Local Media Landscape Widens

Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman on Tuesday (March 30) officially launched a new entrant to the local media landscape at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.
The company, Caribbean Internet Broadcast Network (CIBN), is an electronic network of radio and television stations that are totally Internet-based. CIBN seeks to deliver streaming radio and television to a global audience and to promote the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Senator Whiteman in welcoming the entity said: “The initiative is one that deserves all possible support and commendation because clearly the investigation has been done, you have taken count of the possibilities now, which the technology has opened up for us.”
Minister Whiteman also made the point that CIBN will serve the region well as it would help to reassert “our identity as a Caribbean people”.
“You have matched that to what is a real demand on the part of an increasingly discriminating audience and you have also recognized that craving that there is within this region for the reassertion of our identity and our value as Caribbean people and you have put all this together and you have come up with a mechanism which I believe is going to serve the region very well indeed,” he said.
He also said that the company’s global perspective in providing a package for the Caribbean, Central and South America would make it viable.
CIBN is a project of Corporate Affairs Research and Advertising (CARA) Limited and is headed by Chief Executive Officer, Elaine Commissiong who has had a long and distinguished career in the field of Mass Communications, Public Relations and Marketing.Mrs. Commissiong said: “CIBN is a network of four stations. Each station is targeted at a specific demographic segment of the marketplace and each boasts its own unique programming.”
Outlining what each station brings, Mrs. Commissiong said that Carib Mix, a dynamic mix of entertainment and educational programmes, is one of the stations that will target young people ages 15 to 25 years.”Carib Mix highlights the rhythmic music of the Caribbean; from Reggae to Salsa, Zouk to Meringue, Mento to Soca, English as well as non-English music forms will provide listening pleasure,” she said.
Carib Mix will also provide distance-learning opportunities in Science and Technology, Marketing and Management though its programme ‘Campus Life’. Mrs. Commissiong added: “Carib Mix is a total mix that describes the complex needs of our young people and promises to be the Internet’s front row seat for our young adult audience.”
CIBN will also provide a unique and cost effective advertising medium for the region’s product through its ‘Dim the Lights’ programme, which will showcase the region’s romantic holiday locations, restaurants and hotels.
It will also offer a News Magazine that will focus on issues pertinent to the growth and development of the region with features and interviews of outstanding personalities in the regions’ political and financial areas and will enable debates through panel discussions.
Another highlight of the CIBN is its Financial Segment feature that will provide up-to-date information on investment, banking and the stock exchange and Weekly News Highlights that will summarise major regional news stories.
Mrs. Commissiong also informed that CIBN is backed by a team of experienced journalists such as Wyvolin Gager, Angella Patterson, Claude Robinson and Wain Iton who are among the persons who will host various segments of the station.