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14:12 ~ ?04 J47 4710 Centrai~a COG P.05 <br /> <br />CABLE TELEVISION RATE REVIEW FINDINGS SUMMARY <br /> Prepared by Centralina Council of Governments <br /> <br />Franchise: CABARRUS COUNTY <br />Cable Op?ator: TIME WARNER <br /> <br />Tier Reviewed: <br />Number of Channels: <br />Average Number of Subscribers 1996: <br /> <br />Date Findings Prepared: <br /> <br />BASIC TIER - 1997 <br />16 (increased by one channel since last year) <br />425 approximately (173,000 on entire newly combined <br />headend) <br />3-31-97 <br /> <br />SUMMARY REVIEW STATEMENT: <br /> <br /> The Basic Tier Rate has been reviewed and is ACCEPTABLE under required Federal Communications <br /> Commission guidelines. Comments follow. <br /> <br />COMMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS: <br /> <br />The 1997 FCC Form 1240 was submitted by Time Warner in October, 1996, a full 90-days before the <br />adjusted basic rate goes into effect on January l, 1997. <br /> <br />A review of the FCC Form 1240 for the year 1997 establishes the new maximum permitted Basic tier <br />rate at $7.70 (excluding the 3% franchise fee), compared to $7.19 in last year's revised 1240 form. <br />The new, higher rate is due entirely to adjustments allowed through the Social Contract. These <br />adjustments include inflation, additional programming costs, and changes in copyright fees, and a 7.5% <br />mark-up f~e allowed by the FCC. The changes are summarized below: <br /> <br />TIER 1 1996 1~96 1997 1997 ~ DIFFERENCE DIFFEREN(~E <br />MAXIMUM ACTUAL MAXIMUM ACTUAL BETWEEN BETWEEN 1996 <br />RATE RATE RATE RATE 1997 ACTUAL RATE <br />(without:}% (without3% (without 3% (without3% MAXIMUM AND 1997 <br />franchise franchise franchise fee) franchise RATE AND ACTUAL RATE <br />fee) fee) fee) 1997 ACTUAL (without 3% <br /> RATE (without franchise fee) <br /> 3% franchise <br /> <br />Basic $7,19 $6,75 $7.70 ~ $7.50 -$,20 +$,75 <br /> <br />Even though Time Warner is allowed to charge subscribers in 1997 as much as $7.70 for the 16 Basic <br />channels, they chose to set the rate -$.20 ~9~r than that permitted through the Social Contract. <br /> <br />The actual rate set in 1996 was $6.75 compared to $7,50 for 1997, which represents an actual jpcrease <br />of $.75 for subscribers (excluding the 3% franchise fee). <br /> <br />Centralina Council of Governments concludes that Time Warner has set its rate lower than the maximum <br />allowable rate as set in the Social Contract with the FCC. The Cabarms County Franchise Authority <br />should approve the Basic Rate of $7.50 per month for the 1997 calendar year. <br /> <br />SUMMARY APPROVED BY: Sandra Albrecht <br />TIT LE: Cable Te ieco m m un teat ions Administrator <br /> <br /> <br />