Print

Mail

wiki links

TV station forced off air mulls cable move in Venezuela

An opposition-aligned TV station forced off the air by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is considering taking its programming to cable, the channel's top executive said on Wednesday.

Radio Caracas TV (RCTV), which went off the air on May 27 after Chavez refused to renew its license, might seek to reach viewers via cable or satellite, station executive Marcel Granier said.

"I hope that this month we have news about coming out through other paths," he said.

Chavez and his supporters accuse RCTV of supporting a failed 2002 coup, violating broadcast laws and regularly showing programs with excessive violence and sexual content. RCTV denies wrongdoing.

Another station highly critical of the government, Globovision, has begun broadcasting some of RCTV's newscasts.

Granier said it is difficult for RCTV to know whether it will be allowed to broadcast on cable in Venezuela, citing what he called "persecution" by the government.

"The government has done everything within its power ... to keep us from going on the air," Granier said.

He said the channel's priority was still to return to viewers as a regular channel on the open airwaves.
This story has been viewed 1250 times.