Cable operator Logic One will on Monday resume the distribution of HBO and Cinemax channels, after signing an agreement with HBO Latin American Group (HBO-LAG) Thursday.

"We will be launching on Monday with a free trial period for our customers," said Manager Paula Francis, shortly after signing the agreement.

"This is a special offer from HBO, during which the pricing of the packages will be determined."

Flow Jamaica was the first to reach an agreement with the content owners and recommenced the airing of the popular networks last weekend.

Flow's free trial runs to January 31.

Francis says Logic One's subscribers will get a basic package consisting of HBO Caribbean and Warner channels, which HBO-LAG has demanded must be compulsory for areas with the highest penetration of customers.

HBO Max and HBO package will be premium offerings to be priced at a special rate.

The cable companies are yet to signal what customers will be paying for the HBO and Cinemax offerings, saying pricing is subject to final negotiation with the content owners.

"They have reserved the right to determine how it is packaged and the cost of the packages," said Sharon Roper, Flow's director of marketing.

"As soon as that is settled, the public will be advised."

The channels were suspended in September following threats by HBO-LAG to take its case to court, having failed in years of negotiation to end the illicit content feed that Jamaican cable companies were distributing.

HBO complained then that its intellectual property rights were being violated because the local operators were not paying for its signals, claiming that it was losing US$5 million to US$6 million annually from the unlicensed distributions.

The Broadcasting Commission, while saying its directive was not as a result of the legal threat, ordered Flow, Telstar Cable and Logic One to lock down the feeds until they had reached agreement with HBO-LAG.

Caribbean feed

The sticking point over the years had been HBO's insistence that the companies use a Spanish-based feed, which cable operators say would not sell in English-speaking Jamaica.

The compromise was a specially developed Caribbean feed.

"This is developed specifically for the foreign audience," said Roper.

Telstar Cable, meanwhile, is still negotiating with HBO.

"The negotiations are at an advanced stage and we are constrained from divulging the full details by a non-disclosure agreement," said Manager Florence Darby, "but we assure our customers that they will have HBO soon."

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