Reading approves renewed franchise agreement with Comcast | Reading Area

READING, Pa. – Reading City Council voted Monday night to adopt a resolution approving a 10-year franchise agreement with Comcast to provide cable service in the city.

City Managing Director Jack Gombach said the deal was a long time coming, with negotiations taking roughly three to four years.

“So, the deal that’s in front of you basically represents the midpoint of what was the ask from the administration and the ask from Comcast,” Gombach said. “Roughly, it is about $75,000 in their upfront grant and $0.20 per subscriber, per month, paid in quarterly installments — not for operations but for capital improvements.”

Gombach said the administration is most excited for an agreement that the channels will be in HD, which Comcast must accomplish within the first 180 days.

Comcast will be required to pay compensation to the city in an amount equal to 5% of the gross revenues derived from its operation of its cable system to provide the cable service in the city.

Council President Donna Reed noted that the deal also allows Berks Community Television, or BCTV, to assume the educational channel for the Reading School District.

“These are highly technical contracts,” Gombach added. “Most of it deals with [Federal Communications Commission] law and real estate law.”

Heather Adams, executive director of BCTV, told the board that the BCTV staff and board of directors are pleased to see the franchise agreement come to the finish line.

“And I wanted to remind everyone that the capital dollars for the access channel management are invested directly into the technology and the upgrade for the channels, as outlined in my original proposal,” Adams said.

“Because that amount in the agreement is much lower than our request, our team is already prioritizing those items for maximum performance for the city and in the buildout for the management of the education channel which we will be taking on,” she said. “We are excited to continue to grow our relationship with the city, with the Reading School District and bringing educational information and content to homes.”

Comcast currently holds a cable franchise agreement with the city which dated back to 2007.

The agreement notes that Comcast agrees that the city reserves the right to grant one or more additional franchises to construct, operate and maintain a cable system within the city.