NEWSReport No. CS 95-1      CABLE SERVICE ACTION           
January 5, 1995

            VIACOM CABLE ORDERED TO REFUND SUBSCRIBERS $450,000
                      IN THREE CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES

The Cable Services Bureau of the Federal Communications
Commission has issued three
orders resolving 22 cable television rate complaints against
Viacom Cable Services of
California.  The Bureau ordered Viacom Cable Services to refund
approximately $450,000
plus interest, collected from approximately 211,000 cable
television subscribers over a five
or six month period.  Although the amount will vary from
subscriber to subscriber,
subscribers are expected to receive an average refund in the
amount listed below:

 Service area                  No. of subscribers         Refund
(estimate)       
Amount/subscriber 



Contra Costa, Ca.
14,500
$8,270
$.55


Redding, Ca
26,000
$26,000
$1.00


San Francisco, Ca.
171,000
$420,544
$2.45

(Note: the San Francisco order also covers a small number of
subscribers in Sonoma County. 
The refund amount in Sonoma County is estimated to be less than
the San Francisco
amount.)

Viacom Cable has 30 days to present a refund schedule to the
Cable Services Bureau and
local cable television franchising officials.  Refunds would
begin to be sent to subscribers 30
days after approval of a refund schedule.  

In 1992, the Congress passed the Cable Act.  One of the main
goals of this Act is to ensure
that cable rates are reasonable.  The Commission began
implementation of the 1992 Cable
Act by freezing cable service rates.  In September 1993, the
Commission implemented rate
regulation, which reduced cable rates for most consumers.  The
Commission regulates cable
rates for the cable programming service tier.  Local franchising
authorities regulate cable
rates for the basic service tier and equipment rates.  




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The Cable Act permits subscribers and local franchising
authorities to file complaints
challenging the compliance of a cable operator with rate
regulations.  The complaints trigger
a Commission adjudicatory proceeding whereby the cable operator
is required to file a
written response justifying the rates it is charging.  The Cable
Services Bureau analyzes and 
reviews the complaint and the cable company's response, to
determine whether the rates
being charged are reasonable.  It is these decisions, in the form
of orders, which have been
issued today.

Essentially, under the benchmark system, an operator's rates are
compared to benchmark
levels, which approximate the rates that would be charged by
similar systems which are
subject to effective competition.  Cost-of-service cases are
determined by examining the
actual costs an operator incurs in providing cable service.  The
three orders are the result of
a benchmark rate orders. 

     Cable Services Bureau news media contact: Morgan Broman
(202) 416-0852
     Cable Services Bureau contacts: Peter Wolfe (202) 416-0800

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