For months many have questioned whether the country’s sole cable provider – Cable Bahamas – has the legal right to sell local ads, which regularly interrupt international programmes.
According the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), it does.
“Cable Bahamas is within its authority within The Bahamas to insert its own commercials into programming carried over its cable television system,” said URCA Senior Case Officer Vincent Wallace-Whitfield.
“This has been a long-standing practice of the television industry everywhere, but particularly in the USA, as commercial television is largely funded through advertising revenue. In Cable Bahamas’ case, they insert these ads to sell their product, which is the various Oceans cable television packages and cable Internet or to sell the products of their paid Bahamian advertisers.”
But, for thousands of cable subscribers it’s an annoyance to say the least.
