BEVERLY HILLS : Council Orders Century Cable to Make New Round of Price Cuts

It was deja vu for the Beverly Hills City Council last week as it ordered Century Southwest Cable to make a second round of price cuts in monthly basic cable television rates.

On Tuesday, the council asked the city attorney to draw up a resolution demanding Century lower its basic service package from $26.10 to $22.01 a month. The resolution also calls for the company to refund the approximately 10,000 cable subscribers for rates going back to July 15, 1994. The order will return to the council for a vote on June 6.

This marks the second time that the council, angry at what it calls unreasonable rates, has told Century to lower its fees. In March, 1994, Beverly Hills asserted that Century was overcharging customers $1.68 a month for a period of about 10 months, and ordered a subscriber refund of approximately $16.80.

That demand is pending before the Federal Communications Commission.

Century officials were on hand to defend their pricing to the council.

“Century believes its rates . . . are reasonable,” said Chuck Evilsizer, Century’s director of legal services and regulatory affairs. He said the cable company provides “a tremendous entertainment value.”

Councilwoman Vicki Reynolds countered that the cable company had neglected its good faith efforts in dealing with the city over several issues including service, setting of cable rates and the selection of channels.

Evilsizer said Century would review the city report documenting the basis for the rate reductions and return to the council on June 6. The rollbacks proposed by Beverly Hills are based on a complicated formula set by the federal government.

Said Reynolds: “This is only a discrepancy of $4.09 a month. But there has been one abuse after another.”