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The following article is from the latest issue of Videazimut's
newsletter CLIPS.  CLIPS is available in separate English, French
and Spanish editions.  It is published three times a year.

Subscriptions are $10 US per year in countries of the North and $5
US per year in countries of the south.  For a sample copy, please
contact:

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email: videaz@web.apc.org
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BREAKING BARRIERS


In a country as mountainous as Honduras, televised broadcasting
encounters many obstacles and, despite its small size, none of the
six private TV channels can reach the whole country. Reception is
only possible in the central zone and part of the north.

Because of these circumstances, separate communications were
developed in a number of communities as of 1990.  The phenomenon
is known diversely as community cables, TV cooperatives, local
television stations; it has a different name in each place.

The initiative grew out of new technology such as cable
transmission, portable recording equipment, but particularly out
of people's interest in keeping abreast of what is happening in
the country and the rest of the world.

Many communities only received news through the radio, which is
not a bad thing, but considering the sparse educational and
recreational activities in the area, not having television was a
disadvantage.

Thus antennas and cable TV were gradually installed in villages to
receive programs on the Discovery Channel, the Movie Channel,
Galavision, the Honduran networks and even a channel for their own
community.  Owners vary as much as the programming: young business
people, religious groups, teacher cooperatives or circles of
friends.

For example, ACATEL SA (Asociacion de Cable y Television) was
established in Saba, Colon, a town dedicated to farming and
livestock raising.  A group of teachers organized a cooperative to
have a cable system installed and transmit programs on community
activities.  Sports, social, religious and political events of
import to local viewers are broadcast from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.

In Santa Rosa, Copan, a young businessman used the same technology
to set up Channel 6, "Imagen de Copan" (In the Image of Copan).
Local events are filmed live; low-budget news and music programs
are produced, along with one giving family advice; there is a
children's program made by children, and so forth.  The channel is
financed by members' subscriptions and some advertising by local
business.

The same is true in La Ceiba, Juticalpa, Choluteca, Puerto Cortes,
La Esperanza and Tocoa, in Honduras.  Moreover, during a
preliminary appraisal of alternative producers in Central America,
similar experiences were found to be ongoing in Peten, Coban,
Juticalpa and Quetzaltenango in Guatemala as part of the CODAL
training program carried out by Video Tiers-Monde and Crocevia
International Centre.  In terms of communication, the experience
is positive since the broadcasts serve to shape opinion, to hold
educational drives and to put forward thinking that responds to
local interests.  It also breaks the monopoly of national
television networks, so crammed with soap operas, sports
broadcasts and miniseries that they do very little to shape
opinion regarding national problems.

There is, however, the problem of copyright since these small
cable companies do not pay for the right to use the programming;
only the big cable companies in Honduras meet this requirement.

We believe that community cable TV will continue to grow as the
technology becomes cheaper and the demand for "different"
information increases among the inhabitants of isolated
communities in the country.  In this regard, Praxis Video intends
to train people working for these alternative channels to improve
the quality of their productions; advise them on technology,
management and programming; and provide them with video materials
that have a regional and Latin American focus, thereby
contributing to the development of our countries.

Marisela Bustillo is Executive Director of Praxis Video,
Honduras.