American Cable Co. Seen Likely To Win Cambridge T.V. Contract

With less than four weeks to go before the City selects a cable franchise, Cambridge's cable television license appears to be heading toward American Cablesystems Corporation, based on a report released this weel by the City.

Three cable franchises have been competing for the 15-year, $32 million contract since Cambridge first accepted bids one year ago.

Although a 213-page report by a Washington-based consulting firm for the City did not specifically recommend any of the three competitors, the study did rate American above the Cambridge Cablevision Corporation (3C) and the Cambridge Consumer-Owned Telecommunication, Inc. (Cable Plus) in most of the categories under consideration.

City Manager Robert W. Healy will decide the recipient of the coveted contract by the end of the month.

The Rice Associates report cited American Cable for:

* Reasonable financial projections which reflect American's "experience and detailed level of planning for the Cambridge system."

* The most realistic proposal for "local origination," a cable industry term for programming produced locally by the company.

* A transmission capacity, system reliability, and construction rate all superior to the other two applicants.

* The most comprehensive institutional network, a feature which will link institutions and large business organizations with in refractive cable systems.

But American was criticized for proposing to charge the highest fees to basic subscribers, a lack of limited community ownership in the company, and for enjoying fewer Cambridge residents than its two competitors.

Many regarded American, the 27th largest cable company in the U.S., as the most conservative of the choices and therefore the least risky for the City.

The study concluded that: Cable Plus's much-touted public access plan--which calls for a variety of programming produced by individuals, community organizations, and institutions and is managed by an independent, non-profit corporation--was the most favorable and detailed. Cable Plus was par- ticulary noted for its large commitment of funding to shows geared toward women, minorities, and local schools.

The issue of public access has dominated the cable selection process in Cambridge because "citizens want to make their own programs rather than subscribe to-canned or packaged shows," said one 3C employee.

But the report questioned Cable Plus's optimistic financial projections and its control over important aspects of operations.

Cable Plus, owned by its subscribers much like the Harvard Cooperative Society, is the only cooperative company vying for the Cambridge license.

Out of the Running?

The Rice Associates study consistently pointed to the Cambridge Cablevision Corporation's (3C)) failure to comply with the minimum requirements established by the City's cable commission.

"I get the sense that because we did not present a traditional structure of a cable system in our proposal that it hurt our evaluation," said Nancy R. Csaplar of 3C.

Csaplar said 3C's chances of winning Cambridge's cable license depend on "no what degree the city manager uses the consultant's of the limited partnership, and serious shortcomings in 3C's overall plan for local origination were among several weaknesses which "reduced the overall completeness of the proposal," according to the report.

"It's still anybody's ballgame," said Edward C. Casey '76 of the Cambridge cable commission, who added that the report "laid out the facts and will let the city manager make the decision."

Although he called the study "a substantial document in the whole process." Casey said it will be only part of the evidence being considered, along with more than 5000 pages of public hearing transcripts and summer construcation months.