Mitchell Telecom Company Blog

Podcast Episode #7: Boys 'AA' State Tournament Preview w/ Steve Morgan

2012-03-13T12:25:00.002-07:00

-- Recorded 3/13/12 --

KORN Sport's Director, Steve Morgan, makes his second appearance on the Pod in as many weeks to break down the AA field this week in Rapid City. We also swap a couple stories on the Kernels Girls State Championship last week in Brookings. GO KERNELS!

iPhone User? Try this link - http://www.archive.org/details/MitchellTelecomPocast7GuestSteveMorgan

Podcast #6: Steve Morgan Talks Girls AA Basketball Tournament

2012-03-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

-- Recorded 3/5/12 --

KORN Sports Director, Steve Morgan, joins the podcast to talk 'AA' Girls Basketball and gives us a preview of what to expect at the State Tournament in Brookings this weekend. Do your ears a favor and listen!

iPhone User? Try this link - http://www.archive.org/details/MitchellTelecomPodcast6WithSteveMorgan

A quick note on programming for the upcoming weekend, we'll have complete State AA coverage on Channel 90 (Thursday - Saturday). Class A can be found on Channel 91 and the B's will be on Channel 400. Enjoy the hoops...

AND, as he notes in the podcast - listen to Steve's Tournament Fever Radio Show each morning of the State Tournament at 10am on KORN and Q107. Also, available online - http://www.bitsizzle.com/players/riverfront/player.php?mount=KORN

Podcast #5: Geek Speak w/ Jon Mueller

2012-03-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

--Recorded 3/1/12 --

Great podcast today with Mitchell Telecom's resident geek, Jon Mueller. Today, we focus on some sites and services for small businesses and switch gears to talk about some entertainment apps. Jon even throws a little information about the beta-release for the new Microsoft 8 (announced yesterday).

iPhone User? Try this link - http://www.archive.org/details/MitchellTelecomPodcast5GeekSpeakWithJonMueller

As promised in the pod, here's the links to the sites we discussed.

Kickstarter - http://www.kickstarter.com/

Storenvy - http://www.storenvy.com/

Join Me - https://join.me/

Spotify - http://www.spotify.com

Shazam - Check iTunes or Android Market on your mobile device

Windows 8 - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview

Three Things I’m Looking Forward to in March

2012-02-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

#1 March Madness – If you’ve read or listened to about anything I’ve done on this blog, you’re likely aware of the fact that I have a sports problem. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that March Madness is something I’m looking forward to in March.

March works itself to be a basketball buffet for three straight weeks with NCAA Conference and National Tournaments. Locally, I love the atmosphere our South Dakota State Basketball Tournaments offer and look forward to Mitchell Telecom’s expanded coverage (All Three Classes for Both Girls & Boys!) every year. Since I feel like you should know these things, I’ll be paying special attention to the following…

- Our Kernels, both squads have played lights out this year and enter post season play with a real chance of doing damage. Both teams have been thoroughly fun to watch all season and I’m hoping they can prolong the season as long as possible

- My Fliers, the Flandreau Boys Basketball team has started to restore the roar (of the engine, that is) this season. I’m hoping Coach Bass and the boys and navigate a prickly district and loaded region en route to making the Class A field in Sioux Falls. (For those not interested in FHS Hoops, sorry for being a homer)

- The Wolfpack, North Carolina State, baby! Coach Mark Gottfried’s squad has shown some renewed vigor in 2011/12, and I’m praying they can make it back to the big dance. Note, the most likely destination for dancing will be the NIT

- My Bracket, I look forward to discussing this for hours and hours with people that could really care less. Sadly, it is one of the items I long for each year – sue me, I’m a guy.

#2 Geek Speak – this is set to be Mitchell Telecom’s first recurring theme for our corporate podcast. We’re set to record the first episode with our resident ‘geek’ Jon Mueller tomorrow (Thursday, March 1^st), so look for a link to that later in the week.

Geek Speak is our attempt to bring some attention to the gadgets, apps, websites, etc that we like in hope of improving your broadband experience. Ideally, listeners will walk away with a handful of things to check out to see if it fits their needs. For Geek Speak #1, it looks like we are going website heavy – featuring sites like www.join.me and www.kickstarter.com.

#3 SPRING – On Leap Day when over an inch of rain and 4+ inches of snow fell in the past 24 hours, this seems fitting. Spring starts on Tuesday, March 20^th and promises flowers, green grass, and means we’re a little more than a week away from baseball (GO CUBS). I don’t care how nice this winter has been, ’m looking forward to spring. Growing up, I associated spring with the winding down of the school year, maybe that’s why I look forward to it each year – if I could only find a way to get summers off again.

While we’re here, not that it is necessarily tied to spring, but our clocks ‘spring forward’ on Sunday, March 11^th – go ahead and mark your calendars.

Podcast #4 - Local Author Dave Sietsema

2012-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

--Recorded 2/24/12--
Our guest, Dave Sietsema, stops by the Pod to discuss his book 'Grace and Other Whispers of Hope' that was recently published. The book captures a journey in Dave's live where he picked up a pen to put his thoughts on paper to cope with his personal struggle. 'Grace' combines his words and some wonderful photography in a really well done final product.

You can pick up a copy locally from the Reader's Den on South Burr.
If you're looking online for a copy (or for more information) check out www.helpingwithhorsepower.com.

iPHone user? Try this link...
http://www.archive.org/details/MitchellTelecomPodcast4GuestDaveSietsema

Channel 90's New Look / Survey Results

2012-02-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

If you were checking out Channel 90 last week during at any time when games weren’t being shown, you probably saw a new look for what I call the splash screen. The splash screen is our way of running upcoming schedules / community events, current weather conditions and other items. The change was 100% the work of our employee Chris Tronnes, who wanted to come up with a better and more eye appealing layout. He did a such a good job, that we swapped the new look with our tired look and feel on Channel 7, the community channel. Take a look at Channel 90 sometime and tell Chris what you think by emailing info@mitchelltelecom.com.

Also over the past couple weeks, we’ve been asking our customers what they thought about our coverage on Channel 90. Our goal was to learn more about the use of the programming and how we might be able to improve the overall service. You can view the complete results here: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e5jghw4lgxxdsqta/results -- otherwise, here’s some highlights…

The top graph shows the engagement we receive from our customer base for Channel 90. About 90% of customers watch the Channel each month, with a bulk of the viewers (roughly 38%) watching 1 – 3 events during the month. A sizable group (28%) watches 4 – 6 events each month and another 23% watches 7 or more events. That is much more engagement than I think we could have anticipated.

On the next two graphics, you’ll also see that while the coverage for the Kernels (83%), Tigers (60%), State Tournaments (68%) and City Council (42%) is all highly watched, it is the Kernel coverage that our customers really love – over half the responses said it was their favorite! I would have expected the Kernels to be somewhat of a fan favorite, but that margin surprised me.
Of note, our annual expanded State Tournament Coverage started this past weekend with State Gymnastics. We’ll also have State ‘AA’ Wrestling this week (Friday & Saturday) on Channel 91.

The fourth graphic shows what other programming options the respondents would like to see added to Channel 90. While there were a number of options that scored well, finding additional programming from our schools was the top option (43%). We’ll make this more of a priority going forward.

While we’re here, we do have some non-Mitchell High School Basketball in the upcoming weeks from the Corn Palace. We’ll be providing live coverage of the District 11B & 12B District Tournament (Boys & Girls), the Region 5B (Girls) Championship and the Region 6B (Boys & Girls) Championship. Check your guide for dates and times.

Also, this summer we’ll be rolling out coverage of the Mitchell Parks & Recreation Youth Baseball and Softball leagues.

We also asked respondents on what they would change or improve about our Channel 90 coverage. The only common response focused on audio issues (no game announcers, low audio from the City Council). We’re tracking those items currently and working on a solution to provide a more consistent experience regardless of where we broadcast. We’ve received some of that feedback through customer calls, but this provided some specific examples that should allow us to improve the signal.

Local Broadcast Channel Fee

2012-02-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

Cable subscribers saw a small increase to their monthly bill this month (February) in the form of a Local Broadcast Channel Fee. That charge was a direct result from increased fees broadcasters levy for each cable customer with access to their channel. I feel like we owe customers a little more of an explanation on how we got to this point and I'm going to try to do that in three parts...

1. History: This topic goes back three years to our last retransmission agreement. (Quick Aside: a retransmission agreement is a contract Mitchell Telecom makes with local broadcasters to carry their channel. We couldn't carry these channels without an agreement and the agreements are renegotiated every three years.)

Prior to 2008 the signal was free, just like it would have been if the subscriber posted an antenna on their house and pulled the channel over the air. The rationalization for the free coverage was that cable providers expanded the footprint for broadcasters (and subsequently their advertisers) delivery their service (and advertisements) to more eyeballs. I can only assume that meant higher ad rates.

During 2008 our local broadcasters first added a monthly surcharge on cable customers for the ability to carry their channel. Fast forward to today and a new set of agreements brings a new set of these surcharges see dramatic increases in the neighborhood of 325%.

As a cable provider, we have no other recourse if we want the programming. We can’t shop around for another provider as the local broadcaster’s designated market area (DMA) is protected by the Federal Government.

2. Viewership / Business Changing: Historically I have to assume local broadcasters would have been nearly 100% advertiser supported. The local news was sponsored by ABC Hospital and XYZ Bank, other sponsors purchased 30-seconds spots during primetime programming – over the course of a month or year these ads paid the bills and made a nice margin for the owners. At some point, that model changed.

Advertisers weren’t willing to pay for these spots (or at least the rate they were being charged) as they found cheaper alternatives for placement mainly on cable networks and also on the Internet. That squeeze forced local broadcasters to change with the landscape or look for other means of revenue. To me, it appears they put a big bull’s eye on the back of the cable subscriber.

Please don’t read the above as an attack on the quality of programming made available by these broadcasters – it is quite valuable. However, I’m trying to point out that if you look back four years (when the service was free to cable subscribers) not much has changed with the service other than two big additions – expanded HD coverage and a hefty surcharge to cable subscribers.

3. End Result: Based on past customer feedback, we felt our cable product would not be very competitive without this group of local broadcasters. Through the different retransmission agreements, we acquired the rights for channels that represent the second most expensive block of channels we offer. After the 325% increase starting in 2012 the local broadcast block of channels accounts for over 10% of the programming costs within our basic package. The result? Higher cost service and a $1.20 Local Broadcast Fee.

Please understand, this post is completely from a biased perspective – I work for a cable provider and I think our customers are getting a raw deal. That said, my biggest point of frustration is pretty simple in my eyes…if I as a customer wanted to do away with cable service and pick up the signal over-the-air, I have no programming costs associated with the service. BUT, by connecting via a cable provider I’m forced to pay a premium. What?

Got other questions? Email us at info@mitchelltelecom.com.

Podcast #3 w/ MTI President Greg Von Wald

2012-02-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

I had a lot of fun with this one - Greg is great to catch up with and always has somehting interesting to share. Today, we focused on a couple new programs (Welding and Manufacturing Technologies & Farm Power) coming to Mitchell Technical Institute next fall. Well worth 30 minutes of your time if I don't say so myself!

iPhone User? Try this link - http://www.archive.org/details/MitchellTelecomPodcast3GuestGregVonWald

Podcast #2: Doug and Hannah stop by to discuss the Corn Palace

2012-02-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

--Recorded 1/31/12--

We caught up with two members of the Chamber's Tourism / Corn Palace Area Development Committee to discuss the recently unveiled concept for a revamped Corn Palace.

Listening on an iPhone? Try this: http://www.archive.org/details/MitchellTelecomPodcast2CornPalaceVision

Three things I'm looking forward to in February

2012-01-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl – One of my favorite days every year (even as a Vikings fan). This year’s version brings us a rematch of the big game from 2008, with the Giants as the plucky underdogs and the Patriots as the favorites. If 2012 version is anything like 2008 we’ll be in for a treat. Since it’s the Super Bowl, allow me some predictions….

#1 – The Coin Toss will be Tails.

#2 – I will be responsible for eating wings, nachos, cookies and something covered barbeque sauce. Bonus points if this actually happens at the same time.

#3 – The buildup will key on Tom Brady vs Eli Manning, but should focus on the Giants defensive line vs the Patriots offensive line.

#4 – The Patriots get revenge and pull away late 33 – 20.

New TV: The Walking Dead & Psych – I’ve worked in this industry for almost ten years now. On the Television portion of our business I think one of the most significant changes during that time is the quantity and quality of original programming on cable networks. That change has considerably impacted broadcast networks and is biggest reason they’ve been forced to find new revenue opportunities (I’ll save that topic for another time).

The Walking Dead (on AMC) & Psych (on USA Network) represent two of my favorite cable series currently available and they both have new episodes in February.

The Walking Dead (starts back up 2/12 @ 8pm): We follow a group of survivors in the post-apocalyptic United States (in the south, Atlanta area to be exact) after a pandemic turns a majority of people into zombies. The survivors are a rag-tag bunch with little in common other than hoping to find shelter, food and safety in a world they don’t recognize. Heavy stuff, I know.

What’s Next - Let’s hope Rick, Lori, Shane, Carl and the rest of the group gets off the farm or the writers find story lines that aren’t as stagnate as the first half of the season. We need to get back to the uncertainty, suspense, conflict and action the six episodes of Season 1 offered. All that said, you could find worse things to watch on your Sunday nights.

Psych (starts again 2/29 @ 9pm): Shawn Spencer has a knack for solving crime, but he masquerades as a psychic consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department. His best buddy Gus comes along for the ride. The show is a very light and smart comedy with tons of references to pop culture during the 80s and 90s. This is a great fit for anyone that grew up in that era.

What’s Next – They hit pause in the middle of the 6^th season just as Shawn was prepping to pop the question to Juliet. They’ll likely drag that storyline through the back half of the season as Shawn, Gus, Juliet, Lassiter, et al continue to nab bad guys.

80s Night – The Network’s next big social event is set for February 18^th at the Highland Mall as 80’s night reminds us to turn our clocks back 25 years. I personally get a kick out of anything 80s. I can’t flip to Roadhouse, Say Anything, Cocktail Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, etc without burning a half hour. If I YouTube Journey, 38 Special, Whitesnake, Van Halen, etc I’ll burn an hour pouring over what passed as high fashion during this decade.

I’ve probably already gave this away, but…yeah…I’m all over this deal. You can get tickets (only $10) from the Chamber office and if you want to learn more about The Network check this out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkfrluERwLo&list=UUbYg-jso4rKWuUwpkUDI5fg&index=3&feature=plcp

Twins Caravan Photo Blog

2012-01-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

Quick pictorial tour of today's Twins Caravan as they swung through town. Our hosts - Dakota Wesleyan University, namely the DWU Baseball Team with Head Coach Steve Gust. The event was held at the Sherman Center on campus. I had never been in the Sherman Center before, it was a nice place - good spot for the event.

Who doesn't want free stuff? I had to grab one for Johnny Rocket...

But let's be serious, Cub's fans know there is only one series that matters this season.

Guess who is our emcee? The one, the only...Dan "The Dazzle Man" Gladden! It's interesting to think of words that were popular in a specific era (ie bitchin', gnarly, etc) that are used as a nickname. Could you imagine if we referred to Joe Mauer as Dazzle Man or incorporate the word Dazzle anywhere? Didn't think so, yet somehow Dan pulls it off. Bonus points here, I really got a kick out of him and his voice has that gravely-style which is perfect for radio baseball.

First current player up? Trevor Plouffe! He looked like a guy trying out for a series regular on the HBO series Deadwood. Came across as a funny guy and I appreciated how he spoke of finding anyway to see the field to contribute. While we're here - would it kill Twins fans to work in "Plouffe there it is...Plouffe there it is...Plouffe there it is" when he goes deep? I can't imagine it would be too 90's for their liking?

Next, we hear from Chris Parmalee. One of the bright spots down the stretch last year. Not much to add here, but I did find a sweet 'negative' setting on my phone to let me play with another style. I've included both for your enjoyment.

The last player to take the mic is pitcher, Anthony Swarzak. He's a bit of a journeyman on the club that spent seven season in the Twins minor league system, but still only 26. 'Swarzy' may have found a spot on this club with his work out of the bullpen last season. I think Twins fans can attest to his use as the club's long reliever, especially in the second half.

Gladden tells the crowd that there is three things the Twins have to do to compete this year - Throw, Catch and Hit! Yep, I guess that would about do it. However, I would probably add that this year's team (like last years) will come down to the health of Mauer and Morneau and the teams ability to fill holes with some of the young players that saw action in 2011.

TC Bear says it's time to hit the road, but not before they hand out some prizes. Sadly I didn't win. Thanks Twins for the show and come again next year.

Podcast #1 - Welcome to the Pod, Jon Mueller talks Hanson Classic

2012-01-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

In addition to the blog, we've started a Podcast to help chronicle local events and happenings. This episode, our own Jon Mueller stops by to help set up the recording and breakdown some Hanson Classic coverage. A thrilling 40 minutes!

What to watch…SHARK TANK

2012-01-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

I watch a TON of television, an absolute TON, so I won’t (usually) feel bad when you don’t take my TV recommendations to heart. This, however, isn’t one of those times. You see, Shark Tank starts its third season on ABC this Friday, which will be the first of thirteen episodes this season. Why is this important? Because…I LOVE Shark Tank.

What’s fascinating about the show is that it pairs regular people (stay-at-home moms and dads, a firefighter, a student, really anyone with an idea for a product or business) with some of the most successful business people on the planet - people that have the means, know-how and connections to make a budding entrepreneur into a millionaire in a millisecond.

I love the optimism that the show offers to the point that while watching I’ll usually find myself wondering ‘what’s my idea?’ each week. Don’t get me wrong, the show offers up a number of snoozers for ideas as well, but you’re confident one or two ideas a week will end up winners. So, do me a favor, tune in this week and enjoy yourself. I’ve included the promotional video for Season 3 below and if you want to catch an episode from the past, check out the Hulu page - http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Shark+Tank&st=0&fs=null

Wheel of Fortune…narrowly missing perfection

2012-01-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

Allow me a little (or a lot) latitude with this post. I feel like Wheel of Fortune is probably the best game show on TV today. The rules are simple enough that really anyone can play, the puzzles offer enough of a challenge to keep you on your toes and some serious cash is on the line – just a romping good 30-minutes of television. BUT, it could go from good to perfect.

#1 – Pat Sajak is too bossy.

Overall an absolute great host, but every night he has two tics that drive me crazy – they both happen during the bonus round. First, when the contestant spins the prize wheel he’ll always point out the slice they need to pick up. I mean there is a big white arrow already telling them that!

Next as everyone takes their place for the final puzzle he points out their “mark.” No need to make that audible Pat, the audience at home doesn’t need to know where this guy or gal needs to stand – we’re looking to see how much almost-cash we could pick up. I know I’m nitpicking, but no need to micromanage these things, Pat.

#2 – The $1,000,000 Space.
Remember when I said the rules are simple? Well get this…they have a prize on the wheel that allows the contestant to win a million bucks and all they have to do to win is…

- Spin the wheel and land on the million, plus correctly guess a letter in the puzzle

- They then need to correctly solve that puzzle and the Million Dollar Slice is theirs

- From that point forward, they cannot land on a Bankrupt

o AND, they must be the big money winner to qualify for the final puzzle

- They must correctly solve the final puzzle (not an easy task)

o AND, when spinning the wheel they must land on the $1,000,000 space again (about a 1/30 chance)

Holy Buckets! Let’s make it difficult, not impossible – I mean why bother with the million in the first place? Here’s my solution – keep everything before the finale puzzle to build the drama, but replace half of the prize slices with the $1,000,000. If they get through all that, they have a 50 / 50 chance to win a million.

#3 – The Final Puzzle

Ok, here’s where I may be grasping at straws, but hear me out. I liked it when they made the change to giving every player R – S – T – L – E and allowing them to pick three more consonants plus one more vowel. My problem is why should they be limited to only one vowel? Why can’t they pick any four letters? Moreover, why don’t we handicap this a little bit and give them one consonant and one vowel for winning the game plus an additional letter for every puzzle they correctly solved during the game. It would make it more difficult for the guy that got lucky during the prize puzzle and wasn’t heard from again, right?

There you have it, two really good (and one borderline) changes to make the best game show on television perfect – at least in one guy’s opinion.

A view from press row...

2012-01-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

Last week's Mike Miller Classic was a great couple days of basketball in what was a week long celebration of South Dakota High School Hoops on our cable system. Over 70 games aired over three channels and four days - ten of which originated from the Corn Palace (eight of those we provided play-by-play). First, allow me to share how all this content became available...

Our video network intersects with a number of other companies in the state. In the past, this made it easier to share equipment used for the provisioning of signal. More recently, we've began to explore other ways this can be used to provide additional value to the entire group. One such way is by creating and sharing content that is of interest across our different customer bases. The easy choice is through our youth sports. Which leads us up to last week...over Dec 27 - 30 we were able to feature HS Basketball Classics from Brookings, Aberdeen and Parkston in addition to our coverage from the Mike Miller Classic. This is something that Mitchell Telecom has been very invested in over the past three years and it is very gratifying to see last week actually happen. I trust that we'll be able to do more in the future and expect it to improve our overall product. To anyone that watched last week and offered - thank you very much! If you haven't had a chance to offer your two cents please do so by emailing info@mitchelltelecom.com.

On a very different note, the Mike Miller Classic allowed some of our Mitchell Telecom staff to try on our announcer shoes (myself included). We typically provide KMIT's call along with our video of games because Tim Smith is very good at what he does, but since Tim was only covering the Kernels each night we needed some subs (our Junior Varsity if you will). I had a great time as did our other staff members - Jon and Brice. Plus we owe a big thanks to non-staff members - Jamie Hajek and Chase Waldner, who were gracious enough to help.

We'll look forward to notching a few more games during the upcoming Hanson Classics (Girls 1/14/12 & Boys 1/21/12), but we'll gladly defer to Tim's talents anytime.

Until Next Time!

- Scott