TV regulator rejects blame over commercial failings

| 03/02/2017 | 5 Comments

(CNS Business): Following the news that Cayman 27 is dropping its costly ‘Daybreak’ local morning magazine TV show, the TV arm of the new regulator OfReg has stated that this issue is entirely commercial and not a regulatory matter. “The failure of cable providers to come to an agreement with Hurley’s Media Ltd for distribution of shows like Daybreak is a commercial issue and not a regulatory matter,” said Alee Fa’amoe, the Executive Director of ICT in the newly formed Utility Regulation and Competition Office.

He said the OfReg was not partly to blame for the decision, as suggested by the TV station’s boss Randy Merren, or for the failure to establish Cayman 27 as a “must-carry” station.

Fa’amoe said each of the three operating cable TV providers has licence conditions requiring them to carry a minimum percentage of local programming, which includes such items as local talk shows, educational, cultural, and religious programming, live sporting events, government information services, and live coverage of the Legislative Assembly. But he said OfReg does not require TV providers or cable providers to produce or to carry any specific shows.

“As the regulator of ICT services in the Cayman Islands, including television broadcasting and cable TV services, OfReg acknowledges and respects the freedom of the liberalised communications market to decide what kind of local programming is of value to its customers,” Fa’amoe stated in a release. “While fully respecting the local content licence obligation, service providers must be able to enter into mutually beneficial commercial agreements for that content and be able to assemble and price their services and compete for customers.”

He added, “This ability to create products and services and to differentiate themselves from their competitors is the cornerstone of a vibrant and competitive marketplace.”

But he said nothing about the failings of some cable and TV providers to carry any local content at all, which Merren has said is one of the fundamental problems. If Hurley’s is the only local provider making the shows to meet licensing requirements and trying to save local TV, he is at a distinct competitive disadvantage.

Tags: , , , , ,

Category: Local Business, Media

Comments (5)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Anonymous says:

    You seriously call Daybreak an institution worth retaining ? I’ve seen it a few times by chance and its typical of a small location TV coverage, dull, poor quality and not really news to anyone. Why save it ?

  2. Sharkey says:

    This new OFREG office is not for protecting the consumer. Maybe the brothers.
    Then why would Government issue license like telecommunications and not have stipulations in it to say what you can and can’t do . And be enforced.
    Or is it all about collecting that revenue and may the best man survive.

  3. Anonymous says:

    wait, is Hurleys Media a Service Provider?

  4. Anonymous says:

    “But he said nothing about the failings of some cable and TV providers to carry any local content at all, which Merren has said is one of the fundamental problems. If Hurley’s is the only local provider making the shows to meet licensing requirements and trying to save local TV, he is at a distinct competitive disadvantage.” Does the regulator not understand that this gives an impression they are not enforcing the law and openly allowing competitors to act in breach of it? Please tell me if that could not, for example, raise prospects of corruption? “I make you do it but not your competitors…”

    • John Lin says:

      You mean people still get cable here?

      We used to pay about $100 per month for a few awful channels filled with advertising, plus of course internet for another $100 per month.

      The final straw for cable was when they changed the content carried and it would now cost us an extra $30 to get CNN.

      We bought an Apple box, a Netflix subscription and took our cable boxes back.
      We get CNN, Skynews and more TV series and movies than we can ever watch, with no ads.
      Saving about $100 per month.

Please include your email address in the form below if you are using your real name. You can use a pseudonym, with or without leaving an email address, or just leave the form blank to be "Anonymous". All comments will be moderated before they are published. The CNS Comment Policy is at the top of this page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.