Skip to main content
Loading…
This section is included in your selections.

34-2.1. List of Defined Terms.The following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein.

“Access” means the availability of the cable system(s) (as it relates to PEG access) for use by various agencies, institutions, organizations, groups, and individuals in the community, including the City and its designees, to acquire, create, and distribute programming not under a Grantee’s editorial control, including, but not limited to:

A.“Public access” means access where organizations, groups, or individual members of the general public, on a non-discriminatory basis, are the primary or designated programmers or users having editorial control over their programming;

B.“Educational access” means access where schools are the primary or designated programmers or users having editorial control over their programming;

C.“Governmental access” means access where governmental institutions or their designees are the primary or designated programmers or users having editorial control over their programming; and

D.“PEG access” means public access, educational access, and governmental access, collectively.

“Access Channel” means any channel, or portion thereof, designated for access purposes or otherwise made available to facilitate or transmit access programming.

“Affiliate” when used in relation to any entity shall mean another person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other entity that owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with such entity.

“Applicant” means any person who files a written application for a Franchise under this Ordinance.

“Basic Service” means any service tier regularly provided to all subscribers which includes the retransmission of local television broadcast signals or such other definition as may be adopted by federal law. It shall include all PEG access channels.

“Cable Act” means the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. § 521 et seq., as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, and as further amended.

“Cable Service” or “Cable Communication Service” means the transmission of video or other service over a cable system to, from, or between subscribers.

“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 communication service which includes video programming and which is provided to multiple subscribers within the City. The term “cable system” does not include (a) a facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations; (b) a facility that serves only subscribers in one or more multiple dwelling units under common ownership, control, or management, unless such facility uses any public right of way; or (c) any facilities of any electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility system. The foregoing definition of cable system is not intended to limit the authority of the City to regulate the activities of any other communication system or provision of communication services. Any reference to a Grantee’s cable system includes the cable system as a whole, or any part, facility, device, or fixture which constitutes or is used as part of that cable system, including converters.

“Designated Access Provider” means the entity or entities designated by the City under Section 34-3.7.A.

“Construction” means any new construction, reconstruction, rebuild, or upgrade of the system.

“Document” or “Record” means those materials normally generated, used and retained in the operation and management of a cable system, in whatever form stored, including but not limited to computerized records and programs, paper records, and video or audio-taped records.

“Downstream Channel” means a channel capable of carrying a transmission from the headend to remote points on the cable system or to interconnection points on the cable system.

“Fiber Optic” means the transmission medium of optical fiber, along with all associated electronics and equipment capable of carrying cable services by means of electric lightwave impulses.

“Franchise” means the non-exclusive authorization granted pursuant to this Cable Ordinance by the City to a Grantee to construct, rebuild, maintain, and operate a cable system under, on, and over streets within all or specified areas of the City. The terms and conditions of this Cable Ordinance and any franchise agreement between a Grantee and the City collectively constitute the Franchise. The term “Franchise” does not include any other license, permit, or agreement that may be required for the privilege of transacting and carrying on a business within the City or for disturbing the surface of any street.

“Franchise Agreement” means a contract between the City and a Grantee, entered into in accordance with the terms of this Ordinance, and which, together with this Ordinance, constitute the Franchise.

“Franchise Area” means the geographic area for which a Franchise is issued. The franchise area may be specified to authorize provision of service not only in areas within the existing City limits, but also in other areas, as those areas are annexed in the future.

“Grantee” means any person to whom a Franchise is granted by the City Council.

“Gross Revenues” means all cash, credits, property, or other consideration of any kind or nature received directly or indirectly by a Grantee, its affiliates, or by any other entity that operates a Grantee’s cable system, from any source whatsoever arising from, attributable to, or in any way derived from the Grantee’s operation of a cable system, including the studios and other facilities associated therewith, to provide cable services. Gross Revenues include, but are not limited to, fees charged to subscribers for basic service; fees charged to subscribers for any optional, premium, per-channel, or per-program service; monthly fees charged to subscribers for any tier of service other than basic service; installation, disconnection, re-connection, and change-in-service fees; leased channel fees; fees, payments, or other payment received as consideration from programmers for carriage of programming on the cable system; converter rentals or sales; studio rental, production equipment, and personnel fees; advertising revenues, including a per capita share of advertising revenues for advertising carried on more than one cable system; revenues from home shopping channels; sales of programming guides; and such other revenue sources as may now exist or hereafter develop. The definition shall be interpreted in a manner which permits the City to collect the maximum Franchise fee permitted by law, irrespective of the source of revenue. Gross Revenues, however, shall not include any bad debt (defined as unpaid subscriber or advertiser accounts), any taxes on services furnished by a Grantee which are imposed directly upon any subscriber or user by the state, City, or other governmental unit and which are collected by a Grantee on behalf of said governmental unit (the franchise fee is not a tax). The amount paid as a Franchise fee shall not be deducted from gross revenues unless required to be deducted under federal law.

“Headend” means a Grantee’s facility for signal reception and dissemination on the cable system, including cable, antennas, wires, satellite dishes, monitors, switchers, modulators, processors for television broadcast signals, equipment for the interconnection of the cable system with adjacent cable systems and interconnection of any separate networks which are part of the cable system, and all other related equipment and facilities.

“Interconnect” or “Interconnection” means the provision by a Grantee of technical, engineering, physical, and all other necessary components to accomplish, complete, and adequately maintain a physical linking of a Grantee’s cable system and cable services or any designated channel or signal pathway thereof, with any other designated cable system or programmer so that cable services of technically adequate quality may be sent to and received from such other systems.

“Local Origination Channel” means any channel used to provide local origination programming.

“Local Origination Programming” means any local programming or communications under the editorial control of a Grantee which is produced, selected, and cablecast by the Grantee on the Grantee’s cable system.

“Ordinance” shall refer to this Monterey Cable Enabling Ordinance.

“Person” means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, association, corporation, or other form of organization authorized to do business in the State of California, and includes any natural person.

“Programmer” means any person responsible for programming on the cable system, including, without limitation, any person who produces or otherwise provides programming material for transmission on the cable system.

“Programming” means the process of causing television programs or other patterns of signals in video, voice, or data formats to be transmitted on the cable system, and includes all programs or patterns of signals transmitted or capable of being transmitted on the cable system.

“Public Property” means any real property owned by the City or any other governmental unit that is not otherwise defined herein as a street.

“Rebuild” means to alter a cable system through the replacement of cable, amplifiers, passive devices, and headend electronics as necessary so as to increase the channel capacity of the system by at least twenty channels.

“Residential Services” means cable services delivered to single or multiple dwelling units.

“Residential Subscriber” means any subscriber receiving residential services.

“School” means any accredited primary school, secondary school, college, and university.

“Service Tier” means a category of cable service provided by a Grantee and for which a separate charge is made by the Grantee.

“Street” means the surface of and the space above and below any street, road, highway, freeway, bridge, lane, path, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway, drive, right of way, easement, or other public way, now or hereafter existing within the City which may be properly used for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating a cable system.

“Subscriber” means any person who is lawfully receiving, for any purpose or reason, any cable service or services provided by a Grantee by means of or in connection with the cable system, whether or not a fee is paid for such service.

“Transfer” means the sale, lease, assignment, mortgage, consolidation, merger, or any other disposition of a Franchise, or any change in the ownership or control of a Grantee or any person which owns, controls, or manages the Grantee directly or through one or more intervening partnerships or corporations.

“Upgrade” means an improvement in channel capacity or other technical aspect of cable system capacity which may be accomplished without a rebuild of the cable system.

“Upstream Channel” means a channel capable of carrying a transmission to the headend from remote points on the cable system or from interconnection points on the cable system.

34-2.2. Other Terms.Words not defined herein shall be given the meaning set forth in the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. § 521 et seq. as amended.