CHANNEL ACCESS
A. Available Channels
There are up to four community access channels and several Institutional Network channels required by the Comcast franchise. These channels are for public, educational, government, or special purpose access.
1) Channel Assignment
Public, educational, or government access programming shall be scheduled by CTSCC staff for cablecast on the appropriate access channel(s). In some cases, programs may be scheduled on more than one access channel. For example, a public access program produced by youth might also be appropriate for cablecast on an educational access channel.
B. Submitting and Scheduling Access Programs
Access producers may submit completed access programs and must complete a Compliance Contract and a Playback Request Form at designated locations within the access facility. Access producers who want copies of their completed access program must obtain dubs prior to submitting the program for scheduling. CTSCC staff may need to schedule programs a minimum of three weeks in advance of cablecast in order to include them in TV listings. The access producer may request specific cablecast dates and times, and CTSCC staff will attempt to match the requests as closely as possible. Qualified public access programs will be televised at least once, while repeats of a program will be scheduled at staff discretion.
1) Compliance Contract and Playback Request Form
Any program submitted for scheduling must be accompanied by a signed Compliance Contract and Playback Request Form. Any minor must have an adult co-signer. The party signing the Compliance Contract assumes liability for program content and warrants that the program does not contain any of the following:
a. any advertising or material that promotes any commercial product or service or lottery, or programs labeled as "paid political announcements";
b. any unlawful use of copyrighted material; (If the submitter is not the copyright holder of the program, he or she must provide evidence, in writing, of permission to cablecast on our channels on an unlimited basis.)
c. any material that is libelous, slanderous or otherwise defamatory of character; or material that is an unlawful invasion of privacy;
d. any material that violates state or federal law relating to obscenity;
e. any material that violates state or federal law relating to "hate speech";
f. any direct solicitation or appeal for funds, except as permitted by the Board of Directors of CTSCC;
g. any material that violates local, state or federal laws.
2) Potentially Objectionable Program Content
CTSCC requires that producers provide notice to cable viewers in the event that their program contains potentially objectionable content. Potentially objectionable content includes:
• excessive profane language
• excessive nudity
• explicit sexual activity
• extreme physical violence or degradation
• graphic depiction of medical procedures
If any program includes any of the aforementioned elements, a viewer advisory must be included immediately prior to the beginning of the program stating:
"The following program contains material that some viewers may find objectionable or inappropriate."
The viewer advisory must be read aloud and displayed on screen for 15 seconds. Responsibility for including the viewer advisory rests with the program's producer or local sponsor. Programs with viewer advisories will be scheduled after 11:00 PM. For programs with potentially objectionable content, a producer or local sponsor who submits the program without a viewer advisory is subject to the sanctions outlined in VI.B.1.
3) Scheduling Priorities
In scheduling programs on the community access channels, first priority is given to programs produced within Santa Cruz County. Second priority is given to programs that are produced elsewhere but have a sponsor from Santa Cruz County.
4) Series Programs
An access producer who submits programming on a regular basis will be granted a series time slot after three programs are submitted for cablecast in compliance with the provisions outlined in the Compliance Contract and Playback Request Form. Such access producer must produce one new program per month to maintain the series slot. More than one series time slot may be granted based on channel time availability. All such scheduling shall be done on a quarterly basis. Quarters begin on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1.
Studio series producers may reserve a transitional studio time slot depending on the length of their program and the availability of the time slot. A list of currently available slots is available from staff.
TRANSITIONAL SLOTS: Available for six months. If the slot has not been requested by a new producer by the fifth month, the show may automatically maintain that time slot for another six months.
PERMANENT SLOTS: Booked indefinitely, available only to programs with one year of regular production. When an existing show ceases regular production, the slot will become transitional.
5) Live Programs
An access producer may request a time slot for a live program no less than three weeks and no more than 13 weeks in advance. Producers must demonstrate an ability to handle the complexity
of doing a live show before permission will be granted.
C. Videotape Retention/Pickup
Videotapes submitted by users will be retained at CTSCC's playback tape storage area for a period of ninety (90) days following their last scheduled cablecast. Tapes left in the access facility for thirty (30) days following written notification for pick-up become the property of CTSCC. Tapes submitted for playback without paperwork become the property of CTSCC after 30 days.
D. Videotape Erasure
Community access programming on CTSCC tape stock is subject to erasure following the last scheduled playback on the community access channels. Producers who have programs on loaned tape stock must have their copies made prior to submitting the program for scheduling.
E. The Access Archives
Programs produced through CTSCC may be selected for the Access Archives. Such programs document unique community events or perspectives of social and/or historical value.
F. Technical Standards
Programs submitted for cablecast must meet CTSCC technical standards. A list of technical standards is available at the access facility. In cases where CTSCC finds that a videotape is technically unacceptable for cablecast, staff will return the videotape to the producer and advise on how the problem can be corrected or avoided in the future.
G. Acknowledgment of Program Sponsors and Program Underwriting Guidelines
The policies and procedures detailed below may be waived in specific cases by the Executive Director for due cause, but shall otherwise generally be followed. In cases where these policies and procedures are suspended, supporting documentation shall detail the reasons for such suspension. A Producer or Provider is required to submit any request for a waiver in writing in advance for review by staff.
An access producer may give credit to an individual, company, or organization that underwrites any of the program's production costs.
Sponsorship: Sponsorship is defined as a contribution (money, goods or services) made by an individual, company or organization toward the cost of a member’s production. (i.e. You have a surf show and a surf store gives you money and some t-shirts in exchange for you putting a sponsorship spot at the end of your show).
CTSCC encourages local producers to solicit outside underwriting support, in order to help stimulate the highest quality programs possible. CTSCC will permit program funders or underwriters to receive acknowledgment of their support of non-commercial cable programming on local access channels Comcast 25-27 and Charter 71-73. CTSCC recommends coordination with the Executive Director in securing underwriters, to help prevent multiple producers from approaching the same sponsor for funding.
Permitted:
• A fifteen (15)-second announcement per underwriter at beginning or end of program
• Factual information about the underwriter, including: location, product name, and description of services. Credits may contain a phone number or Web site address.
• A single fifteen (15)-second request for underwriting at the end of the program
Prohibited:
• Calls to action such as "buy, try, consider, or call this or that"
• Comparative statements, qualitative adjectives or any subjective evaluations, such as "the best pizza"
• Music or audio elements not in keeping with the overall tone of the program
Sample underwriting acknowledgments:
• "This program was made possible by a grant from xxx"
• "Local presentation of xxx was made possible by xxx"
• "This program has been brought to you by xxx"
• "We'd like to thank xxx for their contribution making this program
possible"
Each underwriter may be acknowledged no longer then fifteen seconds each time at the beginning or end of the program. Total underwriting acknowledgments may be no longer than two minutes per hour of programming, or one minute per half-hour.
Pieces less than ten minutes in length may give a visual credit or thank you to sponsors but may not give a 15-second underwriting announcement. To recognize contributions or donations, CTSCC may acknowledge underwriters between regularly scheduled and special programs during program breaks.
CTSCC staff is available by appointment to provide advice on approaching potential underwriters.
H. Reimbursement of Underwriting Funds
In the event of any underwriting agreement, CTSCC shall receive fifteen percent (15%) of only those underwriting funds totaling over one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per production (inclusive of goods and services).
1. In addition, if a program not produced by CTSCC does contain underwriting credits, the Producer/Provider must provide staff with signed agreements from each credited underwriter with the following information:
i. Producer/Provider’s Name
ii. Name of program
iii. Amount of payment (inclusive of goods and services)
iv. The following statement:
"I understand that any financial or other support that I have given to the above Producer/Programmer is for support of the program listed.
I understand further that the Producer/Programmer is not an agent or representative of CTSCC and that the program I am supporting is strictly the Producer's responsibility and expression. I understand that I may receive an underwriting credit, but will not receive commercial advertising including the promotion of products or services."
v. Name of underwriter (individual or business)
vi. Signature of underwriter
vii Date of signature
Appropriate signed agreements must be provided prior to the telecast of any show with underwriting credits.
Failure of a producer to have an underwriting agreement in place would be a major violation.
J. Community Announcements
CTSCC accepts non commercial announcements in text form from com-munity groups and organizations for display on the community access channels. Guidelines for community announcements are available.