IF THE DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY (DLP) is the next elected government of Barbados the television market will be freed up.

This pledge has come from Opposition Leader David Thompson who says an end will be put to the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation's monopoly of over 40 years.

At the same time, CBC could face partial privatisation, with its controversial MCTV (Multi-Choice Television) going through the door.

"I think that Barbados has, in essence, a media monopoly and in that sense I think we need to have more players in the market and Government should have a much more open policy in relation to granting of licences," he said.

He made these disclosures yesterday as the party wrapped up another bout of campaigning, trying to whip up support for St James North candidate Austin Husbands.

Thompson told the SUNDAY SUN opening up the TV market would be a priority of a DLP Government, but the number of new TV stations allowed to operate would reflect "market determinations" in an age when some "small countries find it very difficult very often to maintain one local television station, far less more than one".

As for funding, subsidisation of CBC would have to continue "because the market is small", he admitted.

Thompson complained that CBC-TV in its programming demonstrated a high degree of politicisation and too limited a volume of local material.

"I have always felt strongly about it and I think it is a priority because it impacts on democracy in Barbados. Clearly, both in terms of its editorial comments and news bias and so on, CBC is a station that promotes Government policy almost exclusively."

He said that during the DLP's last term of office, the party had taken a long, hard look at the issue of giving the public a 20 per cent stake in CBC.

"There are some functions that CBC carries out that could be fully privatised," he said, "and the big question has to be why should taxpayers pay both by way of guarantees (and) subventions and so on for the operation of an entity which is simply taking stuff off of the satellite and beaming it into their homes?"

He referred to the MCTV project, through which the station offers viewers several channels of foreign programming for a fee.

"That is an area that one could look at for privatisation," Thompson noted. However, he pointed out that CBC had "core areas that should not be privatised", among them educational, arts and culture programming.

He wants to see "a CBC that reflects our national culture and also gives expression to the widest possible political viewpoints, that has fair, balanced and accurate news".