(Update) Cable TV firm told to broadcast GMA 7 on a previous channel

(Update) MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ appellate court affirmed an order that instructed the country’s largest cable operator to broadcast GMA Network’s free television signal on channel 12 of its system, after moving it to 14. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), GMA Network Inc., which broadcasts on free airwaves through channel 7, said that the appeal of Central CATV “was dismissed for lack of merit" by the Court of Appeals. Earlier, Central CATV, which co-owns Sky Cable and Home Cable with the Lopez Group, filed the appeal contesting a government order instructing it to transmit channel 7 on cable TV channel 12, after moving it to 14. The order was issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The NTC order was issued after GMA Network Inc. through its counsel, Atty. Roberto Rafael V. Lucila, requested an investigation in February 2003. The network, whose subsidiary owns and runs GMANews.TV, asked the NTC “to investigate the unilateral act of rechanneling the VHF station GMA Network in Metro Manila by Sky Cable and Home Cable and to order the said companies to return and maintain the channel positioning of GMA’s VHF television station at channel 12," it said in its disclosure. In April 2003, the NTC “ruled that Central CATV violated the provisions of Memorandum Circular No. 4-08-88 when it unilaterally rechanneled the positions of free-to-air TV channels without securing the approval of NTC," GMA Network said. The circular is also known as the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Cable Television Systems in the Philippines. In an email message sent to GMANews.TV, GMA Network said it “questioned the arbitrary re-channeling of Channel 7 by Sky Cable because Sky Cable does not have the right to change the channel assignments of free-to-air TV stations without the approval of the TV stations and the NTC." “The unilateral and arbitrary re-channeling of free-to-air TV stations on cable will cause confusion among viewers," GMA Network Inc., the Philippines’ leading network said. Sky Cable was also ordered “to carry the free-to-air television signal on its CATV system on the channel number at which the station is transmitting, except when technically unfeasible, in which case it shall be assigned the next nearest channel which does not cause interference," the disclosure said. The cable operator was also told to “faithfully and strictly comply with the provisions of the said circular and to cease from arbitrarily changing channel assignments without advance written notice to the TV stations, the public, and the approval of the NTC." Sky Cable later contested NTC’s decision, asserting that the cited circular is invalid and ineffective. The cable operator claimed that the NTC issuance was in conflict with the Philippines’ Intellectual Property Code (Republic Act (RA) No. 8293). According to Sky Cable, the law “prohibits entities other than the broadcasting organization itself from rebroadcasting the latter’s broadcasts," GMA Network said in its disclosure. Besides saying that the circular denies cable companies their management prerogative, Sky Cable said that cable operators “will suffer serious technical, financial, and business repercussions." It was later ordered by the NTC to comply with its April 2003 decision, which the company later contested at the Court of Appeals. Controlled by the Lopez Group and Central CATV Group, Sky Cable is a subsidiary of ABS-CBN, a rival of GMA Network Inc. The company owns and runs GMANews.TV through its subsidiary, Media Merge Corp. Calls made to Sky Cable’s public relations department were unanswered. - GMANews.TV