FERRIDAY — When Ferriday cable customers get their next bill, something will be different — the company billing them.

Cable company Media 3 has taken over the Ferriday cable franchise, effective as of last Wednesday, Media 3 General Manager Drew Cannon said.

The company that held the franchise, Charter Communications, was supposed to notify the customers of the change, but apparently did not, Cannon said.

Based in St. Louis, Charter Communications filed for bankruptcy in late March.

Media 3 has already started sending out billings, and customers should start receiving bills by the end of the week, Cannon said.

“Everything is going to continue on the same (billing) cycle as it always was,” Cannon said.

Prices will remain essentially the same, but bills will be slightly higher.

That’s because Media 3 found out that Charter wasn’t charging state taxes in some areas, Cannon said.

“We were told we were required to (charge the taxes),” he said. “It wasn’t previously done but we are having to do that.”

The tax is approximately 7 percent of the entire bill, he said.

The bill will also include a 3 percent city tax.

The cable package customers have now will remain the same for the time being, but Cannon said eventually there will be changes, including the order the channels are presented in and the offering of new channels.

Channels under consideration because of requests for them include the Rural Free Delivery channel, the Speed channel and the Baton Rouge-based CBS affiliate, WAFB, which was offered at one time but has been dropped, Cannon said.

“We are working on getting (WAFB) back,” he said. “We’re not sure if it will happen, but we are working on it.”

The company is also looking at offering additional cable packages, he said.

Media 3 has also taken over franchises in Jena and Jonesville, and in the next few years the company will begin to rebuild the infrastructure, which will help with picture transmission quality, Cannon said.

The company is still deciding where to place their office, and Cannon said until they do customers can send their payments to Media 3 to P.O. Box 620, Milan, TN 38358.

The company’s customer service line is 1-866-257-2044.