LV council plans action on Cox cable franchise

The Las Vegas City Council has set Sept. 28 as a hearing date to consider granting a cable television system franchise to Cox Communications of Las Vegas Inc., which is in the process of buying the existing franchisee Prime Cable.

The new franchise agreement, if passed as currently proposed, would increase the franchise fees and boost the city's revenues by $1.2 million over the next two years and $200,000 a year over the remaining eight years of the franchise agreement.

The franchise fees would climb from the current 3 percent of gross revenues to 4 percent the first two years. That figure would climb to 5 percent -- the federally mandated ceiling -- for the remainder of the franchise agreement.

If approved, Cox also would receive two conditional extensions of five years each.

The city initially granted a 20-year community antenna television system franchise in December 1979 to Prime Cable -- then Community Cable -- owned in part by the Greenspun family, owners of the Sun.

In May Prime Cable negotiated a $1.325-billion deal to sell the company to Atlanta-based Cox prompting Monday's action by the council to set a date to hear the franchise agreement matter.

Clark County and the other municipalities are in the process of renewing their perspective franchise agreements with Prime and Cox.

The North Las Vegas City Council has three items regarding the franchise agreement on its Sept. 16 calender, while Boulder City will hold a public hearing on the agreement Sept. 22. Henderson has yet to introduce the agreement.

The city of Las Vegas is seeking the following franchise agreement concessions from Cox:

One would grant Cox Communications a non-exclusive franchise agreement to run a cable system in the city similar to what Prime Cable currently has.

The other bill would repeal the ordinance that provides rules and regulations for governing community antenna television systems in the city. City officials say this action is necessary because of major changes in state and federal law that have made the city's provisions obsolete.

"Regulation of cable television would take place under franchise agreements to be supplemented in the future, if necessary, by ordinance provisions," City Attorney Brad Jerbic said in a recent memo to the City Council.

Both bills were assigned to a recommending committee of councilmen Larry Brown and Michael McDonald, who will meet Sept. 22 at City Hall.

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