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::: COMMUNITY NEWS

RMA readies new offering of cable services

Published Tuesday, November 28, 2006

The roll-out has begun for new Rancho Murieta Association cable TV services, which the RMA hopes will make the system competitive with satellite services and win new customers.

General Manager David Stiffler said Monday that system upgrades, including the replacement of failing cable on the North and the installation of new amplifiers and other equipment, will allow the association to offer digital programming and expand the number of premium channels beginning next month.

"I think it's important to mention that the premium programming, the enhanced digital programming, and the high-definition programming are subscriber-based. You're not obligated to take any of those if you don't want to," said Stiffler. "We're just trying to expand our service offerings. … Hopefully we're going to be able to keep all of our (premium programming) customers, and have current subscribers who just have the basic package expand that, and also get some of our … customers to give up that satellite dish and come back to us because the quality and the quantity of the service are going to be there, and the prices are definitely competitive."

The 305 premium channel subscribers received a letter from the association last week about the switchover of the premium channels to digital.

Stiffler, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the cable TV system, described customer response as good.

"I've had some people who didn't like the idea … but most people I've talked to seem willing to go ahead and accept it," he said. RanchoMurieta.com has received two letters from service subscribers who are critical of the change.

Stiffler said the association plans to have digital programming available by Dec. 15 for the premium cable subscribers. The ones who opt to make the changeover to digital will receive 16 channels for the same price they are now paying for two premium channels. A subscriber to all four premium channels will receive 27 channels.

Although there won't be an additional programming charge, there will be a $5 monthly billing fee, and, in most cases, subscribers are going to need a set-top converter box for the digital programming, although newer TVs may be equipped with technology that makes the box unnecessary, Stiffler said.

Comparing the offerings Satellite TV services offer packages, introductory specials and changing prices that make head-to-head comparisons difficult. Here are monthly fees for RMA's planned offering and a sampling of services at two national competitors. Charges for set-top boxes are not included. Make sure the fine print specifies how long prices are in effect. RMA Dish DirecTV Basic: 48 channels $27.74 60 channels $29.99 45 channels $29.99 70 more channels, including high-def Add $24.99 120 channels $39.99 155 channels $39.99 40 premium channels Add $39.99 180 channels $49.99 185 channels, including one premium service $49.99 Extra high-def channels Add $9.99 180 channels plus 31 premium channels $89.99 (incl. local channels) 206 channels, including three premium services $59.99

In addition to the billing fee, there is a monthly charge for the set-top converter box. The $5 monthly fee for a basic set-top box for one television set will be waived for the first year of service. The $5 fee waiver for the basic box can be applied toward the charge of $10 a month for an advanced converter box that has digital video recording technology similar to TiVo.

Boxes for additional TVs will be subject to the full fee.

"We're asking for a year commitment, and basically that's no different than Comcast, Dish and those networks," said Stiffler, adding, "All the systems require a converter box of some sort."

Billing for the premium services will be a separate charge to subscribers and won't appear on the monthly dues coupons.

The 48 channels on basic TV that are paid for as part of RMA dues will continue to be available to subscribers without a billing fee or converter box requirement. In the 2007 budget, the net cost of cable is projected to be $27.74 per member per month.

While the practice has been to use revenue from the premium channels to offset dues, the board took aggressive revenue projections for the new digital services out of the budget after the Finance Committee questioned them.

Once the premium channels are moved over to digital, "that will give us some more capability with our system, some more channel openings," Stiffler said. "We can bring in 70 channels of enhanced digital. We have about a 10- or 12-channel package of high definition programming, and the additional premium channels as well."

By early January, RMA cable will offer the 70-channel enhanced digital programming package for $24.99 a month, 40 premium channels for $39.99 more, and the package of additional high-definition channels for an extra $9.99, Stiffler said.

In all, these optional subscriber packages will add about 120 TV channels and some number of music channels to the RMA cable system at a cost of about $75 a month without the billing and converter box fees or about $85 with them, Stiffler said.

Premium programming subscribers will be eligible for an introductory offer of three free months of enhanced digital and high-definition programming.

Members who currently receive only basic programming will be able to receive a free trial of three months of enhanced digital and high definition programming, one month of free premium programming and a three-month waiver of the converter box fee.

Stiffler said the programming specifics are still being finalized and declined to provide a list of the channels that will be available in the packages.

The cable system already offers high-definition programming as part of the basic cable service and added three more high-definition channels last week, bringing the total to seven or eight, Stiffler said. Cable users who have high-definition televisions can locate these channel streams with the television's auto-scan feature, he said.

The RMA board ended more than two years of inaction on options for the cable system this spring by approving a five-year plan that uses reserves and cable-generated revenues to repair and upgrade to a hybrid copper and fiber-optic cable system. The plan bypassed a fiber-to-the-home option that would have required a vote of approval by the membership. The board approved spending $200,000 in reserve funds this year to upgrade the system and implement digital programming.