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 City of Hermosa Beach --- 05-25-99
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ASSIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF THE CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE FROM CENTURY TO CENTURY-TCI, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
Recommendation
Staff recommends that Council adopt the attached Resolution No. 99- authorizing the transfer of the Cable Television Franchise by Century Valley Corporation to Century-TCI California, Limited Partners.
Background
On February 17, 1999, Century Valley Cable Corp. delivered FCC form 394 to the City, requesting consent for the transfer of the City's cable television system from Century to a limited partnership owned approximately 75% by Century and 25% by affiliates of TCI. Per the application, the partnership would continue to be managed by Century.
In addition, on April 29, 1999, the City received a second form 394, requesting City consent for a transfer of control of the Franchise from Century to Adelphia as a result of a March 1999, merger. This application is currently under review at the City Attorney's office.
Per FCC guidelines, the City has 120 days to review a form 394 to determine if a prospective company has the legal, technical, and financial qualifications to serve the requirements of the franchise.
Analysis
William Rudell, from Richards, Watson & Gershon reviewed the City's form 394 and requested supplemental information on behalf of Hermosa Beach and 13 other local franchising authorities the law firm represents.
The City Attorney's review concluded that the Century-TCI Limited Partnership meets the legal, technical, and financial qualifications required to ensure the performance of the obligations required under the existing cable television franchise agreements.
Since Century-TCI California, L.P. is a new entity, the resolution requires that a guarantee of the new limited partnership's performance of its cable franchise obligations be provided by Century Communications Corporation.
The Cities of Manhattan and Redondo Beach are also processing form 394. Manhattan Beach has secured the services of cable consultants (Communications Support Group) who to date have not received responses from the applicant to their list of questions. In addition, they hope to discuss some of their government program issues with the operator in connection with this application. They will not propose a resolution for the transfer until they receive responses to their questions.
Redondo Beach has not received answers to the questions they submitted to Century for this proposed transfer. If they do not receive adequate answers to their questions, they will deny the transfer without prejudice in order to extend the 120-day review period. They also hope to obtain remedies for some compliance issues they have experienced with the Century in recent years.
Unlike our neighboring cities, the supplemental questions we forwarded to the applicant were answered on April 22, 1999 with sufficient time for the Attorney to review. From this and the original application, he was unable to find any information that would preclude the City Council from making findings that the proposed transferee would meet the Franchise requirements.
With the application for the Adelphia transfer, staff anticipates that there will be more of an opportunity to discuss any substantive issues we may have with cable operations and/or to request additional public service items.
Fiscal Impact:
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