Multi-Choice TV (MCTV) is atelevision service provider inBarbados.[1] It is aMultichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) orDVB-Cwirelessmicrowave-based broadcast subscription television provider. They offer a variety of packages which can be considered as comparatively priced to similar providers throughout the world.
The service began operating on December 14, 1987, under the name Subscription Television (STV), which had very few channels offered. The main channels wereCNN,ESPN, andLifetime Television, with an occasional option ofpay per view (PPV) being offered for local special events and the occasional international PPV sports broadcast. In 1996 it was upgraded to include a new platform called Multi-Choice TV which was ananalog wireless microwave broadcast offering many more channels (e.g. theBBC, Canada'sCBC andTBN), eventually reachingbandwidth capacity and having to upgrade the service to adigital broadcast system. Multi-Choice TV have not fully converted all of its subscribers yet. The system relies online-of-sight propagation so total island wide coverage has proved to be a problem and the provider is looking into alternatives. A recent press release has indicated their interest in a partnership with the localtelcoLIME.
The service uses aYagi antenna to receive the encrypted broadcast, which in turn is then decrypted by the provider's set top box. The provider now has the problem of signal theft by pirates using modified DVB-C compatible receivers and PCI cards with the most popular being the "Dreambox" manufactured inGermany to decode their signal which is based onNagravision which is a conditional access control system developed by theKudelski Group. In order to prevent such activity in August, 2006 theGovernment of Barbados stiffened the local Barbadian copyright laws, in addition to a strengthening of the laws on cable TV piracy. The CBC provider is planning for further circumvention of the Dream boxes in 2009.[2]
In 2014, MCTV announced that it would begin carrying new channels such as MovieCity Action (now Star Action), MovieCity Hollywood (now Star Hits),AMC,KTLA,WGN, Disney, and theNBC Sports Network. They also introduced 20 HD channels, such asABC,NBC,CBS &FOX and also released new PVR boxes. MCTV also introduced a new slogan,MCTV the Right Choice.
Multi-Choice TV also competes against theUS-baseddirect broadcast satellite (DBS) service providerDirecTV in Barbados. The service uses theNTSC television format.
Our investigations also discovered that Dream Box users were able to get a free service since early 2008, because CBC's old encryption software only scrambled their MCTV signal every two minutes, which allowed the Dream Box to recover the signal. But the new security will leave the Dream Boxes crippled. "This is a money business, and encryption is always changing, and not cheap. The new software will actually scramble the MCTV signal every ten to 15 seconds, so Dream Boxes will not be able to keep up, and eventually lose the entire signal," the source added.