over the past year.

BBC chairman Mr. Fernance Perry said the company made a profit of $306,364 for the year ending on December 31 last year, compared with a loss the year before of $196,111.

"Although revenue remained flat (at $3.8 million), we were able to reduce our operating expenses considerably,'' Mr. Perry told shareholders in the firm's annual report.

The company operates four radio and two over-the-air television channels.

"Television continued to offer good local and foreign programmes, which were well supported by local viewers, particularly in the area of local news and sports,'' Mr. Perry said.

"In a recent survey, TV-9's evening news has an average of 72.4 percent of all Bermuda household watching, with our news access show The Young & The Restless claiming 71 percent of viewers.

"Other shows winning their time slot are News and Views, the Oprah Winfrey Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Cosby Show and 60 Minutes. During the evening hours of 6-9 p.m., TV-9 leads the ratings with TV-7 second, cable third and VSB a distant fourth,'' Mr. Perry said.

He said all the firm's radio stations performed well with ZFB-AM the No. 1 in radio listenership followed by ZBM-FM89 and ZBM 1340 in third place.

Mr. Perry said the survey also showed that 73 percent of viewers believe news coverage is generally fair, 11 percent thought it was biased and 16 percent didn't know.

Of the 11 percent who felt that if was biased, 58 percent thought it was biased in favour of Government and 26 percent in favour of the PLP.

Mr. Perry also revealed that legal action against Bermuda Cablevision should start shortly: "With the full cooperation of the Motion Picture Export Association of America, our legal representatives Smith, Barnard & Diel continue to gather information concerning syndicated programme exclusivity which is carried on Bermuda Cablevision without authority.'' Mr. Fernance Perry.