Article 4-25

CABLE TELEVISION

Sections:

This Article shall be known and cited as the "City of Saratoga Cable Communications Ordinance" and shall be referred to herein as "this Article." (Ord. 71-127 (part), 1993)

Forthepurposesof thisArticle,thefollowingterms, phrases, words, abbreviations and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number and words in the singular number include the plural number.

(a) Federal law refers to all federal statutes and regulations, including but not limited to the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, Cable Television Con-

sumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, and any amendments thereto as codified in Title 47 of the United States Code, Section 521 et seq.

(b) Cable system means a facility consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service with a minimum five hundred fifty MHZ bandwidth, which includes video programming and FM radio service, and which is provided to multiple subscribers within a community, but shall not include (1) a facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations; (2) a facility that serves only subscribers in one or more multiple unit dwellings under common ownership, control or management, unless such facility or facilities uses any public right-of-way; (3) a facility of a common carrier which is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of federal law, except that such facility shall be considered a cable system (other than for purposes of 47 U.S.C. Section 541(c)) to the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming directly to subscribers; or (4) any facilities of any electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems.

(c) City means the City of Saratoga, a Municipal Corporation of the State of California, in its present incorporated form or in any later reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or re-incorporated form.

(d) Council means the present highest governing body of the City or any future board constituting the legislative body of the City.

(e) Franchise means and includes any authorization granted pursuant to this Article in terms of a franchise, privilege, permit, license or otherwise to construct, operate and maintain a cable system in the City, including a satellite master antenna television system.

(f) Franchise agreement means an agreement between the City and grantee, approved by resolution of the Council, containing the specific provisions of the franchise granted, including any referenced specifications, franchise applications and other related material within such agreement.

(g) Franchise fee means the tax, fee or assessment to be paid by grantee to grantor solely because of grantee's operation of a cable system within the franchise territory. Such fee does not include: (1) any capital costs which are required by the franchise to be incurred by the grantee for public, educational, or governmental

(Saratoga Supp. No. 36, 5-15)

54.2

4-25.030

access facilities and equipment; (2) any tax, fee or assessment of general applicability; or (3) any franchise application, renewal or transfer fees or consulting fee reimbursements payable by the grantee to the City.

(h) Franchise territory means that portion of the City defined in the franchise agreement for which a franchise is granted.

(i) Grantee means the person or entity to whom or which a franchise, as defined above, is properly granted by the Council under this Article, and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of said person or entity, as referenced in Section 4-25.060(d).

(j) Gross quarterly revenues means all amounts which are received, directly or indirectly, by the grantee from or in connection with the operation of its cable system in the City during the first, second, third or fourth three-month period in any year (or portion thereof). Gross quarterly revenues as used herein shall include but not be limited to revenues from the distribution of any basic, premium or pay-per-view service over the cable system to any subscriber; installation, reconnection and similar fees; fees paid for channels designated for commercial use; converter rentals or sales; studio and other facility or equipment rentals, other than those not associated with the operation of the system; advertising revenues (based on the percentage of subscribers in the franchise territory); revenue derived from the sale of products advertised or promoted on the system, to the extent such revenue represents payment, in whole or in part, for the use of a channel on the system. Gross quarterly revenues shall also include the gross revenue of any other person which is derived directly or indirectly from or in connection with the operation of the system in the City, but only to the extent that said revenue is derived through a means which has the effect of avoiding the payment of franchise fees to the City that would otherwise be due hereunder and in no event shall it include any amount received by any person for management or consulting services related to the cable system. Gross quarterly revenues shall not include: (1) the revenue of any person, including, without limitation, an affiliated person or supplier of programming to grantee, to the extent that said revenue is also included in the gross quarterly revenues of grantee; (2) taxes or other charges imposed by law on subscribers or other persons which grantee collects and which grantee passes on, in full, to the applicable authority or authorities; (3) amounts col-

lected by grantee from subscribers on behalf of commercial use or access channel programmers, to the extent that said amounts are passed on, in full, by grantee to said programmers; (4) any investment income earned by grantee, or revenues from grantee's sale of assets; and (5) uncollected amounts, provided, however, that any amounts later collected shall be included immediately upon receipt by grantee.

(k) Property of grantee means all property owned, installed or used by a grantee in the conduct of a television business in the City under the authority of a franchise.

(l) Street means the surface of and the space above and below any public street, road, highway, freeway, lane, path, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway or drive, easements, utility easements, licenses, permits, rightsof-way of any kind or nature whatsoever and public property and areas now or hereafter existing as such within the City.

(m) Subscriber means any person or entity receiving for any purpose cable system service from a grantee under this Article. (Ord. 71-127 (part), 1993)

(a) Grant . A nonexclusive franchise to construct, operate and maintain a cable system within all or any portion of the City may be granted by the Council to any person or entity, whether currently operating under an existing franchise or not, who or which offers to furnish and provide such services pursuant to the terms of this Article.

(b) Limitation. No provision of this Article may be deemed or construed as to require the granting of a franchise when in the opinion of the Council it is in the

54.3

(Saratoga Supp. No. 36, 5-15)

4-30.030