On the 2nd of December, 2011, the MCA issued guidelines on how it would determine must-carry obligations.  On the basis of those guidelines, in February 2012 the MCA designated Melita Cable as having must-carry obligations on both its cable analogue and digital platforms.

 

The existing MCA determination with respect to must-carry was carried out on the premise that the number of General Interest (GI) channels was established at six.  The addition of a seventh channel towards the end of 2012 represents a significant development in the market and therefore the MCA sees the need to review its guidelines in light of the possible impact that such a development may have.

 

Meanwhile, another significant development has been taking place in the Cable TV retail market, having to do with the ongoing migration of analogue cable TV subscribers to other platforms, mainly to Digital Cable TV.  This migration gathered momentum throughout 2012, with the result that the number of analogue cable subscribers has now dwindled somewhat.

 

As a result of these developments, the MCA is consulting publicly again, in order to review the current must-carry obligations and propose changes where necessary.

 

Interested parties are invited to submit their feedback on this consultation by no later than 24th May 2013.