Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission

The Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission is the "joint powers agency" responsible for regulating the cable television franchises and licenses in Sacramento County, California. The Commission's Board of Directors is composed of members of the constituent jurisdictions: Sacramento County, Sacramento, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, and Galt.

Formal responsibilities

The Commission is responsible for:
* administering the cable television franchises and licenses in Sacramento County
* assisting consumers in resolving their cable and non-cable video concerns
* monitoring community programming and grantee funding
* operating the local government cable channel, Metro Cable

Franchises

The Commission currently licenses four cable television providers:
* Comcast throughout Sacramento County
* Frontier in Elk Grove
* Strategic Technologies in Natomas
* SureWest in Natomas, Arden, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Sacramento, Citrus Heights, Oak Park, Antelope, Elk Grove, and LandPark.

Late Fees case

On March 23, 1993, Sacramento Cable instituted a $5.00 late fee on cable bills. These fees soon became the most common subject of complaint received by the Commission.cite news |first=Pam |last=Slater |title=Cable TV Firm Under Fire for Late Charges |work=Sacramento Bee |date=6 August 1994 |page=B1 |accessdate=2007-06-28 ]

On July 25, 1994 a major class action suit ("Selnick v. Sacramento Cable") was initiated over the legality of these late fees, which it was contended violated California law. ["Complaint for Damages, Restitution, and Injunctive Relief for Violation of the Liquidated Damages Statute and Unfair Trade Practices Act" (July 25, 1994)] [cite news |first=Clint|last=Swett |title=Judge OKs Pact to Settle Cable Suit |work=Sacramento Bee |date=24 September 1994 |page=B1 |accessdate=2007-06-28 ] This suit grew out of the Commission's investigation in to the issue. The case was settled, and new legislation on late fees was drafted. [cite web |url=http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR969/MR969.ch8.pdf |title=Chapter 8 -- Cable TV Late Fee Litigation: Selnick V. Sacramento Cable |accessdate=2007-06-25 |author=Deborah R. Hensler |coauthors=Nicholas M. Pace, Bonnie Dombey-Moore, Elizabeth Giddens, Jennifer Gross, Erik Moller |date= |year=1999 |format=PDF |work=Class Action Dilemmas: Pursuing Public Goals for Private Gain (ISBN 0-8330-2604-6)|publisher=RAND Corporation]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.sacmetrocable.tv/ Official website Metro Cable] [phone]
* [http://www.accesssacramento.org/ Access Sacramento audio] [phone]
* [http://www.secctv.org/ Sacramento Educational Consortium] [phone]
* [http://www.secctv.org/downloads/about_SECC.pdf About Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium]
* [http://www.kvie.org/ KVIE Cable 7] [phone]
* [http://www.capradio.org/ Capital Public Radio] [phone]
* [http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/95-96/bill/sen/sb_0601-0650/sb_610_cfa_960701_183212_sen_floor.html CA State Senate floor report on late fees legislation]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4895/is_199212/ai_n18000688 this Multichannel news story that discusses action by the commission on possible content restriction. of cable programming]