Wheatland Municipal Code Art. I Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words, abbreviations, and their derivations shall have the meanings given in this section. 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:

"Cable service"

means the transmission to subscribers of video programming or other programming services and subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection or use of such video programming or other programming services.

"Cable system"

means a system of antennas, cables, wires, lines, fiber or system optic cables, towers, waveguides or other conductors, converters, pedestals, equipment or facilities, used for distributing video programming to home subscribers, and/or producing, receiving, amplifying, storing, processing, or distributing audio, video, digital or other forms of signals.

"Chief administrative officer"

means the city manager, city administrator, or other designation of the city's chief executive officer, or any designee thereof.

"City"

means the City of Wheatland, a municipal corporation of the state, in its present incorporated form or in any later reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.

"Council"

means the present governing body of the City of Wheatland or any future board constituting the legislative body of the city.

"Franchise"

means and includes any authorization granted hereunder in terms of a franchise privilege, permit, license or otherwise to construct, operate and maintain a cable television system within all or a specified area in the city. Any such authorization, in whatever form granted, shall not mean and include any license or permit required for the privilege of transacting and carrying on a business within the city as required by other ordinances and laws of this city.

"Grantee"

means the person, firm or corporation granted a franchise by the council under this chapter, and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of said person, firm or corporation.

"Gross revenues"

means all cash, credits, property of any kind or nature, compensation, or other consideration received directly or indirectly by the grantee, its affiliates, subsidiaries, parent and any person in which the grantee has a financial interest, or from any source whatsoever, arising from or attributable to the sale or exchange of cable service by the grantee. Gross revenues shall include but not be limited to basic service monthly fees, pay tiers, premium channels, pay-per-view fees, leased channel fees, converter rental or sales, advertising revenue, any other payments by subscribers or users of the grantee's cable system directly or indirectly made to or received by any person who has contracted to provide cable service on the cable system, and such other revenues as agreed to in the franchise agreement. The gross revenues shall not include: (1) the amount of any refunds, credits, or other payments made to subscribers or users; (2) any taxes on cable service furnished by the grantee imposed directly or indirectly on any subscribers or users by any municipal corporation, political subdivision, state or other governmental unit and collected by the grantee for the governmental unit; (3) the sale or transfer of tangible property; (4) the sale or transfer of the franchise; (5) the issuance, sale, or transfer of corporate stocks, bonds, or other securities; (6) equipment deposits; (7) uncollected bad debt; and (8) such other revenues expressly excluded in the franchise agreement. The gross revenues shall not be reduced for any purposes other than provided herein.

"Person"

means any natural person and all domestic and foreign corporations, associations, syndicates, joint stock corporations, partnerships of every kind, clubs, business or common law trusts, and societies.

"Property of grantee"

means all property owned, installed, or used within the city by a grantee in the conduct of a cable television system business under the authority of a franchise granted pursuant to this chapter.

"Street"

means the surface, the air space above the surface and the area below the surface of any public street, other public right-of-way or public place, including public utility easements.

"Subscriber" or "user"

means any person or entity receiving for any purpose any service of the grantee's cable television system including, but not limited to, the conventional cable television system service or retransmission of television broadcast, radio signals, the grantee's original cablecasting, and the local government, education and public access channels; and other services, such as leasing of channel, data and facsimile transmission, pay television, and police, fire and similar public service communications.

(Ord. 254 § l, 1980; Ord. 360 §§ 2, 3, 1996)