The Boxing Day Junkanoo parade in this image from ZNS streaming coverage.
THE executive chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, Picewell Forbes, has accused Rev Cable Bahamas and Aliv of an “intrusion” on the broadcast of the 2022 Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade.
Mr Forbes said in a statement: “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 added: “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.”
On social media, a number of viewers complained that ZNS was blocked out on cable TV - while some also noted that Channel 212 was also not on.
There were also complaints about the quality of coverage.
Mr Forbes said that he would take the matter up with URCA.
He said: “URCA as the regulator of broadcasting in this country will be notified of this conscious and deliberate action by REV Cable Bahamas on behalf of its companies. The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas takes the view that competition is good for the industry and good for our country however, we condemn these actions that seeks to deprive the public of the best Junkanoo presentation as done by The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas.
“We are seeking to have this matter resolved to the benefit of our loyal viewers.”
Comments
bahamianson 1 year, 4 months ago
Yup, sounds about right. My rev phone is blocked from calling btc phones. It happens all the time ,and the cable people say btc blocks the rev phones. Urca, why are you getting paid? I can see if you an NIB , water and sewage, bahamas air ,police or immigration officerut this is ridiculous. We expect government workers to be sub par and lazy.
ThisIsOurs 1 year, 4 months ago
"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.”
If true it is indeed a puzzling move by Cable. Im not sure what they hoped to achieve by it, Im hoping it wasnt a deliberate action and was due to some technical issues. My understanding is ZNS is always supposed to be available as a non paid service to all islands of the Bahamas.
However the statement by the chairman is also contradictory, you cant talk about anticompetitive behaviour by a competitor and conclude that it justifies you having a monopoly on a service.
As to "quality", junkanoo has a fundamental problem. The quality of the overall parade IS poor. There are segments of excitement and good presentation but overall spectators are subjected to sub par groups unfinished costumes, bad music and disorganization. Filling gaps with the discordant scraps groups is not entertainment. The main problem is the euphoria among the participants makes them blind to reality. No matter what low quality is displayed junkanoo is always described as the greatest show on earth, but it isnt. For that moniker to be accurate, it should be one continuous flow of excellence from an awe inspiring opening to a massive heart pounding finale. Noone can put claim to that. And I can hear it now, you dont know what it takes, but I actually do, my point is if it takes that much to produce this, you need to restrategize, possibly a main parade with less people focused on presentation , maybe even a combined practice beforehand, staging areas downtown so costumes can be moved a week before, then a second tier parade(s) thats just "hats, t-shirts and shoes"
Bahamian spectators are generally satisfied to see a 10 minute flash of brilliance from their favourite group after waiting 6 hours or more. What paid audience anywhere else would accept this return on their admission dollar?
Even the hotel shows. Theyre just lacking, the costumes are always unimaginative wash downs. What saves us everytime is the energy not so much the presentation.
Junkanoo needs a massive overhaul. It needs to be split into the greatest show which should be great and the side activities on other days, since this discussion has been going on for decades with junkanooers too vested in pointing out the effort they put in as opposed to the reality of the quality output, I expect our descendants to be having the same discussion 100 years from now.
My take, the idea of a professional junkanoo show is beautiful thing, the energy of junkanoo is super real, if the two ever meet, it has the potential to be the greatest show on earth
ThisIsOurs 1 year, 4 months ago
And I know when you talk about a premier show with less people, the first problem is all 5000 people want to be in the premier show. There's a solution for that that the NFL, NBA, FIFA, World Cup and Olympics have figured out, wanna have the best game? Start the best players. Not even Ronaldo is entitled to play, and at some point based on prrformance, theres a retirement from A play
hrysippus 1 year, 4 months ago
There is a lot of truth in the online Tribune comments. As for what Pricewell had to say, well ZNS and all its government paid employees are nothing much more than an unnecessary burden on the backs and wallets of the Bahamian taxpayers.
moncurcool 1 year, 4 months ago
First off, ZNS does not compete against anyone, as it is a government monopoly. Second, who still watches irrelevant ZNS which still has 18th century programming. Third, if Cable did run a disclaimer on ZNS redirecting viewers to another channel then that is wrong. Fourth, ZNS still was just showing commercials online, so they still did not have any coverage going on. Maybe Picewell need to apologize to the Bahamian people for the poor coverage coming from ZNS and fix that.
In regard to the Junkanoo parade, listening to the chairman and deputy chairman of the JCNP, I now understand why the gaps issue in the parade will never be resolved. These guys have no clue. If you listen to their responses on the various networks, these guys cannot give a sensible answer as to how to resolve the issue. They just offer excuses. It is just ridiculous.
ThisIsOurs 1 year, 4 months ago
People who cant afford cable watch ZNS, we cant forget them.
ThisIsOurs 1 year, 4 months ago
Lol. See birdie was depending on ZNS coverage
moncurcool 1 year, 4 months ago
That there and in itself shows the problem with ZNS.
birdiestrachan 1 year, 4 months ago
I was wondering what happened ..? Why zns did not show junknoo I was of the view there was some agreement with Alive
birdiestrachan 1 year, 4 months ago
I was wondering what happened ..? Why zns did not show junknoo I was of the view there was some agreement with Aliv
DillyTree 1 year, 4 months ago
LOL! This is tit for tat -- BTC blocks Aliv calls and now REV is doing the same. Why all the crying?
Biggest issue is that we have no competitiveness in the country -- same old mediocre service by noth companies for which we pay a fortune. Open up the market and let it have free reign -- maybe better call quality and less of those Spanish programs. URCA, if you want to do something, this is probably where to start instead of mediating petty childish squabbles.
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