MARCH 29, 2005 RPV CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL 33 - City of RPV Public Television Production Request MARCH 29, 2005 RPV CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL 33 - City of RPV Public Television Production Request

TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL

FROM: CITY ATTORNEY

DATE: MARCH 29, 2005

SUBJECT: RPV CABLE TELEVISION CHANNEL 33

RECOMMENDATION

Approve policies and procedures for production, programming and operation of RPV Cable Television Channel 33.

DISCUSSION

The following documents, prepared by Gabriella Holt, Manager RPV Public Television Productions, and reviewed by the City Attorney, are attached for the Council’s consideration:

  1. Interim Production, Programming and Operational Policies and Procedures for RPV-CTV Channel 33
  2. RPV-CTV Video Bulletin Board Guidelines
  3. RPV-CTV Channel 33 Underwriting and Sponsorship Guidelines
  4. Cox Communications Franchise Authority Production Request Form
  5. City of Rancho Palos Verdes Public Television Production Request
  6. City of Rancho Palos Verdes Public Television Post Production Request

 

Respectfully submitted:

Carol Lynch

City Attorney

Reviewed:

Les Evans

City Manager

Attachments:

Interim Production, Programming and Operational Policies and Procedures for

RPV-CTV Channel 33

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of these Production, Programming and Operational Policies and Procedures is to define the function of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes Educational Access Channel 33 {RPV City TV (RPV-CTV CH 33)}, provide direction to City staff, and assist the public in understanding the services offered by RPV-CTV.

II. MISSION AND GOALS FOR RPV-CTV

    1. RPV-CTV is designated as an educational access channel, as provided for in the 1996 Cable Act and the franchise agreement between the City of Rancho Palos Verdes ("City" or "RPV") and COX Communications ("Cox").
    2. The mission and goals of RPV-CTV are: (1) to provide educational programming and useful information, which is of particular value to the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes, in programs that are produced or commissioned by the City, and (2) to provide educational opportunities for students to learn pre-production, production and post-production of programs that are to be broadcast on cable television.

III. CHANNEL PROGRAMMING

A. Programming Responsibility

    1. The City reserves the right to program RPV-CTV Channel 33 in accordance with the mission and goals identified above.
    2. All RPV Television Programs shall comply with these policies and procedures, other applicable rules of the City, and applicable Federal and State regulations.

    1. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes shall follow all FCC guidelines regarding programming on RPV-CTV and assure that all rights and clearances regarding licenses and copyrights have been secured.

4. Any disagreement with a programming decision shall be presented first to the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions ("Manager"). If the Manager is unable to resolve the issue in a manner that is satisfactory to the affected party, an appeal may be made to the RPV-CTV Cable Sub-Committee, which is comprised of two Members of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council and will make the final decision regarding the appeal.

B. Programming Categories

All programming on RPV-CTV shall be produced or commissioned by the City and shall fall within at least one of the following categories:

1. Educational Programs: Programming produced by a local educational institution in response to a request from the City.

2. Community Information/Public Affairs: Programming produced or commissioned by the City that provides information about City government or issues of local interest to the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes. Examples include, but are not limited to:

Crime Prevention

Environmental Issues

Public Safety/Emergency Preparedness/Neighborhood Watch

Local Talk Show regarding City government or issues of local public interest

 

3. Governmental Decision Making: Programming which provides direct coverage of the deliberations of elected or appointed legislative bodies of the City, as well as coverage of selected public issues forums. Examples of programming in this category include, but are not limited to:

RPV City Council Meetings

Election Coverage/Candidates’ Forums

RPV Commission and Committee Meetings

Public Issue Forums

4. Cooperative/Community Programming: Programming produced or commissioned by the City in cooperation with other organizations, which contains useful information or that celebrates the achievements and accomplishments of Rancho Palos Verdes residents. Examples include, but are not limited to:

School Events/Information

Performing Arts

Recreation Activities

Unique Ceremonies

Health Organizations Information

Community Special Events

  1. Programming Guidelines

    1. All programming on RPV-CTV must either be produced or commissioned by the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions. All programming on RPV-CTV must support the channel’s mission and goals.

    2. All programming on RPV-CTV must fall within one of the channel’s programming categories, which are described in Paragraph B above.

    3. All programming on RPV-CTV must be of local interest and provide a community benefit.

    4. The Manager of RPV Public Television Productions, in consultation with the RPV Cable Subcommittee, shall allocate programming time among the programming categories. The City Council reserves final authority to prioritize RPV-CTV programming.

    5. The City of RPV shall archive video media of all aired programs for a minimum of two (2) years from the date of production. Tapes may be transferred to VHS or DVD format for storage purposes.

    6. Any City department may sponsor or co-sponsor a programming proposal from the community that complies with the mission and goals of RPV-CTV and these policies and procedures.

    7. The City may commission other media, municipalities and agencies to acquire and/or provide programming that meets the mission and goals of RPV-CTV.

    8. Public issue forums or debates carried on RPV-CTV must relate to the channel’s mission and offer a balanced perspective on the issues. Use of RPV-CTV by individuals seeking public office or reelection is prohibited unless they are participating in a public issue forum or debate.

    9. Duplication of tapes of original programming produced solely by RPV-CTV is possible, upon request, for a fee (see City fee schedule), and with the permission of the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions. Duplicates will be made available within two (2) weeks of receipt of the request and upon payment. One (1) complimentary copy of a tape will be provided, upon request, to the organizer of an event that is taped by RPV-CTV.

    10. All programming produced for RPV-CTV shall be copyrighted and may only be reproduced for personal, non-commercial home use by individuals. Retransmission or any unauthorized use of RPV-CTV programming (in part or whole) is strictly forbidden without the written consent of the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions. If a program was produced by any other person or entity in response to a request from the City, that person or entity’s written permission also must be obtained.

D. Prohibited Programming

The following types of programming shall be prohibited on RPV-CTV:

    1. Programming that does not comply with the mission and goals of RPV-CTV or these guidelines.

    2. Programming that violates FCC guidelines regarding governmental or educational television including: commercial/for-profit making programming, trade or business announcements, obscene, indecent, libelous or slanderous speech, lottery information or other illegal content.

    3. Programming that promotes political candidates, issues or viewpoints other than during a debate or forum. A political candidate is one who has filed declaration of candidacy papers by the close of the legal filing date for that respective elected office.

    4. The City reserves the right to refuse to transmit all or any portion of a program that promotes any activity which is illegal under City, State or Federal law or violates any of these procedures or guidelines.

 

IV. VIDEO BULLETIN BOARD

The Video Bulletin Board is designed to provide a source of timely information about a variety of upcoming educational and non-commercial community events, which will be displayed on the RPV-CTV video bulletin board system.

    1. Video Bulletin information shall be displayed throughout the cablecast area (see Section V) on Channel 33, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, except at those times when other programming has been scheduled by the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions, or when the channel is experiencing technical difficulties.

    2. A City of RPV Video Bulletin Request Form must be used when submitting messages for display on the Channel 33 Video Bulletin Board. The form can be obtained from the RPV/PVN Multimedia Studio or City Hall. The Manager of RPV Public Television Productions will make every effort to include all messages that comply with these policies and procedures on the Video Bulletin Board, but inclusion is not guaranteed.

    3. Guidelines for use and submission requirements are included on The City of RPV Video Bulletin Request form. All requests shall be submitted to the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions at least 14 days prior to the requested air date. (See City Video Bulletin Board rate card)

    4. Should an error result in the cablecast of incorrect information, neither the City of Rancho Palos Verdes nor its employees or agents shall be responsible or liable for the inaccuracy of the information or for actions taken by anyone as a result of the inaccurate information.

    5. The City reserves the right to refuse to transmit all or any portion of a message that promotes any activity which is illegal under City, State or Federal law or which violates these procedures and guidelines.

    6. A disagreement with a decision concerning the use of the Video Bulletin Board shall be presented first to the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions. If the Manager is unable to resolve the dispute in a manner that is satisfactory to the affected party, an appeal may be made to the RPV-CTV Cable Subcommittee, which will make the final decision regarding the appeal.

V. CHANNEL 33 CABLECAST AREA

As determined by COX Communications, as specified in its franchise agreement with the City, COX cable customers residing within the boundaries of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a portion of the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, and San Pedro, as defined by franchise, are within the Channel 33 cablecast area.

VI. EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Channel 33 may be used at any time for the purpose of governmental emergency communications and responses. In these cases, direction will be taken from the procedures outlined in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes Emergency Plan.

VII. PROGRAMMING AUTHORITY

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes reserves the right to refuse a request for cable programming or operations which is illegal under City, State or Federal law or is in violation of the mission and goals for RPV-CTV.

VIII. OPERATIONAL AGREEMENT WITH PV ON THE NET

All operational policies and procedures regarding the technical support and operation, and airing, of programming, including production and post production activities, shall be governed by the agreement between the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and PV on the Net. Use of the RPV/PVN Multimedia Studio shall be specified in the Use Agreement between the City of RPV and PV on the Net.

  1. SPONSORSHIP/UNDERWRITING

Sponsorship/Underwriting for Channel 33 shall be encouraged. All sponsorship/underwriting activities shall comply with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes rate card and sponsorship/underwriting policies and procedures.

 

"The Key to Your City…RPV-CTV Channel 33"

 

RPV-CTV Video Bulletin Board Guidelines

The RPV-CTV Video Bulletin Board on COX’s cable television system Channel 33 is a public service provided primarily to the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes for information regarding upcoming educational, governmental, and non-commercial, community events on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. To use the Bulletin Board you must be representing a local educational institution, a resident of RPV (90275) or a fulltime student residing within the PVPUSD school district boundaries. The message will appear as a rolling text during the Bulletin Board broadcasting schedule.

Please help us by reading and following these guidelines.

  1. Submit only non-commercial messages:

RPV-CTV will only accept messages that promote an upcoming event at a local educational institution or an upcoming non-commercial event that will be held on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Any message that promotes a product or a commercial service, event or enterprise will not be accepted.

RPV-CTV will not accept a message promoting the candidacy of a particular person or "ticket," nor will it accept a message which promotes a particular side of a political or controversial issue. A Non-Partisan message that promotes participation in the election process, such as encouraging individuals to vote, or an announcement of an upcoming debate will be accepted.

2. Frequency and Lifespan of Messages.

Only one message per week will be accepted per person and/or organization. If you have more than one announcement within a week, please combine them into the same request.  Your message will be pulled after six (6) days of play, or sooner if you've requested it, or if the timeliness of the announcement has expired. You may repeat the message for an additional three (3) weeks, but the message must remain unchanged. If you want the message to change during its run, you must submit a new Message Request Form.
To resubmit the exact same message for another run, the message will need to remain off the station for a time equal to the time it was broadcast on the station. Once that requirement has been met, you must submit a new request form.

3. Timeliness of Submission for Video Bulletin Request Form

The RPV-CTV Community Bulletin Board is updated by volunteers at least every two working weekdays, and more frequently, when possible. Therefore, please make sure this form is submitted at least FOURTEEN (14) days before you would like the message to be posted. Late submissions can only be handled on an if-possible, case-by-case basis. All requests are to be submitted to the Manger of RPV Public Television Productions.

4. Who's Responsible?

Although we will take all due care in transcribing your message from the Message Request Form the RPV-CTV Bulletin Board, we cannot be responsible for any harm arising from inaccuracies in your message, If we are notified of an error and it is our fault, we will correct it immediately. If you notify us of an error on your original form, we will change it as soon as we can.


We reserve the right to shorten, re-word, or in some cases delay in posting a message. RPV-CTV will strive for perfection, but we cannot guarantee that all systems will work perfectly all the time. We rely on volunteers to type in the messages, and our Manager of RPV Public Television Productions will strive to oversee that process with attentiveness. We can guarantee, however, that any complaints you have with RPV-CTV will be handled courteously and responsibly. (See RPV-CTV Programming, Production, and Operation Policies for complaint procedures)

    

(This form can be downloaded and delivered to City Hall or the RPV/PVN MM Studio or emailed to gholt@rpv.com)

 

Community Bulletin Board
Message Request

Enter your announcement in 30 words or less as it will appear on the TV screen. Use short phrases NOT complete sentences. Fewer words get the best results.

.

I want my message to begin
I want my message to end
Maximum 4 weeks

Comments:

Your Name:

 

Address:

 

Town:

Zip

 

Phone:

e-mail

 

Organization:

 

Org. Address:

 

Town:

Zip

 

Phone:

 

I live in the City of RPV (90275)

  • I represent an educational institution, which is _________________________.
  • I am a full time student residing in the PVPUSD boundaries
  • I represent the following non-commercial community event ___________________.
  • I understand will abide by RPV-CTV Video Bulletin Board Guidelines.

RPV-CTV Channel 33 Underwriting and Sponsorship Guidelines

Purpose

The purpose of the underwriting guidelines is to promote or to clearly identify the underwriter/sponsor, not to promote or sell its product or service.

Video

The following video effects are permitted as part of a sponsorship of a program that has been produced or commissioned by the City:

  1. Standard or existing corporate logos or slogans, either still or animated, which identify an entity but do not promote a product.
  2. One corporate mascot (such as the Exxon tiger) or other figure developed as a corporate (rather than product) symbol, accompanied by the company’s name.
  3. Business exteriors that represent the underwriter’s product/services (e.g., bank or hospital).
  4. Location information, such as street address or general reference to area served. The underwriter’s local or toll-free telephone number or "World Wide Web" address (but not both, to minimize clutter) are also permitted.

The following practices tend to convey a more "commercial" impression and may not be used:

  1. Products in use or operation for the purpose of demonstrating their capabilities.
  2. Packaged goods (such as food products) shown outside the container or package, or in a prepared state.
  3. Visual identification of tobacco products, distilled spirits, and firearms.
  4. Official spokesperson, company officials, directors or actors posing as "generic" employees.

Audio

The following audio techniques are acceptable:

  1. Identification of the name of the individual or entity.
  2. Location information, street address, or general reference to area served. The underwriter’s local or toll-free telephone number or "World Wide Web" address (but not both) are also permitted.
  3. Music and sound effects. However, lyrics sung to music may not be used.
  4. Examples of acceptable underwriting announcements:

"This program was made possible by a grant from ----------------."

"Local presentation of ------------------------- was made possible by ---------------."

"This program has been brought to you by ---------------, serving Rancho Palos Verdes for 25 years."

"We’d like to thank -----------------for their contribution to make this program possible."

The following audio techniques are not permitted:

  1. Comparative claims, such as donor acknowledgments that contain language comparing an underwriter’s products or services with those of competitors. Avoid words such as best, better, more, superior.

    2. Examples of acknowledgments that contain these impermissible comparative terms are:

    "Serving more cities than any other airline."

    "With more assets than any other bank in town."

    "Featuring the best products in town."

  2. Acknowledgments that contain qualitative descriptions of the underwriter’s product or services. Qualitative descriptions include words that describe the features, benefits, advantages, or other qualities offered by the underwriter’s product or service. Avoid words such as fine, excellent, tasty, or leading.

    3. Examples of acknowledgments that contain these qualitative descriptions are:

    "A leading supplier of automobiles."

    "With 20 convenient locations."

  3. Solicitations, such as announcements that contain a "call to action". Most "calls to action" contain a statement addressed directly to the viewers that tells them to take action.

    4. Examples of acknowledgments that contain "call to action" statements are:

    "Ask about our IRA."

    "Call us at 555-0000."

  4. Announcements containing price information. This includes interest rate information or other indications of savings or value associated with the product or service.

    5. Examples of pricing information are:

    "Office products at discount prices."

    "Making computer power affordable at every desk."

    "8.0% interest rate now available."

     

  5. Announcements that encourage the viewer to buy, sell, rent, or lease.

Examples:

"Six months of free service."

"Special gift for first fifty customers."

"Now offering free checking."

Other
  1. The credit for any one underwriter may not exceed 15 seconds. The credits sequence for all underwriters of a program may not exceed 60 seconds.
  2. An underwriting credits sequence may appear during the opening and closing credits of any program. For programs that are longer than one hour and fifteen minutes, an underwriting credits sequence may appear no more than once every 30 minutes.

City of RPV Public Television Production Request

(All Production Requests must be submitted to the Manager of RPV Public Television Productions for approval of any productions)

 

Requests must be submitted at least 21 days prior to the requested production date.

 

REQUEST DATE: PLAYBACK CHANNEL:

(Date request submitted)

REQUEST LOCATION: (check one)

PRODUCTION TITLE:

PRODUCTION TYPE: ___ PSA ___ 30 Min ___ Other (please specify)

CITY OF RPV DEPT. REQUEST: eg Planning GOV’T REQUEST: eg LA County

COMMUNITY REQUEST:

_____________________________ Approved________ Manager RPV Public Television Productions Date

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Shoot Date: Shoot Time:

Location Address:

Brief Description of Production:

Special Requests:

Producer/Director: Contact Number:

CREW REQUEST: (check one)

PV NET:_____ Other: (please specify)_______________________

Camera Operators: Additional Interns:

EQUIPMENT REQUEST:

Cameras: Batteries: Audio & Mics: Light Kit: Accessories:

TAPE REQUEST: ~ 4 hours of tape time for each production

    • Program Output (check one and specify Total Running Time)
      • DVD (TRT______)
      • VHS (TRT______)
      • Other (please specify)___________

 

*This form can be downloaded and emailed to gholt@rpv.com or hand delivered to RPV/PVN MM Studio or RPV City Hall.

Any questions contact Gabriella Holt, Manager RPV Public Television Productions

(310) 544-5392.

For more information about RPV-CTV 33 or the City of RPV log onto www.palosverdes.com/rpv.

 

City of RPV Public Television Post-Production Request

(All Edits shall be completed by the stated Date of Completion)

 

REQUEST DATE OF EDIT: PLAYBACK CHANNEL:

(Date request submitted)

DATE OF COMPLETION:

REQUEST LOCATION FOR EDIT: (check one)

PRODUCTION TITLE:

SERIES: eg RPV City Field Event, COX Franchise Production Req’t

CITY OF RPV DEPT. REQUEST: eg Planning GOV’T REQUEST: eg LA County

COMMUNITY REQUEST:

_____________________________ Approved________ Manager RPV Public Television Productions Date

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Edit Date: Edit Time:

Location Address:

Brief Description of Production and Edit Request:

Special Requests:

Length of Taped Program:

Length of Edited Program:

Producer/Director: Contact Number:

CREW REQUEST: (check one)

PV NET:_____ Other: (please specify)_______________________

Assigned Editor and Contact Information:_________________________________

Additional Interns:

TAPE REQUEST: ~ 4 hours of tape time for each production

  • Preferred Program Output and Total Running Time (check one)
    • DVD
    • VHS
    • Other (please specify)

POST PRODUCTION REQUESTED EDITED OUTPUT:

Label all outputted media:

 

 

Any questions contact Gabriella Holt, Manager RPV Public Television Productions

(310) 544-5392 or (310) 308-5439)