Yolo County Municipal Code Art. 3 Definitions

Unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as set forth in this article. Words not defined in this article shall be given their common and ordinary meanings, consistent with the context in which such words are used and the purpose of this chapter. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Applicant” shall mean any person or corporation submitting an application for a cable communications franchise. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Act” shall mean the Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act of 1984 (Title VI of the Communications Act of 1934). (§ 1, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Broad categories of video programming and other services” shall mean broad categories of video programming (for example, children’s programming; local origination programming; community use programming; programming in a particular foreign language; programming which is of primary interest to a particular minority group; news and public affairs programming; and sports programming and related categories) and other services offered by the grantee in its application and incorporated in the franchise ordinance as a commitment of the grantee. “Broad categories of video programming and other services” shall not include any purported commitment to provide specific programming (for example, a particular news service or particular program) or any item of value not utilized in the operation of the cable system. (§ 1, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Basic cable service” shall be defined as provided in subsection (2) of Section 602 of the Act. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983, as amended by § 2, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Cable communications system”, “CATV system”, or “cable system” shall be defined as provided in subsection (6) of Section 602 of the Act. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983, as amended by § 2, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Channel” or “cable channel” shall be defined as provided in subsection (3) of Section 602 of the Act. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983, as amended by § 3, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

‘Community use”, “community use programming”, and “community use channels” shall mean broad categories of video programming and other services provided by the grantee (other than PEG facilities, PEG funding, and PEG programming) for the purposes of noncommercial cablecasts presented by or on behalf of a grantee, the County, individuals, and local community nonprofit organizations, which programming and services consist of topics of special interest to the Yolo County community or elements thereof, including matters of a political, governmental, sociological, religious, educational, cultural, artistic, health-oriented, ethnic, economic, recreational, charitable, and philanthropic nature, a significant part of such programming having been locally produced. For the purposes of this subsection, “noncommercial” shall mean:

(a) That the contents of such programming shall not be for the purpose of directly selling any product or service for private gain; and

(b) That the programming shall not be associated with or interrupted during presentation by commercial advertising or announcements specifically presented for the purpose of selling products or services for private gain. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983, as amended by § 3, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Converter” shall mean an electronic device which converts signals to a frequency not susceptible to interference within the television receiver of a subscriber and, by an appropriate channel selector, also permits a subscriber to view all signals authorized to be received at a designated location. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“County” or “Yolo County” shall mean the County of Yolo, a political subdivision of the State. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“County Administrator” shall mean the County Administrative Officer of Yolo County. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Board” shall mean the Board of Supervisors of the County of Yolo. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Dwelling unit” shall mean a residential living unit as distinguished from temporary lodging facilities, such as hotel and motel rooms and dormitories, and shall include single-family residential units and individual apartments, condominium units, mobile homes within mobile home parks, and other multiple-family residential units. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Educational channel” shall mean any channel or portion of a channel on which school, library, or governmental educational institutions are the only designated programmers. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Entertainment services” shall mean “cable service” as defined by subsection (5) of Section 602 of the Act. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983, as amended by § 4, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Federal Communications Commission” or “FCC” shall mean the present Federal agency of that name as constituted by the Communications Act of 1934, or any successor agency created by the United States Congress, and any legally appointed, designated, or elected agent or successor thereof. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Franchise” or “franchise agreement” shall mean any authorization granted under this chapter in terms of a franchise, privilege, permit, or license to construct, operate, and maintain a cable communications system within the unincorporated area of the County. 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 County as required by other laws of the County. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Franchise documents”, with respect to a franchise for a cable communications system issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, shall mean the provisions of this chapter, the map defining any Imposed Service Area for the franchise as adopted, the provisions of any request for proposals issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter in connection with such franchise, the provisions of the application for the franchise submitted by the grantee, the provisions of the ordinance offering the franchise, and the provisions of the certificate of acceptance by the grantee of the franchise. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Franchise property” shall mean all property retained by the grantee in, along, and across streets under the authority of a franchise or business license. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Government channel” shall mean any channel or portion thereof dedicated to the use of the County or public agencies designated by the County. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Grantee” shall mean a person or corporation to whom or which a franchise is granted pursuant to this chapter or any person or corporation to whom or which such franchise thereafter may be lawfully transferred. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Grantor” shall mean the County. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

(a) “Gross revenue” shall mean all cash, credits, property of any kind or nature, or other consideration derived directly or indirectly by a grantee, and its affiliates, subsidiaries, parent, and any other person or entity in which the grantee has a financial interest or which has a financial interest in the grantee, arising from or attributable to the operation of the cable communications system, including, but not limited to:

(1) Revenue from all charges for those services provided on the subscriber network and institutional network (including leased access fees);

(2) Revenue from all charges for the insertion of commercial advertisements upon the system;

(3) Revenue from all charges for the leased use of studios;

(4) Revenue from all charges for the installation, connection, and reinstatement of the equipment necessary for the utilization of the system and the provision of subscriber and other services; and

(5) The sale, exchange, or cablecast of any programming developed for community use or institutional users.

“Gross revenue” shall include, valued at retail price levels, the value of any goods, services, or other remuneration in non-monetary form received by the grantee or others described in this subsection in consideration for the performance by a grantee or others described in this subsection of any advertising or other service in connection with the cable communications system.

(b) “Gross revenue” shall not include:

(1) Any taxes on services furnished by the grantee which taxes are imposed directly upon any subscriber or user by the United States, the State, or a local agency and collected by the grantee on behalf of the government;

(2) Revenue received directly from the grantee by an affiliate, subsidiary, or parent, or any other person or entity in which the grantee has a financial interest or which has a financial interest in the grantee, when the revenue received has already been included in reported gross revenue as received by the grantee; and

(3) Revenue received by such an affiliate, subsidiary, parent, person, or entity when the revenue received is from the sale of national advertising shown on programs distributed on a national basis by the affiliate, subsidiary, parent, person, or entity and, but for this exception, that portion of the revenue attributable to broadcasts through the cable communications system would be treated as gross revenue. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Institutional network” or “institutional user network” shall mean a cable communications network or a specified number of channels on a subscriber network used exclusively for the provision of services to businesses, schools, public agencies, or other nonprofit agencies in connection with the ongoing operations of such enterprises. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Institutional services” shall mean services delivered on the institutional network. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Institutional user” shall mean a business, public agency, school, or nonprofit corporation receiving the institutional services on the institutional user network. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Interactive services” shall mean services provided to subscribers or users where the subscriber either:

(a) Both receives information consisting of either television or other signals and transmits signals generated by the subscriber or user on equipment under his control for the purpose of selecting what information shall be transmitted to the subscriber or user for any other purpose; or

(b) Transmits signals to any other location For any purpose. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Leased access” shall mean use on a fee-for-service basis of the subscriber network or institutional network by business enterprises (whether profit, nonprofit, or governmental) unaffiliated with the grantee to render services or deliver programming within the Yolo County community. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Local origination channel” shall mean any channel or portion of a channel where the grantee is the only designated programmer and which channel is utilized to provide television programs to subscribers. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Monitoring” shall mean observing a communications signal, or the absence of a signal, where the observer is not the subscriber, whether the signal is observed by visual or electronic means, for any purpose whatsoever; provided, however, “monitoring” shall not include system- wide, non-individually addressed sweeps of the cable communications system for the purposes of verifying system integrity, controlling return path transmissions, or billing for pay services. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Non-basic service” shall mean any communications service in addition to the basic service. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Pay channel” or “premium channel” shall mean a channel on which television signals are delivered to subscribers for a special fee or charge to subscribers over and above the regular charges for subscriber service, on a per program, per channel, or other subscription basis. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Premium service” shall mean a pay-per-program, pay-per-channel, or subscription service, that is, delivered to the subscribers for a fee or charge over and above the regular charges for basic service other than those services provided as a part of a tier of service. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Public access channel” shall mean any channel or portion of a channel where any member of the general public may be a programmer on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to the appropriate rules formulated by the grantee or its delegate, subject to approval by the grantor. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Public, educational, or governmental access facilities or PEG facilities” shall mean:

(a) The channel capacity designated for public, educational, or governmental use; and

(b) The facilities and equipment for the use of such channel capacity. (§ 5, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Public, educational, or governmental access funding or PEG funding” shall mean payments, other than payments for capital costs, which are required by this chapter to be made by the grantee during the term of the franchise for, or in support of the use of, public, educational, or governmental access facilities. (§ 5, Ord. 999, eff. March 7,1985)

“Public, educational, or governmental access programming or PEG programming” shall mean public, educational, or governmental programming specifically identified in this chapter as being produced by the use of public, educational, or governmental access facilities or public, educational, or governmental access funding. (§ 5, Ord. 999, eff. March 7, 1985)

“Street” shall mean the surface of and the space above and below any street, road, highway, freeway, utility right-of-way, or any other easement which now or hereafter exists for the provision of public and quasi-public services to residential or other properties and in which the County is expressly or impliedly authorized or empowered to permit use for the installation and operation of a cable communications system. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Subscriber” shall mean a lawful recipient of service from a cable communications system. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Subscriber network” shall mean a cable communications network which carries television entertainment channels and community use channels (including basic service) and which may carry channels providing commercial or other non-entertainment services and leased access channels. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Tapping” shall mean the observing of a communications signal exchange where the observer is neither of the communicating parties, whether the exchange is observed by visual or electronic means, for any purpose whatsoever. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Tier of service” shall mean a grouping of two (2) or more channels of program services on the subscriber network which is marketed by a grantee to subscribers for a single monthly or other charge. “Basic service”, as defined by subsection (a)of Section 11-1.303 of this article, shall constitute a single tier of service. “Basic service”, as authorized under subsection (b)of said Section 11-1.303, shall constitute a separate and distinct tier of service. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“User” shall mean a party utilizing a cable communications system channel for the purposes of production or the transmission of material to subscribers, as contrasted with the receipt thereof in a subscriber capacity. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)

“Yolo County community” or “community” shall mean the entire geographical territory within the unincorporated area of the County or the inhabitants therein. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)