Restrictions on small television stations

I would like to address some of the difficulties new and small television stations are experiencing in order to broadcast on the local networks.

The procedures to obtain a TV licence have tightened up, particularly after the failure of the Family TV station. Emerging TV stations are doomed to look for themselves to find a platform to carry them, before they are even assessed by the competent authority on their financial viability as well as their human and technical capacity.

The choice of TV platforms from which to broadcast is highly limited. The business is confined to the existing duopoly. Moreover, the prices being charged to operate from their networks are often hefty and at the networks' mercy. The assessment made by these TV platforms to accept to carry a TV station follows no pre-established technical criteria and is purely a business decision, which does not reflect the spirit of the Broadcasting Act.

Furthermore, small licensed TV stations such as Calypso Music TV and Favorite channel are bound by "exclusivity", meaning they cannot move from one TV platform to another like the bigger TV channels, which is a clear hindrance to open and fair competition. Such a measure only safeguards the interest of the platforms that are denying such stations the right to choose their broadcasting network.

Besides, the Broadcasting Act, under the "must carry" clause, obliges the TV networks to carry each TV station licensed by the competent authority. Nevertheless such obligation is not enforced in regard to smaller TV stations, with the result that the platforms are determining what the viewers see from their homes. The question is, does the power to determine whom and what to broadcast truly lie with the authority or with the TV networks?

I appeal for something to be done to ensure the proliferation of more TV stations, the protection of one's freedom of expression through the media, the proper accountability of the decision-making bodies and a more liberalised market in the business.