"This situation is very much similar to that which obtained when Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) programmes used to be relayed on one of the terrestrial television channels in Guyana."

redux...you have my blessings....lets hear your side...

redux...put up or shut up!!!!........share your "Facts"

Cain, Mitwah, Redux and the other handles they use are only capable of name calling, when confronted with the facts, they fade into juvenile convulsions. ahahahah

PM CLEARS THE AIR - CCTV NOT LICENSED TO BROADCAST IN GUYANA, NCN RELAYING PROGRAMMES!!!

PRIME MINISTER SAMUEL HINDS TODAY CLEARED THE AIR IN RELATION TO A HOST OF MISINFORMATION BEING PEDDLED FOLLOWING THE COMMISSIONING OF A FACILITY AT THE NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK(NCN) TO RELAY PROGRAMMES BROADCASTED BY THE CHINESE STATE OWNED CCTV.

The Prime Minister’s statement follows:

“Questions have been filling the air about the availability of CCTV News in Guyana on Channel 27/Cable 78. There is a question in Parliament by the Honourable Member, Ms. Cathy Hughes, to be answered by me at a meeting of the National Assembly on, or after, February 28, 2013; there was, also, an oral question which the Honourable Member, Mr. Joseph Harmon, sought to put for my immediate reply when the National Assembly last met on February 14, 2013, but which was not allowed by the Speaker for the reason that, in his belief, it was much the same question as Ms. Hughes’. My colleague in these matters of broadcasting, of not too long ago, Mr. Kit Nascimento, has been speaking and writing about the dangerous precedent being set and about the breaking of its own laws by this Government. Well, Kit can put his concerns to rest: they arise from incorrect assumptions.

“With the greatest respect for the Parliamentary process of questions and answers, there is need, I dare say, to set matters straight/right and, hopefully, prevent grossly inaccurate pronouncements from sinking in.

“CCTV has no licence to broadcast in Guyana. The licensed broadcaster, National Communications Network (NCN) Inc., is relaying CCTV programmes for 18 hours or more, on one of its assigned channels. This situation is very much similar to that which obtained when Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) programmes used to be relayed on one of the terrestrial television channels in Guyana. When TBN relayed broadcast programmes were discontinued, it was not on the basis of TBN being a foreign programme, but, rather, on the basis of a dispute over who had the rights to the terrestrial television channel.

“Allow me to provide some background, some context, to this question: with the advent of satellite broadcasting in the 1980s, there arose, in many countries, broadcasts to the world by many entities, such as CNNI, BBC World, German, French and Russian stations, and, in time, CCTV.

“In the course of discussions of the Guyana-China Joint Commission, the matter arose of CCTV programmes being made available in Guyana. This mutual desire was eventually formalized in an Agreement between the Governments of Guyana and China, in 2004. Under that agreement, China Radio and Television Corporation (CCTV) provides, to NCN, receiving and transmitting facilities which then become the property of NCN, after which, in negotiations on specific terms, NCN would re-broadcast specific programmes of CCTV over one of its (NCN’S) assigned channels. This is a business arrangement of NCN, not unlike the arrangement under which TBN was relayed in Guyana. At that time, Channel 29/Cable 80 was earmarked to NCN for part-use in re-broadcasting CCTV programmes, but when the Learning Channel came along in early 2011, NCN began utilizing that previously earmarked Channel for the Learning Channel. Consequently, in 2012, when the re-broadcasts were to begin, Channel 27/Cable 78 was instead assigned as a substitute.

“Hence,

(i) CCTV is not broadcasting in Guyana – it is not licensed and needs no licence. NCN is relaying a feed from CCTV, as other TV stations relay satellite-feeds of their choice, including CNNI, BBC, NBC, CBS, and CCTV;

(ii) Many may be aware that NCN, for a number of years, has been airing CCTV content, in addition to CNN, BBC, NBC, CBS, HBO, Al Jazeera, and Russian programmes;

(iii) Many may know, too, that CCTV programmes are available on various cable packages in the U.S.A. and, I daresay, most countries in the world. I recall seeing in a hotel in a country (not China) that I recently visited, up to seven CCTV stations, available on the cable along with CNNI, BBC World, and others.

“I, therefore, hope that it is now clear that CCTV is not, in itself, a licensed operator in Guyana. CCTV programmes are no more foreign propaganda than any other foreign-originated programmes relayed in Guyana, whether direct to a home-receiver from a satellite, like DIREC-TV or FOX, or a re-broadcast by a licensed, terrestrial (on-the-ground) broadcaster.