Council Urged to Order Review of Cable Service
The City Council may commission a service and rate review before renewing the city’s contracts with its two television cable companies.
The city’s 15-year franchise agreements with Avenue TV Cable, which serves about 10,500 subscribers, and Century Communications, which has about 15,800 customers, expire this year.
Both agreements are nonexclusive, which means other companies may also provide cable service within the city.
Avenue TV Cable’s agreement will expire July 15, and the Century Communications contract will expire Oct. 1.
But before the city can negotiate effectively it will need to review past performance and future needs of Ventura viewers. So city staff members are recommending to the council that the city pay a law firm specializing in telecommunications $100,000 to do the review.
They are also recommending the city amend its cable ordinance so that cable companies will bear the cost of the review.
The City Council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Monday at 501 Poli St.
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