STARCOM Network Inc (SNI), a division of One Caribbean Media Ltd, is going regional with the launch of its Caribbean Super Station on Monday, April 4.
It is also merging the programming on its Gospel Station 97.5 FM with that of Voice of Barbados on 92.9.
In making the announcement, chief executive officer Vic Fernandes explained: “The line-up for the amalgamated programming on Voice of Barbados 92.9 will feature popular radio personality Maurice Norville from 4 a.m. -7 a.m.; the Cock-a-doodle-doo morning shows with Dennis Johnson and Ayesha Gibson, 7 a.m. -10 a.m.; Down to Brass Tacks, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; and Ian Cupid Gill, 2 p.m.-6:15 p.m.
“From 6:15 p.m. to midnight, Voice of Barbados 92.9 will feature gospel programming except Mondays with The Penalty Spot and Tuesdays with Mason and Best.”
Fernandes also said that the new station, using the 97.5 frequency, would be the first ever 24-hour pan-Caribbean radio network, broadcasting in real-time across the markets of Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, and the British Virgin Islands.
It will carry 100 per cent regional programming including music, news, and public affairs.
The Caribbean Super Station was being planned since 2007, Fernandes disclosed.
“We feel even further encouraged by the recent calls from political leaders and social commentators across the region for some entity to step in and fill the breach that will be left by the closure of the BBC’s Caribbean Service,” he added.
“We fully expect that the governments of the Caribbean will support our initiative even though that support has, so far, been slow in coming,” he added.
“We have applied to a number of governments in the Caribbean for licences including the governments of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua and Barbuda in our desire to more fully serve the needs and expectations of Caribbean people and to further the cause of regional integration and cooperation.”
