§ 8AA-50. Public, educational and government access channels.  


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  • (a) The licensee shall provide and maintain at least one (1) specially designated and noncommercial public access channel available on a first-come, nondiscriminatory basis.

    (b) The licensee shall provide and maintain, without charge, at least three (3) specially designated educational access channels for use and programming by local tax supported educational authorities in the elementary, secondary and college level fields, as well as instructional television for adults. Two (2) such channels shall be made immediately available from the licensee. The other channels shall be made available upon a determination by the Director that the need for additional educational channels exists using the criteria established in subsection (g). The licensee shall provide such required channels within ninety (90) days of notification of the Director's determination.

    (c) The licensee shall provide and maintain, without charge, at least two (2) specially designated government access channel for Miami-Dade County government use and programming. One (1) such channel shall be made immediately available from the licensee. The other channel shall be made available upon a determination by the Director that the need for an additional government channels exists using the criteria established in subsection (g). The licensee shall provide such required channels within ninety (90) days of notification of the Director's determination. Miami-Dade County may redesignate any government channel to educational.

    (d) At those time segments during which no signals are transmitted over public, educational or government access channels, the licensee may utilize such channels for any purpose consistent with the provisions of this chapter.

    (e) The licensee shall endeavor to provide that the signal of each channel required in this section be received at a designated place on the subscriber's channel selector as prescribed by the Director, which shall be uniform for every cable system in the County insofar as technology and governing law permits. The channels shall be viewable on a tier that is as convenient to access as that of the most easily accessible tier of service. A subscriber shall be able to change channels from any channel the licensee offers to each channel required in this section by taking no more steps than the least amount of steps required to change from any channel to another. In this regard, a subscriber shall not be required to take additional steps such as, for example, turning on or off a digital converter box.

    (f)

    (i)

    Through September 30, 2003, the licensee shall contribute matching funds to the capital costs for the educational and government access channels provided for in this section. The total contribution of all licensed operators shall be no more than one-half of the total capital cost expended by the County and shall not exceed fifty cents ($0.50) per subscriber per year. The licensee contribution shall be the percentage of capital costs equal to the licensees' weighted pro rata share of all Miami-Dade County cable subscribers. Capital costs means the cost of purchasing and replacing equipment and facilities of such channels as reflected in their official government budgets.

    (ii)

    Effective October 1, 2003, the licensee shall contribute funds to the capital costs for the educational and government access channels provided for in this section. The licensee's contribution shall not exceed one dollar ($1.00) per subscriber per year. The licensee contribution shall be the percentage of capital costs equal to the licensee's weighted pro rata share of all Miami-Dade County cable subscribers.

    (iii)

    The above two subsections are subject to the following:

    (1)

    On October 15th of each year, the Director shall notify the licensee of its capital cost contribution and the method of calculation. The licensee's share shall be determined based upon the reports required to be filed with the County on July 25th of that year. The government budget utilized shall be that budget in operation at the time of the notice.

    (2)

    The capital cost contribution shall be due within ninety (90) days following the notification.

    (3)

    Payment of capital costs cannot be taken as a credit against the Communications Services Tax collection and remittance requirements of Chapter 29, Article IV-A of the Code of Miami-Dade County.

    (4)

    Payment under protest of the capital cost contribution shall be a prerequisite to contesting the amount of the capital costs contribution pursuant to this chapter.

    (g)

    If, during the course of the license, the Director determines that additional access channel capacity is needed, the Director may request additional channels upon the same terms as provided in this section and such request shall not be unreasonably denied based upon such factors as (1) channel capacity; (2) community need; (3) number of access channels available in comparable communities; (4) technological feasibility; (5) the then usage of existing access channels; and all other relevant factors.

    (h)

    Licensee shall, semi-annually and upon request of the County, provide a text message on the monthly billing statement mailed to subscribers promoting the County's public, educational, and government channels and their current channel locations. The County shall make such a request in writing, with reasonable notice prior to the mailing of any billing by licensee, such that licensee's regular billing cycle shall not be interrupted. Licensee shall identify the County's Public, Educational, and Government channels on the licensee's electronic channel guide in a manner approved by the Director and will list individual programs as long as the County provides the program information to the licensee or electronic channel guide programmer in accordance with the licensee's program listing submission criteria. All printed channel listings shall identify the County's public, educational, and government channels by name.

(Ord. No. 90-73, § 1, 7-24-90; Ord. No. 92-97, § 9, 9-15-92; Ord. No. 01-44, § 1, 3-20-01; Ord. No. 01-109, § 2, 6-19-01; Ord. No. 03-122, § 1, 5-6-03)