Judge sides with city in cable fight

CITY HALL — A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge this week sided with Glendale in its attempt to block Charter Communications from rearranging the local channel line-up, including the city’s Emmy Award-winning government access channel, GTV6.

Superior Court Judge Donna Fields Goldstein on Monday granted the city’s request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that Charter was required by state law to obtain the city’s consent for proposed channel changes.

Goldstein had granted a temporary injunction in January.

Charter planned to shift Glendale’s public access channels, including channels 15, 16 and 21, with its entire lineup in January as a part of the last phase of a two-year plan to align all of the company’s Southern California customers under a unified structure.

But Glendale officials — who argued that changing GTV6 would undo years of branding for the city and its programs — refused to consent and filed a legal motion to block the move.

“We were greatly concerned that Charter was going to go ahead and realign these channels on Jan. 19 without the city’s agreement,” city spokesman Ritch Wells said Wednesday.

The injunction also blocks the proposed changes in Burbank, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta and Montrose.