NOTICE ********************************************************* NOTICE ********************************************************* This document was originally prepared in Word Perfect. If the original document contained-- * Footnotes * Boldface & Italics --this information is missing in this version The document format (spacing, margins, tabs, etc.) is changed too. If you need the complete document, download the Word Perfect version. For information about downloading documents (FTP) see file how2ftp. File how2ftp (.txt & .wp) is in directory /pub/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/Public_Notices/ ***************************************************************** ******** $//Prestige Cable TV, Inc., GA, VA, MO&O, DA 96-329//$ $/76.922 Rates for cable programming service tiers/$ $/76.934 Small systems/$ $/small system cable rates/$ Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. DA 96-329 In the Matter of ) ( CUID NO. GA0058 Cartersville ) Prestige Cable TV, Inc. ) ( CUID NO. GA0269 Cumming ) ) ( CUID NO. VA0311 Stafford ) ) ( CUID NO. VA0399 Warrenton ) Small System Filing to Support ) Cable Programming Service Price ) Memorandum Opi nion and Order Adopted: March 11, 1996 Released: March 22, 1996 By the Chief, Cable Services Bureau: 1. Here we consider complaints about the rate that Prestige Cable TV, Inc. ("Prestige") was charging for its cable programming service ("CPS") in the franchise areas listed above. On September 11, 1995, Prestige filed FCC Form 1230s seeking to justify its rate through the simplified small system cost of service procedures under the Commission's Small System Order. In this Order we grant Prestige's request for small system relief under the Small System Order and, based on our review of Prestige's Form 1230 filings, deny the pending CPS complaints. 2. Under the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, and the Commission's rules implementing it, 47 C.F.R. Part 76, Subpart N, the Commission must review a cable operator's rates for its CPS tier upon the filing of a valid complaint. The filing of a valid complaint triggers an obligation on behalf of the cable operator to file a justification of its CPS rates. Under the Commission's rules, an operator may attempt to justify its rates through a benchmark showing, a cost-of-service showing, or a small system cost of service showing. In any case, the operator has the burden of demonstrating that its CPS rates are not unreasonable. 3. The Commission's original rate regulations took effect on September 1, 1993. The Commission subsequently revised its rate regulations effective May 15, 1994. In a further effort to offer small cable companies administrative relief from rate regulation, the Commission amended the definition of small cable companies and small systems and introduced a simplified form of small system rate relief in the Small System Order. Cable systems serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers, and owned by a company having 400,000 or fewer subscribers, may elect to use the new small cable system rate mechanism in lieu of other Commission rate processes, provided the Commission has not reached a final resolution on the rate complaint[s] filed against the system. Operators attempting to justify their rates through small system relief must file FCC Form 1230. If the maximum rate established on Form 1230 does not exceed $1.24 per channel, the rate shall be presumed reasonable. 4. We find that Prestige is a company with fewer than 400,000 total subscribers and that the systems in question serve fewer than 15,000 subscribers, making it eligible for small system relief. Upon review of Prestige's Form 1230 filings, we find that Prestige has justified its CPS rate. Prestige's CPS rate is less than $1.24 per channel and, therefore, is presumed reasonable. There is nothing in the pleading that refutes this presumption; therefore, we find the rate to be not unreasonable. 5. However, in its Form 1230 filings of September 11, 1995, Prestige reported its system subscriber counts as 3,391 for GA0058 (Cartersville) and 666 for GA0369 (Cumming). In Prestige's Form 1200 filing as of 5/1/95, it reported 14,668 subscribers in the system serving Cartersville. In its Form 1220 filing of 8/18/94, Prestige reported 11,852 subscribers in the system serving Cumming. On closer review, it appears that Prestige erroneously reported the subscriber counts for the individual CUIDs alone on the Form 1230s and did not include the rest of the subscribers served by the principal headends (system) as required by the Small System Order . We found it appropriate, therefore, to make this correction to Prestige's calculations. This adjustment results in a maximum permitted rate per channel of $0.78 for the system serving GA0058 (Cartersville) and $0.78 for the system serving GA0369 (Cumming). 6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 0.321 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.321, that Prestige's request for small system relief is GRANTED. 7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the CPS rate charged by Prestige with respect to the above-referenced CUID numbers, IS JUSTIFIED. 8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the complaints against the CPS rate charged by Prestige with respect to the above-referenced CUID numbers, ARE DENIED. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION JoAnn Lucanik Chief, Financial Analysis and Compliance Division Cable Services Bureau