Pomona : Cable Franchise Extended

The City Council has granted Continental Cablevision a 15-year extension of its franchise, under an agreement that increases the city’s share of company revenues by 2%.

The new rate, which boosts the city’s cut from 3% to 5%, will raise $238,000 for the city next year, compared to $143,000 projected under the old rate, city finance officials said.

Continental Cablevision officials said the company will spend $1.5 million to improve its system. It will add several channels June 1, including a pay-per-view, Turner Network Television, SportsChannel, CNN Headline News, Video Hits-1, Home Shopping Club and multilingual KSCI. On July 1, the system will add Chicago superstation WGN.

The company, which has 14,000 subscribers in Pomona, also will start a system that will require all subscribers to have new converter boxes to unscramble channels. Starting June 1, the rate for basic service, including converter box and remote control, will be $18.95 a month.