17-1 GENERAL PROVISIONS.

The Town of Danville finds that the development of cable television and communications systems has the potential of having great benefit and impact upon the people of the Town. Because of the complex and rapidly changing technology associated with cable television, the Town finds that the public convenience, safety and general welfare can best be served by establishing regulatory powers which should be vested in the Town or such persons as the Town designates. It is the intent of this chapter to provide for and specify the means to attain the best possible public interest and public purpose in these matters. A franchise issued under this chapter shall be considered to include this finding as an integral part of it. (Ord. #23-83, §1)

This chapter may be cited as the Danville Cable Television Franchise Ordinance. (Ord. #23-83, §1)

As used in this chapter:

Access channel shall mean a channel available for non-profit use by a government agency, educational institution, community group or individual member of the public.

Additional outlet shall mean the wiring and electronics to provide services to other than the primary outlet for each subscriber.

Award agreement shall mean and include each legally executed document which awards a franchise, provides for its acceptance and establishes conditions and standards for performance under the franchise.

Basic cable rates shall mean the monthly charges for a subscription to the basic service tier.

Basic service shall mean the broadcast signal required by FCC rules to be carried and such additional broadcast signals that the Town and operator agree shall be carried.

Basic service tier shall mean a separately available service tier to which subscription is required for access to any other tier of service, including as a minimum, but not limited to, all must-carry signals, all PEG channels, and all local television signals other than superstations.

Benchmark shall mean a per channel rate of charge for cable service and associated equipment which the FCC has determined is reasonable.

Cable Act of 1992 shall mean the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992.

Cable operator shall mean any person or group of persons:

a. Who provides cable service over a cable system and directly or through one (1) or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such a cable system; and

b. Who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any arrangement, the management and operation of such a cable system.

Cable television system, cable communications system or system shall mean a system of antennas, cables, amplifiers, towers, microwave links, cable-casting studios, and any other conductors, converters, equipment or facilities, designed and constructed for the primary purpose of distributing video programming to home subscribers, and the secondary purpose of producing, receiving, amplifying, storing, processing, or distributing audio, video, digital, or other forms of electronic or

electrical signals.

Channel shall mean a clear, contiguous, six (6 MHz) megahertz frequency band, which is capable of carrying either one (1) standard audio/visual television signal, or a number of audio, digital or other non-video signals.

Chief administrative officer shall mean the Town Manager or his designee.

Closed-circuit or institutional service shall mean such video, audio, data and other services provided to an institutional user on an individual application, private channel basis. The services may include, but not be limited to, two (2) way video, audio or digital signals among institutions, or from institutions to residential subscribers.

Connection charge or installation charge shall mean a nonrecurring charge for connecting or reconnecting a subscriber to the cable television system, or to a particular service.

Converter shall mean the electronic apparatus furnished by operator for the purpose of accommodating a subscriber’s TV set to reception of a greater number of channels than its normal VHF allocation.

Cost of service showing shall mean a filing in which the cable operator attempts to show that the benchmark rate or the price cap is not sufficient to allow the cable operator to fully recover the cost of providing the basic service tier and to continue to attract capital.

Council shall mean the Town Council.

Decoder shall mean a device which de-scrambles signals.

Drop shall mean the drop cable and related equipment running from a tap in the plant to the subscriber’s outlet or terminal.

Equipment rates shall mean the monthly charges for the rental of equipment associated with the provision of the basic service tier.

Evaluation session shall mean a comprehensive evaluation of the cable system and services as provided in subsection 177.1.

FCC shall mean the Federal Communications Commission.

FM outlet shall mean the wiring and electronics to provide service to an FM radio receiver.

Franchise shall mean and include every authorization granted by the Town to the operator under this chapter and the award agreement.

Gross receipts shall mean the gross revenues received by the operator from all sources of operations of the cable communications system, except that (1) refundable deposits and (2) any sales, excise or other taxes collected for direct pass-through to local-State or Federal government are not included. Gross receipts includes regular monthly subscriber fees for both standard and premium service, installation charges, disconnect and reconnect charges, and charges for use of access origination or private service channels.

Headend shall mean that portion of the system consisting of the television receiving antennae, structures supporting such antennae, the associated channel receiving and signal processing equipment which introduce TV and FM signals into plant and the building or buildings housing such equipment and equipment associated with its use.

Initial basic cable rates shall mean the rates that the cable operator is charging for the basic service tier, including charges for associated equipment, at the time the Town notifies the cable operator of the Town’s qualification and intent to regulate basic cable rates.

Institutional network or institutional loop shall mean a closed circuit portion of the cable system, designed to provide communication services between institutions, such as schools, banks, etc.

Leased channel or leased access channel shall mean a channel available for lease and programmed by a person or entity other than the operator and may include a portion of another access channel not in use by its designated programmer.

Municipal channel or municipal access channel shall mean a channel where a local government agency is the designated programmer.

Must-carry signal shall mean the signal of any local broadcast station (except superstations) which is required to be carried on the basic service tier.

Open channel shall mean a channel that can be received by subscribers without the necessity for special equipment.

Operator shall mean a person granted a franchise by Town under this chapter and includes the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of the operator. The operator must be the person who actually owns and operates the system covered by its franchise.

Peg-channel shall mean the channel capacity designated for public, educational, or governmental use, and facilities and equipment for the use of that channel capacity.

Person shall mean and include a natural person and an individual firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, company or corporation.

Plant shall mean the coaxial cable or other transmitting medium, amplifiers and related equipment and hardware which enable the basic service to be transmitted from the headend to subscribers, but excludes drops.

Premium or pay-TV service shall mean pay-per-program, pay-per-channel, or subscription service, i.e. a commonly recognized non-advertiser-supported service, such as HBO, TMC, HTN, which is delivered to subscribers for a fee or charge over and above the regular charge for basic service.

Price cap shall mean the ceiling set by the FCC on future increases in basic cable rates regulated by the Town, based on a formula using the GNP (Gross National Product) fixed weight price index, reflecting general increases in the cost of doing business and changes in overall inflation or any such successor to the FCC approved formula.

Primary outlet shall mean the initial outlet installed for the purpose of delivering basic service to a single television set.

Programmer shall mean a person who produces or otherwise provides program material or information for transmission by video, audio, digital, or other signals, either live or from recorded tapes or other storage media, to subscribers, by means of the cable communications system.

Property of operator shall mean and include all property owned, installed, or used within the franchise area by operator in the conduct of a cable television system business under the authority of a franchise granted under this chapter.

PUC shall mean the California Public Utilities Commission.

Reasonable rate standard shall mean a per channel rate that is at, or below, the benchmark or price cap level.

SEC shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Street shall mean the surface, the air space above the surface and the area below the surface of a public or private street, including a common driveway serving two (2) or more units located on two (2) or more separately owned parcels of land; “street” includes other public rights-of-way or public places, including public utility easements.

Subscriber shall mean a person receiving all or part of a service offered by the operator.

Superstation shall mean any non-local broadcast signal secondarily transmitted by satellite.

Town is the Town of Danville in its present incorporated form or in any later reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.

(Ord. #23-83, §1; Ord. #94-17, §3)