(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the content, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the singular number include the plural number. The word “shall” is always mandatory and not merely directory.
ADDITIONAL SERVICE. Any service not included in basic service or institutional service.
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER. The Village Manager or his or her designee.
ATTACHMENT POINT. The point at which the grantee’s drop attaches to subscriber-owned equipment.
BASIC EQUIPMENT. The lowest service tier which includes the retransmission of local television broadcast signals.
BROADCAST SIGNAL. A signal transmitted over the air to a side public geographic audience and received by a cable system.
CABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM or SYSTEM, CABLE TV SYSTEM, CATV SYSTEM or BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK OR NETWORK. A system within the village of antennas, cables, amplifiers, towers, microwave links, cable-casting studios and any other conductors, converters, terminals, equipment or facilities, designed and constructed for the primary purpose of distributing television programming to subscribers or users, and for the secondary purpose of producing, receiving, amplifying, storing, processing or distributing audio, video, digital or other forms of electronic or electrical signals.
CABLECAST SIGNAL. A nonbroadcast signal that originates within the facilities of the cable communications system, whether from a live or recorded source.
CHANNEL. A frequency band capable of carrying a standard video signal or some combination of video signals, or a frequency band assigned to carry a nonstandard video signal or some combination of such video signals.
COMMERCIAL SUBSCRIBER. A subscriber who receives a residential service in a place of business, or anyone whose service is utilized in a business, trade or profession, including, but not limited to, hotels, motels, bars, restaurants and other similar establishments.
COMPLAINT. A billing dispute or service call in which a subscriber is notifying the grantee of an outage and/or degradation in picture quality.
CONVERTER or TERMINAL. A device which converts signals from one frequency to another.
DROP. The cable and related equipment connecting the system’s plant to equipment at the subscriber’s premises.
EDUCATION CHANNEL. Any channel where non-profit educational institutions are the primary designated programmers.
FCC. The Federal Communications Commission or its designated representative(s).
FRANCHISE. A written legal undertaking or action of the grantor which awards permission to a specific named person or entity to use the streets and public ways for the purpose of installing, operating and maintaining a cable communications system.
GOVERNMENT CHANNEL. Any channel where local government agencies are the primary designated programmers and programming is noncommercial informational programming regarding governmental activities and programs.
GRANTEE. The entity to which a franchise is granted for the construction, operation, maintenance and reconstruction of a cable communications system and the lawful successors, transferees or assignees of said entity.
GRANTOR. The entity establishing this chapter for territory within its present and future jurisdiction, its elected governing body and/or such representative person or entity as it may designate to act on cable communication matters in its behalf.
GROSS ANNUAL RECEIPTS or GROSS RECEIPTS. The annual total monies or revenues actually received by the grantee related to, or stemming from, any village operations, programming, channel leasing, advertising, interconnection or retransmission of signals to/from other cable systems, except for taxes collected by a system grantee on behalf of taxing authorities or franchise fees if separately stated in customers’ bills.
HEADEND. That central portion(s) of the system where signals are introduced into and received from the balance of the system.
LEASED CHANNEL. Any channel where someone other than the grantor or grantee is sold the rights to air programming.
LOCAL ORIGINATION CHANNEL. Any channel where the grantee is the primary designated programmer.
MONITORING or TAPPING. Observing or receiving a signal, or the absence of a signal, where the observer is neither the sending nor receiving party and is not authorized by the sending and/or receiving party to observe said signal, whether the signal is observed or received by visual, electronic or any other means whatsoever.
NONBROADCAST SIGNAL. A signal that is not involved in over-the-air broadcast for general public reception.
OPEN CHANNEL. Any channel that can be received by all subscribers, without the use of special equipment not normally processed by, or available to, anyone who may become a subscriber.
PAY CABLE or PAY SERVICE, PREMIUM SERVICE, PAY-PER-VIEW or PAY TELEVISION. Signals for which there is a fee or charge to users over and above the charge for basic service or other tiers of service; provided, however, the sale or lease of studio facilities, equipment and/or tapes to local users shall not be deemed pay or premium services.
PEG CHANNEL. A public, education or government channel.
PERSON. Any corporation, partnership, proprietorship, individual or organization authorized to do business in the state, or any natural person.
PLANT. The transmitting medium and related equipment which transmits signals between the headend and subscribers, including drops.
PRIVATE CHANNEL. Any channel carrying material available in intelligible form only to subscribers provided with special equipment to receive such signals and render the intelligible.
PROGRAM or PROGRAMMING. The information content of a signal and the act or process of creating such content, whether that content is intended to be pictures and sound, sound only or any other form of information whatsoever.
PROGRAMMER. Any person or entity who or which provides program material or information for transmission by means of a system.
PROPERTY OF GRANTEE. All property owned or leased within the franchise area by the grantee in the conduct of its system business under a franchise granted hereunder.
PUBLIC CHANNEL, COMMUNITY SERVICE CHANNEL or COMMUNITY CHANNEL. Any channel for which any member of the general public or any community organization may provide noncommercial, non-profit programming on a nondiscriminatory basis.
RESIDENT. Any person residing in the franchised area or as otherwise defined by applicable law.
RESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBER. A subscriber who receives a service in a dwelling unit, and whose service is not utilized in business, trade or profession.
SCHOOL. Any non-profit educational institution, public or private.
SECTION. Any section, division or provision of this chapter or of a franchise hereunder.
SERVICE. Any specific kind or type of benefit or ability provided by the grantee, or group of related benefits or abilities, obtained or made available to any person or entity, involving the use of a signal transmitted via a cable communications system, whether the signal and its content are the entire service or comprise only a part of a service which involves other elements of any number or kind.
SERVICE AREA. The Village of Rochester, within its present or future jurisdiction. Any franchise granted pursuant to this chapter shall have the right to provide cable television system services to the entirety of this service area. However, any grantee shall not be obligated to serve any areas already provided service by another franchised cable operator or any other multi-channel video services provider.
SERVICE OUTAGE. A complete disruption in cable service.
STREETS AND PUBLIC WAYS. The surface and the space above and below any public street, sidewalk, alley, or other public way or right-of-way of any type whatsoever.
SUBSCRIBER. Any person or other entity electing to subscribe to, for any purpose, a service provided by the grantee by means of or in connection with its cable system.
TIER. A channel or combination of signals and/or channels for which a specific identifiable price is charged.
UNIT. A discrete place where system services are used, such as a residence, apartment, office, store and the like.
USER(S). Any person or entity who either receives services from a cable system or who accomplishes any purpose by, in part or in whole, transmitting or receiving information via a cable system, or who creates programming for that purpose, or who receives and uses programming.
YEAR. A specific year or part of a year referred to, or a full calendar year.
(B) Terms not defined. Words, terms or phrases not defined herein shall first mean their special meaning or connotations in any industry, business, trade or profession where they commonly carry such special meanings. In the event such special meanings are not common, they shall mean their standard definitions as set forth in commonly used and accepted dictionaries of the English language.
(2009 Code, § 8-1-2) (Ord. 93-5, passed 4-11-1993)