Charter ups cable rates

Buck Wargo

CITY HALL -- The cost of watching cable television in Glendale,

Montrose and La Crescenta will run about $2 more a month.

Charter Communications announced Monday rates will go up June 1.

Glendale residents will pay 6.3% more for expanded basic service that

includes national cable channels such as ESPN, CNN and USA Network. The

cost will be $34.93 a month, up from $32.83.

Residents in unincorporated Montrose will pay 5% more at $35.40 a

month, up from $33.72. La Crescenta residents will pay 4.1% more, or

$35.40 a month, up from $33.98.

The increases are higher than the one imposed a year ago, when

Glendale residents were asked to pay 93 cents, or 2.9% more, under Marcus

Cable, which has since been taken over by Charter.

Most of the increase is for the expanded basic service, which has

increased 9.1% in Glendale from $20.82 to $22.72. Basic cable for

broadcast networks will increase 1.6% from $12.01 to $12.21.

Tom Belcher, vice president of operations for Charter, attributed the

increase to service improvements and higher costs for programming.

Outages affect fewer homes and customer service has improved, he said.

Some 90% of calls are answered within 30 seconds and residents only have

to wait for a two-hour window for service calls instead of all day.

As for the higher cost of programming, Belcher puts a lot of the blame

on sports channels.

“A lot of these programs have invested a lot of money, and they have

it in their contract they can pass on those charges,” Belcher said. “Some

can go up 20%, and they have, unfortunately, gone up that much.”

Glendale’s rates will now match Burbank, where residents’ monthly

bills will increase only $1.37. Burbank’s rates had been 73 cents higher

than Glendale’s. Belcher said the move was deliberate to eliminate

confusion about why there were differences in rates.

Glendale has no say over the expanded cable rates, but does have the

ability to limit increases for basic service. Assistant City Atty. Chris

Sansone said her office is reviewing the proposed increased to determine

if they are appropriate. A report will be given to the City Council later

this month, she said.

Besides the rate hikes, Charter customers will pay $3.95 a month for

converter boxes, up from $3.25. The cost of all other programming such as

premium channels like HBO and digital services will remain the same.

CHARTER CABLE RATE HIKES

GLENDALE*1999*2000

Basic*$12.01*$12.21

Expanded*$20.82*$22.72

TOTAL*$32.82*$34.93

MONTROSE*1999*2000

Basic*$12.38*$12.91

Expanded*$21.34*$22.49

TOTAL*$33.72*$35.40

LA CRESCENTA*1999*2000

Basic*$12.38*$12.91

Expanded*$21.60*$22.49

Total*$33.98*$35.40.

DOES NOT INCLUDE: Converter box increase from $3.25 to $3.95 a month.

Glendale’s tax rate 13.45%. Los Angeles County residents pay 5%.

SOURCE: Charter Communications.