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CM:LCB:LG:dvm Santa Monica, California
(guidlne2)
Council Mtg.: September 26, 1989 i CI -- (){13 - tJjr- {I!
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Administrative Guidelines and Policies for the
Operation of CityTV
BACKGROUND
The eity of Santa Monica launched a full time cable television
channel, in December, 198B. eityTV, ehannel 16, cablecasts from
8:00 am to l2:00 pm seven days per week. CityTV offers
programming not readily available through other media outlets in
Santa Monica. The programming day features locally produced
video serving specialized audiences: senior citizens, the
disabled community, arts programming, and programming for
children. City information, specials, community events,
documentaries, live call-in programs, sporting events, concerts
and acquired programming make up the remainder of the CityTV
line-up. Funding for CityTV is derived in part through franchise
fees paid by the cable company serving Santa Monica (Century
Southwest Cable) and in part through the City's General Fund.
Santa Monica joins some approximately 50 cities across America
who are utilizing available channel capacity as sanctioned
through the National Cable Television Act of 1984. The Cable Act
makes it possible for cities to require three community channels
known as I' PEG n or Public, Education and Government Access
Channels. CityTV is a local government channel. The content of
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CityTV is controlled by the city. The primary distinction
between the PEG channels is editorial control of content.
In a pure Pub 1 ic Access channel, the community itself produces
and controls the non-commercial programming on a channel. It is
run on a first come first served basis. The channel time is
offered free to the community and there is no quality control.
Currently, Century Cable administers the Public Access channel at
its studio. Usage is currently limited to studio based
programming. In current franchise negotiations, the eity is
seeking additional facilities for public access to allow for both
editing facilities and field production cameras. In the future,
consideration may be given to forming a non-profit corporation to
administer public access in Santa Monica.
Educational access channels are often administered by educational
institutions which determine program content and objectives.
Santa Monica eollege is running the designated Santa Monica
educational Access Channel on Channel 30.
PURPOSE OF THE CITYTV CHANNEL/PRODUeTION UNIT
The purpose of the Santa Monica municipal channel, eityTV, is to
provide quality programming alternatives for Santa Monica cable
viewers. The objectives of CityTV programs are:
A. to enrich or inform citizens and serve the broad
public interest needs of Santa Monica viewers.
B. to serve the needs of Santa Monica's special
audiences which are traditionally underserved by other available
television channels.
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C. to serve the public information dissemination needs
of eity departments and city sponsored public agencies.
D. to provide certain government services directly to
residents.
E. to make the deliberations of legislative and
advisory bodies or commissions accessible to residents through
coverage of government meetings.
F. to promote cultural/recreational opportunities
available in Santa Monica.
G. to provide emergency information.
H. to encourage dialogue between cable viewers and city
officials or citizens regarding issues of local concern
I. to encourage the development of innovative uses of
telecommunications technology and provide an outlet for
experimentation and demonstration projects.
J. to provide for the City's training needs through
video production/acquisition when resources are available to
handle production requests.
CityTV Productions
Currently, Ci tyTV produces regular series programs designed to
meet the needs of Santa Monica's special audiences.
For example, Getting Up There is a magazine format series for and
about seniors. It is produced on an ongoing basis in cooperation
with City and community agencies. The program covers a variety
of subjects from recreational opportunities to more serious
issues like memory loss, crime prevention, and health care.
Getting Up There often profiles exemplary seniors from our
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community who have made contributions, or who have discovered new
careers late in life.
On the Go with Officer Joe is a children's TV series produced in
cooperation with the Santa Monica Police Department. The program
is desiqned to teach safety tips to young children. ei tyTV has
an active volunteer production group who have been developing
several new children's programs.
Babyhood is a series aimed at parents of young children. The
goal of the program is to provide information regarding community
opportunities and resources for new parents. Book reviews by
librarians, child care issues, environmental concerns, child
rearing and social opportunities are presented.
Homing, is a live call-in series about housing issues. The first
program in the series was a three hour special focusing on the
needs of the homeless. It provided a community forum which
featured the homeless themselves, the business community,
community leaders, public officials and social service providers
to discuss issues and accept calls from the viewing public.
Future programs in the series will cover affordable housing and
the mentally ill homeless.
Elevation 57 is an issue oriented magazine series. The program
features community issues and organizations. It has covered
safety in Palisades Park and Heal the Bay. A piece about the
Civic Center Specific Plan is in production.
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Documentaries and specials make up the heart of City TV programs.
Numerous programs have been produced which showcase our community
and highlight our citizenry and local agencies. Some of these
programs have included an historical look at the Santa Monica
Pier; SMO, the story of Cloverfield about our airport; Herb
Stothardt, a Forgotten Legend, (about a local composer);
Transformations: the Architecture of Frank Gehry; The Ocean Park
Community Center; The Wests ide Food Bank; A Solution to storm
Drain Pollution; Rain Shadows, (a doumentary about water
conservation) ; and Our House Your House (a documentary about Fair
Housing in Santa Monica).
Cultural and Recreation programs on CityTV have included coverage
of SMARTS events, musical concerts, local sports, and dramatic
performances. CityTV has provided coverage of the Twilight Dance
series concerts, the Santa Monica Alternative School play,
classical music, the 4th of July event, softball, basketball and
volleyball championship games. eityTV has also produced magazine
format arts programming such as the "Beyond the Beach" series
which includes video as art and arts activities in Santa Monica.
The disabled community is served by eityTV programs. Two award
winning programs have been locally produced, Resources for the
Disabled and the Abilities EXpo. Numerous new programs are in
the development stages.
CityTV also produces live and gavel to gavel coverage of
regularly scheduled Santa Monica City Council meetings.
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City TV has already been the recipient of several awards on
regional, state and national levels. Most recently, City TV was
recognized for overall excellence in municipal programming in the
country with a Second Place Award for cities with populations of
50,000 - 100,000. This is an acknowledgment of the quality and
variety of programming seen on our municipal channel.
eityTV Acquired Programming eriteria
In meeting programming objectives (outlined in Purpose Section),
CityTV will seek high quality programs obtained from outside
sources which will supplement our local programs. These programs
will come from a variety of available sources including:
l- ather municipalities, state and federal agencies.
2. independent producers.
3. satellite delivered programs.
4. programming available through distributors and
production companies.
All non-live programs obtained from outside sources will be
screened for suitability by staff using the following criteria:
1. subject matter of local interest (for example
programs about driving in snow storms may be deemed unsuitable
for a Santa Monica audience).
2. information oriented content, factual and verifiable
(when appropriate, acquired documentaries may be preceded by a
disclaimer stating that the opinions presented in the tape are
not necessarily those of the city of Santa Monica).
3. good production values and without technical flaws.
4. artistically or culturally stimulating.
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5. historically significant.
6. can be tied into a local program.
Advance information will be sought concerning all programs
scheduled for live cablecasting through satellite feeds or other
delivery systems. Some programming which may be considered for
live feeds include:
1. e-Span coverage of the Senate from C-Span II which
is currently being cable cast by cityTV from
midnight through 8 a.m. daily.
2. feeds from live video teleconferences.
3. programs which may be available through the National
Association of Telecommunications Officers and
Advisors.
4. live call-in issues programs made available through
government agencies.
Public Service Announcements
ci tyTV accepts scripts for publ ic service announcements or 3/41f
video taped public service announcements from City Departments I
Santa Monica/Malibu Public Schools, not for profit agencies
located within the Santa Monica eity limits, or from non-profit
organizations that serve a significant number of Santa Monica
residents or have a significant number of Santa Monica members.
PSA's accepted shall promote the public welfare or provide public
information.
From the scripted announcements received, CityTV will produce
video PSA's whenever possible. Graphic art work, existing video
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footage, or stills are incorporated into the production of PSA's.
Submitting agencies may wish to submit visuals along with
scripted announcements, whenever possible. CityTV has the
capability to create graphics and use existing stock footage to
supplement most announcements.
Announcements must be received at least two weeks prior to the
suggested air dates. Submittors are responsible for the accuracy
of announcements. eityTV will reserve the right to determine
which announcement can be produced and may edit announcements or
select appropriate formats for announcements. eityTV runs public
service announcements as station breaks between regularly
scheduled programs and during special segments of programs, such
as meeting breaks.
Announcements which directly solicit funds will be prohibited.
Religious announcements, advertising or announcements relating to
political campaigns will be prohibited. (Announcements which
promote non-profit agency fundraising events, however, are
permitted. ) Endorsements of privately sponsored products or
services are prohibited. Lottery anouncements are prohibited.
Political announcements not endorsed by the Santa Monica eity
Council are also prohibited. If an announcement is deemed
inappropriate for air, the sponsoring agency may submit the
announcement to a city Manager-appointed review committee for
reconsideration.
Training Tapes
All non-cable oriented internal programming, such as City
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training tapes or presentation tapes shall be paid for by the
requesting agency or department, if the cable division can
accommodate such requests for production services. The use of
eityTV equipment for internal use must receive prior approval by
the Cable TV Manager as prioritized for such use by the Assistant
City Manager.
Prohibited Programming
Commercial programming, or programs that do not meet CityTV
objectives are prohibited. Production of partisan political
programming . prohibited, and declared candidates for public
1S office may be refused production services if their appearance in
a program may be construed as electioneering unless they appear
in a forum in which all candidates have been given an opportunity
for equal time.
Future CityTV Projects/Productions
In order to determine community needs and interests, so that
CityTV can provide more stimulating programming, a viewer
ascertainment study will be conducted this year. The goals of
the research will be five fold: 1) to determine the demographic
make up of our current aUdience; 2) to determine the viewership
level of the channel; 3) to determine the subjects and kinds of
programs that viewers would prefer to watch on CityTV; 4) to
critique the current channel offerings and viewing hours, 5) to
promote CityTV to all viewers surveyed. Through the results of
this research, CityTV will seek to better serve and expand its
audience and include citizen input in future program planning.
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since CityTV has no regularly scheduled Spanish programming at
the current time, CityTV plans to add Spanish language programs
to the program line-up. Some future programming being developed
will address other critical issues such as affordable housing,
the mentally ill homeless, traffic and parking and growth and
development issues. One of the vehicles being considered to
raise these issues are community forums, documentaries and
televised debates. CityTV seeks to promote community discussion
and dialogue; to raise issues, rather than to necessarily
advocate a specific viewpoint.
Through program acquisition and local efforts, special evenings
devoted to global issues are being considered for later this year
depending upon survey results. Issues such as us-soviet
relations, apartheid, nuclear energy, wellness, health care
alternatives, the Social Security system, environmental issues
and peace issues are some subjects under consideration. When
developing these special programs, eityTv will attempt to include
a wide diversity of opinions. A disclaimer will precede programs
which do advocate a cause that "The views expressed in this
program are not necessarily endorsed by the city of Santa Monica
or this station". Live call-ins could then be designed to allow
viewers a chance to react to the programs just viewed.
CityTV Promotion
CityTV schedules are publ ished in Seascape regularly, and daily
program offerings are available on PEN. Individual CityTV
specials have also been promoted in the Evening Outlook. Century
Cable has included schedules in their cable guide. On-air
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program promotions also are aired on CityTV. On-air promotional
opportunities will increase this winter once the City's automated
playback system is installed.
It is proposed under the proposed new franchise agreement that
Century Cable will also provide regular bill stuffers promoting
CityTV and will run on-air promotions about our channel on other
cable TV channels.
Through visibility at community events, cityTV also promotes
itself. eityTV also has plans to develop its own viewer mailing
list, and to publish flyers, brochures, and distribute T-shirts
and other promotional materials.
PRODUeTION POLICIES
CityTV Production Requests
City departments, local non-profit agencies, council members and
Commission members are encouraged to submit program proposals or
requests for production services. The general public may also
suggest production ideas. All requests will be prioritized by
the Cable TV Manager in conjunction with the Assistant eity
Manager. Such prioritization will be based upon:
(1) the appropriateness of the material for production
(2) the availability of staff and resources to complete the
project in a high quality manner within the time frame
and budget available
(3) an assessment of the expertise of staff available to
produce the project or projects
(4) the community benefit derived through the program
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Final creative editorial control of all programs rests with the
CityTV staff program producer as sanctioned by the Cable TV
Manager. Sponsoring agencies/City departments may approve
programs for content and accuracy.
City Staff or requesting agencies may participate in all phases
of the technical side of the production provided that they have
permission from their supervisor to do so; have received
technical training in equipment operation; and can prove their
proficiency to the satisfaction of CityTV staff. CityTV staff
shall provide some training when possible, and may require
participation in regular production training sessions to those
city staff members who wish to produce their own programs. All
equipment scheduling must be approved by the Cable TV Manager or
his/her designee.
City departments and agencies may be required to pay for
production services.
City TV eontract Producers
CityTV may contract with independent producers to perform
production services. Contractors are responsible to obtain
written releases from performers or performance groups taped to
appear in eityTV programs. eontractors and their staffs will not
be covered under the City'S Workers' eompensation Insurance. Use
of CityTV equipment by an outside contractor or their designee is
at their own risk. eon tractors will be responsible to cover
costs of damage to eityTV equipment unless they can prove that
such damage was through no fault of their own. Accidental damage
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that was not caused by improper or unauthorized use of equipment
will be covered by the City's liability insurance. Contractors
will be expected to use equipment in a safe and secure manner at
all times. The City reserves the right to cancel a contract if
City equipment is mishandled or improperly used or if a
contractor misrepresents cityTV through a lack of professionalism
on the job. Contract producers are expected to meet production
deadlines, when so established and will be paid through a
negotiated rate for services rendered. eontractors are expected
to read and understand all provisions of the CityTV guidelines
and policies.
CityTV Volunteers
CityTV solicits community volunteers on a continual basis.
Volunteers serve a wide range of functions at eityTV depending
upon a volunteer's talents, abilities and hours of availability.
Volunteers can be writers, producers, directors, production
assistants, camera operators, sound recordists, lighting
specialists, grips, on-camera talent graphic artists, or editors.
Many volunteers begin as interns and are provided with
considerable on-the-job training opportunities.
Volunteers come from all walks of life and have a variety of
talents to offer CityTV. Community volunteers have often
participated in new program development. A group of older
residents, for example, have participated on a regular basis in
the production of "Getting Up There" the senior magazine program.
There's also a volunteer group developing children's programming.
New parents have aided in the production of the Babyhood series.
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To apply to be a volunteer, prospective volunteers call the
production office to schedule an appointment or come to an
orientation session.
Meetings Coverage/Elected Officials
All coverage of official government meetings, such as public
hearings, commission meetings or eity eouncil meetings will be
provided from gavel to gavel without editing, except when: ( l)
technical difficulties interfere or (2) brief excerpts are used
to illustrate an issue in a eityTV produced documentary program.
The format of a meeting's coverage will be to shoot either the
person talking, a wide shot, or the person chairing the meeting.
Single cut aways of individuals who are not speaking will be
avoided. Audience shots and cutaways will be prohibited during
Council meetings unless the audience member has been recognized
to speak or perform by the Council. Camera angles and lighting
will be designed so that they are consistent. An audio feed may
be simulcast with KCRW in the case of City Council meetings. A
VHS Record of the meetings will be available through the public
library for community use. ei tyTV will maintain an additional
VHS copy of city eouncil meetings for 6 months. The 3/4" copies
of meetings will be erased one month after the meeting. If an
outside producer wishes to obtain a copy of a City eouncil
meeting, all eouncil Members must grant permission for such
distribution requests. An administrative release form will be
developed to obtain Council permission.
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Performers
Talent Rights and Releases and Program Duplication
All performers who participate in eityTv programs (or parents of
minors who appear) must sign release forms. A manager of a
performing group may sign on behalf of a group. eitizens or
government officials who participate in documentaries or factual
type programs are not required to sign releases.
Performers who participate in a CityTV program may negotiate one
gratis VHS copy of the final edited program prior to their
participation in the taping of such a program with the consent of
the eable TV Manager. In some situations, a 3/4" tape copy may
be provided. It is not the policy of eityTV to provide unedited
masters to performers, unless this is negotiated in a special
written contract prior to taping.
Volunteer program participants, or outside agencies may also be
eligible to receive a VHS copy of a program in which they
provided a substantial role as deemed by Cable Division staff.
Requests for gratis VHS dubs must be approved by the Cable TV
Manager. When at all possible, attempts should be made to record
programs off-the-air. Additional copies of programs may be
provided to requestors at fees established by Council resolution.
Rights for Use of Copyright Materials
CityTV producers or contractors are responsible for obtaining
rights and permission for use of copywritten materials in their
productions - unless such use may be deemed "fair use" under U.s.
copyright law.
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Use of cityTV Equipment
All use of CityTV production equipment must be authorized by the
Cable TV Manager. outside projects may be produced using CityTV
equipment under the following conditions:
(1) as a trade for production services or equipment rental .
(2) when the resulting program will directly benefit eityTV
cable residents as deemed by the Cable Manager and
Assistant City Manager.
(3) a public access co-production deemed appropriate by the
Cable TV Manager.
(4) non-commercial outside projects of an educational or
artistic nature billed at established production rental
rates established by Council resolution.
(5) Outside use of CityTV equipment will be authorized only
when it does not interfere with the production of CityTV
programs at the convenience of eityTv during the late night
hours and other underbooked times.
Commercial use of the eityTV facility is prohibited, unless rates
are established for said use. Commercial use is defined as "the
production of a video project designed to promote or sell a
product or service created for profit or to promote a political
candidate for public office."
CityTV Program Rights
All cityTV programs, (except co-productions agreed upon in
advance) shall be copyrighted by the City of Santa Monica and may
be distributed by City TV to other television outlets.
Unauthorized use of CityTV programs is prohibited. CityTV
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program distribution must receive the approval of the Cable TV
Manager. Revenues derived through the sale or distribution of
CityTV programs would be returned to the eable Fund to defray the
costs of production expenses.
outside projects for which CityTV provides production support may
in some cases allow independent producers to own rights to their
programs, provided that if funds are raised through distribution
Ci tyTV may be reimbursed proportionately based on the level of
in-kind support granted.
Funding or Underwriting
Producers will be encouraged to seek outside funds or in-kind
support for CityTV programs whenever feasible to help defray
staff costs and equipment rentals as long as such solicitations
for funds are approved by the eable TV Manager and the Assistant
City Manager. A brief underwriter credit, in the form of the
name and address of the sponsoring company and a mention of the
product or service they provide may be used as either an opening
or closing credit or may appear in a listing of "thank yousIf in a
closing credit graphic. The sponsoring company may also
participate as a program consultant or guest as long as they do
not promote their company's goods or services during the program.
outside Project Funds
All funds derived from the use of Cable Division
equipment/trained staff or program services, will be used to
support division operations and will be placed into the cable
enterprise fund, for reimbursement to CityTV tor production
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expenses such as staff costs, replacement equipment, equipment
maintenance, equipment rentals, or production supplies.
REVIEW PROeESS
When complaints are received regarding the content of acquired
tapes or locally produced programs, a review process may be
initiated by staff, to reexamine the appropriateness of a given
tape for CityTV. A review committee, appointed by the City
Manager, would then decide whether or not to remove the program
from the video library.
Prepared by: Lynne C. Barrette, Assistant city Manager
Laura Greenfield, Cable TV Manager
(guidlne2)
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