Downey : Sale of Cable TV Franchise

The Downey City Council has approved the transfer of the local cable television franchise from Rogers Cablesystems to the Massachusetts-based American Cablesystems Corp.

The transfer is scheduled to take place 30 days from Monday, when the City Council approved it on a 4-0 vote, said Scot Yotsuya, assistant to the city manager. Councilman Randall R. Barb was not present for the vote, Yotsuya said.

The two cable firms were still negotiating the sale earlier this week, Yotsuya said. A Rogers’ spokeswoman has said the price will be about $28 million. Rogers is based in Toronto.

Downey is part of a five-city consortium that has been served by Rogers for the past six years. The consortium includes about 21,000 customers, of which Downey has 8,900.

Santa Fe Springs and Bell Gardens also approved the transfer, spokesmen for those cities said. Paramount and Lynwood, the other two cities in the consortium, have given tentative approval to the transfer, and final approval is expected later this month.

American Cablesystems will charge the same rates for basic service, $14.95 a month, Yotsuya said.