THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512210351
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Falcon Cable officials showed up at the City Council meeting Wednesday with more pledges of improvements. But this time they provided some evidence.
The company has pulled the ``Spice'' channel off the air until all the station's problems are solved, said Lee Friske, Falcon's new chief engineer.
Friske also told the council that when ``Spice'' returns, Falcon will assign personal access code numbers to customers who order the adult pay-per-view channel. He did not say when the improvements would be completed.
``This way it will be impossible and very improbable for youngsters to dial up and get any adult movie,'' Friske said. ``I want to make damn sure that that doesn't happen again.''
Council members seemed pleased.
It was the first meeting between Falcon and the council since city leaders blasted the cable company for airing ``Spice'' on a Saturday morning to residents who hadn't asked for the station.
The channel showed up on Suffolk residents' television sets when children were watching cartoons and playing with remote controls. Falcon officials said the problem was caused in homes with old converter boxes.
But council members argued that the company had made the same mistake before, and they demanded that Falcon give the city regular updates on service changes.
The first time the Spice channel was accidentally broadcast to some residents' homes was eight months ago. That incident was caused by an installation problem.
Falcon representatives told the council Wednesday to expect improvements in customer service, and new personnel to reinforce the changes. by CNB