Bhutan – The Bhutan infocom and communication authority (BICMA) has approved the airing of some additional music and sports channels by cable operators in Thimphu. This comes almost five years after the government restricted the number of TV channels to 33. In 2004, the then Bhutan communication authority restricted many cable TV channels from being broadcast in the country on the ground that these channels aired excessive violence, glamorised drugs, and showed explicit content. Music channels like MTV, channel V, Zee music, the fashion channel FTV, and a sports channel, TenSports, were banned. The additional channels allowed are Zee Music, MTV, STC Music, S1, S2, and channel V. According to BICMA’s head of telecommunications, Wangay Dorji, cable operators were also asked to reinstate Tensports. However, Dorji said that the authority had warned cable operators to avoid airing channels that broadcast explicit or violent content. Meanwhile, with BICMA legalising, in principle, the direct-to-home (DTH) technology, many TV viewers are waiting for the go-ahead to purchase DTH sets, while some are already using it. Conscious of this, cable operators have requested BICMA to develop a proper system, which will balance the services of the cable as well as DTH television systems.