By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
CABLE Bahamas Ltd has accused the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas of breaching the terms of its broadcasting conditions for the Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade.
The company said its decision as a result to redirect REV TV subscribers to watch the parade on its channel was not an anti-competition tactic, as claimed by the BCB.
CBL said it is “disappointed” by the accusations levied by the state broadcaster.
On Monday, the BCB said it plans to file a complaint with the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) after accusing Rev, Cable Bahamas, and Aliv of an “intrusion” on the broadcast of this year’s Junkanoo parade.
In a press statement yesterday, CBL said it is committed to providing “exemplary coverage of Junkanoo” not just to Bahamians, but to the “world at large”.
“The BCB was aware of and breached the terms of our broadcasting conditions for the Boxing Day celebrations. As a result, REV TV subscribers on four islands (New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera) were directed to watch the live broadcast of the Boxing Day Parade on REV channel 212 for a limited period at the beginning of the segment,” according to the press statement.
“This was not an anti-competition tactic as suggested by the BCB. CBL as a partner of Aliv has made significant contributions to getting Junkanoo back to the people through a multi-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship of Junkanoo,” the press statement said.
“It is unfortunate that other media broadcasters and their partners, by all of their actions thus far, have attempted to hijack the hard work of our contributions and those of the Junkanoo groups. We look forward to an amicable resolution to this matter and hope that this does not take place in the future.”
Picewell Forbes, BCB executive chairman, mentioned in a statement a message redirecting ZNS viewers and how long the broadcast was blocked.
“Tonight’s intrusion on the broadcast of the 2022 Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade by Rev Cable Bahamas and its company Aliv by placing a message redirecting viewers of the ZNS Network to their Channel 212 is further proof of the fundamental issue of having a cable provider competing with the broadcast services they are tasked to carry,” he said on Monday.
“This move by Cable Bahamas occurred without any discussions or agreement with The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas. This is an anti-competitive approach that has negatively impacted the satisfaction of our contractual obligations with advertisers and sponsors. Our broadcast was blocked at 6pm and was blocked for more than an hour.”
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