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C <br /> c <br /> --41:".' _2' <br /> shall mean the business of providing an improved television <br /> reception service to the public for compensation, by means of a <br /> master antenna <br /> and cables . " <br /> --id <br /> .:4e .__. The <br /> defendant offers three tiers_ of service to its <br /> rr-,.. customers. The third tier is an HBO satellite service. The <br /> :. . 4, satellite service does not originate from a television station <br /> ;_ but is beamed from a : location in New Jersey to an <br /> extraterrestrial satellite and transmitted from the satellite to <br /> ;_ ._ cable systems in this country including the defendant, which send <br /> ` ` it by cable into the homes of customers. It cannot be received <br /> on a television set except through a cable system. It was not <br /> '4 <br /> } <br /> _'. available in 1972 when the franchise was granted. The defendant <br /> paid the franchise tax based on gross receipts for the first two <br /> tiers of services but refused to pay the tax based on the HBO <br /> satellite service. <br /> The court found facts based on the evidence. It <br /> w;= 1:: . . . refused any injunctive relief but . entered a judgment for the <br /> plaintiffs for - a tax based on the HBO satellite service. ' The <br /> defendant appealed. <br /> Smith and Penry, by Robert B. Smith, Jr. , for plaintiff <br /> appellees . <br /> Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove, by Wade H. Hargrove and <br /> Randall M. Roden, and Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, by <br /> Roddey M. Ligon, Jr. , for defendant appellant. <br /> WEBB, Judge. <br />