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Karl Schembri
Smash Communications is refusing to form part of the Multiplus digital terrestrial “Free Plus” package until the Communications Authority grants the free-to-air frequencies to television stations.
At present Smash TV can be received free by the use of a TV antennae or subscribing against payment with Melita Cable.
The authority has so far assigned licenses for digital terrestrial transmission networks to Multiplus and Maltacom without distributing the available free-to-air frequencies which would put the Maltese television stations on digital terrestrial for free.
This means that until these frequencies are assigned, Smash TV, TVM, Net TV and Super 1 will only be available on digital terrestrial to Multiplus network subscribers for a yearly fee of Lm12 or a one-off fee of Lm84.
“As a point of principle I won’t accept this, television should remain free,” said Smash Communications’ Joe Baldacchino.
“Government and the communications authority should have given the free-to-air licences to individual stations before the networks, as happened in Europe. Now the people will have to pay for the stations they used to watch for free via their rooftop antennae. Actually, they will now be billed twice to watch TVM – through licences and the network fees, while all those Nationalists and Labourites who donated money to open Net and Super 1 will now also have to pay to watch their stations on Multiplus. It’s a shame that PBS and the political stations accepted this situation, with Super 1 organising another fund raising marathon the coming Tuesday.”
Smash TV was the first Maltese station to start test transmissions in digital terrestrial since last December but the Communications Authority stopped it pending the allocation of frequencies.
PBS Chief Executive Andrew Psaila told MaltaToday: “As you know the operating licence to Multiplus is issued by the communications authority and therefore PBS has no say what the operator is broadcasting on its network as long as it does not infringe on the rights of PBS.”
Asked about the double billing that TVM viewers would be subjected to until the station is granted a free-to-air frequency, Psaila said that as long as the station can be viewed for free through the analogue system, the question does not really arise. The communications authority intends to switch off the analogue system by 2010.
“PBS is committed to continue honouring its mission to provide the general public with free-to-air television service whether this is in analogue or digital format,” Psaila said.
MaltaToday tried to get the authority’s reason why it did not award free-to-air licences but a spokesperson said all its officials who could answer questions on digital terrestrial transmission were uncontactable between Friday and Saturday.
Multiplus General Manager Anton Attard told MaltaToday that the basic Lm12 package offered by his company gave viewers the opportunity to other services in the future, including pay-per-view.
“It’s not the same thing as receiving the same channels by antennae,” Attard said. “It’s a whole package of services.”
Super 1 Chief Executive and Managing Director Michael Vella Haber said he was surprised by Baldacchino’s opt-out from the Multiplus network.
“The situation is basically the same with Melita Cable,” Vella Haber said. “People are paying for channels they can receive for free with their antennae, and nobody is complaining. The authority has not issued us the frequencies, so what are we supposed to do? We will continue putting pressure to get our frequency as broadcasters, this is just a question of time, but in the meantime we will be making our content available to Multiplus. Baldacchino has his strategy and we have ours.”
The difference from cable television however lies in the fact that every television station will be able to broadcast on digital once it is assigned a frequency and it has invested in digital equipment. To broadcast on cable, stations would have to set up their own national cable infrastructure.
Net TV’s head of programmes, Louiselle Vassallo, said the station still has no official position on the issue, although it is being advertised by Multiplus as part of its basic package.
“We have meetings scheduled with the authority,” Vassallo said. “We’ll be raising this definitely.”
Meanwhile Multiplus has also reached an agreement with RaiTrade for exclusive Italian Serie A football matches a service previously offered exclusively by Melita Cable.
karl@newsworksltd.com
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