(A) (1) At a minimum, all franchisees operating in the city shall provide at least one access channel for the city's sole use capable of showing City Commission meetings to subscribers within the city and public and educational access programming, within 90 days of the effective date of this subchapter.
(2) Applications for an initial or renewed franchise may, and at the city's request, shall include proposals for the provision of at least two access channels, which shall contain programming as authorized solely by the city.
(3) At any time the initial access channels provided to the city by a franchisee are programmed during at least eight hours per day with non-duplicative programming (i.e., bulletin messages will not be considered programming for purposes of this section), Monday through Friday, for six consecutive weeks, the franchisee shall, without charge, at the request of the city, provide the city with a third access channel. If at any time the first, second and third access channels provided to the city by a franchisee are programmed with non-duplicative programming during at least eight hours per day, Monday through Friday, for six consecutive weeks, the franchisee shall, without charge, at the written request of the city, provide the city with a fourth access channel at no charge. In the event the programming on the access channels falls below the amount specified above, then a franchisee shall have the right to deactivate the subsequently provided access channels. The city may by resolution adopt rules and regulations concerning use of the access channels that are not inconsistent with federal law.
(4) The city may require in a franchise agreement that a franchisee provide live cablecasting of City Commission meetings in their entirety to all of the franchisee's subscribers located within the city. The city may require the replay of such meetings at times specified by the city.
(B) (1) A franchise agreement may provide for the use of the franchisee's studio facilities, equipment, and personnel for the production of live and videotaped city programs, subject to reasonable availability and to scheduling requirements of the franchisee.
(2) A franchisee shall provide, at the request of the city, use of the franchisee's studio equipment and technical services for character generation and cablecasting of such character generation on the access channels, subject to reasonable availability and scheduling requirements of the franchisee.
(3) A franchise agreement may provide that upon the city's request, the franchisee shall provide, at its cost, trained personnel and necessary equipment for:
(a) Live cablecasting of events at the location of City Hall and other specific locations within the city; and
(b) The production of videotapes of civic and government programs and events that take place at locations other than the locations capable of offering live programming. Such videotapes shall be played and replayed on the access channels at times specified by the city.
(c) Live cablecasting may be facilitated with the interconnection among franchisees pursuant to this subchapter. At the time of the city's request for live cablecasting of city Commission meetings, the franchisee serving the largest number of subscribers at the location of city hall shall be responsible for live cablecasting production of professional quality, including all necessary equipment and trained personnel. If requested by the franchisee so responsible, all other franchisees shall share in the cost of producing and delivering the live cablecasting to all subscribers on a pro-rata per subscriber basis.
(d) In the event that the city changes the location of City Commission meetings and desires to change the location where live cablecasting occurs, the city may extend a franchisee's franchise agreement to allow the franchisee to recover the incremental costs of the construction of the additional plant required to provide the live cablecasting from the new location, or in the alternative, the city may agree to reimburse the franchisee the costs of construction.
(C) At the city's discretion, a franchise agreement may provide for a financial grant in lieu of some or all of the facilities, equipment, and services referenced in this subchapter.
(D) The city may establish an annual budget for capital expenses associated with producing programming for the access channels. If the city establishes such a budget, the city shall notify all existing franchisees of the amount of such budget to be assessed to the franchisees and, subject to the terms of existing franchise agreements, the franchisees shall be required to pay the city the assessed amount based on each franchisee's subscriber base in the city, within 90 days of the city's notice.
(E) All facilities, equipment, services, and all other support to be provided by a franchisee pursuant to this subchapter or a franchise agreement shall constitute capital costs which are required to be incurred by the franchisee for public, educational, or governmental access facilities within the meaning of Section 622(g)(2)(c) of the Cable Act, 47 USC 542(g)(2)(c). Such support grants do not constitute a franchise fee or tax within the meaning of the Cable Act, state law, this subchapter, or any franchise agreement.
(Ord. 1406, passed 5-15-02)