For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words abbreviations, and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number.
A. "Active device" means any item of equipment in the cable television plant that requires an external source of electrical energy for its operation.
B. "Cable system" means the cable communications system serving the city of Signal Hill.
C. "City" means the city of Signal Hill, a municipal corporation of the state of California, in its present incorporated form or in any latter reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.
D. "City engineer" means the city engineer, or his designee, of the city.
E. "City manager" means the city administrator, or other designation of the city's chief executive officer, or any designee thereof.
F. "Community antenna television system" (CATV), also known as a "cable communications system", means a system of antenna, satellite receiving and transmitting apparatus, coaxial cables, fiber optics, wires, wave guides, and/or other conductors, amplifiers, electronic processors, equipment and facilities designed, constructed or used for the purpose of providing over-the-air, satellite-delivered and locally originated television or FM radio service by cable within the city. Such a definition does not include those services which are classified as MDS (multiple distribution systems), DBS (direct broadcast satellite), or STV (subscription television) services, or other such systems which are delivered via microwave from a central originating point directly to a subscriber without the use of wires.
G. "Council" means the governing body of the city or any future board constituting the legislative body of the city.
H. "FCC" means the Federal Communications Commission.
I. "Franchise" means and include any authorization granted hereunder in terms of a franchise, privilege, permit, license or otherwise, to construct, operate, and maintain a cable communications system within all or a specified area in the city. Any such authorization, in whatever form granted, shall not mean and include any license or permit required for the privilege of transacting and carrying on a business within the city as required by other ordinances and laws of this city.
J. "Grantee" means the person, firm or corporation granted a franchise by the council under this chapter, and the lawful successor, transferee or assignee of said person, firm or corporation.
K. "Gross receipts" means any and all compensation, in whatever form, grant, subsidy, exchange, or otherwise, directly or indirectly received by a grantee, not including any taxes on services furnished by the grantee, imposed directly on any subscriber, user, lessee or advertiser by a city, county, state or other governmental unit, and collected by the grantee for such entity for services rendered within the city. Gross receipts shall include, but not be limited to:
1. "Gross annual basic subscriber receipts" means any and all compensation and other consideration received directly or indirectly by the grantee from subscribers or users for services rendered within the city in payment of the regularly furnished service of the cable television system in the transmission of broadcast television, radio signals, satellite delivered programming, and original cable-cast programming of the grantee designated as the "basic service."
2. "Gross annual nonbasic service receipts" means any and all compensation and other consideration received directly or indirectly by the grantee from subscribers or users for services rendered within the city in payment for the receipt of signals whether for "pay television," "facsimile transmission," "security services," "return" or "response communication," and whether or not transmitted encoded or processed to permit reception by only selected subscribers, and designed as an optional service, or nonbasic service.
3. "Gross annual advertising receipts" means any income, compensation and other consideration received by grantee from any advertisers located in the city cable television system.
4. "Gross annual lease receipts" means any fees or income received by grantee for the lease or rental, and compensation for any service in connection therewith, such as studio and equipment rental, production costs, and air time of any channel permitted or designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be so leased or rented by subscribers, users, lessees, or advertisers located in the city.
L. "Institutional network" means that cable or series of cables, either separate from or integrated with the "subscriber network," which provide services between institutions, and/or institutions and subscribers in the case of a switchable network, and where the services delivered are primarily nonentertainment in nature.
M. "Interactive" means the transmission and reception of downstream (originating from the cable headend) and upstream (originating from any other point in the cable system) audio and video signals.
N. "Passive device" means any item of equipment in the cable television plant that does not require an external source of electrical energy for its operation.
O. "Person" means any natural person and all domestic and foreign corporations, associations, syndicates, joint stock corporations, partnerships of every kind, clubs, business or common law trusts, and societies.
P. "Property of grantee" means all property owned, installed, or used within the city by a grantee in the conduct of a cable communications system business under the authority of a franchise granted pursuant to this chapter.
Q. "Street" means the surface, the air space above the surface and the area below the surface of any public street, other public right-of-way or public place, including public utility easements.
R. "Subscriber" or "user" means any person or entity receiving for any purpose any service over grantee's cable communications system including, but not limited to, the conventional cable television system service of retransmission of television broadcast, satellite broadcast, radio signals, grantee's original cablecasting, and other locally originated programming and services, such as leasing of channels, data and facsimile transmission, pay television, public service communication, and other services which may arise during the course of the franchise.
S. "Subscriber network" means that cable or series of cables which provide programming services to subscribers as part of a package of "basic" and "premium" channel services and where the services delivered are primarily those services classified as entertainment services.
(Ord. 85-07-950 § 1 (part))