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The Provincial Division Radiocuba in Las Tunas acknowledged on Friday that the energy crisis and fuel shortage caused a "significant disruption" in the services of the provincial television center yesterday, which forced them to cut and reorganize the broadcasts urgently.
The statement, signed by Luis Leonardo Sierra Santiesteban, head of the provincial division, acknowledged that "the complex electro-energy situation the country is experiencing and the low availability of fuel" prevent the maintenance of all services without interruption.
In response, Radiocuba Las Tunas announced that it will prioritize only three blocks of content: the Informative System segments, the Elite Baseball League, and the 2026 World Cup.
To support those reduced transmissions, the entity will concentrate the signal on channel 23 of digital television in its standard variant, due to its greater reach and provincial geographic coverage.
The statement advises residents of the municipalities of Puerto Padre, Manatí, and Amancio to reorient their external antennas toward Las Tunas and to search for channels on their decoders or hybrid televisions.
The measure comes at a particularly sensitive time. The World Cup kicked off yesterday with the opening ceremony at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, and millions of Cubans were hoping to watch it on television.
The irony is that even where there is a signal, Tele Rebelde -the official channel designated to broadcast the tournament- barely aired about 10 minutes of the opening before switching its programming to cycling.
The official alternative to watch the World Cup is Picta, the state broadcasting platform, an option that is inaccessible for most due to the lack of electricity and limited internet connectivity.
Sierra concluded the statement with a phrase that encapsulates the system's frustration: "Unfortunately, the current circumstances prevent us from maintaining all services uninterrupted."
Camagüey has been without television signal since Monday afternoon, with no authority providing any explanation. Journalist José L. Tan Estrada noted that "in addition to the prolonged blackouts, another issue now affects thousands of families: the total absence of television signal."
In Santiago de Cuba, Radiocuba reported similar issues in early May due to insufficient fuel availability for the generators. The same pattern has been observed in Holguín, Pinar del Río, and Granma since at least January of this year.
In March, the crisis had already forced Radiocuba to reduce its broadcasts to only eight hours a day due to a shortage of diesel.
The general director of the company, Leonardo Vázquez, publicly acknowledged that the generators have accumulated "years of service and considerable wear" and that the broadcasting equipment is "not efficient" from an energy perspective.
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