The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor ZNS has alleged that Cable Bahamas' previous Channel 12 tie-up with a radio station owned by a former PLP Cabinet Minister was politically motivated, and an attempt to "cut a deal" with the Christie administration that would allow it to run advertising by Bahamas-based companies across its programming spectrum. The Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB), in its response to the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority's (URCA) consultation on draft practice codes for content and TV-related media, also accused the BISX-listed company of 'dumping' by selling advertisements across its cable channels at much lower costs than its competitors. Cable Bahamas, the BCB said in its feedback to URCA, which was released yesterday, had "an unfair competitive advantage" over a free-to-air broadcaster such as itself, due to the financial power generated from its infrastructure and multiple 'Triple Play' business sources. Referring specifically to the previous arrangement for providing news content for its community channel, the BCB said: "The Cable 12 alliance with Charles Carter and Island FM during the Progressive Liberal Party administration was specifically aimed at cutting a deal with the Government, in one form or another, to enable Cable Bahamas to run ads. "At one time Cable Bahamas envisioned splitting ad revenue with ZNS as a negotiating point with government. Now Cable Bahamas is running ads on multiple cable channels at very low cost - the equivalent of 'dumping' in the eyes of its competitors." And the BCB added: "Free-to-air broadcast television does not have the same revenue base that Cable Bahamas has. The question is: Should Cable Bahamas be allowed to dramatically undersell ads on its various channels, and does this amount to an unfair competitive advantage? We believe it is an issue that requires a full review by URCA." Some might say the BCB/ZNS's comments are akin to the 'pot calling the kettle black', given the historical level of political interference by the government of the day in the state-owned broadcaster. However, the claims cannot be immediately dismissed, as both Anthony Butler, Cable Bahamas' president and chief executive, and Mark Cabrelli, its vice-president of marketing, did not return Tribune Business's calls, seeking to verify their accuracy, before press time. Mr Carter, a former ZNS broadcaster himself, held several key Cabinet posts during Sir Lynden Pindling's long-running administration, before eventually branching out into the private sector with Island FM. The radio station provided news content for Cable Bahamas' Channel 12, until it was replaced by the Nassau Guardian. He is close to Mr Christie, and it is possible that Cable Bahamas may have seen the Island FM contract as a potential mechanism through which to influence the former administration's thinking. At the moment, though, all this is conjecture and speculation. Tribune Business understands, though, that many in the radio and television industry believed that Cable Bahamas was prevented, under the terms of its original licence, from soliciting advertising from Bahamas-based companies. It is thought the Government did this to protect the commercially-disadvantaged ZNS. The BCB/ZNS, meanwhile, also hit out at another perceived "unfair advantage" that Cable Bahamas held, this time through its nation-wide fibre optic cable infrastructure. The state-owned broadcaster argued that Cable Bahamas, and its Channel 12, should merely act as a distribution mechanism for local programming, and not be producing its own content. "We wish to register concern over what we view as an unfair competitive advantage in the broadcast arena by Cable Bahamas (CBL)," the BCB/ZNS. "Cable Bahamas is an infrastructure - not a content - provider. In its original license, the Government required Cable Bahamas to distribute ZNS and provide for a community access channel. "Community access has since morphed into original programming, as well as free airtime for local producers. We do not see why Cable Bahamas should be in the business of producing original content, rather than simply facilitating local content. It is an issue we believe that requires clarification." The BCB/ZNS, meanwhile, backed URCA's proposed code of practice for "relaxing the strict advertising and sponsorship rules previously set under the Broadcasting Act, and allows licensees flexibility and the creativity to best schedule ads on their stations to increase revenue and maximise audience retention. "The proposed code relaxes the stringent 12 minutes of ads per hour limits previously placed on advertising for private commercial licensees, while only public service broadcasters are restricted to a reasonable 16 minutes of advertising per hour."