Precedents exist for city cable service

Columbia’s exploration of a municipal cable television system has it looking to replicate what only much smaller cities in the state have done before. Just three Missouri towns — Kahoka, Unionville and Poplar Bluff — offer municipal cable, and their subscribers combined equal less than a third of the number of potential Columbia customers.

“(Cable) is just not traditionally a municipal function,” said Gary Markenson, executive director of the Missouri Municipal League. “The cities of Kahoka and Unionville got into the service because nobody wanted to service them. Poplar Bluff got into the service because their cable was so horrible that the citizens voted to take over the system.”

Kahoka, in northeast Missouri, has 2,241 residents and 759 cable subscribers. It began offering cable in 1984 after private investor Kahoka Communications LLP proposed building a cable system that the city would operate and maintain, Kahoka city assistant Jim Sherwood said.

“At the end of the seven-year contract, the city had the option to purchase it for a stated price, and we did,” Sherwood said. “We exercised the option because we had already been operating it and were very familiar with the system.”

Kahoka offers 54 channels for $27 a month and eight optional premium packages for additional charges.

“We’re in the process of trying to make improvements, to maybe offer some additional services in the future,” Sherwood said.

Kahoka’s number of customers has remained stable despite competition from satellite providers, Sherwood said.

Unionville, in north-central Missouri, had no cable before the city stepped up in 1993, according to the Missouri Public Service Commission. It now provides cable for 1,113 subscribers in a town of 2,046 residents.

“I’m thinking it was just another service to provide to the citizens and draw people into the town,” Unionville cable technician Frank Hendee said.

Like a lot of smaller cable companies, Unionville works with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association to buy equipment and access to channels at competitive prices.

“(NCTA) takes all the small companies, and then they count together, so we look like one big company when it comes to getting pricing,” Hendee said.

Unionville subscribers pay $25 for about 40 channels, and they can buy three premium channels a la carte. The town used to have problems with feeds for local channels, given its tower’s distance from stations producing the feeds. A tornado knocked down the tower a few years ago, though, prompting the city to set up satellite feeds that have eliminated the trouble, Hendee said. Despite the improvements, the town has lost some customers over the years. Hendee said.

some are switching to satellite services while others are dropping cable because they’re getting older and relying on fixed incomes.

In southeast Missouri’s Poplar Bluff, population 16,651, Charter Communications provided cable before dissatisfied residents voted in 1999 to have the city take over.

“Generally, people want more channels,” Poplar Bluff cable technician David Presley said. “You go down the road to visit somebody in a different town, see what they have, and that’s where it takes off.”

Poplar Bluff bought its cable system from Charter at a set price per customer. The purchase included exterior wiring but not the wiring for individual customers. The city reconnected homes and other customers with older wiring and updated the overall system to provide more options, Presley said. It now has 7,913 subscribers.

Like Unionville, Poplar Bluff buys its channels through the National Cable Television Cooperative.

“It’s beneficial for you as an independent operator to be a member of the co-op so you have the buying power of millions behind you,” Presley said.

Poplar Bluff offers many cable options, from basic packages to digital and high-definition channels, and even cable Internet. Its extended basic package offers 74 channels for $37.95.

“We’re basically glad we got into the business because it’s something good for the citizens,” Presley said.

Columbia has franchise agreements with cable providers Mediacom and Charter.

Mediacom serves 26,000 in Columbia and offers basic cable, with 74 channels, for $49.95 a month. Charter serves 1,300 and charges $47.33 for its expanded basic cable, which has 49 channels.

The Columbia City Council, frustrated by customer complaints and prolonged negotiations over new franchise agreements with Mediacom and Charter, has asked city staff to explore the feasibility of municipal cable. Water and Light Director Dan Dasho, whose department will compile the report, said it’s difficult to learn much from smaller providers when asked about how these other systems reflect the city’s plan.

“I think that question really goes to the City Council’s opinion,” Dasho said. “Where does Columbia fit into that?"