Why has Channel 7 been taken off Centaur’s Cable service in Orange Walk? You may have heard versions of it on Michael Ashcroft’s Channel 5 and John Briceno’s CTV-3 on Friday night. But tonight, we’ll tell you the real story and the back story. But first to brush away the rumours. Some have tried to play it as a high handed manoeuvre by new BTL Chairman Nestor Vasquez who is also the Channel 7 owner. Indeed BTL – at Channel 7’s request informed CBC cable that they could no longer include Channel 7 on their service which is routed through to Centaur Cable in Orange Walk and Corozal.
Channel 7 was within all rights to do this; the signal is ours, after all. But that’s not why we did it. We did it to defend a commercial interest: Tropical Vision owns a cable company in Orange Walk called Northern Cable that competes against the Briceno’s Centaur Cable. Presently that company Northern Cable is the only one offering Channel 7 in Orange Walk as was the case between 2000 and 2008.
Of course, Centaur can still get Channel 7 – in fact they are legally obligated to do so as it is re-transmitted over-the-air on Channel 10 in Orange Walk – but that station is owned by Gaspar Vega, so we don’t expect John Briceno’s family’s cable station to carry it anytime soon.
And while Channel 5 and CTV-3 were eager to blow up the story on Friday, odd that we didn’t hear them say anything about what’s been done to the Lanza Family who own Baymen North Limited in Corozal Town. Baymen North competes against the Briceno’s in that northern Town and over the past two and a half years they have been repeatedly told that they cannot carry Channel 5 in Corozal because Centaur has the exclusive rights to do so.
Unlike Channel 7 which owns a cable company in Orange Walk and competes directly against the Briceno’s - Channel 5 has no commercial interest to defend in Corozal so really there’s no reason why only Centaur should be able to carry it. But in the context of all the co-mingling of ownership we’ve seen between the Briceno’s and Ashcroft, the common cause between Centaur and Channel 5 is perhaps understandable.
Bottom line is though, when it’s convenient for the Briceno’s Centaur Company to insist on exclusive rights to a Channel – as they do in Corozal – that’s business – and now that Tropical Vision/Channel 7 has done the same thing in Orange Walk – to defend its own interests – it becomes a news story ON Michael Ashcroft’s Channel 5? Odd.
For this company the situation is simple. We want all cable subscribers in Orange Walk to see the signal. So they can either switch to Northern Cable, or those who subscribe to Centaur can demand that their cable provider carry Channel 10 which shows Channel 7 News.
