TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Miguel Guardado, Information Technology Director
Tatyana Roujenova-Peltekova, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving a Five-Year Agreement with Pegasus Studios for Broadcast Professional Services with a Not-to-Exceed Total Amount of $900,000 (Budgeted) (Information Technology Director Guardado).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 25-0145
Body
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 25-0145, approving a five-year agreement with Pegasus Studios for broadcast professional services, with a not-to-exceed total amount of $900,000, or approximately $180,000 per year.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Sufficient funds are included in the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Information Technology budget for the first year of the contract. Future years will be budgeted accordingly.
BACKGROUND:
City Council and Planning Commission meetings are broadcast live and rebroadcast on Spectrum (formerly Time Warner) cable channel 8 and Frontier (formerly Verizon) cable channel 35. The meetings are also streamed live and on demand on the City’s website www.manhattanbeach.gov <http://www.manhattanbeach.gov> via the Granicus webcast. In 2020, City Council meetings and Planning Commission meetings introduced a virtual component by utilizing the Zoom cloud-based video conferencing platform to comply with the public health order during the COVID-19 pandemic. The change allowed the City officials and the public to participate in the meeting remotely, using a computer or mobile device (phone, tablet). To enhance public access and participation, the City has continued to utilize the hybrid meeting setting, providing the public with the option to attend City meetings both onsite and virtually.
Starting this summer, the Parking and Public Improvements Commission meetings have been broadcast live and closed captioned, following the same meeting protocol as the City Council and Planning Commission meetings. At present, the remaining three commissions, Parks and Recreation, Cultural Arts, and Library, are still conducted in a hybrid setting, onsite and virtual (Zoom) public participation, but not broadcast live or caption. Although these meetings use less technology, the amount of effort required from Pegasus is still significant.
From 2007 to 2017, the Information Technology (IT) Department provided a full range of services for the broadcast and rebroadcast of the City meetings and special events, including management and support of the audio-video and broadcast infrastructure, the Public, Education, Government (PEG) cable channels 8 (Spectrum) and 35 (Frontier), and the City webcast. During that period, all broadcast, rebroadcast, and audio-video activities were exclusively performed by the IT staff in addition to the daily technical responsibilities.
In January 2017, the City Council awarded Pegasus a three-year agreement with two one-year term extensions for broadcast professional services, augmenting the Department's effort and allowing for more appropriate use of the IT staff while maintaining internal control and oversight. A new three-year contract with two one-year extensions was approved by the City Council at its December 21, 2021, meeting, with an annual not-to-exceed amount of $60,000. In April 2023, the City Council approved an amendment to the agreement, increasing the annual amount to $90,000. With the expiration of the last extension on December 21, 2021, it is necessary to establish a new contract for the broadcast professional services.
DISCUSSION:
Pegasus has been successfully supporting the broadcasting, rebroadcasting, and audio-video activities for approximately eight years. During that time, their service utilization and scope have expanded. Today, in addition to the City Council and Planning Commission meetings, the vendor also services the Parking and Public Improvements Commission, the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Cultural Arts Commission, and the Library Commission. Additionally, Pegasus supports not only indoor but also outdoor City meetings and events, such as Juneteenth, the Manhattan Beach Open Walk of Fame Pier, and the annual Veterans Day Ceremonies, to name a few.
Furthermore, effective July 1, 2026, California Senate Bill 707 (SB 707) modifies the State’s Brown Act by expanding the public access requirements to local government meetings. It stipulates a two-way telephonic or audiovisual platform (such as Zoom) through July 1, 2030, solidifying the hybrid meeting settings for City Council and commission meetings for the next three years. As a result, Pegasus will continue to provide expanded broadcast and/or audio-video (AV) professional services. The extended vendor coverage includes not only for the meeting setup and broadcasting, but also allocates time for meeting testing and troubleshooting in case of technical difficulties, given the complexity of the various technologies involved during the streaming of City meetings: audio-video/presentation/meeting management systems, hybrid participation (onsite and virtual (Zoom), broadcasting (PEG channels 8 (Spectrum) and 35 (Frontier) and Granicus webcast), and closed captions system.
In addition to the complex ecosystem involved in City Council, Planning Commission, and Parking and Public Improvement Commission meetings, further difficulties arise when the meeting venue changes from Council Chambers to a different City site, such as the Police/Fire Conference Room or Joslyn Center Auditorium. The meeting relocation requires extended Pegasus services due to the advanced setup and testing, to ensure all the various technologies (presentation and AV systems, meeting management, broadcast, and Zoom) needed during the City meeting function properly. The move to any of these facilities usually includes:
• Six to eight hours for setup and testing (may or may not include rental AV and/or broadcast equipment);
• Two to four hours in addition to the typical broadcast commitment time for testing/troubleshooting (if needed) and broadcast coverage of the respective meeting; and
• Two to three hours for equipment breakdown on the day after the meeting.
Moreover, additional troubleshooting time must be accounted for when the AV, broadcast, and/or presentation systems need to be fine-tuned due to hardware and/or software updates. The proposed agreement with Pegasus anticipates the future needs for the currently supported City meetings, taking into consideration the complexity of the services, potential changes in broadcast requirements, and equipment troubleshooting, as well as an increase in the number of City events (both indoor and outdoor) and the potential broadcast of off-site meetings.
The contract includes anticipated rate changes that account for inflation during the contract period. The rate for Pegasus’ primarily-used broadcast and audio-video services has been $80 per hour per person ($160 per hour for a two-person team) since the initial contract award in 2017. Given that the base rate has remained unchanged throughout the initial and current agreements, this third agreement introduces rate adjustments to account for inflation. For the first two years of the proposed contract, the rate of the mainly utilized broadcast and audio-video services has increased by $5 (6%) or $85 per hour per person. For years three to five, there is an additional $5 (6%) increase to $90 per hour per person or a cumulative rate change of $10 (about 13%) to the original rate of $80 per hour per person. According to the Consumer Price Index statistics for Los Angeles County published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the inflation percentage increase from the initial contract date (January 2017) until September 2025 (the most recent available data) is 37%, which is almost three times higher than the cumulative percent rate change of 13% for the broadcast and AV services hourly compensation of $90 starting in the third year of the offered contract.
The proposed agreement total amount for the five-year term is not to exceed $900,000; however, the annual allocation for broadcast professional services is approximately $180,000. Nevertheless, the City pays only for the actual services provided, so the costs will be incurred only if Pegasus services are utilized. The contract also allows the City to terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause, after 60 days' notice.
In conclusion, staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 25-0145, approving a five-year agreement with Pegasus Studios for broadcast professional services, with a not-to-exceed total amount of $900,000, or approximately $180,000 per year.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has approved the agreement as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 25-0145
2. Agreement - Pegasus