By Leighton Williams, Staff ReporterLOCAL TELEVISION content providers, which many persons refer to as community channels, are hoping that they will soon be able to 'ad' to their content. They hope that they will be able to carry advertisements, thus boosting revenue.
At least three such companies say they are finding it hard to survive because they are not permitted to accept paid advertisements. Hype TV and Music Plus, based in Kingston, and Reggae Sun Television from Ocho Rios, St. Ann say while they are providing a service long ignored by the two national television stations, they have had to make bread out of stone with limited income.
While the stations see themselves as fulfilling a role such as that of the USA's BET, USA, TNT, MTV or TBS, they say the law does not give them the free reign to make money from advertisements.
Under Regulation 17 (1) (c) of the Television and Sound Broadcasting Regulations, licensed subscriber television (STV) services are prohibited from entering into advertising arrangements. The law states that 'a licensee who operates subscriber television service shall not carry any local advertising other than advertisements on channels carrying national broadcasts'.
It is this regulation that has operated as the big stick over the local channels' heads.
"I don't know how we are supposed to survive. We are not cable stations, we are content providers. The government has us under the category of cable stations and we are content providers. People do not subscribe to us, so we do not get revenue," said Candice Bucchanan, the head anchor person at Reggae Sun, which is reputed to be the island's first community television channel. It shows a wide cross-section of programming, ranging from music videos to karaoke at the Little Pub in Ocho Rios, broadcasting to homes in St. Ann and St. Mary.
Until recently, Reggae Sun's programming was shown on most cable networks islandwide. However, last year a fire destroyed its Little Pub home, forcing it to scale down its reach.
Ms. Buchanan's views were endorsed by Deborah Hickling, the spokesperson for Music Plus. While not elaborating much as her Reggae Sun counterpart, she did say that they had to find ways to fund their operations. Music Plus airs on various cable stations in Portmore and the Corporate Area, 24 on Coral Seas Cable in Negril and on national station CVM, which is the only network to show Music Plus islandwide.
Hype TV says it has had tough going as well. In fact its operator, Mr. Johan Dawes, says the money to keep things going has come out of his pocket. He says it is an expensive venture, compounded by the situation of being unable to carry potentially lucrative ad content. Hype TV is shown mainly in the Corporate Area. It carries a healthy diet of music videos, interviews and a host of other programmes.
A tidy sum of money is required to keep local content stations up and running, though none of the spokespersons could or would say exactly how much it costs on a daily basis. A 30-minute programme can cost anywhere from $150,000 to $1 million, depending on number of persons used, the amount of travelling required and how many cameras are used, among other factors. The quality also makes a difference, since productions can be either low-budget or expensive.
"Corporate Jamaica see the benefits of advertising on cable because it reaches their target audience, but they don't want to because of the law that exists," said Deborah Hickling. To meet the needs of the operation, the stations have had to rely on investors.
However, there are murmurs that some content providers have disregarded the law and started to accept ads from small businesses and entertainment show promoters, especially those close to their operation base. However, it is a practice that the Broadcasting Commission explains can land content providers in trouble with the law. In a faxed statement to The Sunday Gleaner, the Commission said if a complaint was received about advertising on a cable station, they would investigate to determine if the cable companies had breached any regulations.
Both Music Plus and Reggae Sun pointed out that they do not carry ads. However, while Music Plus does not have sponsored programmes, Reggae Sun has backers. They say whenever a programme is run, if it was partially-sponsored then the name of the sponsor will be mentioned.
In the case of Hype TV, promotions are done for upcoming events, but Mr. Dawes hastened to explain that they are not ads since they are carried for free. He added, however, that Hype TV usually charges a fee for making the ad, which may be distributed to 'free to air' television namely Television Jamaica (TVJ) and CVM.
Checks with the Broadcasting Commission revealed that there is no legal definition in the Broadcasting and Radio Re-Diffusion Act or the Television and Sound Broadcasting regulations of either advertising or sponsorship. Neither does the law say if it is illegal for local content providers to accept sponsors.
However, the operators hope that one day the regulations will be lifted and they say it seems this may happen soon. The Broadcasting Commission has stated that the policy of content providers not being able to show ads, among other issues, are under review, based on a study commissioned by the then Minister of Information, Colin Campbell, in 2002.
If the restrictions are lifted, at least one major company may decide to spend money in that area. "If they could deliver the audiences, yes we would advertise with them. But we have to respect the law," said Judith Blake, the marketing manager of Courts Jamaica Ltd.
Whenever the restraints are adjusted or removed, the content providers say they will show ads. However, they could not say how their rates would be calculated. One content provider, for example, pointed out that because some stations operate in a specific zone the ads may cost less than they would on free to air television, since they could not show a particular ad islandwide. The operator added that that was one reason behind a lobby action some of the content providers took recently to see the restrictions lifted.
At present, there are several packages available to persons wishing to place spot ads on free to air television. The costs start from $55,000 for several spots over a two to three-week period. However, a deal can be worked out with the advertiser.
Checks with one of the island's major production companies, which also shoots ads, revealed that they are willing to do business with content providers as well. "The cable companies can play an integral part in the local film industry. I can see why free to air television will complain about them showing ads, but we will have to that route ultimately," said Brian St. Juste of Apex Productions.
While both Corporate Jamaica and the production companies are willing to do business with the content providers, for now, however, they have to hang in there and wait to know if the rules will change so they can accept advertisements.
