L.B. Group Seeks No-Porn Pledge From Cable Buyer

With the sale of this city’s cable television franchise looming, Councilman Warren Harwood and a conservative Christian group have raised concerns that the firm trying to buy the outlet might begin broadcasting sexually explicit programs.

But officials at Simmons Communications Inc., the Connecticut-based cable firm that wants to buy the Long Beach franchise, maintain that the company has no plans to offer the Playboy Channel or similar programming. The firm would consider offering such fare only if marketing surveys showed a large demand, a spokesman said.

Simmons is attempting to purchase the 39,000-subscriber cable system from Times Mirror Cable Television Inc. and Knight-Ridder Cable Television Inc., which own the Long Beach franchise jointly. Times Mirror Cable Television is a subsidiary of Times Mirror Co., which publishes the Los Angeles Times, while the parent organization of Knight-Ridder Cable Television is Knight-Ridder Inc., publisher of the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

3-Year-Old Firm

Officials at Simmons Communications Inc., a 3-year-old firm that operates 14 separate cable systems serving 48,000 subscribers in five eastern states, say they want to make the Long Beach franchise their flagship and hope to boost the number of subscribers to more than 60,000 households.

Although both sides have agreed to the $53-million sale, the deal must be approved by the City Council. The council may decide the matter after a public hearing scheduled Tuesday at City Hall.

Harwood said he would like to see the council block the transaction, in large part because of the possibility that Simmons might begin broadcasting the Playboy Channel. Currently, the Long Beach cable system does not offer such adult entertainment programming.

In addition, the councilman has expressed concerns that Simmons Communications lacks the financial strength to effectively operate the cable franchise, a charge that Simmons officials have steadfastly denied.

Harwood and leaders of the Long Beach Coalition for Traditional Values, a conservative Christian group composed of more than 50 local clergymen, maintain that the cable firm would offer sexually explicit programming in an effort to attract new subscribers and boost its profits.

“The profit motive is going to be so strong that Simmons will be pushed into bringing in programming like the Playboy Channel,” said Craig Garbe, spokesman for the Long Beach Coalition for Traditional Values.

If the franchise were sold to a larger cable television firm, there would be less of an economic need to provide such pro gramming, Harwood said. “A stronger firm might well use better discretion in choosing the programming it offers,” he said.

Because the city receives a 3% share of the cable franchise’s gross earnings, city officials must take full responsibility for the programming that is offered to subscribers, Harwood said.

“In effect, we’re a partner,” Harwood said. “If sexually explicit programming is offered, we’d be reaping profit from pornography, which I think is inappropriate for a public agency.”

‘No Plans Whatsoever’

Steven Simmons, president and chief executive officer of Simmons Communications, said his firm currently has “no plans whatsoever” to offer the Playboy Channel.

“I am very sympathetic with those who have problems with this kind of programming,” Simmons said. “I have a family and I understand the concern.”

Nonetheless, Simmons acknowledged that the firm may eventually consider offering the Playboy Channel. After the sale is completed, Simmons said, his firm would conduct a survey of subscribers to determine the types of entertainment programming they want. If the demand for the Playboy Channel were great enough, the firm might offer the programming, Simmons said.

“Since there is a great deal of sensitivity attached to this issue, there would have to be a very strong demand,” he said. “It’s not the kind of service that we would offer because there is a small marketing demand. It’s not a decision we would take lightly.”

Simmons Communications offers the Playboy Channel over about half of the cable systems it operates.

If the Playboy Channel is eventually offered, Simmons said the company would provide “lock boxes” at no cost to its subscribers. With such a device, an adult can use a key to temporarily disconnect a channel.

Adept at Tuning In

But Garbe said that system is not perfect because children have become notoriously adept at “getting around” such devices. “The safeguards these companies claim in actuality aren’t safeguards at all,” he said.

Garbe said his group is not against sale of the cable franchise to Simmons Communications, but wants assurances from the firm that it will not begin broadcasting sexually explicit programs, which he said contribute to what he described as a decline in moral values.

Simmons said he doubted the firm would ever agree to a ban on sexually explicit shows.

If no agreement can be reached with either Simmons or the council, Garbe said his group would consider filing a lawsuit or begin collecting signatures for a ballot measure. Anti-pornography groups in other communities have fought to block sexually explicit programming on cable television, he said.

In February, a grand jury in Virginia Beach, Va., indicted Cox Cable for seven obscenity violations relating to movies shown on the Playboy Channel. After the indictments, Cox stopped broadcasting the Playboy Channel on the Virginia Beach cable system. All criminal charges were later dropped.

When a cable firm began broadcasting the Playboy Channel in Vista, a small city in northern San Diego County, residents placed an initiative on the ballot that would have banned the use of public property--on which television cables run--for transmission of “indecent” materials. The 1984 measure failed to pass, a defeat its supporters attributed to voters’ reluctance to commit the city to spend the money it would take to defend the new law against court challenges.

Garbe said he believes a similar ballot measure in Long Beach could prove more successful.

Taking the Offensive

“The grass-roots troops are rising up,” Garbe said. “Parents are concerned about the welfare of their children and they’re being forced to come out on the offensive.”

Councilman Marc Wilder, meanwhile, defended Simmons Communications and blasted Harwood, saying the councilman was being used as a pawn by the conservative Christian community.

“I think Warren has raised some phony issues,” Wilder said. “In my opinion, he’s doing the work of the right-wing fundamentalists. He seems to be their last friend, and they seem to be his.”

Harwood denied that he was working with the fundamentalist group. Instead, the councilman stressed that he is concerned about the long-term effects the franchise sale could have on the community.

Besides the pornography issue, Harwood has questioned the financial strength of Simmons Communications.

Under terms of the sale agreement, $18 million would be provided by T.A. Associates, a Boston-based venture capital and investment banking firm. Another $32 million would be financed through banks, while the remaining $3 million would come in the form of a seller’s note from Times Mirror and Knight-Ridder. Simmons said his firm would have to pay off the note after five years.

At the time of sale, T.A. Associates would have 60% interest in the Long Beach cable franchise. But the venture capital firm would not have voting rights and would play no part in running the company.

Obtaining Majority Control

Nonetheless, T.A. Associates could have its interest converted to voting stock, a move that would give it majority control of the cable franchise.

As Harwood sees it, that arrangement could be used to transfer ownership of the cable firm “with the stroke of a pen” to T.A. Associates, a firm “that has never operated a cable system” and has not been scrutinized by city officials.

Harwood also argued that if Simmons Communications went bankrupt, local subscribers could lose service. If a larger firm were running the city’s cable franchise, Harwood said, its “tremendous financial strength” would guard against any disruption in programming.

Simmons called the possibility of bankruptcy “highly unlikely.” But if it did happen, Simmons said, the banks and other investors in the Long Beach franchise would move immediately to plug any gaps in service.

In addition, Simmons said that T.A. Associates regards its ability to convert its stock to voting shares as nothing more than security on its investment. It is unlikely, Simmons said, that the firm would exercise that option. And if T.A. Associates did wish to take operating control of the cable franchise, the change would be subject to City Council approval, he said.

Finally, Simmons pointed to a staff report to the City Council that suggests cable service in the city would improve if Simmons Communications begins running the operation.

Better Service Possible

Based on the firm’s performance in other cable markets, Simmons Communications would be able to improve daily service and channel offerings while attracting more subscribers, the report said.

Simmons, who owns 90% of the stock in the firm, has been involved in the cable industry for more than a dozen years. For four years during the 1970s, he was a professor at the University of California, Irvine, where he wrote articles on broadcasting and cable TV policy.

In addition, he served for four years on the White House domestic policy staff for the Carter Administration. Since 1980, Simmons has worked directly for the cable television industry, first with a New Jersey firm and later with his own company.

“The fact that he doesn’t come from a multimillion-dollar corporation doesn’t reflect that he can’t provide good service for Long Beach,” Wilder said. “In fact, it could be just the other way. I think we’ve got a company that is going to pay a lot more attention to the needs of the city’s residents.”