HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem #10 - Discussion ItemH
Richard L. Fosmoen
City Manager
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Assistant to the City Manager
September 10, 1980 "1"
Approach to Cable Television
Bidding Process
The City of Miami is on the threshold of obtaining what could
amount to the most advanced Cable Television proposals in the
country. In order to achieve this goal the City Commission and the
Administration will have to work very closely together during the
months ahead. The Cable Television operators are well organized in
submitting proposals - many will contain well over 1,000 pages of
information. Some companies will spend over $100,000 on this bidding
process. At stake is the right to serve a prestige community with
high quality, highly sophisticated Cable Television having as many
as 147,000 households. It has been estimated that it will cost about
$25 Million to install a good two-way interactive Cable Television
service throughout Miami. It may be possible that could include 8
community studios, 2 portable (mobile) remote stations, 3 separate
cables with from 90 to 150 channel capability, 60 program channels
or more, security alarms, fire and smoke alarms, closed circuit TV
between City offices ( Fire Stations, Police, Administrative offices,
etc.), Data Communications services, dedicated lines for our computers,
public access channels and much more that will be discussed later in
great detail.
We are now receiving national attention. This will increase as the
process continues. We need to develop a policy on Cable TV now that
would avoid the legal problems that other urban cities are trying to
overcome. Law suits are frequent and expensive. They can also hold
up the installation of Cable for years. The attached article describes
what is happening with Cable in 30 major U.S. cities and should be
studied carefully. Difficulties can be avoided by understanding the
process and avoiding the pitfalls experienced by other cities. Educating
those who will be involved with the process is important. Some cities
have used more than one Consultant. This may be necessary in Miami.
There are several consultants available that have a national perspective
that can be suggested to the Commission.
The Cable TV Ordinance for Miami has been ready for a Consultant's
review for three months. Each Commissioner was sent a copy of the
Ordinance prior to the July 24, 1980 Commission Meeting. While the
Ordinance is important, it is only part of the process of developing
a Request for Proposals (RFP). Preparation of the RFP requires a very
good understanding of the economics of Cable and the terminology of
Cable. It is during the preparation of the RFP and the evaluation of
the submitted proposals that the Consultant will be essential.
0
Richard L. Fosmoen
September 10, 1980
Page 2
The entire cost of the bidding process, including Consultant's fees,
will be paid by the bidders. This is both standard and accepted
nationally. In St. Paul, Minnesota, for example, a $10,000 non-
refundable filing fee was required of all bidders, plus the success-
ful bidder was required to pay all remaining expenses up to $1000000.
St. Paul has a population of 295,104 with 108,166 housing units.
Miami has approximately 340,000 population and 145,000 housing units.
In preparing the RFP, it has been suggested that the City develop
two RFP's - one to generate a response from prospective bidders to
establish the level of interest in Miami's proposed Cable system,
and to also determine the special services and equipment that might
be available for Miami as a result of the bidding since the fee paid
to the City is fixed at 3% by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) or 5% if FCC approved.
I would suggest that this be called a "Prebidding Questionnaire"
and "Intent to Submit a Proposal". I have a list of over 300 names
and addresses of Cable Companies that own more than one Cable system,
plus over 30 Canadian Companies that might also be interested. The
response to the "Questionnaire" could generate the information
needed to prepare a complete RI-P. Although this would tend to
delay the process it could be started very soon.
One suggestion that I received recently was to follow what Dade
County has done in providing Cable for the unincorporated areas.
There is apparently some misunderstanding of the role played by
the County in licensing Cable Companies. The County began to
allow Cable Companies to operate in the early 1970's. Until 1975
only Homestead had Cable TV. With the advent of satellite trans-
mission of television signals other companies became interested.
There are now 5 Cable Companies, many with overlapping territories
which has caused service area controversies among the companies.
New boundries had to be determined with a first come, first served
approach to providing Cable in the unincorporated areas. Many
problems in Cable are still ahead for Dade County. They will not
be getting the equipment, superior quality services and resulting
revenues that are now available to Miami. Dade Counties Cable
Ordinance operates as a minimum standard, however, the City
Commission will have the total authority to choose and regulate
any Cable operator in Miami.
The next step in this process is
on a consultant and proceed with
preparation of the RFP. It would
would also set aside a date when
everyone involved could reach the
the process of achieving Cable TV
for the City Commission to agree
the review of the Ordinance and
be very helpful if the Commission
a workshop could be held so that
same level of understanding of
in Miami.
FACT SHEET
Miami Cable Television
1. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allows the City to Collect a 3%
Franchise (license) Fee which can be increased to 5% if all of the Revenues
are used to regulate Cable TV.
2. The City can regulate Cable Television by:
a.) Establishing the basic subscriber rate.
(1) The monthly rate for Pay Cable (movies, satalite programs etc.)
are not subject to city regulation.
b.) Setting certain standards regarding program content ("X" Rated Movies etc.)
c.) Overseeing the performance of the Cable operation as required by City
Ordinance.
3. The Dade County Cable Television Lisense Ordinance requires that:
a.) All Dade County Cable TV companys must interconnect the FCC required
Public, Government and educational access channels countywide.
b.) The Countywide provisions of that Ordinance become a minimum standard
for Miami.
c.) Cable TV companies pay to the County 3% of the Companys Gross revenues
from all subscribers living in the unincorporated areas.
Note: Dade County only regulates the allocation of construction areas
to be serviced by Cable TV in the unincorporated areas.
4. No Dade County Cable TV Fees are collected in the cities because the County
does not regulate Cable TV in the Cities.
5. FCC requires all Cable Companies serving more than 3500 subscribers to provide
the following:
a.) Public Access Channel - A separate Channel where members of the General
Public are given free use (access) of the non commercial Channel for
whatever purpose they choose - subject to certain FCC regulations.
(Community Programming)
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b.) Government Access Channel - a separate Channel for the use of the City
Government for whatever use the City may decide - Government bulletin
Board of City events, Leisure Services, Board Mtgs., etc.
c.) Educational Access Channel - a separate channel for the use of educational
authorities to provide educational programming to the Cable TV subscribers.
d.) A Leased Access Channel - a separate channel to be available for leased uses
of part time users.
6. Miami has 750 miles of streets.
7. Less than 10% of Miami utility service connections are underground.
8. Miami has approximately 147,000 households.
9. Miami has a population of approximately 350,000.
10, Potential Revenue to Miami from completed Cable TV System is approximately
$500,000.
11. Miami is desiqnated by the FCC to be one of the First 50 MaJor Television
Markets (No.21) in the United States.
12. The City of Miami is considered to be a highly desirable franchise (License)
area and will attract some of the largest cable operators in the World.
13. Miami, Coral Gables and Opa-Locka are the three largest areas in Dade County
presently without cable operator contracts.
14. Cable systems operating in Dade County are:
I. Americable (Homestead, etc.)
2. Dade Cable (South Dade)
3. Ultra Com (Miami Beach, etc.)
4. Dynamic cablevision (Hialeah, etc.)
5. Storer (North Dade)
15. Steps to achieve Cable TV in Miami:
a. Commission Policy decision
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i
T. Consultant selection
2. Needs assessment and minimum requirements for Cable in City
(shopping list)
3. Time schedule
4. Funding (Work program, consultant, advertising budget, commissioners
travel, etc.)
b. Ordinance
1. Draft
2. Consultant Review
3. Hearing
4. Adoption
c. Request for proposals (RFP)
1. Describe system design to be achieved through bidding process
2. Advertise in Local and National media and Cable Trade Journals
(Approx. $2,000)
3. Allow minimum 60 - 90 days
4. Hold prebid conference
5. Prepare addenda if necessary
6. Require $8,000 non-refundable bi.d evaluation fee and $100,000
winners fee to cover bid evaluation and consultants fee
7. Receive bids
d. Bid Evaluation
1. Preliminary review and evaluation by Consultant.
2. Staff review of preliminary consultants report
3. Bidders review of preliminary consultants report
4. Public hearing
5. Bidders and commissioners comments
6. Final consultants report
7. Public Hearing
a. Award Bids
b. Reject Bids
(Time Lapse - approximately 6 months)
e. License
1. Negotiations of License
2. Draft Licensing Ordinance
3. Review with successful Bidder
4. Legal Review
5. Public Hearing
6. Adopt Ordinance
(City Attorneys Opinion, March 3, 1980, states that no referendum is required
if a license is used to operate a Cable TV Co. in Miami)
(Time Lapse - 2 months)
f. Construction
1. Company begins strand mapping of Miami and orders cable and equipment
2. Company begins construction of Headend and Earth Station
3. Company contracts with Southern Bell and Florida Power and Light for
use of utility poles
4. Company begins stranding (placing guy wires on poles from which to
attach TV Cable)
5. Company begins connecting houses - first customer served
(Lapse time - 6-8 months)
6. Company completes cable system for Miami (includes business sections
and all underground installation)
(Lapse time - 3 years from start of construction or less)
16. Investment capital estimates for Miami
a. Standard Dade County type service - $10 Million
b. Fully activated two-way class IV cable at time of turn -on - approximately
$25 Million (Requires online computer capacity)
Prepared by
Clark Merrill
9/10/80
r
0
One by one, big cities
open up to cable
Major markets are moving through
the franchise process; Omaha
biggest award In past week
Omaha was at centerstage last week in the
award of its cable television franchise to
Cox Cable, one of six major cable com-
panies that had bid for it (see story, page
110), In the wings, scores of other cities,
towns and counties, offering franchises for
several hundred to several hundred thou-
sand homes, are going through the
laborious process leading up to the day
when they award their franchise and the
industry spotlight momentarily falls on
them.
A BROADCASTING survey of com-
munities in the top•30 ADI's revealed that
four large cities are close to that day:
Dallas, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Port-
land, Ore, But it found others —Baltimore,
Cleveland, Washington, Detroit and
Chicago —still are in the earliest stages of
the franchising process.
The survey also found that the show
doesn't always end with the award. There
are law suits and federal investigations sur.
rounding the franchise awards in Pitts•
burgh and Houston and a law suit against
Los Angeles for the failure to award a
franchise. And in Minneapolis, the award
Northern Cablevision won last December
has been jeopardized by complaints filed
with the state cable board, which must put
its stamp of approval on the award. But an
award is not, of course, always followed by
bad news. Recent franchise winners in
Kansas City, Mo., and Nashville have re-
cently hooked up their first subscribers,
formally adding those cities to the expand-
ing cable universe,
The National League of Cities wrote
many of the cities included In the survey
in July, suggesting that they impose a
franchise moratorium to protest cable sec-
tions in the Senate's communications
rewrite bill (S. 2827). Although the letter
made city officials wary of the legis-
lation, it did little to stop or slow down the
franchise process in any of the com-
munities surveyed. NLC, in a second let.
ter (see page I I I ), has said a moratorium
may not be necessary now that the Senate
Commerce Committee has announced it
will hold hearings on the legislation.
1, New York O Four of the five unwired
boroughs are reviewing proposals at various
levels of jurisdiction in New York After the
Board of Estimates refused to affirm a
franchise award in Queens to Knickerbocker
Communications, the awards process was
started again. The second request for proposal
(RFP) is due the first week in September,
Warner Amex, Oitho•vision Inc., Cablevision
and Gotham Cable Co. have submitted
applications
In Staten Island. Brooklyn and the Bronx,
local citizens boards are reviewing the RFP's of
their respective applicants. In those boroughs.
public hearings are expected in early
September
Franchising in New York City Is complex The
Bureau of Franchising first receives proposed
applications and refers them to the City
Planning Commission and the local borough
boards The local boards make a
recommendation to the Board of Estimates
which narrows the field and sends its report
back to the Bureau of Franchising, which draws
up contracts, which are sent back to the Board
of Estimates Public hearings are held with the
board making the final award
On April 24, the Board of Estimates
authorized the Washington law firm of Arnold &
Porter to work with city agencies in making a
study of cable and what criteria the board
could use to judge proposals That report,
examining service options, economies of scale
and available technology is due Sept 24
2. Los Angeles Z After the Los Angeles city
council rejected both bids it received for the
East San Fernando Valley 0 50.000 homes)
and ordered that the city readvertise for bids.
one of the bidders, Cable Entertainment Corp..
slapped the city with a taw suit alleging that
the city violated its right to equal protection
under the jaw The suit is designed to force the
city to award the franchise to one of the two
original applicants
Meanwhile, the city. which has already
awarded several franchises. has received bids
eroradcasisno Aug 2e 1980
35
for Its three remaining franchise areas: Boyle
Heights (24.000 homes), South Central
(210,000 homes) and Wilmington 132.000
homes)
South Central CATV Associates, a joint
venture of Universal Cablesystems Ltd and Six
Star LA Ltd, has applied for all three franchises
and subsidiaries of American Television d
Communications have applied for South
Central and Wilmington. Also. Community
Telecommunications has applied for South
Central and a subsidiary of Colony
Communications has applied for Wilmington
According to a city official, awards should be
made within two or three months
3, Chicago n The Windy City has begun to
move toward cable as Mayor Jane Byrne has
set up a committee of aldermen to oversee the
franchising process Chicago is also in the
process of hiring a consultant
In the suburbs the Northwest Municipal
Conference. an amalgamation of
communities, has set Nov 1 for a decision cn
whether they will seek one franchise for all the
communities or leave the decision to the
individual towns
In Evanston, nine bids have been received
for the city's franchise and members of the
Human Services Commission and a cable
television task force are visiting on-line
systems of the various applicants that Include
Cox, Teleprompter. Warner Amex and
Cablenel. Malarkey Taylor 6 Associates has
been hired as consultant and the cit;
(population 76,000) expects to award the
franchise by December.
Meanwhile, Skokie is working on an
ordinance and RFP but already 20 companies
including most of the major MSO's. have shown
an interest in Skokie's franchise It is expected
that the ordinance and RFP will be completed
within the next two months and that an award
will be made by next spring The franchise
includes 23,000 homes
4, Philadelphia M The 10 bids for the four
Philadelphia franchises are still in the hands of
J W Brown, commissioner of public properties
Brown has referred some questions he has on
the proposals to the city solicitor's office and
will eventually servo a evwl 3no
recommendat,3n to the r+iay:r and c t;; C%
The bidders are AEL Industries AX. Comcast,
JNW Telecommunications. hicLean•Hunter
University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia
Cablevision. Rollins, Storer. Teleprompter and
Times Muror
5, Son Francisco :2 Viacom International
has operated a cable system in San Francisco
since February 1953
e, Boston n Boston last week sent out
requests for applications, but because of state
law it has different procedures than other
cities Companies have until Nov 3 to subm,!
applications, but no guidelines have been
Issued Only after the city receives the
proposals and reviews them will an RFP be
issued The mayor's cable staff plus academic
and industry consultants will develop the RFP
When it is formally issued. the applicants can
amend their applications The proposals are
reviewed again, public hearings are held and
the mayor eventually awards the Iranchise
The city has supplemented the initial
requests for proposals with a questionnaire
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el Tor OF THE Wulf
aimed at "Insuring the Integrity of the franchise
process" According to Rick Borten of the
mayor's cable staff, Mayor Kevin White has
Issued an executive order prohibiting social
contact during the process between city hall
and any representatives of the cable
applicants.
Nearby Cambridge (population 100.000) is
In the earliest of franchise stages, with an
advance committee, after a year's study, about
to make a report and recommendation on
cable In the city to the city manager. Another
committee, possibly with members of the
previous one, will be appointed by the city
manager to address specific Issues In
preparation of a franchise ordinance.
7. Detroit ❑ According to Lois Pincus,
chairman of the five -member Detroit Cable TV
Advisory Committee, the group continues to
study RFP criteria and expects to issue one
sometime this fall. Detroit has 428,000 homes
that could be wired for cable.
S. Washington The city from which federal
telecommunications regulations emanate is far
behind most other jurisdictions in the franchise
process. However, legislation setting up the
process has moved through the hearing stage,
and the city's public service and
consumer affairs staff is working on a mark-up
In suburban Fairfax county, Va., an enabling
ordinance splitting the county into three
franchise areas was passed in April. The
county expects to release an RFP by Sept. 26.
The Reston area of the county already has a
Warner system operating, but there never has
been an official franchise awarded lot the
system, and it comprises one o1 the three
franchise areas to be awarded. The other two
are the northern and southern half of the
county Discounting Reston, there are 200,000
homes that can be wired.
According to Delores Early, head of cable
television for suburban Prince George's county.
Md , the county is now going through the
"tedious process of needs assessment' and
hopes to have an RFP out sometime this fall
The county is offering two franchises, each
now containing approximately 100,000 homes
While the county slowly gears up, eight
municipalities within it have awarded
franchises on their own Cross Country picked
up Capital Heights, contingent on its landing a
franchise for a contiguous community And
Storer won the rest. Bladensburg, College Park,
Cottage City, Hyattsville, Mt Rainier, Riverdale
and North Brentwood
Northwest of Prince George's. in
Montgomery county. Md , the county council
got the ball rolling by passing an enabling
ordinance in July (BROADCASTING. July 28) At
that time, John Hansman, the county's cable
television project manager, said the county
hoped to have a request for an RFP ready by
February 1981. The franchise includes more
than 200,000 homes and 20 companies have
shown an interest in it, including Cox, ATC,
Warner, United Cable, Times Mirror.
MetroVision, Viacom and Douglas
Communications
9, Cleveland O The word from Cleveland is
that nothing has happened since spring The
city law department continues to study the
franchise ordinances of other communities.
10. Dallas -Fort Worth ❑ The Dallas city
council Is to receive a report on Sept. 17
recommending a franchise to one of six
bidders Cox, Sammons, Storer, United, ATC and
Warner Amex had replied to the RFP and the
Cable Television Information Center made a
preliminary report in July on the strengths and
weaknesses of each, said Tom Jones, director
of public utilities. The companies were then
brought in lot questions on their proposals and
oral presentations before council in late July
The September report by the city's staff and a
consultant will precede public hearings with
the award's target date, set for mid -October.
Fort Worth has set Oct. 10 as the deadline
for RFP's lot the system that will pass
approximately 160,000 homes. The council
then has lour months 10 consider the proposals
and expects a decision In January 19B1.
11. Pittsburgh ❑ Pittsburgh's franchise was
awarded to Warner Cable of Pittsburgh on Jan.
30 Shortly thereafter, one of the three losing
bidders, Three Rivers Cablevision, a subsidiary
of ATC, sued the city, charging that the
franchise process was a "sham" (BROADCASTING,
March 31). A federal grand jury and the FBI
have been Investigating the franchise process
following intimations of bribery and influence
peddling (BROADCASTING, July 14).
12, Houston ❑ On Jan. 10,1979, the city
council of Houston awarded five franchises to
five different cable companies. But two of the
franchisees sold control to major MSO's,
Warner and Storer A deal to sell control of
another of the franchises to Slorer has been
stalled by a law suit against the city and one of
the franchisees by a losing bidder, Billy
Goldberg While the suit goes through the
deposition process, a federal grand jury is
Investigating the franchise process, looking for
violations of antitrust laws Several city
officials, including Mayor Jim McConn, have
appeared before the grand jury
13, Minneapolis -St. Paul O The troubles of
Northern Cablevision, the Slorer subsidiary
that won the franchise for Minneapolis last
December, continue and multiply Northern's
plans to build a 40•channel system in the city
were stalled in May when the Minnesota Cable
Communications Board failed to give its
approval to the city's franchise agreement with
Northern Questions about the agreement and
the franchise process were raised by the state
board's staff and a public interest group and
instead of acting on the questions, the state
board turned the matter over to a hearing
examiner (BROADCASTING. May 19)
According to W D Donaldson, executive
director of the state board, 21 days of hearings
before the hearing examiner ended last
Monday But now all must sit tight for a round or
two of briefs and reply briefs Donaldson
doesn't expect the hearing examiner to make a
recommendation on whether to approve the
franchise until late December The board will
then consider the recommendation and make
the final decision on Northern's fate
Northern's situation was further aggravated
by a city resolution of Aug 8 reactivating the
dormant city cable advisory committee to
begin a "needs assessment of the advisability
eroodcautmg Aug 25 1060
36
of awarding a second cable franchise ... and
the feasibility of a city or municipally owned
system" The resolution was based on the
uncertainly of the franchise agreement with
Northern and the feeling that cable technology
has advanced so rapidly that the proposed
Northern system was no longer state of the art.
Across the rivet seven companies
responded to the RFP from St. Paul, including
Viacom, Warner, Teleprompter, Capcities,
Cablevision and a joint venture between ATC
and Heritage. The Cable Television Information
Center is analyzing the proposals and wit
report to the council in 90 days. Public
hearings will then be held with the franchise
tentatively scheduled to be awarded in
November.
14. St, Louie O A six -member study group
of St Lours officials has issued a final report
that recommends the hiring of two consultants
(CTIC and a local engineering firm) and the
creation of a citizens panel. Bill Kuehling, a
member of the study group, said the
consultants and the panel will develop a basic
system plan, to be approved by the city
aldermen, as a prelude to an RFP The RFP will
be Issued after bids are received and the basic
system plan approved. The latter is expected
no earlier than this winter.
16, Miami ❑ The city manager's office of
Miami has prepared a draft ordinance which
will be brought to the city commission for
review on Sept 15. Clark Merrill, an assistant
city manager, said he hopes the commission
will adopt the ordinance so that he and a soon•
to -be -formed committee of city staff can get
on with the work of preparing an RFP for
release "some time this fall" Miami
(approximately 135,000 homes) and two
smaller incorporated communities, West
Miami and Coral Gables, are the only
remaining unfranchised areas in Dade county
As reported in March (BROADCASTING, March
31), Ultracom, United Cable, Cablecom•
General, Dynamic Cablevision, Warner and
Storer have expressed interest in acquiring the
Miami franchise
IS. Atlanta O Although Cox was granted
the franchise for Atlanta in 1973, the system
grew slowly and had only 12,000 subscribers
when it was sold to Cable Atlanta in February
of this year for $5 5 million The buyer is a
subsidiary of Cablecasting Ltd. a Canadian
MSO
In DeKalb county. outside the city. the local
government decided nine months ago to
straighten out some of the vagaries of its
existing franchise ordinance and to try to
improve service to its residents Pat Glisson
director of finance for the county said that the
original ordinance proved to be "insufficient
and many years out of date" With the heln o'
the Cable Television Information Center, the
county drew up a new one and the board of
commissioners adopted it on June 24
In addition to defining the franchising
procedure for a little more than a third of the
county's territory, the ordinance also confirmed
three existing franchises for the bulk of the
county and some changes in the ownership of
those franchises As it now stands, the existing
franchises are owned by Cable DeKalb a
subsidiary of Cablecasting Ltd; Cable Atlanta
another Cablecasting subsidiary, and Cable
or'.
r TOP OF TN[ wLIN F
Television Co., a partnership of United committee and a consultant. The board will One Interesting sidelight of the financial
-Cablevision and South Media, hold public hearings in the next 45 days before hearings the council will be holding: it has
Bids for the remaining "underpopulated but making their end -of -September repot to the asked the cable companies to submit
growing" third of the county were received city. questions they would ask of the other cable
from Cable DeKalb, South Media and According to city attorney Bob Elrod, the companies In terms of ownership structure, tax
Wometco on Aug. 1, council committee narrowed the candidate list benefits and the like.
17. Tamps -St, Petersburg ❑ Tampa's five
member committee of city staff and private
citizens is now drafting a franchise ordinance
and hopes to have it ready by Nov 15 for
comments from the public and interested
cable companies. At that time comments will
also be solicited on all questions concerning
cable for the city According to Robert
Morrison, head of the cable committee, there
are between 150,000 and 175,000 homes In
the city. Teleprompter has operated a cable
system in St. Petersburg since 1970.
18, Seattle -Tacoma ❑ Viacom
International has operated a system in Seattle
since June 1961 Teleprompter has operated a
system in nearby Tacoma since August 1971
19. Baltimore zi Preliminary public
hearings in May gave the green light for cable
them. Baltimore has now established eight
task forces, to find out the cable needs of its
citizens in such areas as education, health and
business, and to make those needs part of the
franchise ordinance and RFP
The city has also hued Telecommunications
Management Corp to consult and write the
RFP a draft of which is to be ready for the
Board of Estimates by next February. Plans call
for the system to pass 300,000 homes
20. Hartford -Now Haven, Conn. ❑ Times
Mirror, which owns Hartford CATV, is in court
with the state over a divestiture order After
Times Mirror acquired the franchise and The
Hartford Couran4 the state Division of Public
Utilities Control ordered the divestiture of
either the newspaper or the cable system
Times Mirror has brought suit against the
division and is now in litigation.
Systems TV Inc. has operated a system in
New Haven since 1976 with a total subscriber
count of 5,124
21. Denver ❑ Denver's next big cable step
is a primary vote on Sept 9, amending the city
charter to empower the city with franchising
authority Current laws do not address all parts
of the process The amendment would allow
the council to specify areas of service.
evaluate proposals and make a selection
After that vote the city will decide exactly
what to do, although it has drafted an RFP The
consultant Denver hired has recommended
legislation on signal piracy and operator rates
Bill Bradley. head of staff for the city council,
said the consensus of the council is that one
franchise be awarded The council has passed
a resolution to that effect. But one of the
companies that is interested in the Denver
franchise is a joint venture between Daniels 6
Associates and ATC The city has
approximately 250,000 homes to wire
22, Indianapolis ❑ By the end of
September, the Indianapolis city council
expects to be able to award a franchise The
Board of Public Works has lour franchise
applications. plus the reports and
recommendations of a city county council
10 two —a local subsidiary of ATC and the
locally owned Indianapolis Cablevision. Elrod
28, San Diego ❑ Cox Cable's Mission
said both proposals were about equal and the
Cable TV renegotiated their franchise
best of the four. But Elrod said the city may go
agreement with San Diego last year. The
with the local bidder; one reason Is that it
system that was started in 1962 now has 2010
already operates some cable in the city
as Its franchise expiration date, with renewal
Indianapolis Cablevision built systems in areas
options. Mission has 26 channels now, but has
outside the city before a governmental
rebuilt Its plant over the years and has plans to
consolidation. Now some areas the local
go to 35. Next year Mission plans to add home
company had wired are under city jurisdiction,
shopping and banking in a pilot program.
and Indianapolis may not want to have two
companies with franchises In the city, Elrod
Currently there are 200,000 subscribers on
line, making it the largest system in the country
said That situation would result if the ATC
operating today
subsidiary would be awarded the franchise.
Elr0 d said the ro osals call for passing
p p
between 150.000 and 200,000 homes.
23. Sacramento, Calif. ❑ After deciding
that the city of Sacramento should award a
franchise on its own, the county has had to go
back and "rework" the franchise ordinance and
RFP that had included the city. William
Freeman, assistant county executive, said that
the revised ordinance and RFP should be
ready for board scrutiny, approval and issuance
"in a month and a hall:' Three other small towns
in the county are considering whether to award
franchises on their own or join with the county
According to Freeman, a joint venture of ATC
and McClatchy Newspapers, TCI, Teleprompter
and United Cable have all expressed interest in
the county franchise
Meanwhile the city is not sure what it is
going to do, after the county bowed out in a 4.1
vote Assistant city manager Mac Mailes said
he is to go before the council in 30 days to
recommend a new course of action. The
homework on the franchising had been
completed earlier when the city and county
were contemplating a joint franchise, so the
city is not too far away from issuing an RFP
Mailes did point out that the density of the city
Is higher and would make it more profitable to
the cable entrepreneur thari the county
24, Portland, Ore. ❑ it appears that Cable
Systems Pacific, a limited partnership of
Canadian Cable Systems and 41 local
investors, is on its way to winning the Portland
franchise, or at least the 120,000 homes in
eastern Portland that are unwired
A citizens task force unanimously voted for
the Pacific franchise proposal and the mayor
concurred The city council held hearings and
has scheduled more hearings for Sept 8 to
clear up ownership structure questions or all
four companies that applied
Cox. Storer and Liberty were the three other
bidders The council is expected to designale
an applicant but that doesn't mean it wins the
award Negotiations are pursued and the Irve•
member council takes a final vote, with lour
votes needed for passage
Liberty Communications operates a system
in western Portland. passing 30,000 homes It
may be forced to sell its franchise to the city
winner in 1988 But, said Steve John, director of
the Office of Cable Communications, if the city
can negotiate to bang Liberty up to the same
level of service as the Iranchise winner. its sale
may not be required
eroadoralting Aug 26 1e60
38
28, Milwaukee ❑ Since March Milwaukee
has moved along in developing an ordinance
and RFP. Both are now with the city attorney
and will be turned over to the council for public
hearing in September. At that time the city will
send questionnaires to companies and
evaluate their responses before issuing an RFP
early next year, said Mackie Westbrook, deputy
city clerk. So far 10 companies, including
Warner Amex and Viacom, have shown
Interest In the franchise, which contains
120,000 homes
27. Kansas City, Mo. ❑ American
Cablevision of Kansas City Inc., a subsidiary of
ATC, hooked up its first home in May This past
weekend, American held an open house to
unveil its new studios, with program suppliers
and Cable News Network's Daniel Schorr
scheduled to attend
The franchise is being built in three hubs
with 80 of the approximately 1,600 miles of
cable having been laid. There are 186,000
homes in the franchise area
In Kansas City, Kan., Six Star Cable operates
a system in the southern half and Kansas City
Cable Inc. operates a system in the northern
hall
28, Clneinnstl ❑ The city has held several
public hearings on the six proposals to wire
Cincinnati's 161.000 homes Currently a
citizens cable board is reviewing the proposal:
and after receiving comments from the Cable
Television Information Center, the board voll
make a recommendation to the city council b.
early October. Warner, ATC, Teleprompter.
Cablecom, Melrovision and Cincinnati
Cablevision 1581,o owned by Golden West
Broadcasters and 421,o owned by local
partne(s) have submitted proposals
20, Buffalo Courier Cable Co. owned b,
The Buffalo Courier Express, has ooeraled a
system in Buffalo since 1972
30, Nashville ❑ Viacom Communications
wired its first home in Nashville on June 24 a
now has about 500 homes on line Joe Foste!
director of the city's Office of
Telecommunications. said a second service
area of between 1,000 and 1,500 homes is
expected to be on line by Sept 10 Foster sa; s
penetration is already 620,E Viacom has unt l
November 1984 to complete construction.
187,000 homes are available for wrong