September 29, 2011Dear Sir,Cablevision, BBC and Telecommunications Commission — Channels 7 & 9.On August 5, I wrote to all three entities after receiving a notice from Cablevision stating that they would no longer be carrying Channels 7 and 9. I never received a response from my letter to the Minister of Telecommunications/Telecommunications Commission. I received an acknowledgment of receipt from the general manager at Cablevision who thanked me for my letter and ideas.I also received an e-mail from Mr Richardson of BBC in which he outlined that it is Cablevision who is initiating the decision to not carry the channels — not BBC as the notice from Cablevision implied. He also advised me of what happened in 2008 which has not been made public that I am aware of:-“In 2008, at a mediation session between Cablevision and Bermuda Broadcasting Company it was determined that you the subscribers were already paying for the BBC channels in the lower tier; that the channels would be put on a separate tier; that subscribers will choose whether they even wanted the local channels; that Cablevision and the Telecommunications Commission would put a nominal fee as the value of the two channels; that it would not cost the subscriber anything extra; that this agreement would last for three years. Cablevision was also given the option, at that time, to seek a change in tariffs elsewhere.”As Cablevision has not separated them out – I imagine that they were happy at the time to continue with the set-up as it was. Obviously now they want to change things, but they should work for the public and their audience and give us the opportunity to choose whether or not we would like to receive Channels 7 and 9 on Cablevision as opposed to starkly stating that they would not be carrying them.I am sure that I am not the only person concerned about what is going on, but I have not received any responses from Government nor from follow up e-mails to Mr Richardson requesting an update on the situation — so was hoping that the newspaper would have any better luck in getting some information. The November date is fast approaching, so it would be nice to receive some better information.MARTINE PURSSELLPembroke