Group W Cable, Inc. v. City of Santa Cruz

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff, Group W Cable, Inc. (“Group W”), brings this action to enjoin defendants, the City and the County of Santa Cruz (“Santa Cruz”), from terminating its cable television franchise in the Santa Cruz area. Group W now moves for summary judgment on three grounds: first, that the City of Santa Cruz breached the allegedly automatic renewal provision of the cable television franchise agreement between Group W’s predecessor in interest and the City; second, that Santa Cruz’s policy of granting only one franchise to operate a cable television system violates both the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, §§ 1 and 2 of the California Constitution; and third, that the specific criteria Santa Cruz employed in evaluating proposals for cable franchises abridge Group W’s rights under the First Amendment and the California Constitution.

I. BACKGROUND

Group W is the sole operator of a cable television system in Santa Cruz under a so-called “non-exclusive” franchise granted by Santa Cruz in May 1966 to Group W’s predecessor. Group W serves approximately 37,800 subscribers in Santa Cruz. Its cable system does not, however, extend…