STATE PROBES BILLING OF NEW MOVIE CHANNEL

The Missouri Attorney General's office is investigating the billing of unsolicited services by the parent company of the cable service in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Missouri Attorney General William Webster announced Thursday that his office is investigating the billing tactics for Encore, an optional pay-movie channel. Beginning Monday, the channel will be made available to local subscribers of TCI Cablevision of Missouri Inc.

The parent company of TCI is Telecommunications Inc., based in Denver, Colo.

TCI recently sent a mailing to subscribers introducing Encore, Webster said. The mailing included "negative-option billing," which said if subscribers took no action, a charge for Encore would be added to their monthly bills. Subscribers were told they should contact TCI to avoid being charged for the channel.

"In Missouri, charging for unsolicited services or merchandise is prohibited by statute and may be a violation of the state's consumer fraud laws," said Webster. He added that his office will review information provided by TCI to see whether legal action should be taken against the company.

Roger Harms, the general manager for TCI in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, said Thursday evening that he could not comment specifically on the attorney general's action. But he said TCI's attorneys had researched the matter and concluded the company can proceed with its plans to offer the channel. The company intends to do that, he said.

"We hope to get as much press when they (the attorney general's office) find it's in our favor," said Harms after attending a meeting of the Cape Girardeau Cable Television Citizens Committee. The meeting was held at Cape Girardeau City Hall.

Encore will cost subscribers $1 per month until May 1992, said Harms. If subscribers downgrade their service between Monday and May 31, 1992, though, the monthly amount they pay for Encore will change depending on the number of premium pay channels they receive, says an Encore circular.

Members of the city's cable committee learned of Webster's announcement Thursday through a press release given to them at their meeting. Questioned about the development by committee member David Barklage, Harms told the committee that he had been legally advised not to comment on it.

The committee's chairman, Cape Girardeau attorney Michael Maguire, declined comment on Webster's announcement following the meeting.

"I just saw the press release. I'm not sure it would be fair for me to make a comment at this time. The attorney general's investigating it, and I'm sure he knows what he's doing," he said.

But Maguire added that any comments made to the committee about the new channel would be passed along to TCI.

Harms said the local cable company has received no complaints about the new channel being made available, and that the majority of subscribers "love it" and want it. It's figured that 75-80 percent of subscribers will keep the channel, he said.

The company, he said, serves about 12,500 subscribers in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

TCI is making the channel available on a mass basis to keep its cost as low as possible, Harms said. Offering the service to customers by request would raise that cost.

"What TCI is interested in is offering a low-price service to people who can't afford the higher premium channels. With this dollar Encore, it's less than renting a (video) tape for $2," Harms said.

By comparison, the movie channels of HBO and Showtime cost $12.70 and $12.20 a month, respectively, said Harms.