Council Delays Action on Cable TV Rate Changes : Simi Valley: Comcast wants a fee increase, but the city may require a decrease.

Although armed with a harshly critical staff report, Simi Valley council members delayed imposing a rollback on Comcast Cable’s television rates, saying they need more time to study the company’s arguments.

Instead, the council gave Comcast until Monday to build its case against a proposed 1% cut in basic cable fees--a recommendation made by city analysts after the company asked for a 30-cent-a-month rate increase.

“The problem we had was trying to line up each of the cable channels,” Mayor Greg Stratton said. “Everybody put them into a different category, and I need to see where all the channels are and what would be the right rate to charge.”

Under the federal Cable Act of 1992, cities and counties may set the basic rates charged by a cable company. They cannot impose rates on premium packages, which typically include Showtime, HBO and other popular channels.

Despite the postponement, council members clearly were not pleased with Comcast, which now charges its 28,000 customers three different rates for the same programming.

“Comcast has some explaining to do about why they charge different rates for what appears to be the same service,” Councilman Paul Miller said after a two-hour public hearing late Monday.

Thousands of customers who pay the basic $21.90 monthly rate have been getting the Disney Channel and other programming at no extra cost since July. Meanwhile, thousands of others pay $26.95 a month for so-called Enchanted service and $37.52 for “premium” service. But they all receive identical programming.

Some council members said they were concerned that the company would hook viewers on the expensive packages, then begin charging them for the expanded service.

“In a lot of places, that’s called bait-and-switch,” Stratton said.

When Comcast approached the city about raising its basic-service fee 30 cents a month, city analysts studied the options available to customers and discovered other price discrepancies.

“Based on our findings, the cable subscribers in Simi Valley were charged too much for basic cable services,” said Joe Hreha, who oversees the utility for the city.

Comcast Vice President Jeff Carlson acknowledged Monday night that basic-service customers have for seven months been receiving an “extended preview” to entice them to sign up for higher-priced packages.

Although those customers have received the extra channels at no cost since July, Carlson said the preview would end within two weeks as part of a long-planned marketing strategy.

But some council members are still critical of the strategy.

“It depends on your definition of the word ‘preview,’ ” Miller said. “An eight-month preview seems to stretch the definition of the word.”

A Comcast sales representative on Tuesday made no mention of the seven-month promotion or the fact that customers paying the basic rate receive additional channels that will be eliminated soon.

Complicating the discussion late Monday were differences in the number of channels Comcast and Simi Valley officials say the city can regulate.

Hreha, who recommended the rollback and certain refunds, said channels like Disney and Turner Movie Classics, which have been shown free for months, should be included in basic service.

He also complained that Comcast is charging 27 cents a month for “CableGuard,” an optional warranty service protecting cable equipment inside customers’ homes.

A consultant hired by the city told the council that Comcast should charge only 4 cents a month for the service, but company officials said their 27-cent monthly rate is justified. The consultant recommended retroactive refunds for the charges.

Also being debated are four so-called shared channels, which have programs pulled from both satellite and regular television broadcasts.

Federal guidelines say such channels must show a majority of satellite programming to allow cable companies to charge extra when including them in the basic package, thus pushing up the price of that low-cost service. But city officials found the four channels show a majority of regular broadcast television or pay-per-view programs.

Despite admitting the lower-than-required hours of satellite programming on documents submitted to the Federal Communications Commission, Comcast said it can prove it meets the standard.

“That’s amazing,” Councilman Bill Davis said. “We taped them. There’s no question about it.”

Not all the council members agreed that cities should be setting basic cable television rates. Councilwoman Sandi Webb said the marketplace should be driven by consumers, who are free to choose whether to subscribe to the cable service.

“We have no business regulating that industry,” Webb said, “so I’m voting no on the entire thing.”

NEXT STEP

A public hearing is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Simi Valley City Council chambers to discuss rate changes for cable television service. City Hall is at 2929 Tapo Canyon Road. Comcast Cable customers can call city officials at 583-6700 or cable company representatives at 526-5721 for more information.