VENTURA : Cable Provider to Raise Rates $2.75

Customers of Ventura’s Avenue TV Cable will pay $2.75 more a month for basic cable service beginning Oct. 1, company officials said this week.

Subscribers who are now charged $16 monthly for 22 channels will receive an October bill for $18.75, said Steve George, vice president of Avenue TV Cable.

In return, he said, they will receive five new channels: C-SPAN I and II, which broadcast Congressional sessions; USA Network, which shows movies, some sports and some reruns of network series; Bravo, an arts and cultural channel, and the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a religious station broadcast out of San Bernardino.

Those customers who already pay for the “full basic” package, which includes 51 channels, will not see an increase in their bills, George said. They will, however, gain three new channels--the Trinity Broadcasting Network, ESPN II and the “Cable Health Club,” George said.

George said the basic subscriber rate is rising because the company’s operating expenses are increasing.

Some customers said the latest rate hike irritated them.

“I don’t really think we need those channels,” said Vinnie McNeely, 18, who lives on Poli Street. “We don’t need to pay that extra $2.75. We’re having hard times now, and . . . it doesn’t seem right.”

This increase will be the fourth time rates have risen since 1990, company officials said.