Ventura May Seek Right to Regulate Cable Rates

The Ventura City Council Monday will consider applying to the Federal Communications Commission to regulate cable television rates in the city.

City Hall was flooded with calls last week from irate subscribers after Century Cable restructured its rates because of new federal guidelines. Some subscribers’ rates shot up and others received decreases. Rates for Avenue Cable subscribers were not affected.

The increases are a result of new federal regulations aimed at curbing the cost of basic cable service. But cable companies are recovering some of their losses by charging more for the next level of programming.

City officials estimate that 60% to 65% of Ventura’s 35,546 households subscribe to one of the two cable companies that receive a franchise from the city.

If the city’s application is approved by the FCC, city leaders could receive regulatory authority as early as January or February of next year, city officials said.

Some council members said they do not want to get embroiled in the issue.

“Hell, no, I don’t want to control their rates,” Councilman Jack Tingstrom said. “It’s going to create more problems for the City Council than it would solve.”

Tingstrom said the city may have to pay a consultant and spend staff time to regulate the companies under federal guidelines. If the city does not apply to be a regulatory agency, the FCC would be responsible for enforcing the guidelines.

Councilman Tom Buford argued that he does not consider cable television a utility service that the city should regulate.

“You can disconnect the cable, you don’t have to have the cable. There’s always antennas,” he said. “We have other more important things going on in the city than cable television.”

Avenue Cable, which serves about 10,500 customers on the west side of the city, charges $14.26 a month for its 16-channel basic service--one of the highest rates in the county.

Stephen George, Avenue Cable’s general manager, said his company should not be regulated and that it has no plans to raise rates in the near future.

“I feel we’re doing a good job and don’t need the regulations that are being placed on us,” he said.

Steve Weingardt, general manager of Century Cable, declined to comment Friday. Century Cable serves about 15,000 households, primarily on the east end of the city. He also refused to release figures on the company’s rates.

If the city becomes the local regulatory agency, city officials would review basic service rates at the two companies. City leaders would have the authority to deny rate increases or disapprove existing rates. The guidelines would be set by the FCC, which would hear appeals on city decisions.

Ventura receives about $240,000 in franchise fees yearly from the two companies, said Carol Green, assistant to the city manager.

The council can decide to wait and get more information on the issue, but if it does not apply to the FCC by Oct. 15, it will not have the opportunity to roll back rates during its review of the companies, Green said.

Councilman Gary Tuttle said he is undecided about the issue.

“I don’t want to drive rates up,” he said, “On the other hand, I don’t want the citizens to feel that they’re not being protected.”

In Ventura County, officials in Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Ojai have already voted to apply for regulatory authority.

The cable television industry was deregulated in 1984, but Congress passed the 1992 Cable Act amid widespread complaints that companies had gouged subscribers with huge rate increases.