‘Cable boxes’ denying users full use of TV sets

THE EDITOR: Please permit me space in your newspaper to express my annoyance at the Cable Company for their use of these “cable boxes”. Once these boxes are installed, one loses the use of the features that some television sets may have, such as picture in picture, to name one feature.

The customer will then find their VCR can only record the station which they are watching. Now surely this defeats the purpose of one even owning a VCR, which is supposed to allow the user, to view one programme, and at the same time record another. Television sets of today come with a number of features, and at the cost of such units, I feel strongly that cable customers are being deprived of the full use of their televisions; and the same can be said of their VCRs. On another point, it may be of interest to find out how certain shows are blocked, at the last minute, by the Cable Company because the rights belong to one of the local television stations. How can a Cable Company have the rights to broadcast channels 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but not have the rights to certain shows? This one needs some looking into.

C Peters
Laventille