Reproduced
Excerpts of Franchise Agreement
Below are some excerpts from "Baltimore City Cable
Television Franchise Agreement by and between the Mayor and
City Council of Baltimore and Comcast of Baltimore City,
L.P." (stamped "APPROVED By the Mayor DEC 06
2004") that pertain to PEG (Public, Education and
Government) channels. Since the original document was not
available electronically, it has been reproduced here, and,
although care has been taken, there may be differences form
the original. Any errors in the original have been
reproduced as is.
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SECTION 2. GRANT OF AUTHORITY; TERM
2.1 Grant of Franchise.
2.2 Term of Franchise
2.3 Renewal
2.4 Reservation of Authority
2.5 Competitive Equity
...
SECTION 6. PUBLIC SERVICES.
6.1 Provision of Peg Channels
6.2 Number of Peg Channels
6.3 Allocation and Use of Peg Channels
6.4 Signal Input Points
6.5 Capital Support for Equipment and Facilities for Peg
Channels
6.6 Publicity
6.7 Services to Government, Educational, and Other
Facilities
6.8 Leased Access
6.9 Cost Borne by Franchisee
6.10 Institutional Network
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SECTION
10. FRANCHISE FEES
10.1 Franchise Fees; Payment Due
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APPENDIX
B. PEG SIGNAL INPUT POINTS
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SECTION 2
GRANT OF AUTHORITY; TERM
2.1 Grant
of Franchise.
A. General.
City hereby grants to Franchisee, subject to the terms and
conditions of this Agreement and the Franchise grant
ordinance, a non-exclusive Franchise with the right,
privilege and authority to construct, operate, repair,
maintain, and reconstruct a Cable System on, over, under
upon, across, and along the Public Ways within the
Franchise Area in accordance with the City's specifications
and this Agreement. The grant of this non-exclusive
Franchise is expressly conditioned upon the construction,
operation, maintenance, repair, and reconstruction of the
Cable System in accordance with the terms of this
Franchise. The rights granted hereunder, including, without
limitation, rights to utilize the Public Ways, shall not be
sold, transferred or assigned without approval of the City.
...
2.2 Term of Franchise.
A. Established. The Franchise granted shall be for a term
commencing upon the Effective Date of the Agreement and
terminating on December 31, 2016, unless the Franchise is
renewed or is lawfully terminated in accordance with the
terms of this Agreement.
...
SECTION
6
PUBLIC SERVICES
6.1 Provision
of PEG Channels.
A. Franchisee
to Provide.
Franchisee shall provide PEG Channels at no charge on the
Cable System, as specified in this Agreement. Such Channels
shall be available twenty-four (24) hours per Day
throughout the Term of this Agreement at no cost to
Subscribers, City, or PEG Users (initial or ongoing). The
PEG Channels shall be in addition to any capacity provided
on the Institutional Network. Franchisee shall continue to
provide the same levels of equipment and support for these
Channels as is being provided as of the Effective Date.
B. Location.
All PEG Channels shall be placed on the basic tier of
service (and in the lowest tier of service, if different),
shall be available to all Subscribers and can be in either
analog (6 MHZ NTSC) or digital format, at the City's
option, capable of carrying the same information as a 6 MHZ
NTSC signal, so long as at all times they are in the same
format used by Franchisee for the principle local off-air
Channels that are provided to Subscribers on its Cable
System. PEG Channel assignments shall be the same
throughout the System. Franchisee shall use reasonable
efforts to cooperate with any other cable operators to
ensure that PEG Channel assignments are the same for all
cable systems in the City.
C. Relocation.
PEG Channel assignments shall not be changed unless there
is good cause, and in no case shall a given PEG Channel be
moved from one Channel number to another number
(e.g.
from
Channel 7 to Channel 12) more often than once every
forty-eight (48) months. The Franchisee will make
reasonable efforts in any relocation of PEG Channels, or
any relocation of any other Channels, to ensure that the
PEG Channels are reasonably proximate to each other.
Franchisee must give City and each PEG User at least three
(3) months advance notice of any change in the Channel
number on which a PEG Channel will be distributed on
Franchisee's System. Any such relocation must be to a
Channel of technical quality equivalent to that of other
Channels on the System. In addition, the Franchisee shall
provide, at Franchisee's expense, at least thirty (30) days
advance notice of such Channel relocation in monthly bills
or another mailing sent to Subscribers.
D. Editorial
Control.
Franchisee shall not exercise any editorial control over
any use of PEG Channel capacity (including Channels
provided under Section 6.1B), or the content of programming
on PEG Channels (except for such programming as the
Franchisee may produce or provide for its account), nor
shall Franchisee or its Affiliates incur any liability
under this Agreement for any PEG programming carried on any
PEG Channel.
E. Signal
Quality. The
Franchisee shall transmit the signals of the PEG Channels
without altering or degrading the signal, failing to
retransmit, or removing any formatting or coding
information associated with such signal, such as secondary
audio programming ("SAP") and closed captioning. The
Franchisee shall use the same of better quality of
equipment and engineering practices to transport the Signal
of the PEG Channels as it uses to transport the Signal for
the commercial broadcast Channels.
F. Outages.
In the event of failure of the headend, Signal Input Points
(as defined in Section 6.4), Remote Signal Input Points (as
defined in section 6.4), or interconnection, the Franchisee
shall respond within four (4) hours after receiving notice
from a PEG facility. The Franchisee shall restore service
through such failed interconnection or facility as soon as
reasonably possible, but not later than twenty-four (24)
hours after receipt of such notice from a PEG User or
facility, absent some delay or failure beyond the control
of the Franchisee.
G. Subscriber
Reception of PEG Digital Channels. The
Franchisee shall make available a digital cable converter,
which permits the subscriber to receive all PEG Digital
Channels, but no other digital service, to those
Subscribers who would not otherwise receive PEG Digital
Channels because the Subscriber does not subscribe to
Franchisee's digital services. When Franchisee first
provides PEG Digital Channels, the Franchisee shall
announce the availability of a digital cable converter to
each Subscriber, and announce it annually thereafter.
6.2 Number
of PEG Channels.
A. Number
of Channels.
Franchisee shall provide eight (8) downstream PEG Channels
in analog format. In the event that the Franchisee
discontinues carriage of analog Channels on the System and
converts to an all-Digital Service format, then the
Franchisee shall continue to provide eight (8) downstream
PEG Channels via Digital Service. PEG Channel capacity and
use shall be allocated by the City in its sole discretion.
The Franchisee shall provide, at its cost and expense, for
all equipment necessary for the PEG facilities to transmit
on the digital Channels instead of the analog Channels.
B. Channel
Activation. The
decision to activate an additional PEG Channel is, in all
events, a decision to be made in the sole discretion of the
City, after notice to the Franchisee. The Franchisee shall,
without charge to the City, activate and make available an
additional PEG Channel not later than one hundred and
twenty (120) Days following receipt of a notice from the
City that the City desires to activate an additional PEG
Channel; provided, however, that the Franchisee shall not
be required to activate more than one additional PEG
Channel in any twelve (12) month period.
6.3 Allocation
and Use of PEG Channels.
A. By
City. PEG
Channels are, and shall be, allocated by the City in its
sole discretion. City may, at any time on ninety (90) days
notice to Franchisee, allocate or reallocate the usage of
the PEG Channels among and between different uses and PEG
Users.
B. Rules
and Procedures. City
may, from time to time, adopt and revise rules and
procedures as to when and how Franchisee may use the PEG
Channels for the provision of video programming if the PEG
Channels are not being used for their respective purposes.
Franchisee shall use the PEG Channels solely in accordance
with such rules and procedures and, except for PEG Channels
being used by Franchisee, shall have no responsibility or
control with respect to the programming of such Channels.
6.4 Signal
Input Points. For
purposes of this Agreements, Signal Input Points refer to
the facilities that connect the permanent facilities of PEG
Users to the Cable System and provide the connection by
which such Users provide their programming to Franchisee
for immediate retransmission to Subscribers. Remote Signal
Input Points are signal input points for PEG programming
that are used intermittently (but repeatedly) from the same
location, such as from a community center, a high school
football field or the like.
A. As of the Effective Date, the Franchisee has provided,
in good working order, the Signal Input Points at the PEG
facilities shown on Appendix B for the receipt of the
signal by Franchisee from PEG Users for simultaneous
distribution of video programming to Subscribers on the
Cable System in City. The Signal Input Points include all
equipment required for the transport of video and audio
source material, including, without limitation, laser
transmitters, modulators, processors, drops, and wiring, so
that each such center can send signals to the headend via
the I-Net on at least one path initially. For the purposes
of this provision, "good working order" shall mean that the
Signal Input Point has sufficient fiber optic connectivity
in operating condition and such equipment as is necessary
for such fiber optic connection to be active and send
Signals.
B. Remote Signal Input Points shall be provided by
Franchisee from which a real time video signal shall be
transmitted by Franchisee simultaneously to Franchisee's
local headend for simultaneous distribution on the Cable
System in the City. The initial Remote Signal Input Points
as of the Effective Date are set forth in Appendix B.
C. The Franchisee shall be responsible for any fiber and
equipment of Franchisee at such Signal Input Points and
Remote Signal Input Points that is not in good working
order as of the Effective Date, and the City shall be
responsible for any City fiber and equipment at such Signal
Input Points and Remote Input Points that is not in good
working order as of the Effective Date. The City shall be
responsible for the cost of any new fiber and equipment
requested or required by the City at the Signal Input
Points and Remote Input Points.
D. Signal Input Points and Remote Signal Input Points
shall, unless otherwise specified by City, accept baseband
composite video and audio signals in analog (6 MHZ NTSC)
format.
E. The City may change Signal Input Points and Remote
Signal Input Points upon reasonable notice to Franchisee,
such as if the PEG User of a Channel changes of the main
studio of a PEG User moves to another location. Any such
change shall be to a location that provides both adequate
signal capacity and adequate safeguards for the security of
the Cable System. In the event that the location of a
Signal Input Point or Remote Signal Input Point changes,
the City may request that the Franchisee connect the new
location to the Cable System. Upon the City's receipt and
approval of an estimate of the cost for Franchisee to make
such connection, the Franchisee shall promptly make such
connection, and the City shall reimburse the Franchisee for
such cost.
F. Upon notice from the City, the Franchisee shall be
responsible for providing, constructing, and installing, at
the Franchisee's cost and expense, a fiber optic link from
a node designated by the City to the Franchisee's headend,
to enable the transmission of Signals from one or more of
the Signal Input Points to the Franchisee's headend for
transmission of PEG programming on the PEG Channels. Such
fiber optic link shall meet or exceed the Electronic
Industry Association Standard 250-C, entitled "Electrical
Performance Standards for Television Transmission."
6.5 Capital
Support For Equipment and Facilities For PEG
Channels.
A.
Franchisee
shall pay to the City, for capital costs, including,
without limitation, facilities and equipment, ongoing
support of fifty cents ($.50) per Subscriber per month, for
the Term of this Franchise Agreement, or so long as
Franchisee is providing Cable Service in the City,
whichever is longer. This per-Subscriber grant shall be
computed and paid in the same manner and on the same
schedule as the Franchise Fees set forth in Article 10, and
shall be subject to the right of the City to inspect,
audit, and re-compute in the same manner as for Franchise
Fees under Article 10 and with late payments subject to
interest in the same manner as are Franchise Fees. The
amount of this per-Subscriber grant shall increase by the
following amounts on the following anniversaries of the
Effective Date:
Anniversary
Amount
2nd $.02
5th $.03
7th $.02
10th $.03
Franchisee and City agree that the obligations set forth in
this Section are not "franchise fees" within the meaning of
47 U.S.C. §542.
B.
Upon
the enactment of this Ordinance, the City agrees to select
and convene a Board of Incorporators (the "Board") to work
with the City to create a public access entity to be
responsible for the management of public access cable
television programming. This Board shall consist of
thirteen members appointed by the Mayor. All members of the
Board shall be City residents. It shall include at least
three members of the public access broadcasting community,
at least two members of the Cable Communications Advisory
Commission, one representative from MOCC, one
representative from the Department of Law, one
representative from the Council selected by the President
of the Council, and five additional members as determined
by the Mayor.
The
Board shall develop the structure of a tax-exempt
organization under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code
(the "Corporation"). The Corporation shall be created by
the City, and upon creation shall operate independently
thereof. It shall generally serve as the public access
entity for the citizens of Baltimore. It shall receive and
disperse the public access portion of the PEG capital
support provided for in this Section, as well as any grant
for PEG purposes Franchisee may provide in connection with
the grant of the Franchise, and such other funds (if
any)made available to it from time to time by the City. The
Corporation shall enter into an agreement (the "Operating
Agreement") with the City in accordance with all standard
City contractual requirements, including but not limited to
provision for regular City audits, the use of generally
accepted accounting and auditing principles, and an
acceptable budgeting process prior to the receipt of funds
from the City.
Subject
to the conditions above, the City shall pay to the
Corporation, or to any successor entity thereof, or to
third parties on the behalf of the Corporation, one-third
(1/3) of the monies collected as capital support for PEG
purposes pursuant to this Section, if, as, and when
collected by the City. These funds shall be extended only
for capital costs for public access purposes. Prior to
receipt of any funds from the City, the Corporation (i)
shall have entered into the Operating Agreement in
accordance with this Section, and (ii) shall be and remain
in good corporate standing with the State of Maryland. The
Corporation shall apply all funds received from the City in
accordance with the terms and conditions of this Franchise
and the Operating Agreement.
6.6 Publicity.
Franchisee shall undertake the following PEG Channel
publicity activities at its own cost and expense:
A. City may request, from time to time, and Franchisee
shall use reasonable efforts to provide, to City and PEG
Users, a reasonable number of advertising avails on an "as
available" basis for advertising spots promoting public,
educational, and government programming. Such spots shall
be prepared by, and at the expense of, the City or PEG
User, as applicable.
B. Franchisee shall list all PEG Channels on print and
cablecast electronic program guides.
C. Franchisee shall include written information about
public, educational and governmental access programming and
activities in its customer handbook and in materials given
to new Subscribers.
6.7 Services
to Government, Educational, and Other
Facilities.
A. Service
Provided. The
Franchisee shall provide Basic and Standard Service, and
any equipment necessary to receive such service, free of
charge, to: (i) the facilities specified in Appendix C,
(ii) all new facilities requested form time to time by the
City pursuant to Section B of this Section; and (iii) all
facilities that are relocated from time to time pursuant to
section B of this Section.
B. Installation
and Relocation. Upon
request of the City, the Franchisee shall, without charge,
install one activated outlet at each public educational
institution and each building or facility owned by or
leased to, and used by, the City, within the Franchise
Area, as shall be designated by the City from time to time;
provided, however, that a total of not more than five (5)
such new outlets shall be required in any calendar year.
The City shall be responsible for reimbursing the
Franchisee for the Franchisee's cost of installation of
such new outlets where the Drop is greater than one hundred
fifty (150) feet in length. The City shall be responsible
for reimbursing the Franchisee for the Franchisee's cost to
relocate any outlets after their initial installation, when
such relocation is requested by the City. The Franchisee
shall be responsible for the cost to relocate any existing
outlets where the relocation is due to the Franchisee's
requirements.
C. Activation
of Appendix C Locations. In the
event that any facility listed in Appendix C does not have
an outlet and Drop as of the Effective Date, the City shall
be responsible for reimbursing the Franchisee for its cost
of installation of the outlet and Drop, regardless of the
length of the Drop; provided, further, that any such
facility listed on Appendix C that does not have an
activated outlet and Drop as of the Effective Date and
receives an activated outlet and Drop after the Effective
Date shall not count as part of the City's five (5) new
outlets per calendar year pursuant to Section B of this
Section.
6.8 Leased
Access.
Franchisee shall make available suitable Channel capacity
for leased access by third parties not Affiliated with
Franchisee to the extent from time to time required by
federal law and regulations. Franchisee shall have the sole
responsibility for all operating aspects and for the fixing
of rates and conditions for leased access use.
6.9 Cost
Borne by Franchisee. All
the equipment, services and grants provided in this Article
6 shall be provided without any cost of any kind (initial,
one time, on-going or recurring), except such costs as are
specifically described, to City or to PEG Users.
6.10 Institutional
Network. The
parties have entered into a separate agreement entitled
"I-Net Transfer and Modification Agreement." The Franchisee
shall comply with all requirements of that agreement in
connection with, and shall continue its ongoing operation
and maintenance of those portions of, the Institutional
Network, including those portions not transferred to the
City under said agreement.
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SECTION
10
FRANCHISE FEES
10.1 Franchise
Fees; Payment Due
A. Amount;
Date Due. As
compensation for the Franchise, the Franchisee shall pay to
the City an amount equal to five percent (5%) of annual
Gross Revenue throughout the Term of the Agreement. All
such Payments shall be made on a quarterly basis and shall
be remitted within thirty (30) Days after the last Day of
each March, June, September, and December throughout the
term of this Agreement and simultaneously with the
submission of the Franchisee's quarterly report required
pursuant to Section 10.2 of this Agreement. The Franchisee
may prepay Franchise Fees from time to time with the
consent of the City.
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APPENDIX
B
PEG SIGNAL INPUT POINTS
Permanent
1. 8 Market Place
2. 100 N. Holliday (City Hall)
3. 200 E. North Avenue (School Headquarters)
4. 620 Fallsway (Emergency Operations Center 1)
5. 1201 E. Coldsprings (Emergency Operation Center 2)
Remote
1. 2600 W. North Avenue (Coppin College)
2. 2600 E. Northern Parkway (School Technology Center)
3. Camden Yards/Ravens Stadium Complex (State Emergency
Operations Center)
4. University of Maryland College Park
5. Johns Hopkins University
6. Morgan State University
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