The Broadcasting Commission yesterday issued an order to local cable company Flow, telling them to discontinue inserting local advertisements into programmes originating on foreign cable channels seen in Jamaica.
In a press release issued yesterday, the Commission said it had received reports that last weekend, advertisements for Jamaican businesses were inserted into commercial breaks on popular non-Jamaican channels on the subscriber television service. The release directed that Flow should "cease any such ad substitutions in order to maintain existing public policy and prevent any breach of the Television and Sound Broad-casting Regulations."
Banned
The Broadcasting Commis-sion, in the release, said it had briefed Information Minister Olivia Grange on the matter, who reiterated the Jamaican Government's stand that "substituted advertising is not allowed under the current provisions in the law, nor is it being contemplated."
When THE STAR contacted Flow yesterday, Jean McPherson, director of marketing said the company did, in fact, air local advertisements on non-local channels, (MTV, ESPN, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and TNT ), but this was a part of tests that were being run by the company. She said other cable networks, within the Caribbean, do plug in local adverts on non-local channels and it is an avenue that Flow was looking at.
Telstar expands
Another press release from the commission said Telstar Cable Limited yesterday received ministerial approval to expand its cable service to an additional 11 cable zones in Kingston and St Andrew.
The approval now means that the company will serve the Corporate Area communities of: Hope Pastures, Washington Gardens, Patrick City, Beverly Hills, Swallowfield, Cross Roads and Vineyard Town. Telstar will also serve areas such as: Riverton City, New Haven, and Duhaney Park. The zones were previously served by Entertainment Systems Limited, SAUCE Communications Network and Allied Cablevision Limited before they sold their
businesses to Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited (operating as Flow).
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