Havana, Oct 20 (EFE).– The “Paquete,” a peculiar system for the private, informal airing of audiovisual content in Cuba, does not threaten state television but will rather serve as a “catalyst” for its renovation and updating, according to a commentary posted Tuesday on government Web site Cubadebate.

El Paquete de la Semana (The Weekly Package) has become something most Cuban households can’t do without and is an alternative to television content that even today contains a “ton of ideology,” according to a detailed article published in Cubadebate.

Each week, subscribers receive a hard-drive on which they find episodes of Cuban, U.S. and European series, along with books, magazines, apps, movies and even advertising for private businesses, at prices that fluctuate between $2 and $10.

“Contrary to what one might think, television has no enemy in El Paquete, but rather it’s a catalyst for the renewal of our television,” the article says, adding that “the small screen is losing it audience” on the island, mainly because of the poor quality of its programming.

The preference for alternative media as “a better way to get entertainment” and a greater diversity of choice, explains the general trend toward skipping content based on outdated models, still typical of productions by state broadcaster ICRT, the note says.

“Cuban society has changed a lot over the past 20 years – it is shunning ideology and one phenomenon that makes it evident is the rejection of television,” says film critic Rolando Perez Betancourt, cited on Cubadebate.

The article says that, while the reach of El Paquete does not “threaten the supremacy of television as the audiovisual media with the biggest audience,” it does represent a challenge for ICRT and other audiovisual producers in Cuba, which “must modernize their content and think more about what the public needs.”

The frivolity of some of its shows is one of the main defects that cultural authorities criticize about El Paquete, described by Cuban critic Victor Fowler as “the Internet of the poor,” in a country that has one of the lowest connectivity ratings in the world.

Former Culture Minister Abel Prieto says that “El Paquete has attractive and culturally legitimate offers, but it also has some very mediocre content,” though he insists that it would not be “intelligent” to ban it, when the focus should be on “improving its work” and building its audience.

For Cubadebate, El Paquete is an alternative that “is here to stay,” a media outlet that is not “harmful in and of itself” and which, “perhaps with massive Internet connections” on the island, “will not disappear, but will modify its services and adapt to future contexts.”

This is “an alternative media outlet under private management,” with advantages and disadvantages like any other, so that it “should be neither demonized nor glorified,” the article says. EFE