One of Bermuda's three TV channels will go out of business soon because there is not enough advertising or other revenue on the Island to go around.

That's the stark prediction of one TV company chief who said money is so tight at his organisation that it has become a lean operator controlling and accounting for every $5 it spends.

Kenneth DeFontes, President of DeFontes Broadcasting Company, which operates the VSB channel, said his company was losing money and he believes it is the same situation for his rivals.

However, the Royal Gazette has not yet been able to get a comment from the Bermuda Broadcasting Company, which airs the ZBM and ZFM channels, on its financial position or where it stands on the proposal allowing Bermudian broadcasters to seek payments from cable TV operators that carry their programmes.

Mr. DeFontes made his comment during a discussion about a likely change to the cable TV rules that have been put forward by the Department of Telecommunications.

Allowing local broadcasters to charge cable TV companies for broadcasting their channels is seen as a financial lifeline to the home-grown channels, which are competing for market share within the Island's limited potential of 60,000 viewers.

Currently a "Must Carry" rule obliges cable operators Bermuda CableVision and WOW to show the local channels on their services, but they do not pay any fee for doing so.

A proposed amendment likely to take effect in the new year if passed by Parliament will give Bermudian broadcasters the right to demand a payment from the cable firms.

Viewers watching local free-to-air terrestrial channels through antenna reception would not be charged.

Mr. DeFontes believes cable viewers could be asked to pay an extra $3 a month for the benefit of having access to the Bermudian TV broadcasts and this money could then be shared out amongst the local broadcasters and the cable operators.

A cable viewer with the minimum basic service paying $20 a month, would see their bill hiked to $23.

An extra $1 given from the Island's estimated 17,000 cable customers would bring a useful $17,000 a month each to DeFontes Broadcasting Company and the Bermuda Broadcasting Company helping to "keep the companies alive" according to Mr. DeFontes.

However, Bermuda CableVision general manager Jeremy Elmas is sticking to his view that cable customers should be consulted first before any extra charge is levied for the local channels.

His company is in the process of setting up an Internet survey on its website to elicit the views of customers after receiving a number of messages following the Royal Gazette's initial story on Wednesday.

He said: "Our ultimate goal is to deliver what our customers want and keep the costs low. We are working towards having a survey on our website to get customers' input.

"If our customers say yes they want to have the local channels available to them then Mr. DeFontes' suggestion may be of interest but we are not at that stage yet."

He added: "We've had quite a few emails from people already who say they do not want to pay for these channels and say they get their news from listening to the radio or on the internet and don't watch the local news broadcasts."