TV the Newest Amenity Planned at Lake Casitas

Smoothing the edges for campers roughing it at Lake Casitas, the campground’s owner will soon install a satellite dish so that campers can plug into MTV, ESPN, CNN or various movie channels at about a third of its 450 campsites.

“People are trying to figure out what they’re going to do with their time if they’re not fishing or out using the lake,” said Doug Ralph, Lake Casitas Park Service manager. “Going out to enjoy nature is fine for adults, but these days parents wonder what to do with their kids.”

The campground’s owner, the Casitas Municipal Water District, decided to join the growing number of private campgrounds installing satellite television hookups after a survey showed that 93% of Lake Casitas campers were interested in the service. More than 70% of those surveyed said they would camp at Lake Casitas more often if TV hookups were offered.

Subscription television is available at two other private campgrounds in Ventura County: the Ventura Beach RV Resort and the Mountain View RV Park in Santa Paula.

Yet state and county parks officials say they do not see the point. “One of the reasons people come to enjoy the outdoors is to get away from TV and telephones,” said Erwin Ward, recreation and wilderness officer for Los Padres National Forest.

So far, only a small percentage of the nation’s 15,000 private campgrounds provide television hookups. But close to half the campgrounds have sites upgraded with water and electricity, catering to campers driving recreational vehicles or pulling trailers.

And industry representatives predict that as campers come to expect more creature comforts during their nature experience, the majority of private campgrounds will soon offer a variety of popular television stations.

“TV will eventually be as common as any other service offered at campgrounds,” said David Gorin, the executive vice president of the National Assn. of RV Parks and Campgrounds in Washington, D.C.

The new amenities and the resulting price hikes have meant increased profits for the campgrounds as more campers with trailers and recreational vehicles flock to the sites where they can hook up their televisions.

Ralph explained that by offering the TV programming as well as water and electricity, the park will attract more RVs that pay a higher rate.

Ralph said since the park upgraded sites with electricity and water hookups more than a year ago, it has increased profits by 20%. The extra flow of cash has put the park in the black for the first time in its history, said Bill Austin, a board member for the Casitas Municipal Water District.

The park charges from $16 to $20 per night for the upgraded sites. Ralph said the park would not increase its charges when the TV service begins next spring, but may increase the price if demand goes up. Already the park hosts more than a million campers each year, and Ralph doesn’t want to scare campers off with higher prices.

“The price is high enough now that they should already have cable,” said camper Gary Jackson, a retired house painter from Arizona vacationing at Casitas. “They got water and electricity--they might as well have TV.”

Estimates for the cost of installing TV service at Casitas range widely from as little as $30,000 to as much as $200,000, Ralph said. He explained that the park may need more than one satellite dish to bring television programming to the 157 campsites spread throughout the park.

The average installation cost for this type of TV programming at campgrounds is $100,000, said Bill Van Dusen, president of B & N Communications in Los Angeles. B & N is doing a brisk business installing satellite dishes at campgrounds throughout the West.

“People traveling now expect the convenience of a home. They want their television, they want their news and movies,” he said.

Bill Austin, who serves on the Water District’s Recreation Committee, said he believes TV service will more than pay for itself by increasing the number of campers.

“The type of recreational vehicles they have today offer everything from microwaves to freezers,” said Austin. “Television is just another part of it.”

Cleaning up the area around his motor home at a campsite at Casitas, Gerhard Weise, a plumbing contractor from Los Angeles, said he would not mind an extra amenity.

“I’m not coming here because of the TV reception, but sometimes when it’s late it would be nice to get the news out here.”