City bumps up CNS cable rates
The Cairo City Council approved a rate hike for CNS cable that goes into effect in February and will generate nearly $50,000 in additional cable revenue based on current subscribers.
The new rates approved Monday night remain lower than Mediacom at all levels of programming, according to city records.
Rates are going up anywhere from $1 to $5 per month depending on the programming package. The city is upping its digital Super Supreme package from $89.95 to $94.95 per month, but that remains below Mediacom’s similar package at $117.85 per month.
Super Basic, Digital Gateway, Digital Basic and Digital Supreme Plus are all going up $2 per month; Digital Extreme Entertainment is going up $3 per month and Basic Entertainment and Digital Supreme are going up $1 per month.
Although the city is increasing monthly rates to keep up with increased programming costs, the city council also voted to drop the cost of DVR and HD DVR by $5 per month and $7 per month respectively. This brings the cost more in line with Mediacom, but Mediacom remains lower for those services.
CNS also remains lower than Mediacom for HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemax.
In February, CNS will also expand its channel line up by adding MeTV to the CNS Digital Basic lineup on channel 149 and Lifetime Real Women to channel 335, also on the Digital Basic lineup.
New high definition channels are being added in 2013 including Nickelodeon HD, Comedy Central HD, BET HD, MTV HD, and CMT HD.
According to Cairo City Manager Chris Addleton, the other CNS cities are also increasing their rates at the same time.
Monday night, Councilman Ernest Cloud asked if the addition of the NFL Network to the CNS lineup during the current football season had resulted in additional subscribers.
Addleton could not say if it had or not, but responding to a question about the lower DVR service, he admitted the current CNS rates are not competitive.
In other business Monday night, the council:
‰Authorized the mayor to execute a lease of airport property to Ronald A. Hall during 2013. Hall, who farms the land, is leasing the 37.5 acres one mile north of the airport at a rate of $45 per acre or an annual cost of $1,687.50. Mayor Pro Tem James H. (Jimmy) Douglas abstained from voting on the Hall lease due to a conflict of interest.
‰Approved the rescheduling of the ML King Jr. Day parade to Saturday, Jan. 26, at 11 a.m. Originally, the parade had been set for Jan. 21, but to avoid a conflict with Inauguration Day the parade is being rescheduled. Councilman Cloud noted the city council would not participate this year due to a meeting of the Georgia Municipal Association in Atlanta that weekend.
‰Voted unanimously to accept the gift of property on Fourth Avenue N.W. from the family of Florence Griner. The city will accept the donation and pay any property taxes due upon obtaining a clear title to the property. Addleton recommended accepting the gift due to the majority of the property being located in the floodplain.
