More TeleSUR TV Programming in Cuba
HAVANA TIMES — Additional and live broadcasts from the Venezuelan-based TeleSUR network will begin being seen in Cuba starting this Sunday, said the vice president of Cuba’s Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT), Omar Olazabal, reported the Prensa Latina news agency.
During a special program on Cuban television, the official explained that the expansion of TeleSUR transmission (to about 14 hours daily) is in response to viewers’ requests.
Broadcasts from that network will be transmitted by the Channel 2 Educational Station, one of the five national stations.
The official alluded to other programming changes that will take effect on all channels starting Sunday.
Up until now, the public on the island could only enjoy re-broadcasts of an edited selection of programs from the multinational TeleSUR network, depite Cuba being a part owner.
See this related article on TeleSur and Cuba.
This is great news for Cuban TV viewers! Cuban TV is sooooooo boring! That said, it also speaks volumes about the production budget at ICRT. If Cuba could continue to afford to produce quality programming on its own for these 14 hours they would not be receiving the programming feed from Venezuela. These 14 hours of Venezuela-based programming will be hard-pressed to reflect Cuban culture and interests. Even low-costs music videos programs reflect local tastes. Telenovelas also have the culture and idioms of the country in which they are made. Finally, if you are replacing local programming with TeleSur programming, you can be sure that a handful of ICRT cameramen, floor technicians, and sound engineers will be looking for new jobs soon. Further proof that the rats are leaving the ship.