'module' object has no attribute 'check_output' in python 2.6

[oevna]

ERROR [2016-08-03 14:03:45.346690] An exception occurred
None
'module' object has no attribute 'check_output'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/oevna/videoscripts/sprites/makesprites.py", line 292, in
run(task)
File "/home/oevna/videoscripts/sprites/makesprites.py", line 253, in run
numfiles,thumbfiles = takesnaps(task.getVideoFile(),outdir, thumbRate=thumbRate)
File "/home/oevna/videoscripts/sprites/makesprites.py", line 112, in takesnaps
doCmd (cmd)
File "/home/oevna/videoscripts/sprites/makesprites.py", line 97, in doCmd
raise e #todo ?
AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'check_output'