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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 Pegasys Policies and Procedures PE6ASYS ACCESS TELEVISION CENTER a service of Time Warner Cable Ithaca, NY Policies and Procedures Revised January 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. PEGASYS Basics 1 1. What is PEG Access Television? 2. What is PEGASYS? 3. PEGASYS Channel Line-up 4. Who is Eligible to Use PEGASYS? 5. PEGASYS Production Facilities 6. PEGASYS Support Services IL Training Offered at PEGASYS 3 1. What Courses Are Offered? 2. Course Requirements 3. Certification in production skills 4. Producer Certification Types III. Rules within the Access Building 4 1. Hours of Operation 2. General Building Rules 3. Production Areas IV. The Production Process 5 1. Pre-Production Planning 2. Production Crew 3. Reserving Production Time 4. Cancelling Production Time 5. Producer Liability V. Reserving Cablecasting Time 7 1. Cablecasting Sites and Hours of Availability 2. Rules for Different Program Categories 3. Cablecasting Priorities and Limits 4. Publicity 5. Cancelling Cablecasting Reservations 6. Program Sponsorship VL Program Requirements 10 1. Technical Standards 2. Producer Identification and Warnings 3. Content Restrictions VII. Videotape Policies 12 1. Videotape Dubbing 2. Videotape Storage 3. Program Ownership and Distribution VIII. Violations of PEGASYS Policies 13 1. Immediate Eviction 2. Major Violations 3. Minor Violations 4. Disciplinary Action 5. Probationary Sanctions IX. PEGASYS Bulletin Boards 15 1. The Community Bulletin Board 2. Governmental Bulletin Board X. Appendix 1. Producer Responsibilities Contract 2. PEGASYS Cablecasting Agreement 3. Optional Limited Liability Agreement 4. PEGASYS Sponsor Agreement Form 5. Additional Resources for PEG Access Users 6. Commercial Use of Access Facilities 7. PEGASYS Satellite Receiver Request Form 8. PEGASYS Authorization Form for Institutions PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 1 L PEGASYS BASICS L 1 What Is PEG Access Television? Time Warner Cable provides many exciting opportunities to produce programming of interest to this community and to present that programming on channels specially designated for PEG access use. PEG access is short for Public, Educational and Governmental access television. Individuals, groups of any size, schools and local governments can use the medium of cable television to communicate non-commercial messages throughout the cable system. Access channels reach about 26,000 subscriber households [about 67,000 residents] on Time Warner Cable's basic cable service in Tompkins County. Community access television is an opportunity to reach most homes in the city of Ithaca and many throughout Tompkins County with any size message, from announcements on our Community Bulletin Board to full-scale documentaries. Community access television requires one vital ingredient to make it come alive: you! I.2 What is PEGASYS? PEG access services are provided to residents by Time Warner Cable, which owns and operates the access system. Access channels are provided in accordance with the cable franchises between TWC, the City of Ithaca, and the other Towns and Villages of Tompkins County. Under the agreement between the City of Ithaca and TWC, TWC also provides a fully equipped and staffed Access Television Center for the creation of community access programming. The entire PEG Access System [or PEGASYS, for short] includes: -5 Public, Educational and Governmental access channels - the PEGASYS Television Center -certain off-site facilities,including a PEGASYS satellite dish and equipment at schools - connecting equipment to allow certain [I-NET]institutions to cablecast on PEGASYS channels L3 PEGASYS Channel Line-up Channel 13- Public Access I [for individuals and groups] Channel 15- Governmental Access [for government bodies] Channel 16-Educational Access [for schools and colleges] Channel 76 -Educational Access [SCOLA, a satellite-delivered foreign news service subscribed to by Ithaca College and Cornell University] Channel 78-Public Access II L4 Who is Eligible to Use PEGASYS? 1. To use PEGASYS channel time, you must be a resident of Tompkins County at least 18 years old. Proof of residence may be required. 2. To use PEGASYS production facilities, you must fulfill the requirements in #1, above. In addition, you must complete PEGASYS training and be certified by staff for all PEGASYS equipment to be used. 3. Minors: Minors are permitted to assist on video productions at PEGASYS when an adult who has completed certification as an access producer takes legal responsibility for and is present during all phases of the minor's facility use. Minors using the facilities under these guidelines must be at least 14 years old. One further exception is for school groups using designated PEGASYS educational access equipment at their school. The minimum age for students in such groups is 10. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg.2 I. PEGASYS BASICS [cont.] I.5 PEGASYS Production Facilities The PEGASYS Access Television Center is located at 612 West Green St., Ithaca, NY, adjacent to the business offices of Time Warner Cable. It houses a complete video studio, three fully equipped editing suites, a viewing / dubbing area, a graphics workstation and several types of portable video kits for use by community producers. Office space, cablecasting facilities and rest rooms complete the building. All areas are accessible to the handicapped. Studio 3 3-CCD Color Cameras; studio has Special Effects Generator, Time Base Correctors, Character Generator with disk drive, and videocassette recorders in a variety of tape formats. Audio system includes an 8-input mic mixer,audio cassette deck and CD player. Editing Suites Cuts-only editing system with Time Base Corrector, SEG and Character Generator. Audio system includes cassette deck, CD player and mic inputs. Several tape formats are supported. Viewing !Dubbing Area This area is available for pre- and post-production meetings of volunteer crews. It is also available for viewing and logging program material. It contains a Videotape Viewing Booth, holding a color monitor and videocassette recorders in a variety of formats. Portable Equipment 11 SVHS and Hi8 camcorder kits. Portable mics and lighting. 2 Mobile Studio Units, each with Special Effects Generator [SEG], audio mixer, and SVHS recording VCRs. These are used with camcorders to create mobile studios at off-site locations. 1 Field Production Package for long-term loan to schools, including 3 Hi8 camcorders and a portable editing unit. L6 PEGASYS Support Services Production Support Access staff are available to provide production and technical support to producers at all times. Tours PEGASYS is happy to offer tours for interested community members. A monthly orientation offers a tour to the general public. In addition, school or other groups may contact PEGASYS to schedule a group tour. Outreach Demonstrations PEGASYS will schedule on-site demonstrations upon request for school or other groups interested in using the Field Production Package or Mobile Studio Unit. PEGBoard PEGBoard is a newsletter for producers, students and friends of PEGASYS. It is issued 4 - 6 times per year. It includes features,tech tips and articles of interest to PEGASYS users. PEGASYS Awards The PEGASYS Awards is an annual video competition for PEGASYS producers held by Time Warner Cable. A celebration of the best in local PEG access programming, all producers are encouraged to contribute their best work to this competition, which culminates in an annual awards ceremony. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg.3 II. TRAINING OFFERED AT PEGASYS II.1 What Courses Are Offered? Two basic courses are offered: studio production and portable production [which includes video editing]. Training classes are offered monthly, about 11 times per year. Training class dates are announced in the local press. Training information is sent to any member of the public upon request. Advanced courses are also offered on an intermittent basis to those who have completed the basic training courses. These include Mobile Studio Unit Production, and advanced studio, portable and graphics techniques.There is also specialized training available for school groups. IL2 Course Requirements Training classes are free. No prior experience is required or assumed for the basic studio or portable courses. There is one pre-requisite: the student must demonstrate an intention to produce or participate in the production of access programming at PEGASYS. 11.3 Certification in Production Skills Volunteers are immediately certified to work with any piece of equipment for which they have attended the relevant training class. Volunteers who have not used their production skills for more than 6 months, or any volunteer who staff believe have not attained a minimum proficiency, may be required to refresh their knowledge by repeating video training classes or demonstrating proficiency to staff. Individuals with prior experience who wish to test out of a portion of the training course may arrange this with staff. 11.4 Producer Certification Types 1.New Producer To be certified as a producer, volunteers must have completed the training course requirements for the type of production (studio, portable and/or editing) their program will require, as well as demonstrated knowledge of PEGASYS policies. At this point, they are ready to begin their first program. While they are working on this program, they are considered a new producer. A staffperson acts as mentor during this period, and assists in pre-production planning and facility scheduling.Certain scheduling privileges are restricted. 2.Certified Producer After completing a first program, a new producer graduates as a certified producer. Certification as a producer at PEGASYS enables a volunteer to schedule production time to produce additional programs using any category of equipment [studio, portable/editing, mobile studio] for which they have been trained. The certified producer does his/her own pre-production planning and facility scheduling, with staff available for consultation as needed. 3.Executive Producer: It is possible for an individual who has not attended equipment training classes to produce programming at PEGASYS, provided s/he forms a production partnership with a technically trained producer. After completing certification on access policies,the non-technically-trained individual becomes an "executive producer." His/her technically-trained partner is called a "production manager." An executive producer may make production reservations, provided that the production manager and other trained crew actually operate PEGASYS equipment. An Executive Producer Request form, documenting this partnership agreement, must be on file for each production undertaken by an executive producer. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 4 III.RULES WITHIN THE ACCESS BUILDING III.1 Hours of Operation The PEGASYS Television Center has the following hours of operation: 3 - 11:30 pm daily. TWC may change these hours as necessary. PEGASYS will be closed during national and company holidays. II1.2 General Building Rules 1. Only individuals having legitimate business in the access center will be permitted in the building or parking lot. PEGASYS facilities are available for access production or production-related purposes only. Producers may bring guests as long as they take full responsibility for them at all times. 2. No smoking in the building. When smoking outside the building, use the ashtray provided. No littering. 3. No alcohol on Time Warner property. 4. Safeguard company property and services. 5. Cooperate with, and respect the rights of TWC employees and other individuals on company property. 6. Obey all parking instructions, reservation markings and parking space delineations, in the 612 lot. Parking in the 519 parking lot is for TWC vehicles only. No parking or loitering in the parking lot after hours.Vehicles left in the parking lot may be towed. 7. Quiet and orderly behavior should be maintained in the building and parking areas at all times. Some production areas are cubicles opening on a common space, and people working there may be disturbed by loud discussions. Outside, we are surrounded by a residential neighborhood which does not appreciate loud noise at night. Be courteous! 8. There is a telephone for volunteer use. Use of the phone is restricted to crew/guest contacts during scheduling and contacting rides home. Other uses of the phone may be made with staff permission only.Access staff are not to be used for personal messages. H1.3 Production Areas 1. No food or drink is permitted in any production area. 2. Leave the studio and equipment in the same condition as you found it. A staff check- out of the studio 10 minutes before the end of the reservation period is required. 3. Never attempt to repair any equipment. NO EXCEPTIONS. Report any equipment problems promptly to PEGASYS staff. 4. Arrive as scheduled for use of studio and equipment. Failure to arrive or call within 15 minutes of reservation start will forfeit a reservation. 5. Work in a manner that assures the safety of everyone on the premises, and the safety of all PEGASYS equipment. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 5 IV. THE PRODUCTION PROCESS IV.1 Pre-Production Planning 1. PEGASYS staff are available for pre-production planning consultations by appointment. All community producers are encouraged to use access staff to help them get the most from the PEGASYS production facilities. 2. Pre-production consultations with staff are required for first-time producers and for producers working under an Extended Project Completion Contract[see Sec.IV.3.4]. IV.2 Production Crew 1. Producers are responsible for organizing their own crews. PEGASYS keeps a regularly updated Volunteer Call List of volunteers trained in various production areas. Producers may not expect staff to serve as crew on their productions. 2. Minimum Crew Sizes: 1 person for camcorders. For the studio: a cameraperson operating each studio camera in use, plus at least one person in the control room. Unmanned cameras may be used with the permission of PEGASYS staff only. Staff will cancel on the spot any production observed to be proceeding without adequate crew. IV.3 Reserving Production Time 1. Reservation Procedure: Production reservations may be made during any part of the current 4 month scheduling season. New producers make reservations through staff. Certified producers make reservations on a self-serve computer system, using their own accounts and passwords. To reserve studio,editing,dubbing,or portable facilities you must: 1.be a certified or executive producer, with a current producer account and password. 2. have a current Producer Responsibilities Contract on file [see Appendix 1]. 3. have an individual or series project activated by staff. 4. add your reservation to appropriate facility calender,under your project account. 2. Production Time Limits and Priorities: Access production facilities time will be allocated on a first-come,first served basis. Limits on production reservation time per producer may be imposed to preserve availability of production facilities for all. Limits will be posted in the scheduling area. 3. Schedule Conflicts: In the event of a scheduling conflict, staff will try to resolve conflicts to all parties' satisfaction. Staff decisions will be final. 4. Completion Deadline This is the date by which a program must be completed and scheduled for cablecast. The default deadline is 30 days from the project creation date. Producers who wish to undertake a project which they foresee will take more than 30 days to complete may arrange for an extended deadline. To apply, the producer submits a proposal with a production timetable and script, and signs an Extended Project Completion Contract, stating the requested deadline and amount of production time needed. Such extensions are at staff discretion. 5. Transferring Production Time: Production reservations are not transferrable. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 6 IV. THE PRODUCTION PROCESS AND PROCEDURES 6. "Good Standing" Any certified producer may start one individual access project. But the following are considered special privileges,extended only to producers in "good standing": 1. to start more than one project at a time; 2.to schedule a taped program to be cablecast in advance of its actual completion; 3. to start or continue a program series. Producers are considered to be "not in good standing" if they have: 1. an incomplete project which is past its completion deadline 2. made an excessive number of cablecasting cancellations without sufficient notice. IV.4 Cancelling Production Reservations: 1. Sufficient Notice Cancellations with more than two weeks notice may be made at any time. 2. Short Term Cancellations of production reservations with 24 hours to two weeks notice are considered Short Term Cancellations. Up to 4 such cancellations may be made per 4-month calendar season without penalty. 3.Without Notice Cancellations with less than 24 hours notice is considered a "blowoff." 4. Cancellation Penalties Upon the fifth Short Term Cancellation in any season, or upon any "blowoff' within a calendar year,Disciplinary Action may be taken. IV.5 Producer liability 1. Producers are fully responsible and liable for any damage or loss to the facilities and equipment issued to them, except in the case of ordinary wear and tear, and mechanical breakdown through causes not the fault of the operator. TWC reserves the right to determine the proper course of treatment(repair or replacement) for damaged equipment, and to bill this amount to the responsible volunteer. 2. Terms of Payment: Payment of any repair or replacement fees shall be made in full no later than 30 days from the date of a bill from TWC stating the damage caused, the type of repair or replacement required, and the cost for such repair or replacement. A volunteer producer wishing to arrange for an extended payment plan for such a damage fee may contact the access office. An extended payment schedule may be made at TWC's discretion. If a damage fee remains unpaid and the producer has not obtained agreement on an extended payment plan within the 30 days following the receipt of a bill for damage, all rights to the use of PEGASYS facilities will be suspended until the bill is paid. 3. Limited Liability Option To give producers the opportunity to protect themselves from the results of an accident, TWC offers two optional limited liability plans for negligent damage to equipment Plan 1: $20.55 per year will limit the volunteer's liability for repair and/or replacement to$250 for each individual use of equipment. Plan 2: $34.23 per year will limit the volunteer's liability for repair and/or replacement of equipment to$125 for each individual use. These plans are a service for PEGASYS producers. They are in no way intended as a fee, nor are they required for use of PEGASYS facilities. The annual fee amounts are subject to increase along with increases in the Consumer Price Index. These plans are available to individual producers only,not to institutions with multiple users. [See Appendix 31 PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 7 V. CABLECASTING Any Tompkins County group, or resident over 18 years old, may submit programming to PEGASYS. Requests must be accompanied by a completed Cablecasting Agreement [See Appendix 2]and must meet the technical and content requirements in Section VI. V.1 Cablecasting Sites 1.PEGASYS TV Center:performs cablecasting for public and educational access 2. Tompkins County Courthouse: performs cablecasting for governmental access. 3. PEGASYS Satellite Receiver: A PEGASYS satellite dish is sited at the T-S-T BOCES, and is available to record,or retransmit live,programming for any PEG user. 4. I-NET or Remote Sites: Many I-NET sites may cablecast onto PEGASYS channels directly. Current active sites include: Ithaca City Hall, Tompkins County Courthouse, Ithaca High School, Boynton Middle School, Tompkins County Public Library, Cornell University, Ithaca College, Southside Community Center, GIAC, the Sciencenter and T-S-T BOCES. Public access producers may make arrangements to utilize these sites for public access cablecasts at each site administrator's discretion. [See Appendix 5] V.2 Rules for Different Program Categories 1. Channel Assignment Programming by individuals or groups will be scheduled on public (P) channels 13 or 78. Programs with Indecent Content will be scheduled for cablecast on channel 78 between 10 pm and 2 am only.For additional notification and warning rules, see Sec. VI. Programs by local governments will be scheduled on governmental (G) channel 15. Programs by local schools will be scheduled on educational (E)channels 16 or 76. Persons requesting channel time on E or G channels must be authorized by an educational or governmental institution to do so,using the PEGASYS Authorization Form [see Appendix 8] 2. Individual Taped programs: submit the properly labelled program tape with the request. To schedule cablecasting time in advance of a tape's submission, a producer must be in good standing; all tapes must be submitted at least 24 hours in advance of their cablecast times. 3. Individual Live programs: Live programs using the studio must be accompanied by a studio reservation for the half hour before through the half hour after the program. Live programs using the INET or PEGASYS satellite must supply appropriate reservation forms. For INET forms,see Welcome to the INET manual. For Satellite Request Form, see App. 7. 4. Syndicated Programs: Defined as programs produced outside Tompkins County. The person submitting the program, if not the producer, is called the program provider. All cablecasting and content rules apply,except that the provider is requested,but not required, to add a local identification slate to the program. 5. Series programs: Defined as multiple programs with the same title. Series may be live or taped, locally produced or syndicated. Series may be scheduled weekly, bi-weekly or monthly for up to a full 4-month scheduling season. Series may be renewed. Current series renewal procedures process new and renewal series requests under a random draw system. To be eligible to reserve series time, a producer must be in good standing [IV.3.6] and demonstrate their reliability by having either. produced a series before or produced a pilot episode. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 8 V. 3 Cablecasting Priorities and Limits There is no limit to the number of programs any individual may submit for cablecast. However, there is a limit to the number of times each program may be requested to be cablecast, and a priority system which favors new programs over reruns. 1. Program Premiere The first three plays of a program within a calendar year are considered its "premiere." Producers/providers may request up to 2 Prime-Time[6- 11 pm] and 1 Non-Prime-Time [3 - 6 pm and 11 - 11:30pm] timeslots. Cablecasting time is available on a first-come, first served basis, with producers given input on the timeslots selected. 2. Encore Programs Programs which completed their premiere in a previous year and are re-submitted for cablecast are called "encores." Up to 30 hours of encore programming per year may be submitted per individual with the same rules as premiere programs. Additional such programs may be requested on the same basis as other reruns. 3.Reruns Programs which have completed their premiere in the current year are called "reruns" and are scheduled on a TBA basis only. We usually fill TBAs one day ahead. All producers are welcome to submit programs for TBA slots, which are filled at staff discretion. 4. Anthology I Modified Programs A producer may choose to submit a program including some elements which have previously been cablecast and some new elements. We use the following guidelines to determine whether it has the scheduling priority of a new program or a rerun: if more than 51% of a program, both video and audio, is new material, we consider it a new program. In the case of anthology videos,collections of music videos or other short subjects, PEGASYS reserves the right to require that a list of segments be submitted along with the program so that staff may easily determine whether the program should be scheduled as new or rerun programming. 5. Unacceptable Program Modifications The following are unacceptable means of modifying a show which has completed its premiere to resubmit it as a new "premiere" show: relabeling a previously cablecast program with a new program name I number; replacing just the background music track or adding a title to some portion of the screen of an otherwise unchanged program. Such shows will be treated as reruns. 6. Character Generater Programs We have received a number of programs consisting solely of 1 or 2 static screens, often a character-generated title. The NYS Public Service Commission has advised us that a title is not a video program. Therefore, unless the producer or provider can demonstrate that the program includes changing video and/or audio content beyond simply pasting on our generic music library or putting a several page CG title on auto-repeat, such submissions will no longer be accepted. 7.Archive Programs PEGASYS maintains a continually changing collection of programs which can be used to fill in gaps in the programming day. PEGASYS staff are looking for shows of varying lengths, with topics which are not time-sensitive, from 2 minutes fillers to 1 hour in length. All producers are welcome to donate programming to this archive. Submitting programming to our archive is a good way to get extra plays for your show. Do not submit masters, as the tapes submitted[but NOT the program content]become the property of PEGASYS. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 9 V.CABLECASTING PROCEDURES V.4 Publicity PEGASYS will provide local newspapers with program listings. Check with access staff for more information on current deadlines for TV Listings. V.5 Cancelling Cablecasting Reservations 1. Sufficient Notice Cancellation of cablecasting reservations made with at least three (3) weeks notice may be made without restriction at any time. This allows our TV Listings to be accurate. 2. Short Term Cancellation with less than three weeks but more than 24 hours notice may be made for up to two programs(including reruns) in any 4-month scheduling season without penalty. Upon the third such cancellation, Excessive Cancellation Penalties may be imposed 3. Without Notice Failure to provide tapes which have been scheduled, or to provide notice of cancellation, on more than 3 occasions per scheduling season may result in Excessive Cancellation Penalties. 3.Excessive Cancellations Penalties - In the case of program series,the series will be cancelled. - The producer loses his or her"good standing" for 6 months. V.6 Program Sponsorship A sponsor is defined as an individual or organization not directly involved in the production of an access program, who contributes money or goods to cover production expenses and who receives acknowledgement in the program credits. Production expenses may include cash, goods, services or labor used to produce an access program. Payment to producers or crewmembers for hours worked on access productions is not permitted. Format for Acknowledgement of Sponsors Acknowledgement of sponsors must follow the following guidelines: -The acknowledgement, up to 10 seconds in length, may be made at the beginning and end of the program only, as part of the program credits. For programs of over 1 hour 15 minutes in length,one additional sponsor credit may be made at the approximate midpoint. -The acknowledgement should take a form such as: "Sponsored in part by ABC Corp.;" "Clothing provided by ABC Corp." -No further information,other than the name of the sponsor,and an organizational logo graphic, may be given. The exterior of a business establishment may not be used. A PEGASYS Sponsor Agreement form [see Appendix 4] must be completed and placed on file at the PEGASYS Center for each sponsor of an access program. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 10 VL PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS VI.1 Technical Standards 1. Video Formats: 3/4" U-Matic, S-VHS, VHS, 8mm and Hi8 will be accepted for cablecasting on channel 13. SVHS and VHS are accepted for channels 15, 16, 76 and 78. All VHS tapes must be recorded in Standard or Extended Play mode[2 or 6 hour speed]. 2. Video and Audio Quality: Signals must be within normal levels. Videotapes will be rejected if': they have been physically damaged; are excessively dusty or dirty; have audio below -10 db; have video which can not be stabilized by a TBC. 3. Standard Program Format Programs should be preceded by: 30- 60 seconds of color bars, a slate giving program name and number [series programs only];a ten second countdown, 1 second of video black Programs should be followed by: at least 60 seconds of video black 4. Standard Tape Label Programs must be labeled both on the cassette and on the case with: name and contact information of producer; name, [number, if a series program] and length of program. PEGASYS labels for a variety of tape formats are available for this purpose. Programs which are illegibly or confusingly labelled will not be accepted. 5. Limits on program length Programs must fall within the time slots for which their producers have scheduled them, with an allowance for station identification between programs. There is a 14:00 minute limit for a 15:00 minute timeslot; 28:30 for a 30:00 minute timeslot; 57:00 for a 60:00 minute timeslot. Programs which exceed their time slots in length may be cut to allow succeeding programs to run in accordance with their scheduled time slots. VI.2 Producer Identification and Warnings 1.Producer Identification The name(s) of the producer(s) must be identified in a credit at the end of each program. Pseudonyms are not acceptable. Failure to provide a producer credit will make the program ineligible for cablecast. In addition, PEGASYS reserves the right to cablecast a producer or provider identification notice before or after any program. Labels on all tapes being cablecast must include accurate contact information(address and/or telephone number) for producers or providers. PEGASYS will give this information out on request to the public. 2.Viewer Warning Producers or providers of programs which may be inappropriate for children are encouraged to schedule them later in the evening and to precede them with a content warning: The following program contains material which may be offensive to some viewers or inappropriate for viewing by children or other audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. The content of this program is solely the responsibility of [insert producerlprovider name]and not of Time Warner Cable. In the case of programs with indecent content,this warning is required[see Sec. VI.3.4]. 3. PEGASYS Center Acknowledgement All programs produced using PEGASYS facilities are requested to include the following acknowledgement at the end of the program: Produced at the PEGASYS Television Center a service of Time Warner Cable, Ithaca,NY PEGAYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 11 VL PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS VL3 Content Restrictions 1. Free Speech Rule In accordance with national, state and local regulations, TWC and the City of Ithaca may not exercise editorial control of program content on access channels in any way, except to prohibit programing which is commercial or obscene. 2. Commercial Programming The following is considered commercial programming and is prohibited: 1. Programming which depicts or discusses products, services or businesses with the intent or substantial effect of benefitting or enhancing a profit-making enterprise. 2. The direct solicitation or appeal for funds or other things of value. 3. Offering lotteries or other games of chance. 4. Soliciting funds for candidates for public office. Exceptions: 1. Representatives of 501(c)3 organizations may discuss fundraisers. Shows which contain more than a single solicitation of donations are permitted only on the following basis: 1. a single non-profit organization is limited each calendar year to 36 hours of cablecasting for programming which has the primary purpose of raising funds. 2. a crewmember of a fundraiser program who is not a regular staffmember of the non- profit may not receive compensation other than reimbursement for the direct expenses of the production. Expenses may not include the producer or crew's time. 2. Works of art, music and literature may be presented or discussed, provided they are not discussed as products. 3. Guidelines for Determination and Prohibition of Obscenity 1. Obscenity is defined in New York State Penal Law Sec.2325.00(1) * 2. A program can be determined to be obscene only by an order or judgment of the Supreme Court of the State of New York pursuant to New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 6330 or by judgment of a judge or jury in a criminal prosecution pursuant to New York Criminal Procedure Law Section 235. 3. Any person, if they feel that an obscene program has been or will be cablecast on PEGASYS, may request the Tompkins County District Attorney, the Mayor of Ithaca or the Ithaca City Attorney to commence an action under Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 6330 seeking a declaration that the program is obscene and an order enjoining the cablecasting of the program. If a program has been declared to be obscene under one of the above procedures,Time Warner Cable must not cablecast the program. 4. Programs Containing Sexually Explicit or Indecent Material 1. All programming containing indecent material will be scheduled for cablecast on channel 78 only between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am. Indecent material is defined as programming that describes or depicts sexual or excretory activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by contemporary community standards. 2. Producers must notify PEGASYS at the time of their cablecasting request, or at least 1 week in advance of live programming, when their program will contain indecent material. * New York Penal Law Section 2325.00(1) defines a program as obscene: if(a) the average person, applying contemporary community standards,would fmd that considered as a whole,its predominent appeal is to the prurient interest in sex,and(b)it depicts or describes in a patently offensive manner, actual or simulated: sexual intercourse, sodomy, sexual besitality, masturbation, sadism, masochism, excretion or lewd exhibition of the genitals, and(c)considered as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic, political and scientific value. Predominent appeal shall be judged with reference to ordinary adults unless it appears from the character of the program or the circumstances of its dissemination to be designed for children or other specifically susceptible audience. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 12 VII. VIDEOTAPE POLICIES VII.1 Videotape Dubbing 1. Producer Copies: Producers may make up to three copies of any program which has been submitted for cablecast at no charge. They may reserve the dubbing facility for this purpose. 2. Copies for the Public: Staff will make copies of access programs for members of the public,or additional producer copies, as follows: 1. The express permission of the producer must be given to staff before a copy will be made. This permission may be given on the PEGASYS tape label. 2. Rates for copies are: $10 for 1 program of up to 30 minutes in length; $10 for each additional 0- 30 minutes,or for each additional program of less than 30 minutes. This fee does not include the cost of the tape, which must be supplied with the request. 3. Tapes submitted to PEGASYS for dubbing must be cued,labeled with the name of the desired program,and the name/telephone number of the person requesting the dub. 4. Dubs will be completed within two weeks. VII.2 Videotape Storage 1. The Cablecasting Room is a secure area. Staff will exercise all caution with producers' tapes. Nevertheless, decks sometimes eat tapes. PEGASYS is not responsible for tapes damaged during cablecasting. Concerned producers may wish to submit dubs, not program masters. 2. A Videotape Pickup Area is available for producers to use to leave tapes for program guests,and for staff to leave program tapes which have completed their scheduled cablecasts. 3. A Videotape Project Shelf is available for producers with ongoing tape storage needs. Access staff can arrange for space on this shelf. 4. The Pickup Area and Project Shelf are not secure areas. PEGASYS is not responsible for lost or missing tapes left there,or in production areas. 5. Producers are responsible for picking up their tapes after completion of their programs in a timely manner. Tapes which are left on the project shelf more than 30 days after the completion deadline of a project or in the Pickup Box or the Cablecasting Room more than 30 days after the last cablecast of a program, will be considered abandoned and become the property of PEGASYS. VII.3 Program Ownership and Distribution Rights Program ownership rights belong exclusively to the producer of the PEGASYS program, except for the following rights of PEGASYS/TWC: 1. PEGASYS reserves the right to rerun the program on the access channel, and to use short clips from the program in promotional material for the access center. 2. Producers may not distribute the program in any form for sale or income fora period of one (1) year from its initial cablecasting date without the express written permission of TWC. Submission of access programs in non- profit video festivals or contests which may have honoraria or other prizes are specifically exempt. Submission of tapes for consideration for grants to cover production costs is permitted under program sponsor rules. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 13 VIII. VIOLATIONS OF PEGASYS POLICIES VIII.1 Immediate Eviction PEGASYS staff may request an individual to leave the premises immediately if: 1. the individual appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or if they sell or otherwise dispense alcohol or drugs. 2. the individual interferes with the orderly conduct of PEGASYS activities or programs. 3. the individual endangers or seem to potentially endanger PEGASYS equipment, facilities or other persons. 4. the individual has no legitimate reason to be on the premises. VIM Major Violations The following Major Violations against PEGASYS Policies and Procedures will result in immediate suspension of all access privileges for 2 years. 1. Willful actions which cause injury to people, equipment or facilities at PEGASYS. Theft or vandalism of PEGASYS equipment. 2. Any criminal activity at PEGASYS, including: use or dispensation of illegal drugs; cablecast of any program found to be obscene, defamatory, or in violation of any criminal statute by a court of law. The following Major Violations will result in Probationary Sanctions as indicated below: 3.Deliberate disruption of PEGASYS activities or programs. 4. Removal of PEGASYS equipment from the facility without proper check-out and supervision by PEGASYS staff. 5. Use of PEGASYS facilities for private, commercial or any purpose other than cablecast on a PEGASYS channel, without prior consent by TWC. 6. Making false or misleading statements on any PEGASYS document. Failure to provide notice of programming with indecent material. 7. Use of equipment by non-certified or probationary users. 8. Use or dispensation of alcohol on the premises. 9. Gross negligence resulting in major loss of or damage to PEGASYS equipment or building [replacement I repair value of over$500]or injury to any person on the premises. 10. Chronic andlor willful disregard for PEGASYS Policies. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 14 VIII. VIOLATIONS OF PEGASYS POLICIES [cont.] VlII.3 Minor Violations The following Minor Violations will result in Disciplinary Action as indicated below: 1. Negligent misuse or abuse of PEGASYS facilities or equipment, including: unsafe or improper use of PEGASYS equipment, failure to return production areas to their original condition after use,loss or return of checked out equipment in a dirty or abused condition. 2. Unreasonable wastage of production time, including chronic lateness for production reservations. Chronic lateness is defined as a total of more than 2 hours in any 30 day period. 3. Disorderly conduct which disrupts the working environment of the access facility for other users or staff. 4. Late return of checked out equipment without an authorized extension. 5. Excessive cancellation of production reservations without sufficient notice. 6. Smoking,drinking or eating in restricted areas of the building or premises. 7. Attempted disassembly or repair of PEGASYS equipment. 8. Making reservations on behalf of or transferring reservations to others. 9. False representation by user of self as a Time Warner Cable employee. 10. Failure to respect the authority of, or to cooperate with, PEGASYS staff; harrassment of staff or other users. 11. Inadvertent commercial material, or indecent material inadvertently scheduled outside of required late night time period. 12.Failure to follow required producer identification or viewer warning rules. 13. Any other violation of PEGASYS building rules, other posted building rules, posted facility limits or producer responsibilities. VIII.4 Disciplinary Action 1. For a first Minor Violation during any calendar year, the producer or user committing the violation will be given a Verbal Warning. 2. For the second Minor Violation during any calendar year, the producer or user committing the violation will receive a Written Warning. 3. For the third Minor Violation during any calendar year, the producer or user committing the violation will have all PEGASYS user privileges, including use of the access center,reservation of cablecasting or production time,suspended for two weeks. 4. For the fourth and subsequent violations during any calendar year, in the case of a Minor Violation, the producer or user committing the offense will be subject to Probationary Sanctions,and immediately placed on suspension. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 15 VIII. VIOLATIONS OF PEGASYS POLICIES [cont.] VIII.5 Probationary Sanctions 1. The first sanction will be a 90-day suspension of PEGASYS user privileges,including use of the access center,reservation of cablecasting or production time. 2.The second sanction will be a i-year suspension of PEGASYS user privileges. 3.The third sanction will be a permanent suspension of PEGASYS privileges. 4. The PEGASYS Coordinator shall notify in writing a user receiving Probationary Sanctions of the nature of the offense and the term of the suspension resulting from the offense, within ten (10) working days of being informed of the occurence. A copy of such notification shall be sent to the Cable Commission. 5. TWC reserves the right to adjust the sanctions listed above in individual cases where there appears to be a good reason for doing so. 6. Appeals Process: A letter of appeal should be sent to TWC outlining the reason that the volunteer feels that the sanction was unjustified. In addition, a volunteer may send a copy of the letter to the Cable Commission, and ask them to hold an appeals hearing. If such a hearing is held, the Cable Commission will submit a written recommendation to TWC. TWC will respond to a volunteer's letter of appeal, in writing, within two weeks of receipt of such letter, and will consider any recommendation made by the Cable Commission. TWC's decision will be binding. IX. PEGASYS BULLETIN BOARDS IX.1 The Community Bulletin Board (CBB) The CBB is a scrolling electronic calender of upcoming community events, running on public access channels when local programming is not scheduled. It is available at no charge to all local non-profit groups. Space is limited to a few lines of text: what, when, and where the event will be held, and a contact telephone number, if desired. Usually, notices are put up several days before an event. To submit an item for the Community Bulletin Board, simply send the information to: COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD 519 W. State St. Ithaca,NY 14850 IX.2 The Governmental Access Bulletin Board(GBB) The GBB runs on the governmental access channel when local programming is not scheduled. It is available at no charge to all local governments. Send submissions to: GOVERNMENTAL BULLETIN BOARD Tompkins County Clerk, Courthouse, Ithaca,NY 14850 X. Appendix 1. Producer Responsibilities Contract 2. PEGASYS Cablecasting Agreement 3. Optional Limited Liability Agreement 4. PEGASYS Sponsor Agreement Form 5. Additional Resources for PEG Access Users 6. Commercial Use of Access Facilities 7. PEGASYS Satellite Receiver Request Form 8. PEGASYS Authorization Form for Institutions 519 West State Street • MAIL 612 West Green Street • SFIDI() . PEGASYS Ithaca, New York 14850 Public, Educational and Governmental Access System • Television for Tompkins County Producer Responsibilities Contract Producer Name: Phone: Address: (street / no.) (town/ state) (zip) I understand and agree that using any PEGASYS equipment requires that I accept responsibility for any loss or damage to said equipment, whether intentional or accidental, while it is in my possession. A Limited Liability plan is available through PEGASYS to provide limited coverage for damage due to negligence or accidents. If I elect not to apply for this coverage, I understand and agree that I will be fully liable for all damage to any PEGASYS equipment signed out to me except in the case of ordinary wear and tear and damage not caused by the fault of the operator. I understand and agree that this equipment is to be used only for the purpose of providing non- commercial programming for PEGASYS Public, Educational or Governmental access channels, and that my privileges to use PEGASYS facilities may be suspended following any misuse. I hereby indemnify and hold Time Warner Cable, their parent(s) and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents harmless from any and all losses, claims, damages, liabilities or amounts paid in settlement of pending or threatened litigation which arises out of or are based upon any and all actual or alleged injury to person or property during my use of Time Warner facilities or equipment, and shall reimburse the above indemnified parties for any legal or other expenses incurred by them in connection with investigating any such claims or defending any such actions. I understand and agree that video material produced using PEGASYS facilities may not be sold or redistributed for profit for one (1) year without the express written permission of PEGASYS. I have read and understood the current PEGASYS Policies and Procedure manual, and agree to adhere to the rules stated therein. I understand and agree that I am responsible for insuring that any crewmembers of guests present during my reservation period will also adhere to PEGASYS rules. I understand and agree that Time Warner Cable reserves the right to suspend or revoke all privileges to PEGASYS equipment and facilities, and that violation of the provisions of this contract may result in such an action. I understand that I will be held responsible for all equipment reservations made under my name, and that it is my responsibility to notify PEGASYS staff at once if I believe that unauthorized use has been made of my project accounts, and that PEGASYS will change my account password upon my request. Producer Signature Date • phone (607) 272-7272 • TIME WARNER • fax (607) 277-5404 • CABLE 519 West State Street • MAIL PEGASYS 612 West Green Street • srupto Ithaca, New York 14850 Public, Educational and Governmental Access System • Television for Tompkins County PEII4ASYS Cablecasting Agreement Name: Producer / Provider (circle one) Address: Phone: Program Title: Length: _ : : _ (hrs: min: sec) Cablecast from: PEGASYS / INET PEG Category (circle one): Public Educational Governmental (circle one): Locally-produced Syndicated Type: Live (studio reserved date: time: ) or Tape (tape format: ) Indecent Programs "Indecent" material is defined as programming which describes or depicts sexual or excretory activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by contemporary community standards. Producers/providers must notify PEGASYS when requesting cablecasting time if their show contains indecent material, and must place a 15 second warning prior to the start of the program.See PEGASYS Policies and Procedures for the text of the required warning. This program may include indecent material: Yes No (circle one) I hereby request PEGASYS to cablecast this Program on an access channel.I authorize PEGASYS to make available contact information to members of the public who make inquiries about this Program. I assume sole legal responsibility for the content of this Program.I have obtained all necessary approvals,clearances and licenses for all material included in the Program.I attest that the Program contains no material which is commercial,obscene or otherwise illegal,as defined in PEGASYS Policies and Procedures and by law. I understand that I may be held criminally or civilly liable for such content appearing in the Program. I have read and understood PEGASYS Policies and Procedures regarding cablecasting rights and obligations,and agree to abide by them.I understand that failure to follow PEGASYS cablecasting policies may result in PEGASYS refusal to cablecast the Program and/or restriction of my right to submit additional programming.I understand that failure to follow PEGASYS policies in the creation of this Program may result in disciplinary action,including suspension of my access privileges.I understand.that submitting commercial programming for cablecast on PEG access channels will obligate me to reimburse Time Warner Cable for all cablecasting time used at current commercial rates. My signature hereupon shall indicate my acceptance of these responsibilities and the following indemnifications: 1.I indemnify and hold Time Warner,their parent(s)and their respective officers,employees and agents harmless from any and all losses, claims, damages,liabilities or amounts paid in settlement of pending or threatened litigation which arises out of or are based upon the content of the Program, including without limitation any assertion of defamation, infringement of copyright, music or other performing rights, or rights to privacy, and shall reimburse the above in- demnified parties for any legal or other expenses incurred by them in connection with investigating any such claims or defending or settling any such actions;and in connection with the above indemnities,the indemnified parties reserve the right to select and direct the counsel of their choice. 2.I hereby waive any claims or other assertions,and agree I shall have no recourse,against Time Warner,its parent(s) and their respective directors,officers,employees and agents as a result of the undertakings contemplated hereunder. Said waiver shall extend but not be limited to,-the-loss of or damage to the Program while in the possession of Time Warner. 3. Nothing in this Agreement shall be taken as construing the creation of a contract of adhesion between myself and Time Warner or any Time Warner system. I have read the foregoing, and understand its provisions as they apply to me and the Program. Signature of Producer/Provider Date • hone 60 272-7272 • TIME WARNER • fax (607) 277-54()4 • p ( C A B L E 519 West State Street • MAIL PEGAS1fS 612 West Green Street • srwio Ithaca, New York 14850 Public, Educational and Governmental Access System • Television for Tompkins County PEEASYS Producer Optional Limited Liability Agreement A Service of Time Warner Cable Producer Name Address Telephone 1. Volunteer producers are responsible for any damage to the facilities and equipment issued to them, except in the case of ordinary wear and tear, and mechanical breakdown through causes not the fault of the operator. In order to give volunteers the opportunity to protect themselves to some extent from the results of a costly accident, TWC offers two optional limited liability insurance plans for negligent damage to equipment, listed below. 2. These insurance plans are a service for PEGASYS producers. They are in no way intended as a user fee, nor are they required for use of PEGASYS facilities. 3.The annual amounts are subject to increase along with increases in the Consumer Price Index. 4. Producers who do not elect to use these plans are fully liable for all negligent damage to equipment signed out to them. TWC reserves the right to determine the proper course of treatment (repair or replacement)for damaged equipment, and to bill this amount to the responsible producer. 5. This agreement applies exclusively to usage of access video equipment while under a reserved use for which the undersigned is named as the producer.This agreement applies exclusively to legitimate uses of the access facility, as stated in TWC's franchises and PEGASYS Policies and Procedures manual. Damage to equipment which is caused during misuse of the facility, or damage which is caused deliberately, is specifically excluded from this agreement. 6. This agreement is available to individual producers only, not institutions or groups with multiple producers. I, (Producer Name), have read and understand the terms of the agreement stated above. I would like to select the following Optional Limited Liability Plan: Plan 1: $20.55 per year will limit the producer's liability for repair and/or replacement of equipment to$250 for each individual use. Plan 2: $34.23 per year will limit the producer's liability for repair and/or replacement of equipment to$125 for each individual use. The selected plan will be effective from: , 19 through , 19 Payment received by: Date: Signed Date: Producer Signature Approved by: Date: PEGASYS Manager • phone (607) 272-7272 . TIME WARNER • fax(607) 277-5404 • C A B L E pEGAsys 519 W. State Street • MAIL 612 W. Green Street • srupto Ithaca,New York 14850 Public, Educational, and Governmental Access Televison System•a service of Time Warner Cable PEGASYS Sponsor Agreement Form Producer Name • Program Name Sponsor Name Please list below all considerations provided by the sponsor [ex.: $50 for videotape, use of 10 posters for set; printing costs for publicity posters, etc.]. Include the number of times provided for recurring donations [ex.: 1 pizza per week for 13 weeks for crew refreshments]: To the Sponsor: All PEG access productions are produced independently by members of the community. Access producers are not affiliated with or employed by Time Warner Cable. They are solely responsible for the content of their programs. To the Producer: A sponsor is defined as an individual or organization not directly involved in an access production, who contributes money or goods to cover production expenses and receives ackowledgement in the program credits. Considerations may be made for production expenses ONLY. Acknowledgment may be made only in the program ending credits and at the start of the program. Acknowledgements should take one of the following forms: "Posters provided by ABC Corp.," "Funded in part by ABC Corp.," "Sponsored in part by ABC Corp." No other form of acknowledgement is permitted. A sponsor agreement must be completed for each program sponsor. These forms are kept as part of the program's legal documentation. Producer Signature Date • Sponsor Signature Date PEGASYS Coordinator Signature Date • phone (607) 272-7272 -• Television for Tompkins County • fax (607) 277-5404 • • } PEGASYS Policies and Procedures: Appendix Appendix 5. Additional Resources for PEG Access Users 1. Cable Access Advisory Bodies The Ithaca City Cable Commission meets monthly, on the first Thursday of each month,at 7:30pm in Ithaca's City Hall. They can receive correspondence at City Hall. Additional Public, educational and governmental access committees have been created by the Cable Commission to provide advice on access issues. Check with PEGASYS staff or the Cable Commission for information on meetings. The Educational Access Committee meets monthly. It provides advice on topics such as: use of the two educational access channels, outreach to area schools, and INET use by schools. 2. The I-NET More than a dozen local institutions are equipped for live cablecast onto access channels via the Institutional Network, or I-NET. They include govenmental buildings, schools and several non-profits. All are capable of becoming live remote studios through the use of PEGASYS mobile studio units. Some, like Ithaca College, Cornell, BOCES and the Tompkins County Board of Reps,have their own production and cablecasting facilities. An additional resource for I-NET users is the TWC manual, Welcome to the I-NET. This manual contains information on connection and use of the I-NET, as well as all necessary forms for requesting I-NET transmission time. Use of the I-NET by public access producers [referred to as'unaffiliated users'] is also covered. Appendix 6. Commercial Use of Access 1. Commercial Rentals PEGASYS facilities are available for commercial rental during hours not designated for PEG access use. Facility rentals do not include staff. Pre-requisite for use is prior training on PEGASYS equipment or equivilent experience. Reservations for studio or editing facilities must be made at least a week in advance. Reservations for portable equipment is available on a very short-term basis only, in order to preserve a priority for access use. Payment is required at the time of rental. Current rates are: Studio: $110/hour Editing: $110/hour Camcorders: $50/day Mobile Studio Units: $250/day (with 2 camcorders) 2. Leased Access Time Warner Cable makes time available on cable for individual commercial program producers or providers. Leased access information and rates are available through the marketing department of TWC. PEGASYS Satellite Receiver Request Form Name Today's Date Address Tel. Organizational Affiliation [if applicable] Transmission Information: Program Name: Date: Time: start end Satellite name Transponder number Will there be a test signal [such as color bars] preceding the transmission? Will this be a transmission be cablecast live onto a PEG channel? Yes No If so, please supply PEGASYS channel number and cablecast time: start end Do you need a recording of this program? Yes No If you want a recording, you must supply a videotape. Which format videotape accompanies this form? SVHS VHS Attachments: Several additional documents must accompany this request. 1. Copyright Clearance: A letter giving permission from the copyright holder for recording and cablecast of this program on a PEGASYS channel is required before your request can be processed. 2. Cablecastina Reservation: A PEGASYS cablecasting release for the program must also accompany this form. PEGASYS staff will assist you in scheduling your program. 3. Authorization to Use Educational or Governmental Channels: Anyone may request time on a public access channel. If you wish to cablecast the program on an educational-or governmental channel, you must be authorized by your school or government to submit the program on their behalf. Authorization forms are available through PEGASYS staff. You will be contacted by PEGASYS staff within one week of your request date confirming the availability of the satellite receiver as well as your program cablecast time(s). PEGASYS Authorization Form for Educational, Governmental and I-NET Institutions Name of Institution Name/Title of Head of Institution or Governing Body [please print]: The following individual(s) are authorized to request [circle all appropriate responses]: channel time production facilities I-NET use on behalf of this institution. I understand that this institution retains all responsibility for access program content and liability for any access equipment borrowed from PEGASYS. Name [please print] Affiliation / Title Name [please print] Affiliation / Title Name [please print] Affiliation / Title Signature of head of institution or governing body: Date Contact information for organization: Contact Name: Address: Tel: • PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 10 VL PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS VI.1 Technical Standards 1. Video Formats: 3/4" U-Matic, S-VHS, VHS, 8mm and Hi8 will be accepted for cablecasting on channel 13. SVHS and VHS are accepted for channels 15, 16, 76 and 78. All VHS tapes must be recorded in Standard or Extended Play mode[2 or 6 hour speed]. 2. Video and Audio Quality: Signals must be within normal levels. Videotapes will be rejected if: they have been physically damaged; are excessively dusty or dirty; have audio below -10 db;have video which can not be stabilized by a TBC. 3. Standard Program Format Programs should be preceded by: 30- 60 seconds of color bars, a slate giving program name and number [series programs only];a ten second countdown, 1 second of video black Programs should be followed by: at least 60 seconds of video black 4. Standard Tape Label Programs must be labeled both on the cassette and on the case with: name and contact information of producer, name, [number, if a series program] and length of program. PEGASYS labels for a variety of tape formats are available for this purpose. Programs which are illegibly or confusingly labelled will not be accepted. 5. Limits on program length Programs must fall within the time slots for which their producers have scheduled them, with an allowance for station identification between programs. There is a 14:00 minute limit for a 15:00 minute timeslot; 28:30 for a 30:00 minute timeslot; 57:00 for a 60:00 minute timeslot. Programs which exceed their time slots in length may be cut to allow succeeding programs to run in accordance with their scheduled time slots. VI.2 Producer Identification and Warnings 1.Producer Identification The name(s) of the producer(s) must be identified in a credit at the end of each program. Pseudonyms are not acceptable. Failure to provide a producer credit will make the program ineligible for cablecast. In addition, PEGASYS reserves the right to cablecast a producer or provider identification notice before or after any program. Labels on all tapes being cablecast must include accurate contact information (address and/or telephone number) for producers or providers. PEGASYS will give this information out on request to the public. 2.Viewer Warning Producers or providers of programs which may be inappropriate for children are encouraged to schedule them later in the evening and to precede them with a content warning: The following program contains material which may be offensive to some viewers or inappropriate for viewing by children or other audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. The content of this program is solely the responsibility of [insert producerlprovider name]and not of Time Warner Cable. In the case of programs with indecent content,this warning is required [see Sec. VI.3.4]. 3. PEGASYS Center Acknowledgement All programs produced using PEGASYS facilities are requested to include the following acknowledgement at the end of the program: Produced at the PEGASYS Television Center a service of Time Warner Cable, Ithaca,NY PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 9 V.CABLECASTING PROCEDURES V.4 Publicity PEGASYS will provide local newspapers with program listings. Check with access staff for more information on current deadlines for TV Listings. V.5 Cancelling Cablecasting Reservations 1. Sufficient Notice Cancellation of cablecasting reservations made with at least three (3) weeks notice may be made without restriction at any time. This allows our TV Listings to be accurate. 2. Short Term Cancellation with less than three weeks but more than 24 hours notice may be made for up to two programs(including reruns) in any 4-month scheduling season without penalty. Upon the third such cancellation, Excessive Cancellation Penalties may be imposed 3. Without Notice Failure to provide tapes which have been scheduled, or to provide notice of cancellation, on more than 3 occasions per scheduling season may result in Excessive Cancellation Penalties. 3.Excessive Cancellations Penalties - In the case of program series,the series will be cancelled. - The producer loses his or her"good standing" for 6 months. V.6 Program Sponsorship A sponsor is defined as an individual or organization not directly involved in the production of an access program, who contributes money or goods to cover production expenses and who receives acknowledgement in the program credits. Production expenses may include cash, goods, services or labor used to produce an access program. Payment to producers or crewmembers for hours worked on access productions is not permitted. Format for Acknowledgement of Sponsors Acknowledgement of sponsors must follow the following guidelines: -The acknowledgement, up to 10 seconds in length, may be made at the beginning and end of the program only, as part of the program credits. For programs of over 1 hour 15 minutes in length,one additional sponsor credit may be made at the approximate midpoint. -The acknowledgement should take a form such as: "Sponsored in part by ABC Corp.;" "Clothing provided by ABC Corp." -No further information,other than the name of the sponsor,and an organizational logo graphic, may be given.The exterior of a business establishment may not be used. A PEGASYS Sponsor Agreement form [see Appendix 4] must be completed and placed on file at the PEGASYS Center for each sponsor of an access program. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 8 V. 3 Cablecasting Priorities and Limits There is no limit to the number of programs any individual may submit for cablecast. However, there is a limit to the number of times each program may be requested to be cablecast, and a priority system which favors new programs over reruns. • 1. Program Premiere The first three plays of a program within a calendar year are considered its "premiere." Producers/providers may request up to 2 Prime-Time[6- 11 pm] and 1 Non-Prime-Time [3 - 6 pm and 11 - 11:30pm] timeslots. Cablecasting time is available on a first-come, first served basis, with producers given input on the timeslots selected. 2. Encore Programs Programs which completed their premiere in a previous year and are re-submitted for cablecast are called "encores." Up to 30 hours of encore programming per year may be submitted per individual with the same rules as premiere programs. Additional such programs may be requested on the same basis as other reruns. 3.Reruns Programs which have completed their premiere in the current year are called "reruns" and are scheduled on a TBA basis only. We usually fill TBAs one day ahead. All producers are welcome to submit programs for TBA slots, which are filled at staff discretion. 4. Anthology I Modified Programs A producer may choose to submit a program including some elements which have previously been cablecast and some new elements. We use the following guidelines to determine whether it has the scheduling priority of a new program or a rerun: if more than 51% of a program, both video and audio, is new material, we consider it a new program. In the case of anthology videos,collections of music videos or other short subjects, PEGASYS reserves the right to require that a list of segments be submitted along with the program so that staff may easily determine whether the program should be scheduled as new or rerun programming. 5. Unacceptable Program Modifications The following are unacceptable means of modifying a show which has completed its premiere to resubmit it as a new "premiere" show: relabeling a previously cablecast program with a new program name / number; replacing just the background music track or adding a title to some portion of the screen of an otherwise unchanged program. Such shows will be treated as reruns. 6. Character Generater Programs We have received a number of programs consisting solely of 1 or 2 static screens, often a character generated title. The NYS Public Service Commission has advised us that a title is not a video program. Therefore, unless the producer or provider can demonstrate that the program includes changing video and/or audio content beyond simply pasting on our generic music library or putting a several page CG title on auto-repeat, such submissions will no longer be accepted. 7. Archive Programs PEGASYS maintains a continually changing collection of programs which can be used to fill in gaps in the programming day. PEGASYS staff are looking for shows of varying lengths, with topics which are not time-sensitive, from 2 minutes fillers to 1 hour in length. All producers are welcome to donate programming to this archive. Submitting programming to our archive is a good way to get extra plays for your show. Do not submit masters, as the tapes submitted[but NOT the program content]become the property of PEGASYS. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 7 V. CABLECASTING Any Tompkins County group, or resident over 18 years old, may submit programming to PEGASYS. Requests must be accompanied by a completed Cablecasting Agreement [See Appendix 2]and must meet the technical and content requirements in Section VI. V.1 Cablecasting Sites 1.PEGASYS TV Center:performs cablecasting for public and educational access 2. Tompkins County Courthouse: performs cablecasting for governmental access. 3. PEGASYS Satellite Receiver: A PEGASYS satellite dish is sited at the T-S-T BOCES, and is available to record,or retransmit live,programming for any PEG user. 4. I-NET or Remote Sites: Many I-NET sites may cablecast onto PEGASYS channels directly. Current active sites include: Ithaca City Hall, Tompkins County Courthouse, Ithaca High School, Boynton Middle School, Tompkins County Public Library, Cornell University, Ithaca College, Southside Community Center, GIAC, the Sciencenter and T-S-T BOCES. Public access producers may make arrangements to utilize these sites for public access cablecasts at each site administrator's discretion. [See Appendix 5] V.2 Rules for Different Program Categories 1. Channel Assignment Programming by individuals or groups will be scheduled on public (P) channels 13 or 78. Programs with Indecent Content will be scheduled for cablecast on channel 78 between 10 pm and 2 am only.For additional notification and warning rules, see Sec. VI. Programs by local governments will be scheduled on governmental (G) channel 15. Programs by local schools will be scheduled on educational (E)channels 16 or 76. Persons requesting channel time on E or G channels must be authorized by an educational or governmental institution to do so,using the PEGASYS Authorization Form [see Appendix 8] 2. Individual Taped programs: submit the properly labelled program tape with the request. To schedule cablecasting time in advance of a tape's submission, a producer must be in good standing; all tapes must be submitted at least 24 hours in advance of their cablecast times. 3. Individual Live programs: Live programs using the studio must be accompanied by a studio reservation for the half hour before through the half hour after the program. Live programs using the INET or PEGASYS satellite must supply appropriate reservation forms. For INET forms,see Welcome to the INET manual. For Satellite Request Form,see App. 7. 4. Syndicated Programs: Defined as programs produced outside Tompkins County. The person submitting the program, if not the producer, is called the program provider. All cablecasting and content rules apply,except that the provider is requested,but not required, to add a local identification slate to the program. 5. Series programs: Defined as multiple programs with the same title. Series may be live or taped, locally produced or syndicated. Series may be scheduled weekly, bi-weekly or monthly for up to a full 4-month scheduling season. Series may be renewed. Current series renewal procedures process new and renewal series requests under a random draw system. To be eligible to reserve series time, a producer must be in good standing [IV.3.61 and demonstrate their reliability by having either. produced a series before or produced a pilot episode. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg.6 IV. THE PRODUCTION PROCESS AND PROCEDURES 6. "Good Standing" Any certified producer may start one individual access project. But the following are considered special privileges,extended only to producers in "good standing": 1. to start more than one project at a time; 2. to schedule a taped program to be cablecast in advance of its actual completion; 3. to start or continue a program series. Producers are considered to be "not in good standing" if they have: 1. an incomplete project which is past its completion deadline 2. made an excessive number of cablecasting cancellations without sufficient notice. IV.4 Cancelling Production Reservations: 1. Sufficient Notice Cancellations with more than two weeks notice may be made at any time. 2. Short Term Cancellations of production reservations with 24 hours to two weeks notice are considered Short Term Cancellations. Up to 4 such cancellations may be made per 4-month calendar season without penalty. 3.Without Notice Cancellations with less than 24 hours notice is considered a"blowoff." 4. Cancellation Penalties Upon the fifth Short Term Cancellation in any season, or upon any "blowoff" within a calendar year,Disciplinary Action may be taken. IV.5 Producer Liability 1. Producers are fully responsible and liable for any damage or loss to the facilities and equipment issued to them, except in the case of ordinary wear and tear, and mechanical breakdown through causes not the fault of the operator. TWC reserves the right to determine the proper course of treatment(repair or replacement) for damaged equipment, and to bill this amount to the responsible volunteer. 2. Terms of Payment: Payment of any repair or replacement fees shall be made in full no later than 30 days from the date of a bill from TWC stating the damage caused, the type of repair or replacement required, and the cost for such repair or replacement. A volunteer producer wishing to arrange for an extended payment plan for such a damage fee may contact the access office. An extended payment schedule may be made at TWC's discretion. If a damage fee remains unpaid and the producer has not obtained agreement on an extended payment plan within the 30 days following the receipt of a bill for damage, all rights to the use of PEGASYS facilities will be suspended until the bill is paid. 3. Limited Liability Option To give producers the opportunity to protect themselves from the results of an accident, TWC offers two optional limited liability plans for negligent damage to equipment Plan 1: $20.55 per year will limit the volunteer's liability for repair and/or replacement to$250 for each individual use of equipment. Plan 2: $34.23 per year will limit the volunteer's liability for repair and/or replacement of equipment to$125 for each individual use. These plans are a service for PEGASYS producers. They are in no way intended as a fee, nor are they required for use of PEGASYS facilities. The annual fee amounts are subject to increase along with increases in the Consumer Price Index. These plans are available to individual producers only,not to institutions with multiple users. [See Appendix 3] PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 5 IV. THE PRODUCTION PROCESS IV.1 Pre-Production Planning 1. PEGASYS staff are available for pre-production planning consultations by appointment. All community producers are encouraged to use access staff to help them get the most from the PEGASYS production facilities. 2. Pre-production consultations with staff are required for first-time producers and for producers working under an Extended Project Completion Contract[see Sec.IV.3.4]. W.2 Production Crew 1. Producers are responsible for organizing their own crews. PEGASYS keeps a regularly updated Volunteer Call List of volunteers trained in various production areas. Producers may not expect staff to serve as crew on their productions. 2. Minimum Crew Sizes: 1 person for camcorders. For the studio: a cameraperson operating each studio camera in use, plus at least one person in the control room. Unmanned cameras may be used with the permission of PEGASYS staff only. Staff will cancel on the spot any production observed to be proceeding without adequate crew. W.3 Reserving Production Time 1. Reservation Procedure: Production reservations may be made during any part of the current 4 month scheduling season. New producers make reservations through staff. Certified producers make reservations on a self-serve computer system, using their own accounts and passwords. To reserve studio,editing, dubbing,or portable facilities you must: 1.be a certified or executive producer, with a current producer account and password. 2. have a current Producer Responsibilities Contract on file [see Appendix 1]. 3. have an individual or series project activated by staff. 4. add your reservation to appropriate facility calender,under your project account. 2. Production Time Limits and Priorities: Access production facilities time will be allocated on a first-come,first served basis. Limits on production reservation time per producer may be imposed to preserve availability of production facilities for all. Limits will be posted in the scheduling area. 3. Schedule Conflicts: In the event of a scheduling conflict, staff will try to resolve conflicts to all parties' satisfaction. Staff decisions will be final. 4. Completion Deadline This is the date by which a program must be completed and scheduled for cablecast. The default deadline is 30 days from the project creation date. Producers who wish to undertake a project which they foresee will take more than 30 days to complete may arrange for an extended deadline. To apply, the producer submits a proposal with a production timetable and script, and signs an Extended Project Completion Contract, stating the requested deadline and amount of production time needed. Such extensions are at staff discretion. 5. Transferring Production Time: Production reservations are not transferrable. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 4 III.RULES WITHIN THE ACCESS BUILDING III.1 Hours of Operation The PEGASYS Television Center has the following hours of operation: 3 - 11:30 pm daily. TWC may change these hours as necessary. PEGASYS will be closed during national and company holidays. I11.2 General Building Rules 1. Only individuals having legitimate business in the access center will be permitted in the building or parking lot. PEGASYS facilities are available for access production or production-related purposes only. Producers may bring guests as long as they take full responsibility for them at all times. 2. No smoking in the building. When smoking outside the building, use the ashtray provided. No littering. 3. No alcohol on Time Warner property. 4. Safeguard company property and services. 5. Cooperate with, and respect the rights of TWC employees and other individuals on company property. 6. Obey all parking instructions, reservation markings and parking space delineations, in the 612 lot. Parking in the 519 parking lot is for TWC vehicles only. No parking or loitering in the parking lot after hours.Vehicles left in the parking lot may be towed. 7. Quiet and orderly behavior should be maintained in the building and parking areas at all times. Some production areas are cubicles opening on a common space, and people working there may be disturbed by loud discussions. Outside, we are surrounded by a residential neighborhood which does not appreciate loud noise at night. Be courteous! 8. There is a telephone for volunteer use. Use of the phone is restricted to crew/guest contacts during scheduling and contacting rides home. Other uses of the phone may be made with staff permission only. Access staff are not to be used for personal messages. 111.3 Production Areas 1. No food or drink is permitted in any production area. 2. Leave the studio and equipment in the same condition as you found it. A staff check- out of the studio 10 minutes before the end of the reservation period is required. 3. Never attempt to repair any equipment. NO EXCEPTIONS. Report any equipment problems promptly to PEGASYS staff. 4. Arrive as scheduled for use of studio and equipment. Failure to arrive or call within 15 minutes of reservation start will forfeit a reservation. 5. Work in a manner that assures the safety of everyone on the premises, and the safety of all PEGASYS equipment. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg.3 II. TRAINING OFFERED AT PEGASYS 11.1 What Courses Are Offered? Two basic courses are offered: studio production and portable production [which includes video editing]. Training classes are offered monthly, about 11 times per year. Training class dates are announced in the local press. Training information is sent to any member of the public upon request. Advanced courses are also offered on an intermittent basis to those who have completed the basic training courses. These include Mobile Studio Unit Production, and advanced studio, portable and graphics techniques. There is also specialized training available for school groups. IL2 Course Requirements Training classes are free. No prior experience is required or assumed for the basic studio or portable courses. There is one pre-requisite: the student must demonstrate an intention to produce or participate in the production of access programming at PEGASYS. 11.3 Certification in Production Skills Volunteers are immediately certified to work with any piece of equipment for which they have attended the relevant training class. Volunteers who have not used their production skills for more than 6 months, or any volunteer who staff believe have not attained a minimum proficiency, may be required to refresh their knowledge by repeating video training classes or demonstrating proficiency to staff. Individuals with prior experience who wish to test out of a portion of the training course may arrange this with staff. 11.4 Producer Certification Types 1.New Producer To be certified as a producer, volunteers must have completed the training course requirements for the type of production (studio, portable and/or editing) their program will require, as well as demonstrated knowledge of PEGASYS policies. At this point, they are ready to begin their first program. While they are working on this program, they are considered a new producer. A staffperson acts as mentor during this period, and assists in pre-production planning and facility scheduling. Certain scheduling privileges are restricted. 2.Certified Producer After completing a first program, a new producer graduates as a certified producer. Certification as a producer at PEGASYS enables a volunteer to schedule production time to produce additional programs using any category of equipment [studio, portable/editing, mobile studio] for which they have been trained. The certified producer does his/her own pre-production planning and facility scheduling, with staff available for consultation as needed. 3.Executive Producer: It is possible for an individual who has not attended equipment training classes to produce programming at PEGASYS, provided s/he forms a production partnership with a technically trained producer. After completing certification on access policies,the non-technically-trained individual becomes an "executive producer." His/her technically-trained partner is called a "production manager." An executive producer may make production reservations, provided that the production manager and other trained crew actually operate PEGASYS equipment. An Executive Producer Request form, documenting this partnership agreement, must be on file for each production undertaken by an executive producer. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg.2 I. PEGASYS BASICS [cont.] I.5 PEGASYS Production Facilities The PEGASYS Access Television Center is located at 612 West Green St.,Ithaca, NY, adjacent to the business offices of Time Warner Cable. It houses a complete video studio, three fully equipped editing suites, a viewing / dubbing area, a graphics workstation and several types of portable video kits for use by community producers. Office space, cablecasting facilities and rest rooms complete the building. All areas are accessible to the handicapped. Studio 3 3-CCD Color Cameras; studio has Special Effects Generator, Time Base Correctors, Character Generator with disk drive, and videocassette recorders in a variety of tape formats. Audio system includes an 8-input mic mixer,audio cassette deck and CD player. Editing Suites Cuts-only editing system with Time Base Corrector, SEG and Character Generator. Audio system includes cassette deck, CD player and mic inputs. Several tape formats are supported. Viewing I Dubbing Area This area is available for pre- and post-production meetings of volunteer crews. It is also available for viewing and logging program material. It contains a Videotape Viewing Booth, holding a color monitor and videocassette recorders in a variety of formats. Portable Equipment 11 SVHS and Hi8 camcorder kits. Portable mics and lighting. 2 Mobile Studio Units, each with Special Effects Generator [SEG], audio mixer, and SVHS recording VCRs.These are used with camcorders to create mobile studios at off-site locations. 1 Field Production Package for long-term loan to schools, including 3 Hi8 camcorders and a portable editing unit. L6 PEGASYS Support Services Production Support Access staff are available to provide production and technical support to producers at all times. Tours PEGASYS is happy to offer tours for interested community members. A monthly orientation offers a tour to the general public. In addition, school or other groups may contact PEGASYS to schedule a group tour. Outreach Demonstrations PEGASYS will schedule on-site demonstrations upon request for school or other groups interested in using the Field Production Package or Mobile Studio Unit. PEGBoard PEGBoard is a newsletter for producers, students and friends of PEGASYS. It is issued 4 - 6 times per year. It includes features,tech tips and articles of interest to PEGASYS users. PEGASYS Awards The PEGASYS Awards is an annual video competition for PEGASYS producers held by Time Warner Cable. A celebration of the best in local PEG access programming, all producers are encouraged to contribute their best work to this competition, which culminates in an annual awards ceremony. PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Pg. 1 L PEGASYS BASICS L 1 What Is PEG Access Television? Time Warner Cable provides many exciting opportunities to produce programming of interest to this community and to present that programming on channels specially designated for PEG access use. PEG access is short for Public, Educational and Governmental access television. Individuals, groups of any size, schools and local governments can use the medium of cable television to communicate non-commercial messages throughout the cable system. Access channels reach about 26,000 subscriber households [about 67,000 residents] on Time Warner Cable's basic cable service in Tompkins County. Community access television is an opportunity to reach most homes in the city of Ithaca and many throughout Tompkins County with any size message, from announcements on our Community Bulletin Board to full-scale documentaries. Community access television requires one vital ingredient to make it come alive: you! I.2 What is PEGASYS? PEG access services are provided to residents by Time Warner Cable, which owns and operates the access system. Access channels are provided in accordance with the cable franchises between TWC, the City of Ithaca., and the other Towns and Villages of Tompkins County. Under the agreement between the City of Ithaca and TWC, TWC also provides a fully equipped and staffed Access Television Center for the creation of community access programming. The entire PEG Access System [or PEGASYS, for short] includes: -5 Public, Educational and Governmental access channels - the PEGASYS Television Center -certain off-site facilities,including a PEGASYS satellite dish and equipment at schools - connecting equipment to allow certain [I-NET]institutions to cablecast on PEGASYS channels L3 PEGASYS Channel Line-up Channel 13- Public Access I[for individuals and groups] Channel 15- Governmental Access [for government bodies] Channel 16-Educational Access[for schools and colleges] Channel 76 -Educational Access [SCOLA, a satellite-delivered foreign news service subscribed to by Ithaca College and Cornell University] Channel 78-Public Access II I.4 Who is Eligible to Use PEGASYS? 1. To use PEGASYS channel time, you must be a resident of Tompkins County at least 18 years old. Proof of residence may be required. 2. To use PEGASYS production facilities, you must fulfill the requirements in #1, above. In addition, you must complete PEGASYS training and be certified by staff for all PEGASYS equipment to be used. 3. Minors: Minors are permitted to assist on video productions at PEGASYS when an adult who has completed certification as an access producer takes legal responsibility for and is present during all phases of the minor's facility use. Minors using the facilities under these guidelines must be at least 14 years old. One further exception is for school groups using designated PEGASYS educational access equipment at their school. The minimum age for students in such groups is 10.