The (ill)legality of broadcasting
Thimphu: The introduction of Direct-to-Home (DTH) television was seen as a threat to the cable operators. Today, the cable operators broadcasting reality shows, entertainment items and classified advertisements have posed questions on the legality of it.
The Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) spokesperson, Jigme Wangdi, told the media last year that the cable operators were allowed to keep one local channel each, the content of which will be regulated through a broad guideline.
BICMA has classified broadcast media into two, Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) as the only telecast and the cable operators as re-broadcaster.
Not issued a broadcast license, cable operators essentially are allowed to show only limited contents. These include school concerts, Bhutanese music videos, small classified advertisements and local functions like tshechu.
On request made by the Motion Picture Association of Bhutan, advertisements for movie promotions were allowed, as an interim measure to promote local contents through local channels until another telecast competitor to BBS arrives in the market.
In reality, however, the local channels have today metamorphosed into almost full-fledged broadcast entities airing all kinds of content most of which are picked up locally. The reality show, Bhutan Star, being shown on the Norling and Etho Metho cables in Thimphu these days is an example.
“Bhutan Star does not fall under the rebroadcast category because it is being filmed solely to be broadcast through the local channels,” said the commercial manager of a print media house.
The secretary of Ministry of Information and Communications, Dasho Kinley Dorji, said local channels will have to be licensed to be allowed to broadcast any form of contents and that it should not be given to an organization without professional people working.
“Organizations need to train their people first and get a broadcast license and then do legal broadcasting in the interest of the society based on the Constitution,” he said.
The managing director of Etho Metho cable, Jigme Karchung, said there is no such rule which forbids the local channels from broadcasting advertisements. Like the print media and other advertising organizations, the cable operators also paid taxes to the government.
But the news media houses are unhappy. They say that with the local channels allowed to broadcast advertisements, the market for the print media has shrunk further. “Their business is not advertising, they are ‘cable operators’”, said a marketing officer for a news media company, “while our only source of income is advertisement.”
Private cables are affecting the advertisement market for the print media since their rates are a lot cheaper, said Phuntsho Wangmo, the head of operations, Bhutan Observer.
In the meanwhile, BICMA has drafted a Rule on Operations of Commercial Cable and TV System that will address the issues of local advertisements and other programs on the local channel.
There more than 50 cable operators in the country.
By Tshering Choki Jamtsho in Bhutan Today