And for X-TV'S Evan "Mose" Hyde, the trauma from the last time BTL exercised monopoly control still haunts him:
Evan "Mose" Hyde, XTV/Krem Radio
"BTL had complete control, this would be some time around 2007 and it was at that time controlled by the Ashcroft Alliance who are now wanting to sell out but they had control of BTL. I spoke on the matter of the union leader at the time being fired and as a result, we were not only punished by ads being taken away. At the time, the ability to get online came completely through the portal, belizeweb.com, and we were taken down and could no longer be accessed. That set us back significantly. We paid a price but you take your lick, you understand that you spoke on principle and you deal with it. But you can't forget."
"Let's say in the media houses all of us go broke and you only have Channel 5. Well we have to live with that. But it was not something that was manipulated into existence and paid to become into existence. That's what we are talking about here. So it's more than just whether or not the cable companies are in the package or not. Fundamentally, a government influenced private company, quote unquote, is taking up a strategy to create a monopoly and in our view, it's going backwards and creating the kind of structure that lends itself to the small mindedness and the vindictiveness that we have experienced as a cultural norm here in Belize, I'm afraid of that, we already took our lick and that's where we are on that matter."
And Plus TV's Louis Wade also has had to "stand on business" even if that meant losing millions of dollars.
Louis Wade Jr., Plus TV
"For us at Plus TV, we have always been a fragile entity. We entered into media because we felt that our opinions needed to be shared within the country so it was not a financial decision that entered Plus TV into the media. That is the only thing that keeps us there. We had at least ten years ago or more we had a staff of up to 14 people. and these governments know how to use these systems to silence you or to squeeze you out and then you know that you have to speak so you just watch the money walk through the door. Sometimes it's millions of dollars over the years. So we have shrunk to about 7, half of our total size and we have never been able to recover. So we have not recovered. The fact that I am not in media has nothing to do with we're set now, it has to do, we have to find other avenues to keep the doors open and any monopoly just as the people are saying in their comments, just as those who are now been silence and are putting in their resignation, it is not good for the country of Belize."
