wide. Councilmember Brandes asked if Escapade <br />service to Livermore would be disrupted if this program was discontinued in Pleasanton. <br />Mrs. Jones stated that it would affect Livermore service. Councilmember Brandes re- <br />lated the problems his wife had in getting satisfactory service from Viacom relative <br />to blockage of Escapade. <br /> <br /> Mr. Phil Harding stated that if Viacom is interested in the moral and well being <br />of their subscribers they should not allow this leakage on T.V. <br /> <br /> Mrs. Renee Bell, secretary at Vtacom, stated that many callers would not give <br />their addresses therefore nothing could be done about lock boxes or blockage of <br />Escapade into their homes. <br /> <br /> Councilmember Brandes stated he did not feel that Escapade should be on the air, <br />and that it certainly should not leak into homes that do not subscribe to it. He <br />stated it is the obligation of the franchisee to remove this from every single <br />resident that is not a paying subscriber. He stated he felt it is incumbent for <br />Viacom to remove at the pole all service of Escapade to those except subscribers <br />within a short time frame or to suspend Escapade until the problem is resolved. He <br />stated there is a strong potential that Viacom may be in violation of their fran- <br />chise agreement because of the leakage. <br /> <br /> The City Attorney advised that if Council finds that Viacom is not operating <br />in a technically competent manner it would have the option of declaring Viacom in <br />default, then decide what remedy to follow to get the problem solved. He stated <br />Council could initially make the determination that Viacom is at fault but that <br />formal notification and opportunity to respond would have to be given. <br /> <br /> Councilmember Mercer stated he felt Viacom should be responsible for this pro- <br />blem, not the customer having to take the initiative in getting something done to <br />prevent leakage into homes not subscribing to Escapade. <br /> <br /> Councilmember Mohr stated she did not want to get into censorship but was con- <br />cerned about children being able to view this type of programming without parental <br />control, and added this is possibly a temporary situation and should be solved in <br />a rational way. <br /> <br /> Mayor Butler stated that every person has the option of turning off their T.V. <br />sets when they find objectionable programs. He stated it is difficult to tell if <br />there are more unhappy subscribers or happy subscribers, and it is not possible to <br />know how widespread this problem is. He stated he felt that Viacom should be given <br />a limited period of time up to 60 days to show they can take care of the problem <br />and report back to Council on how this has been accomplished. He added he felt <br />the problem should be taken care of by the Company, not by the City. <br /> <br /> 8. 9/28/82 <br /> <br /> <br />