Leh me tell ya: it look like whichever Government in power in Barbados, none o’ duh doan intend tuh give anybody any kinda licence tuh operate another television station ’bout here.
I don’t know what it is about another television station dat does seem tuh frighten off the politicians once duh get into office. I would really like somebody tuh tell me why, ’cause despite all the lot o’ promises from the politicians leading up tuh the elections and then the lot o’ applications dat I have heard about over the years, once duh get into dat office, all o’ dat does fly straight through the window in a hurry.
Now, I have been around long enough tuh know dat a good few businesses have expressed duh interest in getting a television license and tuh my knowledge, tuh this day, not one soul outta all o’ dem people who applied ovah the years, I doan think, have even gotten summuch as an acknowledgement or any kinda encouragement.
Now, you could understand dat the Errol Barrow Government introduced the TV wid one single channel tuh the island back in the day and people was happy and contented wid dat, but imagine dat the Tom Adams administration took ovah and was in power from 1976 tuh ’85 and despite people asking ’bout another channel or another station, he ain’t give nuhbody nuh licence.
Then, the Democratic Labour Party took back ovah again and was there till 1994 – still nuh licence. So awright then! Something gotta change wid the next Government, I thought ’cause in 1994 Owen Arthur and his crew came in wid all the drama in the world and making all kinds o’ big promises.
But leh muh tell ya: if I was evah sure of anything in my life, I was sure dat dem was gine leh go a couple o’ television licenses ’bout here from the way dem was talking. But nutten suh good. Dat administration came in, did some o’ all kinds o’ things and then the electorate had duh say at the election time and duh went ’long and still after all the lot o’ long talk and promises, not a boy ain’t see a TV license tuh this day.
Oh, of course, duh see licences. We see a multitude o’ radio stations emerging. Some o’ duh saying a li’l something and some ain’t saying a pang. All duh doing is keeping a bundle o’ noise from morning till night, especially pon a Saturday and the one dat had a li’l meaning and substance, Starcom shut um down just so.
But I hear dat LIME applied for a licence tuh operate a television station. I won’t swear, but I hear dat Starcom Network applied and I think this paper, THE NATION, applied too and a number of other private concerns.
Yet tuh this day nuhbody can’t tell ya why we cahn see another television station in Barbados.
And look wha’ CBC giving people tuh watch: a whole lot o’ reruns, wid the stars who was babies and young children, who now grow up, married, got children and some o’ dem have even unfortunately died long time. The very comedy is suh backward and outdated dat it ain’t even funny tuh people like me who used tuh watch it and find it funny back then, but CBC insist on showing dem and have no kinda shame whatsoevah. You could imagine a programme like the Cosbys? Look, dat li’l boy Theo is now a big-able man now starring in his own show as a father, husband and big-up doctor.
Another thing is dat evahbody cahn afford tuh put in Multi-Choice TV and have tuh depend pon CBC fuh li’l entertainment and tuh keep duh company when duh alone at night, and CBC does have these people enduring all kinds o’ repeat programmes all the time.
I hear some local company introduced a system called Net2Vu, which would allow the subscribers tuh watch movie channels on the computer through the Internet. I ain’t know too much ’bout this lot o’ technology but suh far I ain’t hear too much more ’bout it – and then again evahbody ain’t got nuh computer like me or Internet service.
This is why when duh have all these informative programmes some young people doan know one thing ’bout anything. The young people doan sit down and watch nuh CBCTV. Duh now got videos, DVDs, iPads, iPods, iPhones, Internet and the very high-tech cellphones. Duh doan frupse pon CBC.
Mavis Beckles was born and raised in the Orleans.She has an opinion on everything.
