HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-08-03 City Council (5)City of Palo Alto
C ty Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
ATTN:FINANCE COMMITTEE
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT:ADMINISTRATIVE
SERVICES
DATE:AUGUST 3, 2004 CMR: 374:04
SUBJECT:UPDATE ON INTERNET BROADCASTING OF COUNCIL
MEETINGS
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
In 2002, Council asked staff to review the potential for broadcasting Council meetings
over the Internet and report back with an analysis. Council had received communications
from the community expressing an interest in the City exploring Internet broadcasting as
an alternate way of providing live coverage of Council meetings.
City Council meetings are currently broadcast live on the cable system on government
Channel 26. The live broadcasts are available to all cable subscribers in the cable joint
powers agreement (JPA) service area, which includes Atherton, East Palo Alto, Menlo
Park, Palo Alto and portions of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. City Council
meetings are also re-broadcast on Channel 26 as well as on the second government
channel, Channel 29. Broadcast services are provided through a contract with the Media
Center (formerly the Midpeninsula Community Media Center) the community access
organization for the JPA service area.
In 2003, staff reported back to Council (CMR: 131:03; Attachment A) on the results of a
cost analysis along with a recommendation not to proceed due to budget constraints.
Council voted to delay procurement and implementation of an Internet broadcasting
solution pending funding availability.
DISCUSSION
In December 2003, the Media Center was awarded grant funding from Cable Co-op
through the Cable Co-op’s legacy funds grant program. The Media Center received the
funding for an Internet broadcasting project. The Media Center intends to offer a service
to the cities within the JPA to broadcast their city council meetings over the Internet.
CMR: 374:04 Page 1 of 2
The Media Center and the City have agreed to partner on the initial phase of the project, a
pilot project to broadcast City of Palo Alto Council meetings. As part of the pilot project
the City will provide temporary space for installation of the Media Center’s Internet
broadcasting equipment. The pilot project will be provided at no cost to the City.
The pilot project is expected to launch in the fall season. The project will give viewers
the opportunity to view live broadcasts of City Council meetings. Future enhancements
may include archiving of meetings and a feature to search meetings by keyword.
The pilot project is expected to last at least six months, at which time it will be evaluated
for continuation.
RESOURCE IMPACT
The Internet broadcasting pilot project headed by the Media Center will be at no cost to
the City. Continuation or expansion of the project after the pilot phase may require
funding support by interested JPA cities.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Approval of the agreements is consistent with existing City policies.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A:CMR: 131:03
PREPARED BY:
DAVID RAMBERG
IT Manager, External Services
DEPARTMENT APPROVAL:
Administrative Services
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
HARRISON
Assistant City Manager
CMR: 374:04 Page 2 of 2
ATTACHMENT A
City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL 10
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT:ADMINISTRATIVE
SERVICES
DATE:APRIL 21, 2003 cMR: 131:03
SUBJECT:COST ANALYSIS AND TIMING FOR
BROADCASTING OF COUNCIL MEETINGS
INTERNET
RECOMMENDATION
Due to current budget constraints staff recommends that Council delay procurement and
implementation of an Internet broadcasting solution pending funding availability.
BACKGROUND
In July, Council asked staff to review the potential for broadcasting Council meetings
over the Internet and report back with an analysis. Council has received communications
from the community expressing an interest in the City exploring Internet broadcasting as
an alternate way of providing live coverage of Council meetings.
City Council meetings are currently broadcast live on the cable system on government
Channel 26. The live broadcasts are available to all cable subscribers in the cable joint
powers agreement (JPA) service area, which includes Atherton, East Palo Alto, Menlo
Park, Palo Alto and portions of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.City Council
meetings are also re-broadcast on Channel 26.
DISCUSSION
Broadcasting Council meetings over the Internet involves using technology that allows
for audio and video signals whether live or taped, to be broadcast over the Internet. The
components of this technology include hardware, software, and sufficient network
bandwidth. In addition, dedicated staff resources are needed to manage an Internet
broadcasting solution.
CMR: 131:03 Page 1 of 5
Hardware
The primary hardware components needed are servers and video encoding equipment.
The most costly hardware components are servers, which store the video and ultimately
deliver it to viewers. The network servers must be capable of storing large amounts of
compressed video data. Another hardware component is the video encoding equipment.
This equipment takes the live audio and video signals and converts those signals to
digital, which can be stored on servers.
Software
The software component of the Internet broadcasting solution serves a vital role. The
software ’ for an Internet broadcasting solution has the primary functions of encoding the
live audio and video signals, indexing the Council meetings, and broadcasting the signals
to the viewer over the Internet. The indexing function of the software is what allows
staff to mark the encoded video with the agenda items for easy retrieval. Software that
provides a good indexing function allows the user to easily search video streams by topic
in order to view only those segments that are relevant. Software also serves the role of
delivering the video to the City website for easy access. The more powerful software
solutions are those that encode live broadcasts at the same time staff is performing the
indexing function. The software then automatically updates the City website with the
new video files.
Network Bandwidth
Once the audio and video signals are encoded and stored on the servers, it is necessary to
have sufficient bandwidth to deliver the audio and video signals to viewers over the
Internet. This includes sufficient internal network bandwidth as well as bandwidth to the
Internet.
Staff Resources
In order to manage and maintain an Internet broadcasting solution, it is necessary to have
dedicated staff resources..This staff would be responsible for encoding the video and
audio signals, managing the media files on the server, indexing the meetings and
monitoring the Internet broadcasts. Information Technology does not currently have
staff resources to dedicate to the project and the proposed 2003-05 budget includes
elimination of two vacant IT positions.
Approaches
Staff looked at two possible approaches for delivering an Internet broadcasting solution
to cover Council meetings: 1) an internal solution where City staff perform and manage
all aspects of the Internet broadcast; and 2) a hosted solution where a third party provides
support for the broadcast.
The internal solution would require the acquisition of hardware, software and staff
resources. Additional network bandwidth would be assessed and augmented as needed.
CMR: 131:03 Page 2 of 5
As the number of Council meetings that are archived increases over time, additional
hardware would be needed. Cost estimates are broken down as follows:
Hardware
Network servers and hardware (one-time)
Encoding hardware (one-time)
Total one-time costs
Software (ongoing)
Staff (ongoing)
0.5 Technologist (salary/benefits)
Total ongoing costs
Total start-up costs
$221000
$2,000
$24,000
$5,000
$60,000
$65,000"
$89,000
The estimated timeline for implementation of the internal solution is four months to allow
for the recruitment and selection of staff and for the purchase and installation of the
hardware and software. After the four-month implementation, a trial phase would start
where the Internet broadcasting solution is tested. This trial phase would last one month
before the live broadcasts and archiving are offered over the Internet.
An external solution would involve contracting with a third party to provide the Internet
broadcasting solution. The contractor would provide a complete end-to-end solution,
which would provide the hardware and software and much of the staffing requirements.
An alternative approach is for the contractor to provide primarily the software and
maintenance support, including staff time, and the City to provide the hardware. Based
on a preliminary review of potential providers, the estimated cost for the contracted
approach would fall within the following ranges:
Alternative 1 :
Contract for complete solution (one-time)
Ongoing costs
Total start-up costs
Low
$40,000
$3,OO0
$43,000
High
$70,000
$7,000
$77,000
Alternative 2:
Contract for software and maintenance $15,000 $25,000support only (one-time)
Additional hardware costs $20,000 $25,000Total one-time costs $35,000 $50,000
Ongoing costs I $3,000 $7,000
Total start-up Costs I $38,000$57,000
CMR: 131:03 Page 3 of 5
The estimated timeline for implementation of the contracted solutions would be two to
four months with an additional one month for the trial period. This estimate includes the
request for proposal process for selecting a vendor.
A possible third alternative involves partnering with the Stanford University radio station,
KZSU, for an Internet broadcasting solution. This possible alternative is only in the
discussion phase and related costs and an implementation plan have not been developed.
KZSU currently broadcasts the audio portion of City Council meetings on the KZSU
website. KZSU staff recently approached the City to discuss the possibility of KZSU
hosting Internet broadcasts of City meetings. Recent equipment acquisitions by KZSU
have given the station added Internet broadcasting capacity. It is this added capacity that
KZSU has discussed using for the Internet broadcasting of City meetings. Staff will
continue, to explore the viability of a partnership with KZSU. Should a partnership with
KZSU become a realistic alternative, staff will develop a proposed contract with the radio
station and present the contract and any related costs to the City Council for
consideration.
The preliminary review of Internet broadcasting has revealed that other cities have
implemented both internal and contracted solutions. City staff visited the City of Davis,
where an internal solution was chosen for broadcasting council meetings. Davis uses
existing staff and some additional hardware to broadcast, archive and post meetings to the
city website.
The City of Sacramento uses a contracted solution which provides viewers access to live
meetings as well as archived meetings over the city website. The archived meetings are
searchable by keyword. This feature is particularly useful for individuals who are
interested in viewing council discussion on particular topics. Users can search for a topic
and view the meeting segments for that topic. The City of San Jose and Burbank also use
outside vendors for their Internet broadcasting needs.
RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding to support an Internet broadcasting solution is not included in the 2002-03
Administrative Services Adopted Budget. A budget amendment ordinance (BAO) would
be needed to increase expenses to fund the project. Due to current budget constraints and
resulting service impacts, staff does not recommend proceeding with a BAO to fund the
procurement and implementation of an Internet broadcasting solution at this time. An
Internet broadcasting solution may be considered in the future pending funding
availability.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Approval of the agreements is consistent with existing City policies.
CMR: 131:03 Page4 of 5
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act.
PREPARED BY:
DEPARTMENT APPROVAL:
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DAVID RAMBERG
IT Manager, External Services
CARL 5/EAT S
Direcir, Administrative Services
EMILY HARRISON
Assistant City Manager
CMR: 131:03 Page 5 of 5