The singular includes the plural and the plural includes the singular. Words used in the past or present tense include the future.
Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter and unless the context or the intent clearly indicates otherwise, terms, phrases, words and their derivations not defined in this Chapter shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.
For purposes of this Chapter and any agreement awarding a franchise in accordance herewith, the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein unless otherwise specifically provided in this Chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise or unless such meaning would be inconsistent with the intent.
ACCESS CHANNEL(S): Those channels available at no cost to the City for educational and governmental use.
ACT: The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984.
ADDITIONAL SERVICE: Any communication service other than basic service, provided directly over the cable communications system by the operator directly or as a carrier to its parent, subsidiary, or affiliated corporations or any other person engaged in communications service including, but not limited to, electronic intelligence transmission, facsimile reproduction, meter reading, subscription programming, market surveying, and home shopping.
AFFILIATED CORPORATION: A. Any person directly or indirectly owning, controlling or holding with power to vote three percent (3%) or more of the outstanding voting securities of the operator;
B. Any person three percent (3%) or more of whose outstanding voting securities are directly or indirectly owned, controlled or held with power to vote, by the operator;
C. Any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control, with the operator.
D. Any officer, director, partner, copartner, or employee of the operator;
E. If the operator is an investment company, any investment advisor thereof or any member of an advisory board thereof; and
F. If the operator is an unincorporated investment company not having a board of directors, the depositor thereof.
BASIC CABLE SERVICE: The complement of programming and services distributed by the cable communications system to all subscriber terminals to all locations within the City for a basic monthly charge, which includes local television broadcast comparable to those specified in 47 CFR 76.51 ETSEQ.
BOOK VALUE: The original cost of the cable communications system less book depreciation and exclusive of the value of the franchise as certified public accountant selected by the City at the expense of the operator.
CABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM: A nonbroadcast facility consisting of a set of transmission paths with associated signal generation, reception and control equipment, under common ownership and control, which distributes or is designed to distribute to subscribers the signals of one or more television broadcast stations. However, such term shall not include any such facility that serves or will serve only subscribers in one or more multiple unit dwellings under common ownership, control or management, or any facilities of any electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems.
CABLECASTING: Transmissions of programming, exclusive of broadcast signals and community communications, via the cable communications system to subscribers.
CHANNEL: A frequency band which is capable of carrying a standard broadcast audio-video television signal.
CHANNEL LESSEE: The City Clerk of the City of Carbondale.
CITY: The City of Carbondale.
CITY CLERK: The City Clerk of the City of Carbondale.
COMMISSION: The Carbondale Information and Telecommunications Commission as established by Council to act as an advisory body on matters pertaining to cable communications.
COMMUNITY COMMUNICATIONS: Programming, exclusive or broadcast signals, produced by person, organizations or institutions other than the operator at designated centers or otherwise for cablecast over any designated community communications channel.
COUNCIL: The City Council of the City of Carbondale.
DEPARTMENT: Includes any branch or division of City administration, including any officer, employee or other authorized representative thereof.
DIRECTOR: The chief administrative office of a department.
DISCRETE SERVICES: Services available on the cable communications system which may be provided to subscribers on an individual and/or group basis and which may be particular to that subscriber and/or group and not available system-wide. Discrete services are cable communications services which are delivered by means of a technically segregated signal.
DOWNSTREAM CHANNEL: A channel through which an electronic or other signal, originated or converted at the headend or subheadends, may be transmitted to and received at the location of the subscriber's receiver.
FCC: The Federal Communications Commission or its legally appointed successor or representative.
FAIR MARKET VALUE: That price which a seller, dealing at arms length, ready and willing to sell and not compelled to sell, would accept for the cable communications system when offered by a buyer, ready and willing but not compelled to buy, exclusive of the value of the franchise.
FRANCHISE: The right granted through a contractual agreement between the City and a person by which the City authorizes such person to erect, construct, reconstruct, operate, dismantle, test, use and maintain a cable communications system in the City. Any franchise awarded by an agreement in accordance herewith shall be a nonexclusive franchise.
FRANCHISE ORIGINATION: Programming, exclusive of broadcast signals and communications, carried on a cable communications system over one or more channels and subject to the exclusive control of the operator, including, but not limited to, leased channels.
HEADEND: Electronic equipment including, inter alia, antennas, pre-amplifiers, frequency converters, demodulators, modulators and related equipment used to amplify, filter and/or convert television signals for distribution over the cable communications system's channels, including antenna tower, satellite earth stations and any building housing any of the above equipment.
INCEPTION OF SERVICE: Providing service to a subscriber in any separately programmable area.
LAW: Any Federal or Illinois Constitution or statute, local resolution or ordinance including, but not limited to those of the City, and all rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to any of the same, now existing or hereafter adopted or amended and interpretations of the same by a court of competent jurisdiction.
LEASED CHANNEL: A channel leased by the operator to permit the presentation and distribution of video-audio programming or other video-audio communications to subscribers for a specified fee.
OPERATOR: The person to whom the right granted through a contractual agreement by the City, by which the City authorizes such person to erect, construct, reconstruct, operate, dismantle, test, use and maintain a cable communications system in the City. Any franchise awarded by an agreement in accordance herewith shall be a nonexclusive franchise.
PARENT CORPORATION: Any corporation, other than the operator, in an unbroken chain of corporations ending with the operator if, at the time of the execution of the franchise agreement, each of the corporations other than the operator owns stock possessing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.
PERSON: Includes individual natural person, firms, partnerships, joint ventures, societies, organizations, clubs, associations, trustees, trusts, corporations, companies or organizations of any kind; or any officers, agents, employees, factors or any kind of person representative of the above, in any capacity, acting either for himself, or for any other person, under either personal appointment or pursuant to law. Whenever used in any clause prescribing a penalty, the term "person" as applied to partnerships or associations includes the partners or members thereof, and if applied to corporations, the officers thereof. "Person" shall not include a Municipal corporation.
SINGLE DROP: The connection between the cable communications system and the subscriber's location and receiver therein.
STREET: Any area established for vehicular use or the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open for public purposes. "Street" includes, but is not limited to, highway, avenue, road, alley, right of way, lane, boulevard, concourse, bridge, tunnel, parks parkways, waterways, docks, overheads, wharves and piers.
SUBSCRIBER: A person who lawfully receives any signal or service provided or distributed by the cable communications system.
SUBSCRIPTION PROGRAMMING: Programming for which a per program, per channel, per day, per time period or other per unit charge is made.
SUBSIDIARY CORPORATION: Any corporation, other than the operator, in an unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the operator if, at the time of the execution of the franchise agreement, each of the corporations other than the last corporation in the unbroken chain owns stock comprising fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.
TOTAL LOCAL GROSS REVENUES: All cash, credits, or property of any kind or nature reported as revenue items on operator's audited income statements, less refunds or credits for service outages, arising from or attributable to the sale or exchange of cable communications services by the operator within the City or in any way derived from the operation of its cable communications system, including, but not limited to, any interconnection between its system in the City and any system whatsoever or the sale, exchange or cablecast of any programming developed on or for community communications channels of the franchisee's system. This sum shall be the basis for computing the fee imposed pursuant to this Section. Such sum shall not include any bad debts, deposits, promotional or vendor discounts or credits nor sales, service occupation or other excise tax to the extent that such taxes are charged separately from normal service charges and are remitted by the operator directly to the taxing authority.
UPSTREAM CHANNEL: A channel through which television signals emanating from a subscriber's location and/or the location of any other entity except the main transmitting facility of the operator is transmitted via the cable communications system to the system headend or other appropriate point.
USER: A person utilizing a cable communications channel and/or production facilities for purposes of production and/or transmission of electronic or other signals as opposed to receipt thereof as a subscriber. (Ord. 90-85; Ord. 98-06; 1998 Code)