Policies and Procedures

Download CCTV's Operating Policy and Procedures (PDF).

CONTRA COSTA TELEVISION (CCTV)

OPERATING POLICY AND PROCEDURES

MISSION: Contra Costa Television (CCTV), A Governmental/Educational Access channel, is a public service of the Board of Supervisors committed to producing and televising quality programming on issues of countywide interest or concern.

A. PURPOSE OF ACCESS AND ELIGIBILITY
1. Governmental Access is intended to make cable available for use by local governments. Access is made available upon requests submitted in accordance with the established criteria and procedure herein, to:a. Local government bodies and agencies (other than educational), including their advisory boards, commissions, and committees, located in Contra Costa County for use in connection with official government activities.

b. State and Federal government bodies and agencies (other than educational) for use in connection with their official government activities that affect the interests of the citizens of Contra Costa County.

c. Officials and representatives of the above for use in their official government activities. This includes State and Federal legislators who represent the districts in Contra Costa County.

However, use of government access for political advertising or to promote or oppose a candidate for public office is not permissible Government Access use.

2. Educational Access is intended for use by local public educational institutions for transmission of instructional programming and other educational purposes. Access is made available, upon request submitted in accordance with the criteria and procedures herein, to: a. Educational institutions and authorities located in Contra Costa County.

b. State educational authorities and agencies.

c. Officials and representatives of the above.

The purpose of the use must be transmission of public instructional programming or for other educational purposes.

B. GOVERNMENTAL / EDUCATIONAL ACCESS REQUESTS
1. Request for Use of CCTV Airing Time, Facilities or Equipment: Requests must be made in writing by an eligible applicant to the Director of the Office of Communications & Media. Program requests should be made on Form A (attached).

2. Charge for Use of CCTV Airing Time, Facilities or Equipment: CCTV will not charge eligible applicants for the use of channel time, facilities or equipment when the applicant is producing a program for airing on the Governmental/Educational Access channel.

C. PROGRAM REVIEW
1. Evaluation Criteria: Programs submitted from eligible applicants for airing on CCTV will be evaluated to determine if the proposed program is:a. of countywide interest,b. of a governmental or educational nature,c. of broadcast quality, and

d. within acceptable community standards and mores.

D. PROGRAM CONTENT
1. Program Criteria: Program content will be reviewed for the following: a. The program shall contain no obscene or indecent matter; b. The program shall contain no libelous or slanderous matter; c. The program shall contain no matter, the use of which is subject to copyright, except where the applicant demonstrates compliance with applicable laws; d. Except as provided in "f" below the program shall contain no commercial matter. "Commercial matter" shall include: (I) any advertising material designed to promote the sale of any products or services, including advertising by or behalf of candidates for public office; (ii) any audio or visual reference to any business enterprises, service or product for which any economic consideration was received by anyone in exchange for the display, announcement and/or reference to such business, enterprise, product or service, or (iii) any material used or designed for use to solicit funds, support or other property of value, directly or indirectly, for any business or enterprise for commercial purposes, or for any political party or candidate for office; and

e. The program shall contain no advertisement of or information concerning any lottery, gift enterprise, or similar scheme offering prizes drawn or awarded by means of any such lottery, gift enterprise or scheme, whether said list contains any part or all of such prizes.

f. It is recognized that grants and/or other types of support may be made available to individuals, groups or entitles for the purpose of underwriting the cost of production. In such instances, a standard "patron's acknowledgment" may be placed at the end of the subject presentation (e.g., "This program was made possible by a contribution from the XYZ Corporation").

E. USE OF PRODUCTION FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
1. Scheduling Use of the Production Facility and/or Equipment:Following approval by the Director of the Office of Communications & Media of a request to use the facility or equipment, and subject to availability, the Production Manager will be responsible for scheduling the use of the facility and equipment on a first-come, first-serve basis. Users will be required to sign the appropriate form(s).

2. Responsibility for the Production Facility and/or Equipment: The individual or group using the facility will bear all costs for repairing any damage done to the facility during their use. The individual or group checking out the equipment will bear all costs if the equipment must be repaired or replaced due to damage, theft or abuse. CCTV may refuse to allow use of the facility or equipment to individuals or groups who have misused the facility or equipment, failed to return equipment on time, or in any way abused the privilege.

3. Rental of Facility: In the event that groups other than governmental or educational request use of the facility to produce programming or an eligible governmental or educational group requests use of the facility to produce a program which can not be aired on CCTV, either group will be subject to procedures detailed in the County Administrative Bulletin entitled "County Services" No. 3.1 dated 10/9/74 including any subsequent amendments thereto. These groups will be required to pay the appropriate rental fees and sign the "Temporary Permit to Use County Facility" Form.

F. CCTV SERVICES
1. Tape and DVD Duplication: For a reasonable fee, CCTV can make duplications of material that has been produced by CCTV or can be duplicated under provisions of fair use. (See "Rate Card."or "Duplication Request Form.")2. Production Services: CCTV is available to provide production services on an "as available" basis. A production agreement will be drafted and signed by both parties and reviewed by County Counsel. A reasonable rate, sufficient to cover County costs and overhead, will be charged pursuant to the policies described in Section E, "Use of County Facilities," above.

G. PROGRAMMING DURING AN ELECTION CYCLE
1. Voter Education Forums: Within an election cycle, 45 days immediately before a primary or special election or 60 days immediately before a general election on which a candidate/issue may appear, only independent, inclusive events which cover or affect a large portion of the County may be aired where: a. All candidates/sides are invited to participate; b. An independent moderator leads the program; c. Questions are not pre-screened unless the event is covered live; (For live coverage, indecent or obscene questions cannot be aired.) and

d. The event is open to the public with occasional restrictions due to limited space.

2. Candidate Appearances: Within the above stated election cycles, no event coverage may be aired where a candidate appears as a participant, unless the event is part of the candidate's official governmental duties.

H. APPEALS PROCESS
1. Written Appeal: In the event an applicant wishes to appeal the decision of the Director of the Office of Communications & Media to deny the request, a written appeal can be made, within ten days after the initial request has been denied, to the County Administrator with a copy to the Director of the Office of Communications & Media.

If the County Administrator denies the appeal, a written appeal for review of the request can be made, within ten days after such subsequent denial, to the Board of Supervisors with a copy to the County Administrator and the Director of the Office of Communications & Media.