BVI Cable TV customers recently noticed a new channel lineup on their television sets , and many of them are not happy.

Stations like TV Land, Spike TV, USA Network and TBS have disappeared. Other channels formerly received from the United States, like the Disney Channel, ESPN, A&E and HBO, have been replaced by Caribbean or Latin American editions, often with different programming, or programming that was previously in English now transmitted in Spanish.

Tomas Lamanauskas, the chief executive officer of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, which regulates BVI Cable TV, said his agency has received several complaints.

“We’re receiving quite a bit,” he said. “People are not very happy.” Mr. Lamanauskas said he is not aware of any positive comments about the new lineup received by the TRC.

The changes were necessary after BVI Cable TV, formerly held under a bankrupt United States parent company, Innovative Communications Corporation, transferred ownership this month to a new firm, Caribbean Asset Holdings, explained Seth Davis, CAH chief executive officer. CAH also took control of cable operations in the US Virgin Islands and St. Maarten, Mr. Davis said.

Cable companies like BVI Cable TV negotiate with channel operators like Turner or Disney for the right to carry channels like TNT or ESPN, Mr. Davis explained. The channel operators, in turn, negotiate the rights to air specific movies, television shows and sporting events, he said, but often their contracts only license programming for certain markets, such as the United States.

Often, the programme suppliers don’t negotiate Caribbean rights to programming and so can’t offer popular content in the Virgin Islands.

Under its previous ownership, BVI Cable TV aired some popular channels without actually negotiating with the channel operators, Mr. Davis said.

“They weren’t paying for them,” he explained. “I can’t explain or rationalise why they were doing it, but it wasn’t through legitimate channels.”

When channel operators do negotiate for the rights to air programming in Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Davis said, they sometimes look upon the whole area as Spanish-speaking.

“It’s a problem of the whole Caribbean basin,” he said.

 

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