Bill to repeal cross carriage act tabled

Government has tabled the bill to repeal the Television Cross Carriage of Designated Event Act 2014.

Should this bill be passed during this week’s Parliament sitting, this act will end from August 1, and it means television stations will not be entitled to share content of national interest with their competitors.

Government says with the implementation of the National Digital Television Platform and the mandatory analogue to digital switchover, every free-to-air television broadcaster has 100% coverage throughout Fiji through terrestrial, satellite and over-the-top means.

It says this allows Fijians to view all channels from the free-to-air television broadcasters using Walesi.

The bill further states that need to repeal the Act is because as there is no longer a need to designate events or have the same event broadcast on channels from all free-to-air television broadcasters as Fijians can now use Walesi to view an event.

Currently, under the Act, TV stations who acquire events of national interest, need to share it with other stations, who are liable to pay a fee as sub-licensee.