CHAIRMAN of the Association of Independent Programme Providers (AIPP), Leighton Thomas, said he had not ruled out going to court to get an injunction against the Broadcasting Commission, which last week issued a directive to cable operators to immediately cease airing local advertisements on the channels.

The Broadcasting Commission presently allows advertising on four national free-to-air broadcasters – TVJ, CVM TV, LOVE TV and Reggae Sun.

A series of meetings over the weekend between Information Minister Burchell Whiteman and the affected parties in the cable industry failed to resolve the matter, even though the talks were described as “productive”.

The parties are expected to meet again this week to continue the discussions.

However, Thomas told the Observer that the hastily-formed association which he heads up would be forced to seek legal intervention if further meetings this week failed to end amicably.

“An immediate solution has to be found – and we are talking about days – even if it means going to court to get an injunction,” the operator of CETv told the Observer on Saturday.

“We employ over 1,000 people. What are we to do at the end of the month?” Thomas remarked.

The commission’s snap directive last Wednesday spurred a flurry of activities among the cable operators and companies providing locally produced content for cable. In fact, shortly after the announcement, 12 producers of local programmes got together and hurriedly formed the AIPP, “to present a unified voice and protect their interests,” according to Thomas.

The AIPP’s membership includes channels such as CETv, RETV, Hype Tv and Music Plus.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Association of Community Cable Operators (JACCO) admitted that the two meetings between Whiteman, its representatives and members of the newly-formed AIPP last Friday and Saturday had moved the discussion forward.

Another meeting has been scheduled for today.

“It was a productive meeting, but we are going to meet on Monday (today) as there are certain legal points which we are not able to resolve,” Colin Innis, president of JACCO, told the Observer on Friday night.

Thomas said the AIPP’s Saturday morning meeting with Whiteman

had also ended on a similar note.

“At this point we have presented our case to the minister, and he has promised to review it,” said Thomas, adding that in the interim the (commission’s) directive holds but we are hoping it will change shortly”.

But Innis, who remarked that he would rather not say anything to influence the negotiations, added that he expected the Broadcasting Commission to stick to its position.

“Based on encouragement that the local content providers received (earlier in the year), they went ahead with advertising,” he said, noting that they had been providing a “tremendous service”.

Added Innis: “This directive comes as a definite surprise to us.especially when it is so close to peak advertising season.”

Innis also argued that the Broadcasting Commission’s directive had strong legal implications.

“There are contracts in place right now, and we have to take legal advice,” he added. He did not elaborate.

Cable providers presently rely on subscriptions as a source of revenue, while local independent programmers depend solely on advertising or sponsorship for income.

Primary among the local content providers that are affected are independent programmers Hype TV, RETV, CETv and Music Plus.

fosterp@jamaicaobserver.com