News » Council Makes Deal with Cox

On Friday 3/2, by a vote of 5-2, the Mayor and Council passed a motion to accept a proposal from Cox. The details of the motion are available here: http://www.tucsonaz.gov/aar/smar207.pdf

The channel situation is pretty good - at the end of a transition period (when 65% digital penetration happens in the Tucson market or December 1, 2009, whichever is sooner) there will be 3 analog channels, 2 digital channels, 1 U of A digital channel, 1 PCC digital channel and 2,000 hours of On Demand time. The first analog channel will convert to digital 30 days after the new license period begins - presumably around September, 2007.

The money deal is pretty good. The cable revenue will be frozen at the present dollar amount until the amount under state law is higher.

The term is 5 years. All in all it could have been better and it certainly could have been a lot worse. Given the pressure of the state legislation enacted last year, the deal strikes a reasonable balance of reward vs. risk.

There are a few remaining issues to be worked out between the City and Cox but we ought to expect things to be concluded in a few weeks.

As of today, a Cox-sponsored bill that limits the ability of the Tucson City Council to negotiate a new license is still pending in the Arizona Senate. Hopefully, now that the licensing agreement is almost in place, Senate Bill 1543 will be killed.

We appreciate everything that many of you have done to convince State Legislators and the Mayor and City Council of the importance of preserving PEG access for the future.

Access Tucson
Where Tucson’s On TV
(at least for five more years!)