The Broadcasting Commission has ordered cable operators to compensate subscribers who have paid for HBO and Cinemax channels that were taken off the air at the start of September.

The channels were cut after the Broadcasting Commission issued a directive for Flow, Logic One and Telstar to cease offering them until they had worked out a deal with HBO Latin America Group (HBO LAG).

The directive came in the wake of a letter from HBO LAG to the Broadcasting Commission demanding that the regulator intervene in the unlawful distribution of HBO content.

Telstar said, however, that its customers were not charged for HBO and Cinemax programmes and in that regard the Broadcasting Commis-sion's directive would not apply.

Efforts to reach the other companies were unsuccessful but Flow Jamaica had previously said the company would reserve comments until negotiations with HBO Latin America - which owns the rights to HBO content distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean - were completed.

The commission's directive is said to have affected up to 14 stations on the packages sold by local cable providers.

And while Flow Jamaica, for example, has offered substitute channels, cable subscribers calling in to The Gleaner say the replacements are not equivalent to the service lost and have been vocal in their call for refunds.

The Broadcasting Commission has sided with subscribers, saying Tuesday that it had issued a directive for cable operators to adequately compensate their customers.

It is unclear the number of subscribers affected because cable companies do not disclose their client base, but it is likely tens of thousands, with the largest exposure to Flow whose operation spans several parishes nationwide.

Logic One and Telstar operate in specific zones inside the capital.

The compensation is to be pro-rated and could be subtracted from future bills.

The commission also directed the cable operators to provide subscribers with specified information on the reasons for the removal of the channels.

At loggerheads

Jamaican cable operators and HBO have been at loggerheads for years over programming and the illicit North American feed that the operators provide.

The cable companies say the North America, feed is what their clients want, while HBO LAG says it can only legally offer a Spanish-based service.

The parties, however, have made some headway, with HBO LAG now negotiating a English-based Caribbean package for the region, cable operators have told the Financial Gleaner.

Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission, Dr Hopeton Dunn, says the regulatory body has been assured that the cable companies are in active discussions with the suppliers of the channels and that there were expectations of an early agreement.

The Broadcasting Commission said it will keep the situation actively under monitoring to ensure that subscribers are compensated and that there is an early return to acceptable norms of service.

The commission added that it is in consultation with the Consumer Affairs Commission on the matter.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com