(A) (1) None of the following shall directly or indirectly own, operate, control or have a legal or equitable interest in the franchise:
(a) A television broadcasting station whose predicted Grade B contour, computed in accordance with § 73.684 of the Federal Communications Commission's Rules and Regulations, overlaps in whole or in part the service areas of the system (e.g., the area within which the system is serving subscribers); or
(b) A national television network; or
(c) A television translator station licensed to the municipality of such system; or
(d) A telephone company within its local exchange area, unless a proper and timely waiver is obtained from the Federal Communications Commission; or
(e) A publisher and/or owner of a newspaper company and the newspaper company within the primary market area, as defined by the Audit Bureau of Circulation, served by the newspaper; or
(f) A radio or television broadcast station, broadcasting from within the Twin Cities metropolitan area as designated in M.S. § 473.121, subd. 4.
(2) The word “control” as used herein is not limited to majority stock ownership, but includes actual working control in whatever manner exercised.
(3) The word “interest” as used herein includes, in the case of corporation, common officers, or directors and partial, as well as total, ownership interests represented by ownership of voting stock.
(4) In applying the provisions of this rule to the stockholders of a corporation which has more than 50 stockholders:
(a) Only those stockholders need be considered who are officers or directors or who directly or indirectly own 1% or more of the outstanding voting stock.
(b) Stock ownership by an investment company as defined in U.S.C. § 80a-3, commonly called a mutual fund, need be considered only if it directly or indirectly owns 3% or more of the outstanding voting stock or if officers or directors of the corporation are representatives of the investment company. Holdings by investment companies under common management shall be aggregated. If an investment company directly or indirectly owns voting stock in an intermediate company which in turn directly or indirectly owns 50% or more of the voting stock of the corporation, the investment company shall be considered to own the same percentage of outstanding shares of such corporation as it owns of the intermediate company; provided, however, that the holding of the investment company need not be considered where the intermediate company owns less than 50% of the voting stock, but officers or directors of the corporation who are representatives of the intermediate company shall be deemed to be representatives of the investment company.
(c) In cases where record and beneficial ownership of voting stock is not identical — for example, bank nominees holding stock as record owners for the benefit of mutual funds, brokerage houses holding stock in street name for the benefit of customers, trusts holding stock as record owners for the benefit of designated parties — the party having the right to determine how the stock will be voted will be considered to own it for the purposes of this section.
(B) Any sale or transfer of the franchise, including a sale or transfer by means of a fundamental corporate change, requires the written approval of the city. Any sale or transfer of the franchise shall be subject to the provisions of 4 MCAR § 4.100. The parties to the sale or transfer of the franchise shall make a written request to the city for its approval of a sale or transfer of the franchise. The city shall reply in writing within 30 days of the request and shall indicate its approval of the request or its determination that a public hearing is necessary if it determines that a sale or transfer of the franchise may adversely affect the company's subscribers. The city shall conduct a public hearing on the request within 30 days of such determination.
(C) Notice of any such hearing shall be given 14 days prior to the hearing by publishing notice thereof once in a newspaper of general circulation in the area being served by the franchise. The notice shall contain the date, time and place of the hearing and shall briefly state the substance of the action to be considered by the city. Within 30 days after the public hearing, the city shall approve or deny in writing the sale or transfer request.
(D) Any sale or transfer of the franchise, including a sale or transfer by means of a fundamental corporate change, requires notification to the Board by the city. The notification shall be accompanied by the written certification of the transferee that it meets all of the requirements with respect to technical ability and financial stability demanded of the original franchisee. The city shall cause to be sent to the Board a copy of all public documents related to sale or transfer of the franchise.
(E) The parties to the sale or transfer of a franchise, only within the inclusion of a cable communications system in which at least substantial construction has commenced, shall be required to establish that the sale or transfer of a franchise only will be in the public interest.
(F) For purposes of this provision, fundamental corporate change means the sale or transfer of all of a majority of a corporation's assets, merger (including any parent and its subsidiary corporation), consolidation, or creation of a subsidiary corporation.
(G) Sale or transfer of stock in a corporation so as to create a new controlling interest in a cable communication system shall be subject to the requirements of 4 MCAR § 4.100 and 4 MCAR § 4.150. The term “controlling interest” as used herein is not limited to majority stock ownership, but includes actual working control in whatever manner exercised.
('77 Code, § 11.103(6)) (Am. Ord. 982, passed 11-9-81)