Fees Likely to Rise in Orange County : Cable TV Law May Prove Costly to Subscribers

Cable television subscribers in Orange County’s 28 franchise areas may soon feel the impact of sweeping federal legislation where it hurts the most--in their wallets.

Under the new law, effective last Dec. 29, cable firms are allowed to increase subscriber rates by as much as 5% in each of the next two years, and without restriction after 1987.

Until now, local governments set subscriber rates for the basic service. In Orange County, fees range from $5.95 a month in Costa Mesa to $13.95 in Mission Viejo.

Monthly rates are higher for customers who receive special pay-movie channels in addition to basic cable service.

The monthly charge for Home Box Office, a pay channel, for example, ranges from $7.50 in Seal Beach to $13 in San Juan Capistrano.

Cable industry leaders have said the new federal law will greatly increase their cash flow and thus enable them to to improve services and expand local cable television programming.

The legislation comes, however, at a time when cable firms across the nation are trying to cut back on the services they promised in order to win franchises. At the same time, cable companies have been sparking controversy by seeking to raise customer rates.

Both problems have surfaced in Orange County:

- In Santa Ana, Group W Cable and city officials have clashed over the firm’s efforts to scale back promised services and raise rates. The city has fined Group W $10 million, the largest penalty ever imposed by a municipality on a cable firm. A settlement that would allow Group W to drop $13 million worth of its commitments is expected to be agreed upon soon.

- Garden Grove officials have sued to block Rogers Cablesystems from raising rates, saying the company broke its promise to delay any increase until it completes the system. Rogers also wants to cut promised services, according to Eric Lauterer, Garden Grove city attorney.

- In Buena Park, Group W Cable earlier this year requested a 37% increase in its basic monthly rate. The city eventually granted a 10.4% higher fee for monthly service and agreed to let the company charge whatever it wanted for pay-movie channels.

- Three years ago, Times Mirror Cable Television raised its monthly rate for San Juan Capistrano customers from $7.50 to $12.25. The company sought the increase under a state law allowing companies that met certain conditions to raise their rates.

“A lot of subscribers were upset. . . . They felt they were paying more but not getting a whole lot more in services,” said Bob Boone, San Juan Capistrano’s cable administrator. (Times Mirror Cable Television is a subsidiary of the Times Mirror Co., which publishes The Times.)

Orange County cable operators and city officials believe the new legislation, at least, will clarify the relationship between cable companies and local governments.

But the law is silent on several important questions, such as a municipality’s power to terminate a cable franchise.

“Many of these issues must be litigated before we get a better understanding of the new law,” said Lauterer, adding:

“In the next few years, you can expect a substantial number of lawsuits involving cable television, here and around the country.”

Cable TV Service in Orange County

Community Company Monthly Channel License Rate Capacity Expires Anaheim Storer Cable $7.50 40 12/94 632-9222 Brea Century Cable 9.75 37 8/89 (213) 691-6795 Buena Park Group W 7.65 54 11/96 521-5050 Costa Mesa Copley/Colony 5.95 127 3/99 546-2946 Cypress Copley/Colony 9.95 80 6/99 546-2946 Fountain Valley Dickinson/Pacific 12.50 41 8/91 960-4343 Fullerton Group W 7.95 54 8/00 680-4070 Garden Grove Rogers Cablesystems 6.95 117 8/97 895-6886 Hunt. Beach Dickinson/Pacific 12.50 41 8/91 960-4343 Irvine Community Cablevision 8.95 35 1/92 720-2064 Laguna Beach Storer 9.00 30 12/91 493-3772 La Habra Century Cable 9.75 37 1990 (213) 691-6795 Los Alamitos Rogers Cablesystems 9.95 113 5/97 898-8211 Newport Beach Group W 10.00 35 3/92 631-5259 Orange American Cablevision 9.10 35 1994 771-4910 Placentia Group W 9.95 62 3/99 632-7240 San Clemente Times Mirror 9.87 35 1/87 Storer 8.00 30 4/91 S.J. Capistrano Times Mirror 12.25 35 12/93 Storer 10.00 31 9/89 Santa Ana Group W 6.95 120 6/97 547-3303 Seal Beach Group W 7.95 54 3/97 (213) 493-5481 Stanton Dickinson/Pacific 12.50 41 8/91 891-9099 Tustin CommuniCom 9.00 52 2/93 731-0992 Villa Park Storer 6.00 40 8/96 637-2671 Westminster Dickinson/Pacific 12.50 41 8/91 960-4343 Yorba Linda Empire Cable 9.20 72 4/93 524-2170 Unincorporated: Times Mirror 13.95 35 8/93 N. Tustin 831-8400 Capo. Beach Mission Viejo Unincorporated: Storer 9.50 30 1/94 Laguna Hills 632-9222 Dana Point Lake Forest El Toro

Community Whom to Call in Government Anaheim Cynthia King 999-5165 Brea Denise Ovrom 990-7770 Buena Park Linda Holmes 521-9900 Costa Mesa Vincent Whelan 754-5385 Cypress Dave Barret 828-2200 Fountain Valley Don Heinbuch 963-8321 Fullerton Chris Meyer 738-6310 Garden Grove P. Pressimone-Hair 638-6623 Hunt. Beach William Reed 536-5511 Irvine Leslie Keane 660-3684 Laguna Beach Dick Reese 497-3311 La Habra Park Morse (213) 694-1011 Los Alamitos Mitch Landsell (213) 431-3538 Newport Beach Kenneth J. Delino 40-2104 Orange Teri Cable 532-0359 Placentia John Slota 993-8117 San Clemente Max Berg 361-8301 S.J. Capistrano Mike Little 493-1171 Santa Ana Lori Cottrell 834-4827 Seal Beach Dan Joseph (213) 431-2527 Stanton H.G. Stephens 536-5413 Tustin Monda Buckley 544-8890 Villa Park Carolyn Veregge 998-1500 Westminster H.G. Stephens 536-5413 Yorba Linda Bruce Channing 777-5000 Unincorporated: Bill DeLuca N. Tustin 834-2115 Capo. Beach Mission Viejo Unincorporated: Bill DeLuca Laguna Hills 834-2115 Dana Point Lake Forest El Toro

Source: Orange County General Services Agency