ORANGE : Cable Firm to Upgrade Curbs on Adult Shows

Cablevision of Orange has settled a long-running dispute with the city about adult programming by agreeing to revamp its technology.

City Council members had taken a get-tough stance with Cablevision last month after hearing from angry parents during a series of meetings. Many residents complained that they receive the Playboy or Hot Choice channels, even though they did not subscribe to those stations.

Last month, the city imposed a $500 civil fine on the company, raised the city’s scale of fines to $5,000, threatened to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and sent out a request for franchise bids to neighboring cable companies.

The city tentatively lifted all of those actions last week when city attorneys negotiated a deal with lawyers at Time Warner Inc., Cablevision’s parent company.

Cablevision has agreed to install new technology that traps all showings of the adult channels at the main office, said Assistant City Atty. David De Berry. Previously, the company fed those channels to all customers and scrambled the signals to those who did not subscribe. Cablevision attorneys said the company would install the technology within 30 days or remove the programming, De Berry said. Cablevision also will notify all subscribers of the problem, he said.

The threat to end Cablevision’s franchise turned out to be meaningless when no other cable companies bid for the territory. The city has agreed to extend the franchise until June 30 so Cablevision can continue to negotiate terms of the agreement, De Berry said.