Representatives of the government’s Telecommunications Department, accompanied by members of the National Police, forced the shut down of re-transmissions to the Cibao region by the television stations ColorVision (channel 9 in Santo Domingo, 2 in the Cibao) and Rahintel (channel 7 in Santo Domingo, 11 in the Cibao). The transmitters used for the Cibao region sited in El Mogote, in the province of Moca, were turned off and some of the equipment impounded. The engineers representing Telecommunications in the operation said that they were acting on the orders of the head of the department, Leopoldo Nuñez Santos, who first expressed his intention to unify all television broadcasts in the D.R. almost one year ago. The purpose of the unification is to eliminate signal interference, experienced mostly in the Cibao region on adjacent channels. According to both the Hoy and Listin Diario newspapers, once the re-transmitters of Rahintel and ColorVision were disconnected, other channels such as Radio Television Dominicana (channel 4) and Circuito Independencia (channel 6) had a much clearer picture reception.
The action comes after executives of TeleAntillas (channel 2) and Telesistema (channel 11) complained that after they invested in the equipment made necessary by the unification order, it still had not been enforced on Rahintel and ColorVision, the only two stations that have refused to comply with the measure. Both have vowed to fight the government on the grounds of violation of freedom to broadcast, and have threatened to sue Telecommunications on that basis.
News analyst Ramón Colombo, commenting on his radio morning program, “Tal para Cual,” stressed that the measure benefits persons of renown political influence, namely Guaroa Liranzo (Channel 13), Hatuey de Camps (Channel 6) and Rafael Bello Andino (Channel 5).
12-18 April 1996