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Our Mission
The mission of CITY-TV Channel 18 is to serve the people of Santa Barbara by providing accurate information about policies, services and activities of City Government and to stimulate and encourage all people representing Santa Barbara's diverse communities to involve themselves in local government issues and the local government process.
Goals for CITY-TV Channel 18:
1) To provide greater accessibility to City Government by producing and distributing information about policies, procedures, resources, services and events, via cable television and the Internet to Santa Barbara citizens.
2) Increase community awareness of important local issues.
3) Create a channel identity that citizens recognize as quality informational programming.
4) Provide information about City services and community events using the electronic bulletin board.
5) Create a library of City programming for historical purposes.
6) Provide video production and audio/visual services to City departments.
7) Act as a source of information during local emergency situations as directed by the City Public Information Team.
8) Maintain a library of videotape copies of public meetings as part of the public record.

Background: Government Access Television was created as part of the franchise agreement with Cox Communications in 1981. The service was continued when the City and Cox renewed the franchise agreement in 1998.

A Government Channel is defined in the franchise agreement as a channel for use by the City, in which the programming is noncommercial, informational programming regarding government activities and programs.

Channel 18 has a potential viewership of about 68,000 subscribers in southern Santa Barbara County. The City of Santa Barbara has 29,592 of cable subscribers in its limits. The most recent viewer survey was conducted in 2004 and showed that 5.4% of City cable subscribers watch City TV daily, 25.8% of City cable subscribers watch CITY-TV at least once per week, and 15.9% of City cable subscribers watch CITY-TV at least once per month.

CITY-TV is a division of the City Administrators Office. Under direction of the Assistant to the City Administrator, the City TV Production Supervisor is responsible for all programming activities and program schedules.

City TV is funded by the City's General Fund with support for capital equipment purchases and replacement provided through an annual grant from Cox Communications. CITY-TV may solicit and accept grants or in-kind services for production of particular types of programming.

Live Meetings:
Live coverage of City Council, Planning Commission, Harbor Commission, Parks & Recreation Commission, and other public meetings as deemed appropriate by the production supervisor. Meetings are carried "gavel-to-gavel", unedited and without editorial comment.

Tape Delayed/Rebroadcast Meetings:
Videotape replays of public meetings for cablecast at various times throughout the week.

City Produced Programs:
Programming produced by CITY-TV staff that is noncommercial in nature and about topics of interest to the local community. An example of a CITY-TV program that is currently in production are the monthly news magazine show Inside Santa Barbara and the Spanish language talk-show Nuestra Ciudad.

Outside Produced Programs:
Noncommercial programming produced by outside sources, noncommercial and educational in nature, and of general public interest. The California Channel is satellite delivered proceedings of the California State Legislature and other State agencies.

City Calendar:
Text and graphics style electronic bulletin board used to display messages to the public. Messages may be submitted by any City Department, nonprofit organization or other community group and must meet all channel programming policies, objectives and regulations. All messages submitted are subject to approval by the Channel Coordinator.

Programming Policies and Restrictions:
1) Programming must meet all FCC Regulations, and applicable Federal, State and Local laws.
2) Information or advertising concerning illegal lottery is prohibited.
3) Programming must be noncommercial. Sponsored and underwritten programs may be shown if approved by the Channel Coordinator.
4) Any program containing advertisements on behalf of a political candidate, political issues, legal matters, political advocacy or ballot measure is prohibited. This does not preclude the production by CITY-TV of programming on such issues if all sides of the issue are presented, debated or discussed by the proponents/opponents.
5) CITY-TV will not show elected officials that are running for reelection or show candidates running for office on any channel 18 production (other than televised public meetings) during the election season. The election season is defined as the beginning of the City nomination period (mid-July) to the first Tuesday of November, or the three-month period prior to any special election.
6) Any material which constitutes libel, slander, pornography or obscene and indecent content which might violate local, state, or federal laws.
7) Programming which advocates a particular religious belief or beliefs is restricted.
8) Use of CITY-TV Channel 18 production equipment shall be restricted to government access activities and only to designated City employees, volunteers, and/or interns under supervision of the City TV Production Supervisor.

 
Role of CITY-TV in an Emergency Situation:
The City TV Production Supervisor and City TV Production Specialist are members of the City of Santa Barbara Public Information Officer Team. Under direction of the lead PIO Team member, CITY-TV will be made available for disseminating information to the public during the City's emergency response. CITY-TV staff will also assist in documenting on videotape any damage and recovery efforts for use by the PIO Team, City Attorney and City Risk Management staff.
 
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Last Updated July 3, 2008