and restrict tobacco and alcohol advertising were passed by the House of Assembly on Friday night.

During a brief debate after spending hours on similar regulations for radio, Deputy Opposition Leader Mr. Walter Roberts called for a requirement that local stations show a set amount of Bermudian programmes per day.

National Liberal Party Leader Mr. Gilbert Darrell said that since the regulations did not apply to cable, MPs were wasting their time.

Mr. David Allen (PLP) said he was opposed to the regulations. He regretted there was a "reluctance'' to have freedom of speech on TV. Pressure had been put on programme-maker Mr. Walton Brown, he said, and this "showed the hand'' of the broadcasting commission.

He accused also Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul of not being prepared to appear on TV with his Opposition shadow.

He called for tax breaks for local grass-roots TV producers.

Mr. Allen said the PLP would like to see some vacant cable channels used for local programming.

"A Progressive Labour Party Government will certainly work on these matters and do all it can do to promote the growth of cultural programming,'' he added.

But Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness , a former braodcasting executive, said there were two mitigating factors against the production of local programmes.

First, he said, local programmes are "very costly to produce''.

"They are far more costly than purchasing a programme from a syndicate or network,'' said Mr. Edness. "Producing a local programme is probably three times as much as purchasing from a syndicate.'' Secondly, it was difficult to get local sponsorship for such programmes.

"If local stations could get the sponsorship, obviously they would produce more local programmes''.

One local programme that is produced well, Mr. Edness said, is Lt. Col.

Brendan Hollis' programme "About Bermuda''.

"I think it is very well done,'' he said. "But the format and what it entails is one person. There is one cameraman and he (Mr. Hollis) comments, so he produces that at a lower cost.

"But even that show to produce, is much higher than a station will pay for a syndicated show.'' Mr. Edness stressed local stations would love to produce more local programmes.

And he said he believed they do "very well'' in covering outdoor, local events like the Bermuda Day parade.

In larger countries, he said, local creativity is encouraged by setting up a fund in their governments' arts budget.

"This will encourage young people to go into video/cinematographic production,'' Mr. Edness said. "But we don't have that kind of Budget.'' Dr. Saul said more local programmes are coming forward as "local skills are being perfected''.

But he is discussing what can be done to encourage more local broadcasting with the Telecommunications Minister.

Turning to the Opposition's criticism about the warning to accompany alcohol advertisements, Dr. Saul said: "It would be silly to just say consumption of liquor is harmful to your health''.

"A little alcohol can be helpful,'' he said. "What (broadcasting) commissioners have put in writing is `excessive' alcohol consumption is harmful.'' If commissioners deleted the word "excessive'', it would have led to major debate among experts.

Dr. Saul said to have required a seven-second delay for television would have been difficult to do technically and would have put an onerous responsibility on stations.

He also noted that Cablevision and satellite were not subject to the provisions because they come under other regulations.

And to set the record straight about an invitation to him to appear on Mr.

Brown's show, Dr. Saul said he received an invitation to appear on the show during the budget debate.

He said he explained that he would be tied up in the debates and also had another engagement on the Tuesday he was asked to appear.

Dr. Saul said he therefore asked for a rain check the following week.

He added he has appeared on talk shows with Shadow Finance Minister Mr. Eugene Cox .