Avenue TV Restores Fox to Lineup : Cable: Agreement will bring network programming back to west Ventura system without an immediate rate hike.

For 10,000 or so cable customers in Ventura, Bart Simpson is back. And there will be no problem tuning into National Football League action this fall.

For subscribers of Avenue TV Cable--which holds a monopoly on the franchise for western Ventura--the nearly nine-month drought without Fox television has ended.

The cable company dropped the network from its lineup last October in a dispute over broadcast fees. The move prompted dozens of angry calls from fans of prime-time hits such as “Bart Simpson,” “Melrose Place” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.” After Fox won the right to broadcast NFL games this fall, football fans worried about missing the first kickoff.

About 60 customers were so miffed they canceled their cable subscriptions.

But after months of negotiations, the brouhaha has finally ended. Last week, Avenue Cable reinstated KTTV (the Fox affiliate on Channel 11) with no plans for an immediate rate hike.

“Eventually, there may be some increase, but we don’t plan any in the immediate future,” said Pamela Drake, Avenue’s marketing director.

Along with dropping Fox last October, Avenue Cable also stopped carrying the Los Angeles affiliates of ABC and CBS.

Frustrated residents also complained to city officials about the reduction in cable service, said city spokeswoman Carol Green.

Many television viewers in western Ventura cannot get a clear picture via antenna because of mountain interference. And, Green said, these customers were particularly annoyed that Avenue cable’s monopoly gave them no other option.

“People have gotten used to the fact that there’s one telephone company and one gas company,” she said. “But when there’s a service like cable TV, then they’re not used to that.”

Avenue’s ratings dispute stemmed from a cable law passed by Congress in 1992 that allowed broadcast TV stations to charge cable companies for the right to carry their programs. A fraction of the nation’s cable companies, including Avenue, balked at the new law, refusing to pay the fees.

In addition, all three Los Angeles stations (KTTV, KABC and KCBS) wanted Avenue to add other cable channels owned by their parent networks in exchange for carrying their signals. Avenue officials refused.

Despite reaching agreements with Fox and KABC, Avenue subscribers are still missing the Los Angeles CBS affiliate from their dial. Instead, they receive a CBS affiliate in Santa Maria, which offers many of the same network sitcoms and other shows, but not the Los Angeles-based newscasts.

Avenue officials said they are still negotiating with KCBS Channel 2, but do not expect to resolve the standoff for several months.

“We’re awaiting word from them at this point,” Drake said. “We anticipate hearing from them in the next two to three months.”

Under the agreement reached with Fox in late June, Avenue Cable will not pay broadcast fees nor will it carry FX, a new cable network owned by Fox, Drake said. FX was launched by Fox to offer a mixture of news, entertainment, syndicated reruns and regional features.

Drake said Avenue Cable will consider adding FX to its lineup. She declined to reveal any more details of the agreement with Fox.

Avenue resumed broadcasting KABC in late May after agreeing to add ESPN II to a more expensive package of channels, Drake said.

And although no rate hike is planned with the return of Fox, Drake said the addition of three channels last fall boosted operating costs.

For now, basic subscribers who pay $16 a month will still receive TNT, the Family Channel and superstation TBS. Those channels were added last fall to make up for the loss of the larger networks.