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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 74-11,050

SMEYAK, Gerald Paul, 1940- THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF BROADCASTING IN GUYANA, SOUTH AMERICA.

^he Ojiio State University, Ph.D., 1973

University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan

THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF BROADCASTING

IN GUYANA, SOUTH AMERICA

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of The Ohio State University

By

G erald P au l Smeyak, B .F .A ., M.A.

*****

The Ohio State University

Reading Committee: Approved By

Dr. Richard Mall

Dr. Joseph Foley

Dr. Deith Brooks A dvisor Department of Communication ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this project was marred by the death of Dr.

Walter B. Emery, a member of this dissertation committee. Dr. Emery was well known for his work in the area of national and international communications and was directly responsible for my interest in this field. I deeply regret he was unable to see the resolution of this stu d y .

I wish to express a special note of appreciation to the other members of my committee, Dr. Richard Mall, Dr. Joseph Foley and Dr.

Keith Brooks. Drs. Mall and Foley were instrumental in shaping this study and offered sound advice and criticism during the planning and writing stages. Dr. Brooks kindly consented to become involved in this project at a late date and his efforts are most appreciated.

In Guyana, Chief Information Officer Victor Forsythe, GBS

Acting Director Vivian Harrison, GBS Engineer-in-Chief Meer Assad

Kayman and Radio Demerara Manager Rafiq Khan were most helpful and kind during the field trip.

To the many others in Guyana and the United States who assisted in this endeavor, I wish to convey my gratitude for their help.

• c / ( 1 .i i i VITA

November 7, 1940 ...... Born - Lakewood, Ohio

1965 ...... B.F.A. Ohio University Athens, Ohio

1965-1966 ...... News Editor - USEE Television Erie, Pennsylvania

1966-1970 ...... News Editor - UBNS Television Columbus, Ohio

1969 ...... M.A. The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio

1970-1973 ...... Assistant Professor, Department of Drama/Speech Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, Kentucky

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Mass Communications

Studies in national and international communications, Professor W alter B. Emery

Studies in educational and instructional broadcasting, Professor I. Keith Tyler

Studies in political and social aspects of broadcasting, Professor Joseph Foley

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i i i

VITA iv

LIST OF TABLES v i i

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS x

INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter

I. History of Guyana 17

Geography C lim ate H isto ry Social Aspects P o litic s Economics Legal Structure

II. Development of a Broadcast Monopoly to 1931 ...... 45

Telegraphy Wireless Telegraphy Broadcasting in Great Britain Broadcasting in British Guiana: 1926-1928 Wireless Broadcasting in British Guiana: 1928-1931

III. The Growth and Development of Commercial Broadcasting in British Guiana

Local Commercial Ownership 1935-1949 ...... 76

C ry s ta ls B roadcasting Company B ritish Guiana Broadcasting Company B ritish Guiana United Broadcasting Company Government Broadcasting L egal T ech n ical F in a n c ia l Programming Foreign Commercial Ownership: 1950-1967 ...... 139

Government Broadcasting Legal T echnical F in a n c ia l Programming

IV. Private and Public Broadcasting: 1968-1972 ...... 221

Legal T echnical F in a n c ia l Programming

V. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations...... 251

Appendix

I ...... 263

II ...... 265

III ...... 267

IV ...... 272

V ...... 281

VI ...... 283

VII ...... 295

VIII ...... 311

IX ...... 313

X ...... 315

XI ...... 322

XII ...... 324

XIII ...... 326

XIV ...... 328

XV ...... 331

XIV ...... 336

v i Bibliography LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. United Nations Estimate of Per Capita Income ..... 6

2. Radio Receivers per 100,000 inhabitants ...... 7

3. Mineral Exports from Guyana ...... 39

4. Category and Percentage of Scheduled Program Material from United States and Dutch Radio Stations to be relayed over Telephone Lines to Diffusion Listeners in British Guiana During 1927 and 1928 . . . 61

5. Bureau of Public Information Staff and Budget for the Period 1939 through 1949 ...... 104

6. Number of Reported Listeners to the "BPI Sunday-at- Noon Programme" of October 23, 1949 by Area, as Reported in the BPI Audience Survey...... 109

7. ZFY Daily Program Categories in Hours and Minutes as Taken from Newspapers during the Period 1938 Through 1949 ...... 132

8. ZFY Program Categories in Percent by Year as Taken from Newspapers during the Period 1938 Through 1949 ...... 133

9. Sources of ZFY Programs in Time and Percent by Year as Taken from Newspapers during the Period 1938 through 1948...... 134

10. Categories of Government Information Service Programs on Radio Demerara in Numbers, Time and Percent for the Year 1957 ...... 177

11. Radio Demerara Program Categories in Hours and Minutes as Taken From Newspaper Radio Schedules during the Period 1950 through 1966 ...... 211

v i i i 12. Radio Demerara Program Categories in Percent as Taken from Newspaper Radio Schedules during the Period 1950 Through 1966 ...... 212

13. Categories of Programs over Radio Demerara and BGBS in Time and Percent for the Years 1962-64 .... 217

14. Categories of Programs over Radio Demerara and BGBS in Time and Percent for the Year 1972 ...... 246

15. Stockholders and Amounts of Stock Held in the B ritish Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd. , on May 23, 1938 ...... 264

16. Bureau of Public Information Campaigns for the Period 1942 Through 1947 ...... 266

17. Broadcast Receiver License Fees Collected by the British Guiana Post Office: 1934 to 1949 ...... 282

18. B ritish Guiana United Broadcasting Company Stock Transfer and Sales in 1950 ...... 312

19. Classification of Shareholders in the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company L td., as of December 6, 1951 ...... 314

20. Broadcast Receiver License Fees Collected by the British Guiana Post Office: 1950 to 1962 ...... 327

21. Revenue and Dividends of the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd., : 1950 to 1967 . . . 329

ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustration. Page

I. Map of South America ...... 18

II. Map of Guyana ...... 20

x INTRODUCTION

The Problem

The problem simply stated is that there is a lack of broadcast research on systems in developing countries. The reasons for the current state of affairs are complex and need further discussion.

The preponderance of research into national broadcast develop­ ment has been focused away from the Caribbean-South American region to the more developed nations of Europe and North America and the developing countries of Africa and Asia. Namurois * The Organization of

Broadcasting has become a definitive work on the organizational structure of broadcasting but it deals almost exclusively with the European and

North American broadcast systems.'*' In Schramm’s Mass Media and

National Development, the author discusses thirty-one various countries but concentrates on developing systems in Asia and Africa. Only five o South or Latin American nations are mentioned, and these in passing.

Emery's National and International Systems of Broadcasting also concentrates on the developed nations of Europe and North America with a section dealing with Africa, Asia and Australia. Emery, however,

^■Albert Namurois, The Organization of Broadcasting: Problems of Structure and Organization of Broadcasting in the Framework of Radio- Communications (Geneva, Switzerland: European Broadcasting Union, ]964).

^Wilbur Schramm, Mass Media and National Development (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1964).

1 does deal comprehensively with the history, development and organization of Mexican broadcasting.^ Dizard in Television: A World View lim its his work to television which is a recent phenomenon in the broadcast history of developing countries.^ These works have been broad in scope and stimulated interest in the broadcast systems of other nations as well as setting the pattern and parameters for subsequent research. One example has been Geoffrey Z. Kucera’s "Broadcasting in Africa: A Study of Belgian, British and French Colonial Policies" which established the political, economic and social policies upon which the medium was founded."*

A major area of research for students of broadcasting should be developing countries in the Caribbean-South American region. Geographi­ cally close to the United States, radio signals from this area can easily be picked up on the short wave band and at night the medium and long wave frequencies are alive with Spanish, Portuguese and British accented programs. With few notable exceptions, such as Mexico and

Cuba, research into the neighboring southern.broadcast systems has been sparse. The focal point of this dissertation, Guyana, was brought to this w riter's attention through a college acquaintanceship with an

3 Walter Emery, National and International Systems of Broadcasting: Their History, Operation and Control (East Lansing: MicHTgan State University Press, 1969).

^Wilson P. Dizard, Television: A World View (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse.University Press, 1966).

^Geoffrey Z. Kucera, "Broadcasting in Africa: A Study of Belgian, British and French Colonial Policies." (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University Press, 1968). Afro-Guianese in the early 1960’s. During this period, British Guiana was constantly in the news because of the political-racial violence that bordered on civil war. Later, in 1969, ii\ a college course dealing with national communications, a fellow student gave an oral report on the experiences of one of his friends who was employed to do an engineering survey for a proposed radio station in British Guiana. For another course dealing with underdeveloped countries, a copy of the report was obtained but never utilized because enough supporting source material for an adequate research paper could not be located. The area was investigated as a possible dissertation topic and was eventually approved by a Graduate School Reading Committee.

This writer discerns two reasons for neglecting broadcast research in the Caribbean-South American countries. They are: (1) Low visability of countries in the Caribbean-South American region, and

(2) most Caribbean-South American countries are developing nations and this poses special problems for researchers.

Caribbean-South American countries have not loomed high on the

United States diplomatic scale because we have been preoccupied with crises in Europe, Asia and Africa. Wars of independence brought South

America to the attention of the United States from 1810 through 1830 and resulted in the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine. Until the

Alliance for Progress in the 1960's, traditional geopolitical thought governed United States foreign policy and directed our emphasis toward

^Eduardo Frei Montalva, "The Second Latin American Revolution, Foreign A ffairs, LVI(October, 1971), 86. the crises-oriented power center of Eurasia. Sir Halford Mackinder, largely responsible for geopolitical concepts, considered South America as a "world island" or of marginal diplomatic import. Based on geo­ political concepts, United States foreign policy has tried to keep the

"heartland" of Asia and Europe free from unfriendly domination because whoever controls Eastern Europe controls the "heartland" and in turn rules the world.'1 The Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine of contain­ ment in Europe and Asia have their conceptual underpinnings in

Mackinder's geopolitical theory. This Eurasian dominated foreign policy has not gone unnoticed.

Obviously, to us, the United States is preoccupied with resolving areas of conflict in other parts of the world. Understandings with Europe, Russia and China are its prime concerns.

The United States has always looked upon us as its back yard . . . In actual fact, however, the United States took for granted that Latin America was its sphere of Influence, where it did business and laid down the law; and in international bodies that it could count on a bundle of votes to support its positions.®

Because the United States believes the pivotal area of power to be located in Eurasia, federal research monies as well as diplomacy has been directed toward these areas of greatest perceived political importance. Research, like federal money, is channeled to the greatest and most visable problem areas and countries in the Caribbean-South

n For a discussion of geopolitical theory, see for example, Halford J. Mackinder, Democratic Ideals and Reality (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1942), or Harm J. de Blij , Systematic Political Geography (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1967).

®Montalva, "The Second Latin American Revolution," p. 95. American region offer a low profile.

Many Caribbean-South American countries are developing nations and this poses special research problems. For the purpose of this dissertation, a nation with an average per capita income of US$650.00 or less will be considered as a developing country. An average per capita income of US$650.00 is considered "modest" by the United Nations and at this level fifty percent of the population will be unemployed, q underemployed and at a minimal living level. While per capita income in itself, is not a sign of development, low per capita income is a positive indicator of low industrial development, literacy and employment which are held to be criteria for development. 10

The average per capita income in North America during 1970 was

US$4,230 while the average per capita income in South America during the same period was US$4 5 0 . 0 0 . Table 1 offers a more detailed look at per capita incomes in the Caribbean-South American region. As of

1970, only Venezuela and Argentina would fall into the category of developed nations.

As Schramm indicates, developing nations are constantly trying to determine the best method of allocating chronically short

^United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Report of the Commission. Development Problems in Latin America (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1970), p. 135.

^Jose Medina Echavarria and Egbert de Vries, ed., S o c ia l Aspects of Economic Development in Latin America, Vol. I (Paris, France UNESCO, 1963), pp. 50-67.

^United Nations, Statistical Yearbook 1970 (New York: United Nations, 1972), p. 594. 1 0 resources. Is It better to invest resources in a highway that could

TABLE 1

UNITED NATIONS ESTIMATE OF PER CAPITA INCOME BY NATION3

Country Year of Estimate

1963 1967-8 1969 1970

United States 4,274 Argentina 914 Barbados 399 B o liv ia 180 B ra z il 341 B r itis h Honduras 346 C hile 613 Costa Rica 359 Dominican Republic 272 Ecuador 247 El Salvador 271 Guatemala 338 Guyana 295 H a iti 74 Honduras 249 Jam aica 545 Surinam 438 Trinidad, Tobago 438 Venezuela 837

inform ation taken from Table 185, United Nations, S tatistical Yearbook, 1971 (New York: United Nations, 1972), pp. 593-5. bring about economic growth or channel money into broadcasting which might expand the literacy rate? These are questions that can onry be answered in light of specific needs of individual nations. Whatever the

^Schramm, National Development, pp. 203-4. 7 decision on allocation of resources, most Caribbean and South American countries have small broadcast systems in comparison to the United

States or Europe. Table 2 lists radio receivers per thousand for selected Caribbean and Latin American countries.

TABLE 2

RADIO RECEIVERS PER 1,000 INHABITANTS3

Country Receivers per 1,000

United States 1,412 French Guyana 87 A ntigua 52 Barbados 347 Cuba 159 Jam aica 230 B ra z il 60 Trinidad, Tobago 281 V enezuela 164 Guyana 105 Surinam 234

inform ation taken from Table 214, United Nations, S tatistical Yearbook 1971 (New York: United Nations, 1972), p. 807.

Any inference regarding media impact or penetration drawn from

Table 2 could be misleading. Table 2 is only used to illustrate the limited resources available for broadcasting in Caribbean-Latin

American countries. For some researchers, examining a small broadcast system with limited resources may not be as desirable a project as a more advanced system. There may be a feeling that lack of broadcast resources indicates lack of importance or minimal media penetration. Lack of easily accessible information sources must also be con­ sidered an inhibiting factor on broadcast research in the Caribbean-

Latin America region. A survey of libraries at the Ohio State University,

University of Kentucky and Library of Congress produced little infor­ mation of value on broadcasting in developing countries; specifically broadcasting in Guyana. Books, articles and newspapers from many small countries rarely find placement in United States libraries. Utilization of the inter-library loan service proved invaluable for bringing together widely scattered materials on broadcasting in Guyana, the West

Indies and selected Latin and South American countries.

Lack of source materials in the United States w ill, in many instances, necessitate a field study to the country of interest. Even when field trips are feasible, there are problems. For example,

Guyanese library facilities are meager and the Guyanese National

Archives are not complete or modem. The Archives' contents were not indexed and, in a number of instances, volumes or files were missing and could not be located. The National Archives building was not air conditioned and open windows allowed rain and humidity to damage or destroy old volumes and works. The contents of many government agency files had never been soi'ted or indexed and lay stacked on the floor. Information cr newspapers after 1967 or 1968 was nearly impossible to locate because it had never been bound, catalogued or filed by year. Library information gained from the Guyanese Archives was located by going through files, newspapers, books and stacks of material page by page and year by year. In some instances, only superficial information could be found because valuable Post Office records were lost in disastrous fires in 1945 and 1947.

Another information problem in nearly any country is gaining

access to current government files and records. Since broadcasting, or

communications, is a sensitive area of national security some information may be denied. In Guyana, certain information was refused because the

topic was classified or might prove embarrassing.

Developing countries also face a definition problem with regards

to the role of media. The more developed countries of Europe and North

America have defined the role of media although that role may undergo

constant change. Developing countries, like Guyana, may be in the

process of defining the societal role as well as the purpose for broadcasting.

Guyana, like so many other new nations, is at the point of withdrawal from colonialism, it is going through the tremendous upheaval of decolonization. The people are experiencing the traumatic break with an alien cultural past, a wholesale scrapping of early behavioral forms and the discovery of an intrinsic culture free from alien pressures. It is into this sudden, untraditional climate of change that Guyana's Broadcasting System must fit. If broadcasting is to play its proper role, it must become one of the most important media for social and economic change in the new society.

The above problems are precisely the reasons why communications

research should take place in developing countries and specifically, for

United States students, the developing countries of the Caribbean-South

American region. The low visability of these countries should be

^Hugh M. Cholmondely and C. A. Nascimento, The Development of a National Broadcast System for Guyana, Report of the Ministry of Infomation (Georgetown, Guyana: The Government Printery, 1967), p. 5. 10 overcome through research into the problems faced on the road to development and in their finding a role for broadcasting. Purely from an informational viewpoint, developed countries need to know more about utilization of media in developing countries as well as patterns of growith and development of broadcast systems. Lack of library resources can be overcome, through field trips and perserverence with the inter- library loan system. Failure to find resources in the country being studied is more of a handicap but this too may be overcome. Broadcasting in many developing countries is s till young enough that oral histories can be obtained from individuals who started the system. Obtaining sensitive or classified files and records, though, is a problem that might prove unsolvable.

Purpose and Underlying Assumption

The purpose of this study is to examine and describe the develop­ ment and utilization of radio broadcasting and current television planning in the Republic of Guyana, South America.

A guiding hypothesis was not formulated for this study, although an underlying assumption that broadcasting must be examined in relation to surrounding forces and institutions was utilized. An historical approach that examines Guyana’s legal, political, social and economic structure, therefore, is appropriate.

Scope and Development

Scope. This study will involve a historical narrative approach to the development of broadcasting in Guyana. While the primary thrust of this project is the development and utilization of radio 11 broadcasting* the legal, social, political and historical events that shaped Guyanese broadcasting w ill also be delineated.

This descriptive project does not intend to provide a model for other developing countries to follow and the results of the study will probably not be applicable to most emerging nations. This study deals with the development of private and public broadcasting in a small underdeveloped country under unique conditions. The results of the study, however, are revealing in the types of problems faced in Guyana, the decision-making process to overcome problem areas and the reasoning behind decisions.

This dissertation is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is a review of the history, geography, economics and political development of Guyana from discovery to the present. This chapter will provide general background information Guyanese life and specific information necessary to understand certaixr-broadcast developments. Chapters two, three and four provide a chronological examination of Guyanese broadcast­ ing as it evolved through three organizational patterns. Chapter two deals with the rise and decline of broadcasting as a state-operated monopoly and the subsequent growth of broadcast legislation, financing and programming patterns. Chapter three documents the evolution of commercial broadcasting and Government intervention through regulation and political pressure. Chapter four explains the political and social factors that led to the Government acquiring one of the two existing commercial stations and competing economically with private enterprise. Chapter five provides a review of the proceeding sections and lists recommendations for future growth. 12

Development

Aside from the results of this study, another area of interest to students and/or researchers contemplating a similar project is the way the study developed.

After initial research at The Ohio State University, a trip was made .to Washington, D.C. , to determine the availability of information in the United States and the Republic of Guyana. Officials at the United

States Information Agency, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Embassy of Guyana were contacted during the v isit. It was determined, from this initial survey, that a field trip to Guyana was necessary if the project was to be pursued as relevant information in the

United States was sparse. A field trip was tentatively scheduled for six weeks during the Summer of 1972. A serious oversight was failure to contact the United States Department of State and ask for help and g u id an ce.

Throughout 1971 and the first half of 1972, library research was carried on in the United States through the inter-library loan service and a visit to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Most of this research provided background material regarding history, politics, economics and social development, although some factual data on Guyanese broadcasting was found.

During this period a systematic letter writing program was undertaken. Persons in the United States and Great Britain who had knowledge of Guyanese broadcasting were contacted. Letters were also sent to Ms. Katherine D. Ray, the United States Information Service representative in Guyana, and Hugh Cholmondely, Director of the Guyana 13

Broadcasting Service. No reply was ever received from Cholmondely, but

Ms. Ray advised this writer of the application procedure necessary to

get permission prior to entering Guyana for research purposes.

Either through an oversight on the part of the Guyana Embassy or misunderstanding on this w riter's part, no knowledge of the application procedure had previously been known. An "Application to do Research in

Guyana" was filed with the Guyanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. on

February 23, 1972. No action was taken on the application through

August 1, 1972, when the Head of the Guyana Desk, United States

Department of State was contacted for aid. Within two weeks, a new date

for the field trip was set and the application was in Guyana with an urgent note from the Guyanese Charge d' Affairs asking for quick action.

The alternative dates of December 8, 1972, through January 1, 1973, for

the field trip were proposed and eventually accepted by the Government of Guyana in a letter dated October 25, 1972.

The lesson gained is that the Department of State could have helped avoid pitfalls or provided the know-how to overcome problem

areas. Initially contacting the Department of State would probably have speeded the application procedure resulting in a field trip during

th e Summer o f 1972.

The Guyanese Charge d' Affairs also sent a copy of the

application and research proposal to the Ministry of Information so they were aware of the intended areas of research. Upon arrival in Guyana,

the Chief Information Officer of the Ministry of Information was

contacted and he had already roughed out an intinerary based on the

research proposal. The Chief Information Officer arranged a number of 14 interviews \

Archivist of my project. Further interviews with Johnny Adamson,

James L. Rowe, Arthur Seymour and other non-Government persons were personally arranged.

Some general observations about the field trip and information gathering process might be in order. Firstly, a rigid schedule during the field trip would have been a disadvantage. During the first week in

Guyana, only two interviews were planned and a tour of the Radio Demerara and GBS facilities was accomplished. The rest of the time was spent at the National Archives and the Georgetown Public Library. After a week of intensive research, enough information was accumulated to indicate areas of further research, provide background for intelligent inter­ viewing and show gaps in resources. The week of research also proved beneficial in that interviews rely on the human memory, which can be faulty, and occasional prodding or follow-up questions from an interviewer who has specific information Is necessary.

A large chart was kept indicating a chronological order of events taking place in legal, political, economic, social and historical categories. This chart provided an overview and kept this writer from getting tunnel vision and not correlating events taking place at the same time and/or affecting each other. Each night the chart was updated from notes or audio tape interviews gained throughout the day.

The Georgetown Public Library was comparable, in most respects, to public libraries of United States cities of similar size. Newspaper files on major topics were available although back issues of newspapers were kept at the National Archives. The Archive's contents, as 15 previously stated, were not indexed or filed in any recognizable order.

An Afro-Guyanese, Mr. Tommy Payle, is the filing system and upon his retirement the Archives will suffer an irreplacable loss. Old files from various Government m inistries were kept in large cardboard boxes under the ministry headings and not by topic or category. Information on broadcasting, therefore, was filed in the Ministry of Information,

Ministry of Education and Ministry of Communication (Post Office) files.

B usiness f i l e s on the B r itis h G uiana U nited B ro ad castin g Company were kept at the Deeds Registry, although early files dealing with the British

Guiana Broadcasting Company and Crystals Broadcasting Company could not be located.

One major research problem was the scarcity of duplicating and/or photocopy equipment in Guyana. Most research notes were either taken longhand or placed on audio tape and transcribed on return to the United

States. Foreseeing this problem, two cassette tape recorders and twenty audio cassette tapes were taken to Guyana.

This writer was fortunate, in several respects, in the process of gaining access to some restricted information on broadcasting. Because the interview itinerary was arranged by the Chief Information Officer, a number of Guyanese officials felt the project was under Government auspices and responded to classified information requests. Because there were three, and in some cases competing, organizations involved with broadcasting, information denied by the Ministry of Information might be supplied by one of the other agencies. For example, access to the Cholmondely-Nascimento report on a proposed broadcasting system for

Guyana was restricted by the Ministry of Information. A copy of the report, however, was obtained from an individual in another agency. C hapter I

THE HISTORY OF GUYANA

Geography

The territorial boundaries designating Guyana, Surinam, French

Guiana, Brazil and Venezuela are a modern expedient. The name Guiana is applicable to the entire country on the northeast shoulders of South

America from the Amazon to the south, the sea to the east and the Orinoco river to the north and west. The name Guiana comes from the native word

"winna" or "whanna" meaning watery country or land of many w aters.^ The topography and watery nature of the region has had a profound effect on social and cultural development, as w ill be shown.

The Republic of Guyana, formerly B ritish Guiana, is .bounded on the west by Venezuela, Surinam (formerly Dutch Guiana) to the east and

Brazil to the south. Map I shows the relationship of Guyana to South

America and the Caribbean. All of the Guiana region countries have a coastal area and most of the larger cities are located on or near natural harbors. Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, is situated on the east bank of the Demerara river which is the country's major port.

As well as being a coastal region, Guiana is interlaced with major rivers and is the watershed for the Orinoco and Amazon rivers.

•^A. R. F. Webber, Centenary History and Hand Book of British Guiana (Brish Guiana: The Argosy Company, Ltd., 1931), p. 6.

17 MAP X

CARIBBEAN SEA ATLANTIC OCEAN

GUYANA

BRAZIL

18 19

Guiana is divided by three major rivers; the Essequibo, the Berbice and the Demerara.

Guyana is approximately 83,000 square miles (the size of Kansas) and can be divided into three different geographic zones: Coastal belt, forest zone and savannah. Hap II shows these major divisions.

The coastal plain is approximately 240 miles long ranging in depth from ten to forty miles. Large areas of the coastal plain are below sea level and are protected by an elaborate system of dams, walls and drainage canals. While the soil In the coastal plain has an acid content, once drained of swamps and marsh areas the land is very rich and is the agricultural heart of the country. The coastal belt is only four percent of the land area but it contains ninety percent of the population.

The second geographical area is the minimally populated forest zone, which also includes the intermediate peneplain. The peneplain is infertile sandy soil, although it does manage to support dense hardwood forests. This white sandy area covers some 6,000 square miles of land extending some 100 to 150 miles inland. This area is where most mineral resources are located and exploited. From this region, bauxite, gold, diamonds, manganese and small quantities of other minerals are extracted.

The forested high lands behind the peneplain area ^plit into two regions. The west central forests rise up in elevation to about 2,000 feet and extend into Venezuela and Brazil. The southeast forest region extends down into the pocket created by the border with Surinam and

B razil. The third topographical division is the savannah areas of the MAP II

lE O R G tT O W W

I kfc: ^ 'i]\ PpM&^ARA V j S ^ E W AMSTERDAM

VCM BERB1CE

SURINAM

BRAZIL

SAVANNAH LOW COASTAL PLAIN 20 21 southwest portion of the country next to Brazil and the Berbice savannah in the extreme northeast. Both savannahs support only sparse 15 grasses utilized for cattle grazing.

Climate

Guyana’s clim ate is humid and tro p ic a l, although th is is tempered in the coastal area by sea breezes. The relative humidity ranges from 69 to 73 percent and the mean average temperature is 80.1 degrees Farenheit. There is little temperature change as the average during the hottest month is 82 degrees and during the coldest months 1 ^ the average is 79 degrees.

Rainfall in Guyana is heavy with an annual average of 92.49 17 inches of precipitation.

History

Although geographically Guyana is a Latin American country, historical developments have affiliated the nation culturally to the 18 West Indies. It is believed that Amerindians in Venezuela, noting

15 Geographic information taken from James Rodway, History of British Guiana from 1668, Vol. I(Georgetown, British Guiana, The Argosy Company, Ltd., 1891), F. DePons, Travels in South America(London: Longman, H urst, Rees and Ormf, 1807), S ir Alan Burns, H istory of the B ritish West In d ie s(London: George Allen & Unwin, L td ., 1965), and Report on British Guiana for the Year 1958(London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1959). 16 Claudio V eliz, e d ., Latin America and the Caribbean: A Handbook (London: Anthony Blond, Ltd., 1968), p. 287.,

^ Report on B ritish Guiana 1958, p. 192

^Chandra Jayawardena, Conflict and Solidarity in a Guianese Plantation(London: The Athlone Press, 1963), p. 1 22

European penchant for gold, created the story of El Dorado and located

the mythical city in the "land of many waters" which conveniently was

out of their territory. The lure of El Dorado resulted in Spanish

penetration of Guiana during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth 19 cen tu rie s.

Holland was the first European nation to threaten Spanish domi­ nation by establishing a permanent trade settlement in 1581 in what is now Guyana. 20 Three settlements were built on the rivers Pomeroon,

Arbary and Essequebo to establish trade contacts with the Amerindian

tribes. Although the first trading centers were destroyed by the Spanish

in 1594, Sir Walter Raleigh's Guiana expedition that same year and subse­

quent book, Discoverie of Guiana, "focused the attention of the whole 21 world on the country between the Amazon and the Orinoco." Raleigh believed Guiana to hold the secret of El Dorado and in 1617 this mistaken 22 belief cost him his life for failing to find the city of gold.

Raleigh's accounts of Guiana encouraged further Dutch exploration

and in 1621 the Dutch West Indian Company organized the first agricultural

settlement. The company was supplied with African slaves and by 1623 the

community exported 28,000 pounds of tobacco to England. 23 The Dutch

■ ^ B r it is h Guiana, Report of the Government Information Services, Trade and Industry (Georgetown, British Guiana: British Guiana Lithographic Company, Ltd., 1962), p. 4. 20 Burns, History of the British West Indies, p. 173.

21Webber, Centenary H isto ry , p . 9.

22Ibid. , p. 8.

23Ibid., p. 9. 23 designed and built the system of dikes and baclcdams that still protect the low coastal area from high tides.

Throughout the early and mid 16001s , three maj or European powers lay claim to various areas of Guiana. The Dutch settled in what is now

Guyana, the English made several attempts at colonization in Suriname .(sic) and the French claimed what is now French Guiana. In 1667, the Peace of

Breda was signed and as a reult Great Britain ceded Suriname to Holland n / in return for what is now New York.

In 1741, Laurens Storm Van's Gravesande, Secretary of the Colony for the Dutch West India Company, made an immigration decision that changed the cultural pattern of the region from Dutch to British.

Gravesande opened the colony to all settlers of all nations with freedom 25 from taxes for ten years. British planters, with their slaves, swarmed into the colony from agriculturally depleted areas of the West

Indies and quickly outnumbered Dnfch settlers. Outnumbering all

Europeans, however, were the slaves brought to the colony for agricul­ tural work. In 1762 the first slave rebellion broke out on a plantation in Berbice. The revolt was quickly put down with most rebels either killed during the fighting, executed later as a warning to other slaves or publicly flogged. The second slave rebellion occured in 1763 and spread to the whole Berbice region. All whites in Berbice either fled

^Webber, Centenary History, p. 15.

25Michael Swan, British Guiana (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1957), p. 35.

2^Webber, History and Hand Book of British Guiana, p. 58. 24 or were killed and Dutch troops from Suriname were brought in to suppress the revolt. The revolt failed in the face of armed troops but the results were disastrous to both black and white. Out of 4,251 slaves in the Dutch colony, 1,786 negroes were killed or executed. More than fifty percent of the white population either left the colony or were lost dut t.o death or sickness. 27

M ilitarily the British took the Dutch colony in 1781, 1796 and again in 1803 British naval forces captured French Guiana as well as the

Dutch areas of Essequibo, Berbice, Damerara and Suriname. The British held the region until the Congress of Vienna in 1815 established the present boundaries and the British consolidated Essequibo, Berbice and

Demerara into the colony of British Guiana.2® Unfortunately precise boundaries were never set by the Congress of Vienna and there has been an ongoing border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana since 1890.2^

Venezuela claims some 50,000 square miles of Guyana as a Spanish possession while Guyana bases her claim on the Congress of Vienna.

Great Britain also brought social change to British Guiana by the

1807 Parliamentary Act "making it an offense for British subjects or ships to engage in slave trade."30 The Slave Emancipation Act of 1833 freed the slaves and paid slave owners financial compensation for the

27Ibid., pp. 59-63.

2®Bums, History of the British West Indies, p. 608.

29gr0ver Cleveland, The Venezuelan Boundary Controversy(Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1913), pp. 5-13.

^David Alan Waddell, The West Indies & The Guianas (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967), p. 77. 25

lo ss. 31 A fter em ancipation, most slaves refused to work on the plan­

tations and indentured workers from Portugal, China and India were brought in to do agricultural work.

Although the British conquest of Guiana meant sweeping social

changes, political change was slow to evolve. The constitution of the colony called for a Governor, appointed by the Queen, and a Court of

Policy and a Combined Court. All of the members of the Court of Policy and Combined Court served at the pleasure of the Governor and he was 32 the dominant political force.

The 1943 consitutional revision provided the first major political change in British Guiana by creating a Legislative Council of

twenty-five members. The composition of the Council included the

Governor, three officials, seven nominated and fourteen elected members. For the f i r s t time elected members served on the colony's 33 governing body and they were in the majority. The second major political change was dropping the English literacy requirement for voter registration which quadrupled the electorate by enfranchising 34 the East Indians.

The next major political event was a liberalized constitution

31Ibid. , p. 78.

^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1935 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1936), p. 4. 33 Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1946 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1947), p. 7.

3^Annette Baker Fox, Freedom and Welfare in the Caribbean: A Colonial Dilemma (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1949), p. 158. 26 that created a unicameral legislature with ministerial system modeled after the parliamentary concepts of Great Britain's House of Commons. 35

The 1961 constitutional reforms all but gave internal self government to the Guianese except for emergency powers retained by the Governor. The new constitution called for a bicameral legislature, universal adult sufferage and a council of nine ministers responsible to the Legislative

Assembly .^

Guyana gained independence in 1966 but decided to remain within the British Commonwealth and retain the Queen of England as nominal head 37 of state. In 1970, on the 207th anniversary of the first Berbice slave re b e llio n , Guyana became the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, which remained in the British Commonwealth. 38

Social Aspects

Heavy reliance on agriculture has led to the country's largest and potentially most dangerous social problem. Racial disharmony between Guyanese of African descent and East Indians pervades the social, political and economic life of the country.

After emancipation in 1834, most Negroes left the plantations and refused to work for their former masters. Many plantations, lacking

35Burns, History of the British West Indies, p. 717.

■^Guyana, Guyana in B rief (Guyana: Government P rin te ry , 1971), p. 7. 37 Guyana, C onstitution of Guyana and Related C onstitutional Instruments (Georgetown: Government P rin tery , May 1966), Chapter IV.

^SL^^on Forbes Burnham, A Destiny to Mould (New York: Africana Publishing Corporation, 1970), p. 156. 27 necessary labor, were abandoned and the Africans were in the position of wringing s o c ia l, economic and p o litic a l demands from the ru lin g whites by withholding needed services. J The labor void, however, was filled quickly by the use of indentured labor from Portugal, China and

India. By far the largest group of indentured labor came from India as the East Indians had a high tolerance for the crude living conditions on the plantations. By 1917, East Indians numbered more than 126,000 out of British Guiana’s total population of some 300,000.^ Between

1838 and 1917, some 238,960 East Indians were imported and more than two-thirds did not return to India after their indenture contracts expired.^ This influx of Indian labor, in effect, broke the African’s labor monopoly and reduced his economic value in the colony.

Another point of contention between the African and East Indian was th at the Negro looks down on the Indians for s e llin g themselves voluntarily into slavery.^

The Chinese came to British Guiana in such small numbers that they have been able to remain in the background. The Portuguese alienated themselves from both African and Indian by aligning himself with the white minority and going into business. Many Indians, because

■^Peter Simms, Trouble in Guyana (London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. , 1966), p. 57.

^V eliz, A Handbook, p. 281.

^Jayawardeana, Conflict and Solidarity, p. 14.

42Simms, Trouble in Guyana, p. 57.

43Ibid., p. 60. 28 of their rural societal traditions, continued to stay in agriculture.

"Their labor saved the sugar industry; rice culture was second nature to most of them and their efficiency in that line made the colony the chief ric e bowl of the Caribbean region.The Africans went into the city once freedom was gained and found employment in civil service or the 45 trades they learned while slaves. This societal and economic pattern of Guyanese l i f e has continued to the present with one notable exception.

Because the East Indians are very frugal and have a strong family structure, they have been able to start many small family businesses and 46 have taken over this sector of the Guyanese economy.

Thesocietal division hasspilled over into politics as well as economics and resu lted in race rio ts and terro rism during theearly 47 1960’s that left nearly 200 dead, 900 Injured and thousands homeless.

The current population of Guyana is estimated to be 740,196 with 48 six major ethnic elements. They are as follows:

Indians (Asiatic) 377,257

Africans (Negro 227 ,091

Mixed C4,077

Chinese 4,678

^W. Adolphe Roberts, Land of the Inner Sea (New York: Coward McCann, Inc., 1948), p. 158.

^Simms, p. 48.

46Ibid., pp. 18-19.

^7B. A. N. Collins, "The End of a Colony" Political Science Quarterly, XXXVI (October-December 1965), pp. 408-9.

48Guyana, Guyana in Brief, p. 6 Portuguese 9,668

Amerindians 32,794

Whites 4,056

Other 576

The East Indians outnumber the Africans, although the Africans currently rule the country politically. A high birth rate guarantees that the

East Indians will attain an absolute majority of the votes within a few 49 years replacing the Africans politically.

P o litic s

P o litic a l development in Guyana is a recent phenomenon brought about by the country's move toward internal self government and inde­ pendence. Prior to the constitutional reforms of 1946 and 1953, there was little need for political activity because there were few elective offices. However, the constitutional reforms of 1953 provided for a House of Assembly, with three appointed and twenty-four elected 50 members, and a m in iste ria l system.

Political issues, like social and economic Issues, divided along racial lines and reinforce racial bias. The unofficial slogan of the

Peoples Progressive Party (P.P.P.) led by Cheddi Jagan, an East Indian, 51 is "apanjaht," or vote for your own kind.

^Gary MacEoin, Columbia and Venezuela and the Guianas (New York: Time, Inc., 1965), p. 122. ■^Burns, History of the British West Indies, p. 717.

-**Sirams, Trouble in Guyana, p. 139. 30

The P.P.P. vjon a decisive vote in the 1953 elections taking eighteen of the twenty-four elective seats in the House of Assembly.

Jagan and a Negro, Linden Forbes Burnham, were able to u n ite the mass of Indian and African votes behind the party and capture fifty-one 52 percent of the votes. To get Burnham into the P.P.P. and broaden the party's base with the Negro vote, Jagan promised Burnham the chairman­ ship of the Party and by implication the party leadership. Once the election was over, however, Burnham was given a ministerial post but was 53 refused the party leadership.

Before the Bumham-Jagan split could mature, the British Guiana constitution was suspended by Great Britain and troops were brought in 54 to restore order after a general strike nearly paralyzed the colony.

The strike had been instigated by the P.P.P. leadership, who gained much political power through the trade unions and, in turn, had strong influence over the unions. Pressure from the P.P.P. forced the

President of the Guyana In d u stria l Workers Union to stop n eg o tiatin g with the Sugar Producers Association and call a strike. The sugar strike collapsed and the P.P.P. tried to legislate themselves into direct control of the trade unions so a general strike could be called to either

"*^Leo Despres, Cultural Pluralism and National Politics in B ritish Guiana (Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1967), p. 4.

CO Simms, Trouble in Guyana, pp. 82-3.

Great Britain, The Constitution Suspension Order: October 8, 1953, Broadcast over Radio Deraerara by His Excellency the Governor, Sir Alfred Savage, K. C. M. G. Reprinted by the Bureau of Public Information. 31 55 force Great Britain to grant a new constitution or total independence.

Although there is disagreement over the intent of the P.P.P.,

The B ritish Guiana C onstitutional Commission concluded th a t Jagan and h is wife were communists while Burnham was a socialist opposed to British ru le . The Commission also concluded th at another ele c tio n would return

Jagan to power so a period of marking time was proposed.

It is a moot point as to whether or not Jagan is a communist but it is affirmed that he is a Marxist. Jagan studied dentistry at

Northwestern University in the United States and there met Janet

Rosenberg, h is future w ife, who was a member of the Young Communist

League.57 Red Janet, as she is generally called in British Guiana, is regarded as a fanatical communist and at one time called the Berlin wall c O "the antifascist defense wall." Cheddi Jagan was "indoctrinated by her and ever since has freely acknowledged his Marxist ideas.Jagan has a picture of Stalin in his surgery and "would look upon a marxist state as his goal."^

■^Robert D. Tomaseli, "B ritish Guiana: A Case Study of B ritish Colonial Policy" P o litic a l Science Q uarterly XXXVI(October-December 1965), p. 398. ■*^Great Britain, Report of the British Guiana Constitutional Commission, S ir James Robertson, chairman (London: Her M ajesty's Stationery Office, 1954). -^V eliz, Handbook, p. 282.

^ H e rb e rt Wendt, The Red, White and Black C ontinent, tra n s. by Richard and Clara Winston (New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966), p. 73. 59Tomasek, "British Colonial Policy" Political Science Quarterly, p. 398.

^^Swan, British Guiana, p. 135. 32

The events of 1953, although a detriment to constitutional devel­ opment, provided the impetus for social and economic change in the colony. The disorders also brought about long term change in government and commercial broadcasting which will be discussed later in this study.

The C onstitutional Commission of 1954 reported the c o n stitu tio n a l system adequate but found social conditions, such as low wages, lack of education and poor working conditions, leading to p o te n tia l communist domination of the c o lo n y .^ A fter the Commission re p o rt, liv in g condi­ tions on the sugar plantations were improved and the largest business conglomerate in the colony, Booker Brothers McConnell, Ltd., changed management and business philosophy in favor of the employees and consumers.^

Once the initial flurry over the constitutional suspension was over, inter-party rivalries blossomed. Linden Forbes Burnham left the

P.P.P. in 1955 on the grounds of Jagan's Marxism to form the moderate

Peoples National Congress (P.N.C.). In reality, the split was over leadership rather than ideology. The split in ideology was also a division in race as most Negroes followed Burnham and "from this period the latent apathy between the African and Indian descended . . . and p o litic s became larg ely a m atter of r a c e ." ^

^ G re a t B rita in , Report of the B ritish Guiana Commission 1954, pp. 14-29.

^Simras, Trouble in Guyana, p. 64.

^^Veliz, Handbook, p. 282.

^Burns, History of the British West Indies, p. 718. 33

In 1957, another attempt at introducing representative government met with better success. Jagan1s P.P.P. dominated the election by winning nixie of the legislature's fourteen seats, while Burnham's P.N.C. captured three and s p lin te r p a rtie s gained two seats.*’"’

In 1960, full internal self government was recommended for

British Guiana with the exception of a few emergency powers remaining with the British appointed Governor-General, ifho was largely a figure- 6fi head. Jagan retained power in the 1961 election and quickly reorganized the Legislative Assembly and the Council of Ministers, which was made up of those holding Ministerial positions .^ The 1961 P.P.P. p o lic ie s and budget were disastrous in several areas. Firstly, Jagan alienated the mostly Negro civil service by trying to eliminate the long leave to

Great Britain reasoning that Guianese were already home and did not need to go back to England. The Economic policies alienated the general population by calling for forced savings programs and heavier taxes on non-essentials, such as beer, wine, rum and cigarettes. The unions were also enraged when the P.P.P. tried to pass a Labour Relation

Act, similar to the Contested Act of 1953, and gain control of union 69 activities. Reaction to the 1961-1962 Jagan policies and budget was initially peaceful although economically disruptive. The unions and

^Simms, Trouble in Guyana, p. 140.

^B ritish Guiana, Trade and Industry, pp. 18-19.

67Ib ld .

^Sirnras, Trouble in Guyana, pp. 156-7.

69Bums, H istory of the B ritish West In d ie s, p. 718 34

civil service called a general strike that lasted eighty days and

forced the P.P.P. government to reconsider the Labour Relations B ill.7^

Other matters still festered, however, and they erupted into a race r io t th at required reso lu tio n by armed force.

. . .th e Negroes, who saw Jagan as a ra c is t and Marxist, felt that he and his East Indians, given a free hand by Britain, would reduce them to peonage. The result was a Negro riot in February, 1962 that destroyed whole sections of Georgetown. Jagan himself had to call in British troops to quell the rioters and impose peace.7-*-

Throughout the early 1960's, constitutional discussions were held between the major political parties in Guiana and the Secretary of State for the Colonies without progress. Finally, in exasperation, the P.P.P. and P.N.C. asked Duncan Sandys, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to arbitrate points of contention. This unwise move on the part of the

P.P.P. resulted in Sandys instituting a proportional electoral scheme in

1963, for the following years election, which minimized the population advantage held by the East Indians. 72 The constitutional order also called for a unicameral legislature of 53 seats and a parliamentary 73 system of leadership.

Jagan refused to accept the proportional electoral decision made by Duncan Sandys and the colony was thrown in to an uproar. The Guyana

7flSimms, Trouble in Guyana, pp. 167-9.

7^MacEoin, Colombia and Venezuela and the Guianas, p. 122.

72Wendt, Red, White and Black Continent, pp. 77-78. 7^Guyana, C onstitution of Guyana and Instrum ents, p. 53. 35

Agricultural Workers Union, supported by the P.P.P. and Jagan, called a general strike that lasted more than a year and crippled the country's agricultural production.^ In an effort to forestall the election,

Jagan supporters started a campaign of violence that lasted a year and left more than 170 dead, thousands homeless and further hardened the colony along racial lines. 75

Jagan won a plurality in the 1964 elections, under the new

British Guiana constitution, but was unable to form a government

“7 C because he did not have a majority. A coalition between the P.P.P. and another party was impossible because of racial divisions or Jagan's extrema leftist causes. The P.N.C. with twenty-two seats, formed a coalition government with the business oriented United Force which had gained seven seats in the election. The coalition government had a comfortable twenty-nine seat majority over the P.P.P. which had only twenty-two seats.^ To further weaken the P.P.P., the intraparty struggle developed over leadership and party philosophy and Jagan lacked 78 the strength to halt the infighting.

Since the 1964 election, Burnham has consolodated his power and broadened his political base. In his own right, without the United

^Burns, History of the British West Indies, p. 719.

^^McEoin, Colombia and Venezuela and the Guianas, p. 122.

^^'Cheddi Jagan Returns to Battle," The Reporter, March 7, 1968, p. 28.

77 Guyana, Guyana in B rie f, p. 7.

^®Simms, Trouble in Guyana, pp. 178-9. Force coalition, Burnham was able to win the 1968 election taking thirty 79 seats to the P.P.P.’s nineteen and the United Force's four seats.

Burnham has courted the East Indian politically and economically by declaring national holidays on Hindu and Muslim holidays, allowing the

Bank of India to open a branch in Guyana and working on new s tra in s of 80 sugar and rice from which most Indians gain their living. Burnham also franchised Guyanese living overseas, which allowed some 66,000 persons, mostly Negro, to vote in the 1968 elections which returned him to 81 power. The moderate socialist policies of the P.N.C. also were instru­ mental in gaining foreign aid from Great Britain and the United States to the tune of $43 million which went into rural water projects, 82 education and paved highways.

Under Burnham and the P.N .C ., Guyana has been guided through independence into the British Commonwealth and in 1970 the country became a Cooperative Republic inside the commonwealth. Burnham's political and economic philosophy is: ". . .Guyana's resources must be exploited for Guyana. That means in the f i r s t place th a t we Guyanese must get the maximum or real benefit from such exploitation." 83

^ West Indies and Caribbean Yearbook: 1970 (New York: Life/NT/ Inc., (Thomas Skinner Directories), p. 201. on "An Easier Way," Time Magazine, December 27, 1968, p. 25. 81 Alba Amoia, e d ., P o litic a l Handbook and Atlas of the World: 1970 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970), p. 138. 82 Time Magazine, December 27, 1968, p. 25.

^Burnham, Destiny to Mould, p. 155. 37 Economics

Guyana has the typical colonial economy with a narrow base geared

to exporting raw materials to the colonial mentor and serving as a

market for finished goods. The country has traditionally had an unfavor­

able balance of payments as the value of imports are greater than the

value of exports. During 1970, imports totalled G$268,240,000

(G$1.00-US$.50) compared with exports of G$267,975,000 or a d e f ic it of

G$265,000.8^ This is a vast improvement over 1960, when the difference

between exports and imports produced a G$20,000,000 balance of payments

d e f i c i t .85

In relation to other Caribbean countries, Guyana's economic

growth has been poor which is indicated by a low per capita income. 86

Table I shows the relationship of Guyana's per capita income to select­

ed Caribbean-Latin-South American countries. Schwarz notes that the

extremely low economic standards and social conditions resulted in a on strong communist movement that attempted revolutionary changes. The

revolutionary attempts result in social and political unrest that

scare off foreign and local investments and keep development at a minimum. Guyana is caught in a cycle of low development, seasonal work,

8\?h italcer's Almanack: 1972 (London: William Clowes & Sons, Ltd., 1971), p. 745.

85British Guiana, "Trade and Industry," p. 37. 86 W ilfred L. David, Economic Development of Guyana 1953-1964 (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1969), p. 10-11.

87 Ernst Schwarz, "Some Observations on Labor Organizations in the Caribbean," in The Caribbean: Its Economy, ed. by A. Curtis Wilgus (Gainsville, Florida: University of Florida Press, 1962), p. 173. 38 poverty and social-political unrest that has over one-third of the work 88 force unemployed at one time or other during each year.

The economic policies of the P.N.C. have also reduced potential

foreign investment for the country. Prime Minister Burnham said he and

the P.N.C.'s goals are ". . .to control and own the country's natural 89 resources." To institute that economic policy, the P.N.C. demands that fifty-one percent of any company exploiting natural resources must be owned by Guyana. 90 This policy led to the nationalization of the

Demerara Bauxite Company in 1971 after negotiations with the parent 91 organization, the Aluminum Company of Canada, broke down over payment.

The policy of control and subsequent nationalization has led to a further loss of confidence on the part of potential foreign investors 92 and foreign-owned firms already in the country.

Although the country's economic base has expanded since indepen­ dence, agriculture and mining are still the country's economic and 93 employment mainstays.

88V eliz, A Handbook, p. 289.

^L inden Forbes Burnham, "To Own Guyana" speech given to the 14th Annual Delegates' Congress of the Peoples National Congress on April 18, 1971 a t Queen's College, Georgetown, Guyana. Reprinted by the Peoples National Congress "To Own Guyana" (Georgetown: Daily Chronicle, Ltd., 1971), p. 4.

90Ibid. , p. 18.

9^Ibid. , pp. 3-4.

9^The Times (London), May 27, 1971, p. 1

^Raymond T. Smith, British Guiana, (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), pp. 67-70. 39

Mining. Gold, the ore that first drew European attention to the

Gulanas, has never become a major secto r of the economy. Table I I I shows the comparative extraction of minerals in Guyana. Most gold prospecting

TABLE I I I

MINERAL EXPORTS FROM GUYANA3,

Mineral Year

1958 1965 1969

Gold 10,777 oz 2,089 4,088

Diamonds 31,093 c t 66,312

Bauxite 1,364,286 tons 2,837,000 4,238,346

Alumina 279,000 tons 293,370

aTable III compiled from, Veliz, Handbook, p. 288, John Paxton, ed. Stateman's Yearbook 1972/1973 (London: MacMillian St. Martin's Press, 1977), p. 321, Hest Indies and Caribbean Yearbook: 1960 (Life/NT Inc., 1960), p. 121, and The Europa Yearbook 1970, Vol. II (Rochester, Great Britain: Europa Publications, Ltd., 1970), p. 560. has taken place in the interior of the country and gold mining has not 94 been lucrative enough to employ large scale raining techniques.

Diamonds, too, have been mined mostly by individual prospectors who employ crude methods of extraction because full scale raining

^Annie S. Peck, Industrial and Commercial South America (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1927), p. 106. 40

operations would be economically unfeasible. 95

It is estimated that ninety percent of Guyana’s mineral wealth is 96 in bauxite. Found in 1909 during a casual survey, bauxite was not mined, however, until 1917 when an American Scot, George Bain Mackenzie, developed the first corporate bauxite mining operation. 97 Since 1917, bauxite has become the second largest industry in Guyana and more than half the world’s bauxite comes either from Guyana or neighboring 98 Surinam. Prior to nationalization of the Demerara Bauxite Corporation

(Demba) in 1971, Demba and Reynolds Aluminum Company of the United

States produced fifteen percent of all government revenue and nearly

thirty percent of the country's export fees. 99

Although producing much revenue for Guyana, bauxite mining and alumina processing employs le ss than three thousand Guyanese and

contributes only nine percent of the national income.^®

Agriculture. The most important agriculture cash crops in

Guyana are sugar and rice. Sugar plantations were started by the Dutch who also built the seawalls and backdams that make agriculture possible

95Ib id .

^ B r i t i s h Guiana, Government Information Service Building Confidence: The Story of British Guiana in 1954 (Georgetown: Government Information Service, 1955), p. 47. 97 Swan, B ritish Guiana, pp. 178-9.

9®Alan Propert, "The Role of Mineral Resources in the Economy of the Caribbean" in The Caribbean: Its Economy, ed. A. Curtis V/ilgus (Gainsville, Florida), p. 37. 99 Swan, British Guiana, p. 178.

■1-QOReport on B ritish Guiana 1958, p. 26. 41 in the low coastal area.*^ As with bauxite, overseas investment capital was instrumental in the development of sugar. 102 Booker

Brothers McConnell Company, L td ., o rig in a lly a B ritish trading firm , entered the colony as a distributor and merchandiser but gradually got ] 03 into sugar by taking over estates of defaulting debtors. ' Booker

Brothers economically dominates the country through its holdings in sugar, shipping, insurance companies and wholesale and retail trades.

Sugar production is almost totally the province of large long- established firms: Not more than two percent comes from small peasant farmers. Various economic crises have forced the consolodation or absorption of smaller plantations into a few large estates. As of 1958, only nineteen estates existed and fifteen of those were owned by

Booker Brothers.'*'^

In terms of employment, national income and revenue to the

Government, sugar is by far the country’s most important crop. An estimated forty-five percent of the country's revenue from income tax and excise duties derives from sugar production and export.Sugar,

^■^Webber, Centenary H isto ry , p. 13. in? Building Confidence 1954. p. 6

103MacEoin, Columbia and Venezuela and the Guianas, p. 120.

104Ib id .

*^JBuilding Confidence 1954, p. 39

^®®British Guiana, Legislative Council, Sessional Papers (Legislative Council), 1959, 1960-64 Development Programme. No. V.

A. Haynes, "The Economic Importance of the Sugar Industry to British Guyana,'1 in Bookers Sugar, Report of Booker Brothers, McConnell & Company, Ltd. (1954), p. 18. 42 or sugar products account for more than half the value of the country's TOR exports. The 1969 sugar crop wasworth over G$662,000,000 and genera ated upwards of twenty-five thousand jobs monthly during the peak sugar 109 season. An official of Booker Brothers, McConnell Company, Ltd., once estimated that sugar, either directly or indirectly, supported nearly eighty percent of the population. 110

Rice. Aside from bauxite and sugar, rice is the only other major source of income in Guyana. Whereas sugar is the province of the large estates, rice is grown almost exclusively by East Indian peasants on small farms that range between three to ten acres.More than half of the ric e produced is consumed a t home but increasing amounts are being 112 exported to the Caribbean. As of 1968, 136,690 tons of rice was produced in Guyana which would have been worth more than

G$27,500.00 on the market. 113 Because most rice production is done as a family project on small plots, it is estimated that rice production 114 employs upwards of 80,000 Guyanese, mostly East Indians.

Lumber. Although still a minor industry, lumber could well

•*-Q%uilding Confidence 1954, p. 39.

"^^West Indies and Caribbean Yearbook: 1971 (New York: Life/NT Inc., (Thomas Skinner Directories), 1972, p. 215.

•^^Haynes, "Economic Importance of Sugar," p. 18. I l l Jayawardena, Conflict and Solidarity, p. 1.

■^^Despres, Cultural Pluralism, p. 4. 113 West Indies and Caribbean Yearbook 1971, p. 213.

^ ^ Report on British Guiana 1958, p. 25. 43 become a major source of revenue for Guyana. Nearly ninety percent of the country is forested and in 1969 more than nine m illion lin e a r fe e t of lumber was cut and exported.-*-^

The abundance of forests has resulted in mostly wood construction throughout the country, which in turn, has led to disastrous fires in

1945, 1947 and 1951.116

Legal Structure

The le g a l stru c tu re of Guyana re fle c ts the im position of colonial rule by both Holland and Great Britain. The first legal basis for Guiana was in s titu te d by the Dutch and Roman-Dutch law prevailed even 117 after conquest by Great Britain. The British accepted the existing

Roman-Dutch law for B ritish Guiana but i n i t i a l ly kept the power to initiate legal change in the hands of the British Parliament. In 1865,

Parliament affirmed the broad judicial rights assumed by Colonial

Legislatures by passing the Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865.

5. Every Colonial Legislature shall have, and be deemed at all times to have had, full power within its Jurisdiction to establish Courts of Judicature. . .to alter the Constitution thereof, and to make provisions for the Administration of Justice. . .and to make Laws respecting the Constitution Powers and Procedures.

■^^John Paxton, ed ., The Statemen's Yearbook 1971-72 (London: MacMillian St. Martin's Press, 1972), p. 321.

1-^Burns, H istory of B ritish West In d ie s, p. 698.

Kenneth Roberts-Wray, Commonwealth and Colonial Law (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1966), p. 818. 118 Great Britain, Laws, Statutes, etc., Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865, 28 & 29 Viet. Ch. 63. Halsbury's Statutes of England (3rd Ed.) IV, 476. 44

The Colonial Lavs V alidity Act, 1865, was le g isla te d to remove doubts about the power of Colonial legislatures to establish court 119 systems and enact certain laws. The British Guiana Act, 1928, conferred legislative power on the Governor's Executive Council which was composed of appointed members. The Act authorized the Governor

"by Order in Council from time to time to make laws for the peace, 120 order and good government of the Colony of British Guiana."

Although the Roman-Dutch legal philosophy prevailed, English law was imposed whenever new ordinances or laws were required. This legal dichotomy was formally recognized with the passage of The Civil Lav; of

B ritish Guiana Ordinance, 1917, which estab lish ed both Roman-Dutch Law 121 and English Common Law as the legal basis for the Colony. The Guyana

Constitution and related instruments of 1966 retained the dual legal principal but transfered the seat of authority from the British

Parliament to the Guyana National Assembly. 122

119 ^ Roberts-Wray, Commonwealth and Colonial Law, p. 818.

^■^Great Britain, Laws, Statutes, etc., The British Guiana Act, 1928, 17 & 18 Geor. 5 Ch. 5 Halsbury's Statutes of England (2nd EdO VI, 628. 121 British Guiana, Laws, Statutes, etc;, The Civil Law of British Guiana Ordinance, 1917, ch. 2, The Laws of British Guiana, 1953, I, p. 4. (sec. 1-3).

122gUyana^ Constitution, Ch. VI, sec 72. Chapter II

DEVELOPMENT OF A GOVERNMENT BROADCAST MONOPOLY TO 1931

Radio broadcasting in British Guiana was the culmination of more than seventy years of broadcast and telecommunications development and research in Great Britain and the rest of the world* This paper does not attempt to detail the growth of telecommunications and broadcasting in Great Britain, but certain events and legal trends must be discussed to show how they directly influenced media development in British

Guiana.

Telegraphy

Telegraphy in Great Britain was developed under private enterprise until 1868, when Parliament directed the Postmaster General to purchase 123 all internal telegraph systems and allocated funds toward that end.

The following year, Parliament ammended the Telegraph Act, 1868, and granted exclusive authority to the Postmaster General for the trans­ mission and delivery of telegrams inside Great Britain except in certain instances and only with written license or consent.^4 The principals of government monopoly and licen sin g were fu rth e r extended to radio

•k^Great Britain, Laws, Statutes, etc., The Telegraph Act, 1868, 31 & 32 Viet., Ch. 110, Halsbury's Statutes of England (3rd. ed.) XXXVI, 28-33 (pt. 1, sec. 6.)

■^^Great Britain, Laws, Statutes, etc., The Telegraph Act, 1869, 32 & 33 V ie t., Ch. 73, S tatu tes a t Large XLVII, 311-315 (p t. 1, sec. 4.)

45 46 communications in Great Britain through the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 125 1904, which stated that wireless was an extension of telegraphy.

Externally, however, wire and wireless telegraphy were left in the hands of p riv a te e n te rp rise . The West India and Panama Telegraph

Company, a private British firm, laid a series of submarine telegraph cables in the West Indies during 1870 and in 1871 connected B ritish

Guiana by cable to Great B rita in . ' The West India and Panama

Telegraph Company eventually became part of Cable and W ireless, Ltd., when in 1929 a public holding corporation was formed for the purpose of reducing harmful competition between British telegraph companies by 127 acquiring their assets and merging operations. Included in the holding company were Great Britain’s Beam Wireless Service and the 128 Government owned and operated A tlan tic Cable Company. Cable and

Wire3.ess Ltd., then, became the exclusive operator of British Guiana’s external wire and wireless telegraphy services.

Extension of the Submarine Telegraph cable to British Guiana in

1871 did not create any significant administrative problems. The telegraph company was regulated by Great Britain's Telegraph Acts and since there was no internal telegraphy in British Guiana there was no

125 Great Britain, Laws, Statutes, etc., The Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1904, 4 Edward 7, Ch. 24, The Lax-? Report^, 77-80 (pt. 1, sec. 1-7).

I y r F. J . Brown, The Cable and W ireless Communications of the World (London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., 1930), p. 19.

Ibid. , pp. 101-2.

•^®Great Britain, Central Office of Information, Post War Britain: 1948-1949 (London: Central Office of Information, 1948), p. 148. 47 need for legislation. A telephone service was instituted in Georgetown in 1884, however, and this subsequently led to passage of the Post and 129 Telegraph Ordinance, 1894, which regulated all wire communication.

Like Great Britain's Telegraph Act, 1869, The British Guiana

Ordinance gives full operating control to the Postmaster General.

4. (2) He (the Postmaster General) shall have the general control and direction of the system of posts and telegraphs established under this Ordinance . . . and shall be responsible to the Governor for the efficient maintenance of that system. ^0

Exclusive authority was further granted to the Postmaster General, but the power to license was retained for the Governor of the colony.

12. (1) The Postmaster General shall have the exclusive privilege of transmitting from one place to another within the Colony all telegrams, except in the following cases, and shall also within the Colony have the exclusive p riv ileg e of performing all the incidental services of receiving, collecting, sending, despatching and delivering all telegrams, except in the following cases, that is to say, telegrams transmitted—

(a) free of charge

(b) with the written license or consent either special or general, of the Governor, which may be granted on any terms and conditions to the Governor seeming fit;-*-^l

The Ordinance specifically limits the Postmaster General to internal communications. He has operating control of the telegraph

^^British Guiana, Laws, Statutes, etc., The Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894, Ch. 185, The Laws of British Guiana, 1953, 1763-1769.

•^•^Ibid. , (pt. 1, sec. 4).

•*-31ibid. , (pt. 1, sec. 12). 48 system and exclusive authority to transmit and receive telegrams over that system except with written license or consent of the Governor. The licensing function and exlusivity feature show a strong British legal influence taken from Great Britain's Telegraph Act, 1869. Further simi­ larities between Great Britain's Telegraph Acts and the British Guiana

Ordinance can be seen in nearly identical definitions. The 1894

Ordinance, passed before the introduction of wireless, defines telegraph 132 as "wire or wires used for the purpose of telegraphic communication."

Great Britain's Telegraphic Act, 1863, is identical except for the addition of "and any apparatus connected therewith." 133

A unique feature of the British Guiana Ordinance was the inclusion of telephony which also brought the fledgling telephone system under the general control and exclusive authority of the Postmaster General. This was accomplished through broadening the definition of "telegram."

"telegram" means any message or other communication transmitted or intended for transmission by a telegraph, and includes any message or other communication trans­ mitted or intended for transmission by.^ telephone or by any other similar instrument or means. *

Wireless Telegraphy

The first patent for wireless telegraphy x^as taken out by Guglielmo

Marconi in London in 1896. The goal of Marconi's wireless

132Ibid.

133creat Britain, Telegraph Act, 1863.

^^British Guiana, Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894.

■^->Asa Briggs, The Birth of Broadcasting: The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Vol. X. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1961), p. 25. 49 experimentation was to extend the range of point-to-point communications which, as Kucera points out, had colonial as well as military iinpli- cations. 136 Wireless, like wired telegraphy, became a Post Office monopoly in Great Britain with the Postmaster General retaining the 137 privilege of granting licenses.'

A wireless telegraphy station, for exterior communications, was established in Georgetown by the British Admiralty in 1909.^^ The wireless station remained under Admiralty control until 1922 when it was transferred to the British Guiana Post Office and a Government Wireless

Department was created.139 The Wireless Department expanded telegraphy 140 internally and six stations were built between 1924 and 1926.

Wireless telegraphy could be economically extended into British

Guiana's interior regardless of the topography, climate and distance; those factors which precluded expansion of wire telegraphy.

Although the Wireless Department expanded under the Post Office,

initially there was no legal basis for the Postmaster General to operate or control wireless telegraphy. The Wireless Stations Regulations, 1927, made by the Postmaster General and approved by the Governor and Court of

Policy, remedied the situ a tio n by placing " a ll Government W ireless

S tations in the Colony . . . under the d ire c tio n and control of the

l^Kucera, "Broadcasting in Africa," p. 164.

137sugra, p. 42.

Webber, Centenary History and Handbook, p. 335.

139j}ritish Guiana, Administrative Reports: 1933 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company, Ltd., 1934), p. 412.

140Ibid. 50 1 / *| Officer-In-Charge of the Wireless Department." The Post and Telegraph

Ordinance, 1894, was further ammended in 1939 to include wireless teleg­ raphy and provided the Postmaster General with the "exclusive privilege" of operation and lic e n sin g .A lso added to the Principal Ordinance, was the assessment of a fee for licensing and broad emergency powers.

65. (5) If at any time in the opinion of the Governor an emergency has arisin xdierein it is expedient for the public service that Her Majesty's Government should have control over the tra n s­ mission and reception of messages by wireless telegraphy or visual or sound signalling . . . The Governor may, during the course of an emergency, make such rules as appear necessary with respect to the possession, sale, purchase, construction and use of apparatus, and to impose penalties and forfeitures in respect to any breach of the rules, and to make further provisions appearing necessary for the enforce­ ment of the rules

Failure to license a wireless telegraphy station and pay the prescribed fee, allowed the Postmaster General or any Police officer the authority to gain a search warrant and enter, Inspect and sieze any apparatus "to be used or intended to be used for wireless telegraphy th erein .

Broadcasting in Great Britain

Wired broadcasting, over telephone lines, started in Great

141 British Guiana, Laws, Statutes, etc., Wireless Station Regulations, 1927, Ch. 132, The Laws of British Guiana, 1387-1389. I/O British Guiana, Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894 (pt. 1, sec. 12), 1769.

1A3Ibid., (pt. 3, sec. 65.), 1792.

144Ibid. , (pt. 3, sec. 64.), 1789. 51

B ritain in 1894 as a commercial venture by the Electrophone Company.

Church se rv ic e s, musical performances, addresses and lectu res were

programmed during six years of operation which ended in 1892.^"^^ Briggs

summarized the six years of operation by saying, "The service was neither

a technical nor business success: after twelve years of activity sounds

were still distorted and there were only six hundred subscribers."-'-^

The venture did indicate, though, a desire and market for diverse

entertainment material in Great Britain if the delivery system could be

improved.

Wired broadcasting eventually drew the attention of Peter

Eckersely, who became the first chief engineer of the British 147 Broadcasting Company which was formed in 1922. The Company was in te r ­

ested in setting up relay exchanges and Eckersely became so enamored with

the positive aspects of wired broadcasting he tried to convert the 148 Company entirely to V7ire. Prior to the dissolution of the British

Broadcasting Company in 1926, Eckersely joined Rediffusion Ltd., a private 149 firm specializing in relay exchanges.

The dissolution of the commercial British Broadcasting Company led

^^Briggs, Birth of Broadcasting, p. 43.

146Ibid. , p. 43.

147Ibid., pp. 98-134.

1AO Asa Briggs, The Golden Age of Wireless: The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Vol. II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 358. 149 R. H. Coase, British Broadcasting: A Study in Monopoly (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1950), pp. 78-9. 52 to the creation of a public corporation called the British

Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which was a government monopoly, financed through license fees.-*--’® The first Director of the BBC, Sir John Reith, was primarily concerned with the development of internal broadcasting although he supported empire broadcasting and the development of 151 autonomous systems in the colonies. As early as 1924, Reith approached the Indian Office about starting a colonial broadcast system. 152

The basis for empire broadcasting was the short wave experimental 153 broadcasts from Chelmsford, England, s ta rtin g in November, 1927.

The first regularly scheduled short-wave service was started in 1932 154 when Great Britain launched the Empire Service from Daventry. The service directed English language broadcasts to Commonwealth Countries offering a complete service of news, music, sports and entertainment.

The overall purpose of the service was "to develop political, cultural and economic links between the United Kingdom and English-speaking 1 peoples." Specifically, Briggs pointed out the purpose was to keep

^^Burton Paulu, British Broadcasting (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1958).

■^■^Briggs, Golden Age of W ireless, Vol. I I , p. 370.

152Ibid.

153Ibid. , p. 372.

1 54 . "The B.B.C.: This is London ..." British Affairs V (Spring, 1961), p. 29.

*55Ibid.

^~*^Ian K, Mackay, Broadcasting in N igeria (N igeria: Ibadan University Press, 1964), p. 1 53 the "isolated man" in touch with England and to help newly established broadcast stations in the colonies. 157 Empire Service rebi*oadcasts were relayed to colonial stations and a transcription service was started to provide diverse quality programs to colonial broadcast systems with limited program resources. Kucera points out that virtually all colonial powers used short wave services and "directed them primarily to the European ruling class, and only secondarily to the native populations."^58

Broadcasting in British Guiana: 1926-1928

As early as 1926, experiments relaying foreign broadcast signals over telephone lines were carried out in British Guiana by Post Office employees from the Wireless Department and Government Electrical

Engineer’s (telephone) Department. 159 Discussions between Government and Post Office officials evolved around the two elements that were to initially shape broadcast development and lead to the implementation of. a wired relay system. The two important factors were economics and geography.

Private individuals wishing to receive foreign broadcasts on their wireless receivers encountered two problems related to geography.

Firstly, British Guiana is geographically in a region that experiences

^^Briggs, Golden Age of Wireless, Vol. II, pp. 372-3.

■*•58Kucera, p. 224.

159Great B rita in , Handbook on Broadcasting Services in the Colonies, 8th ed. (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1956), p. 14. 54 severe atmospheric disturbances. Secondly, the nearest country with a regular broadcast service capable of being received in British Guiana, at that time, was the United States, nearly 2,600 miles away. These reception problems led to the Post Office searching for ways to help local wireless listeners.

Implementation of a local wireless broadcast system had come under consideration but was not pursued because it was deemed uneconomical.

Post Office officials determined that the potential revenue from wireless receiver license fees, which were BG$3.00 per year, would not support a local wireless statio n .A ltern ativ e methods of financing a wireless , or wired, system were not seriously considered during early discussions.

It was decided that the only economically feasible system for British

Guiana would be a wired diffusion system utilizing existing telephone 162 lines to carry foreign radio programs.

Experimentation throughout 1926 led to the development of an adequate diffusion apparatus for relaying foreign broadcasts and the

Post Office allocated funds in 1927 to implement the system. The diffusion system was officially.opened to telephone subscribers on 163 March 1, 1927. Fourteen months later, in August, 1928, after

^^"Local Broadcasting" The Daily Chronicle, February 24, 1927, p . 4 • 161 British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1932 (Georgetown, The Argosy Company, L td ., 1933), p. 5 .

“^ ^Chronicle, February 24, 1927, p. 4.

161 British Guiana, Administrative Reports for the Year 1927 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company, Ltd., 1938), p. 316. 55

technicians failed to gain an acceptable technical level of performance

the wired system was abandoned in favor of a wireless operation devised by Post Office employees.

Legal. From inception, the wired diffusion system was a state

operated, government monopoly directed by the British Guiana Post Office

Department. No new legislation was considered as the Post and Telegraph

Ordinance, 1894, already regulated all wire communication, including „ 165 telephone, and gave exclusive authority to the Postmaster General.

The Ordinance's definition of telegram further strengthened the case

for Post Office control of wired broadcasting. A telegram was "any message or other communication" transmitted by telegraph, telephone or

"any other similar instrument.

Technical. The diffusion device was designed and constructed in

the Wireless Department workshop under the supervision of W. R. Brasher,

Acting Chief Engineer of the Government E le c tric a l Department and 167 A. E. Gagan, the Wireless Department Engineer. Collaboration between

the Post Office Departments was necessary because the diffusion system

utilized the Wireless Department's telegraphy station, VRY, and the

Government Electrical Engineering Department's.telephone switchboard

and telephone lines.

^^British Guiana, Administrative Reports for the year 1928 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company, Ltd., l92y) , p. 313. 1 / C British Guiana, Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894.

166Ibid., pp. 1763-1764. 1 67 British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1927 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company, Ltd., 1928), p. 20. Technically, the diffusion system was a carrier current device modeled after Rediffusion systems build in Great Britain by former

British Broadcasting Company Engineer Peter Eckersely. A radio frequency

(11F) signal was imposed on telephone lines by a low powered transmitter through a diffusion switchboard at a frequency that would not interfere with normal telephone operations. Modifications to the telephone system at the transmission and reception points was required. At the trans­ mission, or telephone switchboard, site an extra patch cord was attached to the telephone jack of every diffusion subscriber. To receive service the subscriber notified the diffusion exchange and the male patch cord was inserted into the diffusion patch panel in the same manner used to complete a telephone call. The normal telephone jack was, therefore, free for telephone operation and both services could operate simultaneously. Reception of the signal required a physical connection to the subscriber's telephone wire and the attachment of a receiver and switch. This method of transmission also reduced the 1 Aft possibility of reception by persons who had not paid for the service.

Receiver installation was a simple process and, in most cases, application for service and installation could be handled the same day.

Telephone subscribers wishing to test the service could obtain a

"sample" broadcast over their telephone receivers without the necessity

1 Aft A description of the Carrier Current system buiLt in British Guiana was obtained from: Great B rita in , Handbook on Broadcasting in the Colonies, p. 14., "Local Broadcasting" Chronicle, February 4, 1927, p. 4, British Guiana, Report of Postmaster General 1927, p. 20., "Broadcast Service", The Daily Chronicle, March 12, 1927, p. 4, and The Daily Chronicle, April 12, 1927, p. 8. of a special installation. 169 For a sample broadcast, the telephone

jack was inserted into the diffusion system and an audio signal was 170 relayed out in the same manner as a regular telephone call. Once in­

installation was completed, the subscriber merely had to inform the

telephone exchange that he wanted to receive a broadcast and he could be connected immediately .^71

Throughout the life of the diffusion system technical problems

constantly occured. The most prevalent problem was atmospheric dis­

turbance that either distorted the foreign broadcast signal or made

reception impossible. On a number of occasions, service was sus­ pended or changed because scheduled stations could not be received 172 and alternate programs were broadcast. Post Office employees con­ stantly tried to upgrade the quality of the diffusion system and 173 experimented with ways to reduce external and internal interference.

One other technical problem was that the diffusion switchboard

could not accomodate all potential subscribers and connection for service was handled on a first come first serve basis.^74

^^"Broadcast Service," The Daily Chronicle, March 12, 1927, p • 4 •

170lbid.

171"L0cai Broadcasting," The Daily Chronicle, April 12, 1927. p. 8.

■^^"No Service Tonight," The Daily Chronicle, March 15, 1927, p. 4.

■^^"Broadcasting over the Telephone," The Daily Chronicle, May 31, 1927, p. 4.

•^^Daily Chronicle, March 12, 1927, p. 4. 58 Financial. The wire diffusion system was limited economical­ ly by two factors. Firstly, the service was only available to those who were telephone subscribers which comprised a small segment of the total British Guiana population. When the diffusion system started in

1927, there were only 1,826 telephone subscribers in the Colony.^7^

Secondly, the diffusion switchboard had a limited capacity and this

further reduced the potential audience. 1 7fi

The system was expected to support itself through installation and nightly service fees. An equipment deposit of BG$2.00 was billed each subscriber for the home receiver and switch and a further

BG$1.50 was charged for installation. A nightly service connection fee of BG$.25 covered approximately four hours of relay service. The

BG$2.00 equipment deposit was refundable on giving up the service. ''177

Throughout the fourteen months of operation during 1927 and

1928, the diffusion service lost money. A total of BG$956 was spent

to implement the system, make installations and buy equipment. To offset Post Office expenses, BG$800.00 was collected by the Government

Electrical Engineer's Office for deposits, installations and nightly rental fees.^®

•^•’British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1929(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1930), p.

•^^Daily Chronicle, February 24, 1927, p. 4.

17^Ibid.

178British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1927(Georgetown: The argosy Company Ltd., 1928), pp. 8-9. and, British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1928 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1929), pp. 8-10. 59 In 1927, the Post Office Department allocated BG$500.00 to de­ velop and construct the d iffu sio n system. Only BG$499.00 was spent for

construction, so a savings of BG$1.00 was realized. From March 1, 1927, when the service opened, to December 31, 1927, Post Office receipts

from the service totalled BG$526.00, which vas BG$46.00 less than the estimated receipts of BG$574.00.179

The following fiscal year, 1928, BG$500.00 was budgeted by the

Post Office for improvements and equipment but only BG$459.00 was spent

leaving a balance of BG$41.00. The wired d iffu sio n service closed in

August, 1928, after only eight months of operation in the fiscal year, but the system still reported receipts totalling BG$274.00.^^

Programming. Preliminary plans called for diffusion relays on

Tuesday and Saturday evenings commencing at 8:20 P.M. and running ap- proximately four hours. 1 81 The hours of service corresponded to pro­

gram schedules of foreign stations and were, therefore, altered to match any change in program schedules. After less than two months of

operation, the diffusion hours were changed to 7:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M.

The primary nights of operation remained the same, although Thursday 182 night and Sunday afternoon broadcasts were not uncommon.

The primary sources of programs were the United States radio stations WPG, Atlantic City, New Jersey; KDKA, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

and 2XAF the development station of VJGY, Schenectedy, New York. A

179ibid. , pp. 8-9

180Ibid., pp. 8-10.

183-The Daily Chronicle, February 24, 1927, p. 4.

18?-The Daily Chronicle, April 26, 1927, p. 4 60 frequent, although secondary source of programs was the Phillips Radio 1 Laboratory station in Eindhoven, Holland. The British Broadcasting

Corporation had been experimenting with short wave broadcasts at the

time the d iffu sio n system became o p eratio n al, but regu larly scheduled

broadcasts did not start until 1932.^84 Toward the later part of 1927,

the diffusion service was able to pick up experimental broadcasts from

the BBC, although the time difference resulted in starting the relay

around 6:00 P.M., several hours earlier than normal.

The only local type of program material relayed over the dif­

fusion system were gramaphone records used to fill time while Post Of-

fice technicians changed frequency to pick up different stations.

This was a common occurance as i t was not unusual to pick up and re -

lay two or three stations a night. 187 The records used to fill the in­

terlude while sta tio n s were being changed were donated by R. G. Humphrey,

a lo cal m e r c h a n g . ^88 The program fare relayed from foreign stations was diverse, although the vast majority of time was filled with music.

Table IV shows a sample of eight United S tates and Dutch radio pro­

gram schedules selected a t random from The Daily C hronicle.

1 8 3 s e e radio program schedules in The Daily Chronicle between March, 1927 and August, 1928.

184Supra, p. 49.

185»Last- Evenings Radio Concert," The Daily Argosy, January 6, 1928, p. 4.

^^The Daily Chronicle, April 13, 1927, p. 6.

^8^See for example, The Daily Chronicle, April 26, 1927, p. 4.

*-88pa:Qy chronicle, April 13, 1927, p. 6. 61

TABLE 4 a

CATEGORIES AND PERCENTAGES OP PROGRAM MATERIAL RELAYED OVER

TELEPHONE LINES IN BRITISH GUIANA DURING 1927 AND 1928.b

Program type minutes percent News 85 3.5 Music 2,172 91.6

(popular and (1,692) (77.9) dance) (classical) ( 345) (15.9) (religious) ( 135) ( 6.2)

Talks 113 4.8 Total 2,370 99.9%

aTable 4 was randomly selected from program schedules listed in The Daily Chronicle on March 6, 1927, March 11, 1927, April 12, 1927, June 30, 1927, July 18, 1927, December 13, 1927, February 28, 1928, May 8, 1928 and June 31, 1928. k Table 4 is based on scheduled program material and does not make allowance for program changes at the broadcast station or atmo­ spheric disturbances in the Caribbean which may have forced suspension of the service or reception of an alternate source.

The smallest percentage of program material relayed from the

United States stations was news. Of the three United States stations,

WPG, Atlantic City, New Jersey, was the only station that regularly pro­ grammed news during the diffusion hours. WPG scheduled ten minutes of news either from 8:15 to 8:25 P.M. or 11:00 to 11:10 P.M. which was pre- pared by the Press Union Publishing Company. 189

By far, the largest program category was music. Table 4 shows

the percentage of various types of music programs relayed from American

•^^See for example WPG’s Radio Logs in The Daily Chronicle, March 11, 1927, p. 4. and/or The Daily Chronicle, March 13, 1928, p. 4. 62 and Dutch s ta tio n s . Religious music was confined prim arily to Sunday broadcasts although an occasional Gospel Hymn program was run during the week. Popular and dance music dominated the music category as the

United States stations frequently broadcast hotel orchestras throughout 190 the evening. Classical music apparently lost popularity and was pro- grammed less as time passed during 1927 and 1928. 1 91 One example of the type of classical music program broadcasts was a talk on Act II of

Tannhauser by a W alter Damrosch and illu s tr a tio n s by the New York Sym- 192 phony O rchestra.

Talk programs were infrequently scheduled by all the stations received in British Guiana. WGY presented an eight minute talk on

'‘American Politics" by David Lawrence, editor of The United States

D a i l y VJPG carried United States President Calvin Coolidge's address to the annual convention of the United States Chamber of

Commerce and the Pan American Commercial Conference in Washington. A staff writer of The Daily Chronicle commented on the program:

"The President reviewed at length America’s trade and its prospects. Unfortunately, however, he could not be distinctly heard. His voice is not one of the best for broadcasting purposes and his address could not be fully enjoyed and appreciated'.'l94

190Ib id .

^■9^See for example Radio Program Schedules throughout 1927 and 1928 in The Daily Chronicle.

^•9^The Daily Chronicle, March 12, 1927, p. 4.

193 lb id .

l94ihe Daily Chronicle, May 4, 1927, p. 6. 63 The diffusion service also relayed a speech by Queen Wilhelmina broadcast by the Eindhoven, Holland station despite the fact that the speech was in Dutch and aimed at Surinam and Curacao lis te n e rs . 195

Wireless Broadcasting in British Guiana 1928 to 1931

Before the wired diffusion system was abandoned in August, 1928,

the basis for an alternative short wave wireless operation had already been laid. During 1927, the Wireless Department’s long wave equipment was replaced by short wave transmitters because the latter provided a more dependable service. 196 Then, in early 1928, the Wireless Depart­ ment added an Admiralty Valve transmitter that was capable of voice 197 transmission. After some modifications to the Admiralty Valve

transmitter, an experimental wireless relay station, VRY, was started

in June, 1928, and it duplicated programs that were relayed over the wired system throughout July and August. 198

One other important element for a successful wireless service was the growing popularity of wireless receivers. Early in 1928, two major stores in Georgetown opened radio departments and started adver­

tising short wave wireless receivers. Booker Brothers McConnell Ltd.

advertised a short wave receiver for BG$60.00 saying:

l ^ The Daily Chronicle, June 1, 1927, p. 7.

196 Administrative Reports: 1933, p . 412.

197uritish Guiana Post Office Department, "Post Office Ledger" unpublished monthly handwritten summary of noteworthy events.

198”LOCai Broadcast Experiments," The Daily Argosy, June 27, 1928, p. 4. 64 E ntertain y o u rself and friends and be educated at the same time. Listen to the latest world's news, the best music, educational talks, etc. . ., Radio has proved a success in this Colony; why not install a set. We can supply you with sets, or, if you prefer to build your own for yourself, with all parts.

Evan Wong and Sons, also opened a radio department in July, 1928, which was under the direction of a J. T. Tasker, A.M.I.R.E.(Associate

Member of the Institute of Radio Engineers).

Nearly all the elements for a successful radio broadcasting

operation were present. There was a demand for entertainment as was demonstrated by the financial earnings of the wired diffusion sys­

tem. Short wave radio receivers were also gaining in popularity and

the Post Office had the necessary equipment available to provide a wireless service. There were potential weaknesses, though, in the

legal and financial structure that supported radio broadcasting.

When the wired diffusion system was discontinued in August,

1928, the wireless broadcast experiments continued on a sporadic basis.

The Post Office Department closed the wireless operation for two months.

from November through December, 1930, because the Wireless Department 201 budget was depleted. The broadcast service reopened January 1, 1931,

under the Wireless Department's new fiscal budget but permanently clos­

ed March 31, 1931, bringing to an end the Government's monopoly in

l ^ The Daily Argosy, July 1, 1928, p. 8.

200The Daily Argosy, July 11, 1928, p. 5.

201gritish Guiana, Administrative Reports ; 1930(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1931), p. 280. 65 broadcasting.^^

After the wireless broadcast service was temporarily sus­ pended because of fin a n cial problems in November, 1930, the Gov­ ernor appointed a Committee to "consider the use and development of local broadcasting." The members of the Committee were the Post­ master General, F. Birkett (Chairman), The Colonial Treasurer, T.

Millard, Lieutenant-Commander J. Rushbrooke, R.N., N. Cannon, Dr.

C. J. Gomes and J . R. McKenzie the Chief Engineer of the Post

Office D epartm ent.The Committee took testimony regarding the b broadcast operation and submitted a report to the Governor in the middle of March, 1931. The report called for the retention of the broadcast station even though the Government had apparent­ ly already decided to halt operations. The Committee felt the possibilities of advertising the Colony on the air should over- n/\ i ride the negative financial aspects of the operation. The sug­ gestions made in the report were not accepted, however, and the ?o s government broadcast service was permanently suspended. J

Legal. A Government monopoly in w ireless telegraphy, which included broadcasting, was assumed from the beginning. The

’’^B ritish Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1933(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1934), p. 5.

^^Broadcasting Committee,"The Daily Chronicle, November 30, 1930, p. 4. .. ------

204iiQeorgetowI1 Broadcasting Station VRY may not be Closed," The New Daily Chronicle, March 27, 1931, p. 1.

^-*Supra, p. 60. Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894, was sufficiently broad enough to allow the Post Office Department wide latitude regarding wire­ less w ithout the necessity for passing new laws or amendments to the original act, until 1939.28^ The original ordinance defined a tele­ gram as "any message or other communication" transmitted by tele- phone, telegraph or "any other similar instrument." 9fi 7 This broad d e fin itio n allowed Post O ffice and Government o ffic ia ls to assume that wireless, lilce wire communications, would fall under Govern­ ment monopoly and control w ithout the n ecessity of a new Ordinance.

In 1927, however, the Post Office, for internal administration, placed a ll Government w ireless sta tio n s under the d ire c tio n of the

Wireless Department with the adoption of Wireless Station Regula­ tions , 1927.208

There were no rules, ordinances or regulations, however, taking into account the growing interest and involvement of pri­ vate individuals in amateur wireless telegraphy transmitting and receiving. Another area needing legal definition and control was the ownership and licensing of w ireless receiv ers. There was no legal authority for the Post Office Department to set receiver fees or collect money even though the Department engaged in that activity from 1927 through 1932.209

298Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894.

207Ibid.,p.

20tireless Station Regulations, 1927.

2093ritish Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1929(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1930), p. 10 and British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1932, p. 11. 67 Ordinance number twenty-nine of 1932, amended the Post and '* V- ' V ' ’ *• Telegraph Act making provisions for the granting of wireless re­ ceiver licenses by the Postmaster General.

61A.—(1). No person shall instal or work any wireless broadcast receiving set in any place or on board any British ship registered in the Colony, ex­ cept under and in accordance with a licence granted in that behalf by the Postmaster-General.2^

The Ordinance provided for a penalty "not to exceed twenty-five 211 dollars" fine upon conviction for violating the law. Along with the Ordinance, the Post Office Department revised the pay­ ment scheduled for a wireless receiver downward from BG$3.00 to 212 BG$1.00 per year.

Technical. VRY, the Wireless Department's telegraphy sta­ tion consisted of three short wave transmitters in 1928. Two of the transmitters, a 30 kw Marconi Spark operating in the 600 to

1,800 meter band and a 25 kw Admiralty Arc operating between

2,400 to 6,000 meters, were not capable of voice transmission.

The acquisition of a 5 lew Admiralty Valve transmitter in 1928 gave the Wireless Department voice transmission capabilities for internal and external telegraphy. The Admiralty Valve transmit- 213 ter functioned in the 600 to 3,000 meter band.

^■^British Guiana, Laws, Statutes, etc., Post and Tele- graph Ordinance, 1932, Ch. 185, The Laws of British Guiana: 1935, 56(pt.l, sec. 61A—(1). -

211Ibid.(pt. 1, sec. 61A—(2).

Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1932, p. 11.

2-*-2British Guiana, Blue Book (Georgetown: The Argosy Com- Ltd., 1929), sec. 33. The same two men who started the wired diffusion service,

W. R. Brasher and A. E. Gagan, were also responsible for the impe­ tus to experimently broadcast utilizing the Admiralty Valve Trans­ m itter.'^ The first tests were carried out June 28, 1928, on a wave length of 47 meters. The response to the first broadcast test from sources in British Guiana and as far away as Trinidad were favorable.215 if the first series of tests proved successful, it was proposed to establish a transmitter on a regular program basis increasing the power approximately five times the test output.

The purpose of the first series of low powered short wave tests, during 1928 and the f i r s t four months of 1929, was to find the best combination of equipment producing the best possible signal. Hie

Wireless Department, unable to afford to send officers into the field, requested wireless receiver owners to co-operate in the tests by listening-in and reporting on reception.

A more regular broadcast test schedule was started over VRY during Nay, 1929, and the test frequency of 47 meters was changed to a permanent frequency of 43.86 meters(6840kHz). The heavier broadcast schedule and an increasing number of remote lo c -

01 / Broadcasting Services in the Colonies, p. 14.

215"short Wave Broadcasts Experiments, "The Daily Argosy, June 30, 1928, p. 5.

216ib id .

217 "Local Broadcasts Tests," The Daily Argosy, July 7, 1928, p. 5.

^-^Broadcasting Series in the Colony, p. 14. 69 al broadcasts put a heavy strain on the resources of the Wireless

Department. Increased demands on manpower and a lack of proper studio led to discussions about closing down the service if alter- native arrangements could not be made. 219 The broadcast service was not closed then, however, and it continued operations until March,

1931.

Financial. With the demise of the wired diffusion system in

August, 1928, the Post Office Department lost the ability to collect fees for the reception of broadcast programs. The wired relay ser­ vice was instituted with certain safeguards that prevented listening without payment for the service. Post Office equipment had to be utilized to receive programs over the wired diffusion system; a ser­ vice record was kept and charges added to the subscribers telephone b i l l . 220

The wireless broadcast service over VRY, however, could not be controlled and anyone possessing a crystal or vacuum tube receiver could listen to the broadcasts without charge. The only methods of financing wireless broadcasting open to the Post Office Department were Government subsidy, a form of commercialization or receiver li­ cense fees.

2^B ritish Guiana, Administrative Reports: 1929(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1930), p. 293.

220Supra, p. 52. 70 The Post Office Department had attempted to collect a 221 BG$3.00 wireless license fee as early as 1927 without much success.

There was no administrative system set up to help the Post Office De­ partment determine who had a wireless receiver unless individuals voluntarily registered their receivers. The other inhibiting factor against wireless receiver fees was that there was no legal basis for the Post Office to collect license fees or impose penalties for 222 non-payment. In 1930, legislation to correct the situation was considered but the broadcast service closed before the Ordinance was 222 approved. J

Prior to 1930, Post Office records indicate the collection of the BG$3.00 wireless receiver fee but the records are not detailed enough to indicate the number of sets registered or the amount of 224 fees collected. After 1930, wireless receiver fees were reported separately by the Postmaster General in his yearly report. Only

BG$114.00 was collected from the payment of th irty -e ig h t w ireless receiv ­ er registrations in 1930, although it was estimated that more than 250 225 receivers were in use in the Colony.

221 Supra, p. 63

222jb id .

22^British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1930(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1931), p. 6. 224 See for example Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1928.

^~*Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1930, p. 6. 71 During 1931, only forty-three receivers were registered with the Post

Office Department bringing in fees totalling BG$129.00.^^

The technical cost of the experimental wireless broadcast operation was totally borne by Post Office subsidies. The broadcast tests started in raid 1928 and, therefore, were not an itern in the ap­ proved budget for that year. The cost of the broadcast experiments fo r the seven months of 1928 were supported by s h iftin g excess funds to the project from other areas.^^The most expensive year of the broad­ cast operation for the Post Office was 1929 when a subsidy of BG940.00 was required to build and maintain equipment. The only full year of service was 1929, and during that year operations were expanded in both hours of air time and programming.

The world-wide depression reached British Guiana in 1930 and affected broadcasting. The market price for sugar was depressed and th is reduced Government revenue for 1930 forcing a l l Departments to operate below their projected budget. The Post Office grant to the broadcast service was only BG$670.00 and th is amount could not sup­ port a full year of operation. The service was, therefore, closed throughout November and December, 1930. 229 '

226j}ritish Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1931(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1932), p. 5.

^ ^ Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1928.

228Rep0rt: 0f the Postmaster General fo r the Year 1929, p. 9.

229Rep0rt of the Postmaster General for the Year 1930, pp. 6 & 27. 72 The Postmaster General, P. Birkett, desirous of keeping the broad­ cast operation going "asked for suggestions for the maintenance of the service under private enterprise."^^ Apparently the Postmaster

General was w illin g to allow the Government monopoly to be broken i f it would result in the continuation of radio broadcasting in British

Guiana.

The broadcast service reopened January 1, 1931, under a new Post

Office budget but no money was specifically allocated for the service because of its uncertain future. Expenses of BG$377.00 were incurred during three months of operation from January 1 to March 31, 1931, when the broadcast operation was halted. 231

As long as the wireless broadcast service relayed foreign programs there was no program expense and Government subsidies were sufficient to keep the experimental service operating on a limited scale. The service expanded hours of operation in May, 1929, however, 232 and there was a heavy emphasis placed on local programming. To meet the increased program demands, a system of sponsorship without commer­ cials developed, similar to early broadcasting in the United States.

Local merchants financed program segments and hotel managers encourag­ ed remote broadcasts from their ballrooms as long as sponsorship was 233 publicly acknowledged.

^^"S ugar Slump H its Radio," The Hex? York Times, December 16, 1930, p. 12. 231 Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1931, p. 25.

^ ^ Supra, p. 64.

23%ee for example radio program schedules in The Daily Argosy between May, 1929 and March, 1931. 73 Programming. Although VRY duplicated much of the programming

carried by the wired diffusion system during June, July and August,

1928, local program material became an important element of the new service. The first official test of the experimental transmitter

consisted of an address by the Governor inaugurating the tests, dance music by Eve Leary's o rc h e stra, a speech by Lady Rodxjell (wife of

James Rodwell, former British Guiana Governor) and two selections by rt ft / the local armed forces buglers and drummers.

When the wired diffusion system was abandoned in August, 1928,

the wireless broadcast service over VRY continued to extensively carry 235 foreign programs in their weekly two hour broadcast. This heavy

reliance on foreign program sources continued up to May, 1929, when

the operations of VRY expanded to two nights a week creating a need 2 36 for all types of local program material. The absence of adequate

studio facilities led to the majority of programs coming from remote

sources.

A typical two hour weeknight broadcast originated from the ballroom of a Georgetown hotel and consisted primarily of musical 237 selections. A randomly selected program schedule of VRY, broadcast

^ ^ The Daily Argosy, June 30, 1928, p. 5.

^ ^ Iiandbook on Broadcasting Services in the C olonies, p. 14.

^ ^ Supra, p. 64.

OO7 See for example program scheduled in The Daily Chronicle between May, 1929 and March, 1931. 74

from the Tower Hotel consisted of thirty-one musical numbers. From

the schedule it was determined that fifteen selections were classical,

thirteen were popular or dance numbers and three not named. The

entertainment varied from instrumental or vocal solos to numbers

played by the hotel orchestra. The broadcast was divided in five

entertainment segments and the cost of each segment was borne by

local companies or business men: Golden Gate(store), Co-operative

Motor Sales, A. L. Perez(merchant), R. G. Humphrey(merchant and h o te l owner), Messrs. Bookers Drug Store and Polar B ear(soft drink

f t a , ) . 238

Sunday n ig h t’s three hour program schedule sta rte d at 7:00 P.M. with a one hour remote broadcast of one of the local church services.

The program schedules indicate that an attempt was made to alternate between Saint Andrew Scots Church and Smith’s Memorial Church, both

of which had large European congregations. Immediately following the

church service there was a fifteen to thirty minute interlude of

gramophone music apparently to give wireless officers time to move the

remote equipment to one of the hotels for the rest of the evening's 239 entertainment.

There was no lo c a l news broadcast over VRY which kept the

radio station and newspapers from engaging in competition. The

238"'j’0- n ig h t 's B road cast," The Hew Daily Chronicle, December 21, 1930, p. 5. 939 See for example, program schedules in The Daily Argosy, January 4, 1931, p. 7. 75 broadcast service was relegated to entertainment and occasional talks

A/A by local government or business leaders. The newspapers retained

their role as the principal news sources in British Guiana unchallenged by broadcasting.

^^See for example the program schedule in The Daily Argosy, January 4, 1931, p. 7. Chapter III

THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING

IN BRITISH GUIANA (Guyana)

Local Commercial Ownership 1935 to 1949

The demise of the state operated broadcasting monopoly in

British Guiana in 1931 forced radio receiver owners to rely on foreign broadcast stations for program material until early 1935. During this period of time, broadcasting remained a Government monopoly by default.

No individual or company was willing, or able, to try to obtain per­ mission to resume broadcasting in British Guiana. Newspapers and Gov­ ernment Post Office records indicate no attempt was made to initiate 2 A1 wire or wireless broadcasting.

The only activity related to broadcasting during this period was the completion of the 1932 ordinance requiring registration of radio receivers and the payment of a BG $1.00 fee. Apparently even the fact that a steady revenue source was available did not provide the impetus for the Post Office to revive broadcasting over VRY.

In late 1934, two experimental short wave transmitters were constructed by two groups of men, wbrking independently and unknown to each other. The transmitters were put on the air within a week of each other in January, 1935, and both stations received special

241 See for example issues of the Daily Chronicle for this period and Post Office Annual Reports for the period 1931 through 1935.

76 77 licenses to operate commercial enterprises. 242

Crystals Broadcasting Company

The creators of VP3BG, the pioneer amateur station, started voice testing a ten watt short wave transmitter on a Sunday afternoon,

January 13, 1935, and caused a minor sensation in British Guiana. The first test transmission was done without call letters in the twenty meter band and contact was made with other amateur stations broadcast­ ing in Barbados and Trinidad. The following day, January 14, 1935, the station was again picked up at good volume in British Guiana, Trinidad and Barbados during an hour test period that started at approximately

4:30 P.M.242 xhe effect of the amateur broadcasts in British Guiana was rather dramatic. Newspapers referred to the station as the

"phantom" and there was much speculation as to the identity of the amateur broadcasters. One newspaper reporter went along with the mystery, writing "up to now the identity of the phantom has been a closely-guarded secret known only to a few other persons beside myself."244

The "Phantom's" were two Afro-Guianese technicians, James

Leonard Rowe and John Louis Kerr, who had collaborated in various

A / J* radio experiments since 1933. The two men were brought together

242gritish Guiana, Report of the Broadcasting Committee (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1939), p.5.

243"phantom S tation o n ' the Air," The Daily Argosy, January 15, 1935, p. 5.

244Ib id .

242The Sunday Argosy, May 8, 1960, p. 13. by their interest in radio and Rowe, because of his greater technical knowledge, assumed leadership in the experiments. Kerr, a local busi­ nessman, had acquired photography training and was owner of the

Crystals Photo Studio on Wellington Street in Georgetown.^46 Rowe, a former sugar plantation worker, started experimenting with wireless receivers in 1929 in conjunction with an electrical correspondence course taken from the Chicago Engineering Works, Chicago, Illinois.

Rowe had worked as a mechanic for the local transit company and on completion of the engineering course was employed as an e le c tric ia n by the Government Department of Sewers and Works. While employed by the Government, Rowe started his radio receiver experiments with

K e rr.246

The wireless receiver experiments were limited to hours of dark ness because of reception difficulties; from this problem Rowe decided to build his own transmitter based on a description found in a radio magazine. The construction of the transmitter and preliminary tests were carried out in a house at 30 Lyng Street in Georgetown.242 In

February, 1935, before voice experimentation started, Rowe found out that he had violated the Post and Telegraph Ordinance by not obtaining a Post Office license. Charles Kellman, the businessman who had appraised Rowe of his legal difficulties, also had other ideas

After Mr. Kellman saw this outfit he say, he told me, "say look, we can put this in a business.' I told him, 'all right, go ahead.' And he went to the Postmaster General and Mr. Birkett gave him

246The Daily Chronicle, February 2, 1935, p.5. 242Personal interview with James Leonard Rowe in Georgetown, Guyana, on December 16, 1972. 79 permission word of mouth to go on the a ir . . . and he sent a gentleman by the name of Mr. McKenzie and . . . he come on a Thursday Afternoon to see what was this little outfit we had . , . well, Mr. McKenzie listen ed to us carefu lly and eventually told us, ’well, all right, get it crystal controlled and you can go ahead and broadcast.’

McKenzie gave Rowe, Kerr and Kellman oral permission to broadcast on Thursday, January 10, 1935 and the following Sunday the first voice transmissions were carried out. The three men formed a business part­ nership to carry out the business of broadcasting under the name

"C rystals Broadcasting Company."249 The Company assets consisted of a ten watt short wave transmitter and a temporary amateur license assign­ ing the twenty meter band at 14,270Kc/s and the call letters VP3BG.250

Test transmissions on an irregular schedule were carried out over

VP3BG throughout January and on February 2, 1935 a regular schedule of broadcasts was started.251 The station was officially opened three days later on the eve of the M.C.C. cricket matches by Acting Governor, Sir

Crawford Douglas-Jones who made a short speech over the a i r . 252

I wish all success to the amateur station VP3BG and congratulate Mr. LaMotte (sic) Kerr and those associated with him and the enterprise they have

2 4 8 j b i d .

'^C harles Kellman, Typewritten memorandum, December, 1936.

25C>The Daily Chronicle, February 5, 1935, p. 5.

25lThe Daily Chronicle, February 2, 1935, p. 5. oco M.C.C. is the abbreviation for Marylebone C ricket Club estab­ lished in 1788 in Great B rita in , but the i n i t i a l s have become synon- omous with the international rules used in cricket matches. Encyclo­ pedia Britannica, V. 6. (Encyclopedia Britannica: Chicago, 1969), p. 787. 80

shown in establishing this station.253

The cricket matches were broadcast without commercials because there was a lack of businessmen willing to try radio advertising. The f i r s t commercial broadcast was done a f te r the M.C.C. matches from the home of A. A. Pestano, a dealer in Narvo Paints. The transmitter was taken to Pestano1s home and the broadcast was done from his living

r o o m . 254 Kellman, who acted as the announcer and salesman, did not charge Pestano for the broadcast as "it was done for free, you know, so as we was then trying to get things established."255

A new transmitter was needed in 1936 to improve quality and outside funds had to be obtained. Johnny A. Adamson, a local entre­ preneur and manager of Booker Brothers Drug S tores, provided BG$300.00 for improvements and reportedly took shares in the company eventually becoming Chairman of the Board of Crystal Broadcasting Company.256

Rowe affirmed Adamson’s account of purchasing shares in the Company and subsequent rise to Board Chairman.257 Records, however, indicate that the shares supposedly in Johnny Adamson’s name were in fact listed 258 to an A. E. Wright. The transmitter was eventually put on the air

253"Qovernor Opens Amateur Station VP3BG", The Daily Chronicle, February 5, 1935, p. 5.

254James Leonard Rowe, Interview.

255gunflay Argosy, May 8, 1960, p. 13.

256j 0hnny a. Adamson, personal interview at the Hotel Tower In Georgetown, Guyana, on December 28, 1972.

257james Leonard Rowe-, Interview.

258ciiari es Kellman, Typewritten memorandum, December, 1936. 81 at the Philharmonic building on June 2, 1936, by Georgetown Mayor,

peg Joseph Gonsavles.

On September 14, 1937, the Crystal Broadcasting Company under­ went further changes, as J. L. Kerr decided to liquidate his quarter share in the firm. A prior agreement among shareholders stipulated that when a shareholder wanted to sell he must first offer his hold­ ings to those already in the Company.2^0 Kellman and Rowe were unable to get the money required for the purchase of the quarter share and

Oscar S. Wight, of the Argosy Company Ltd., bought the share for

BG$300.00.261

British Guiana Broadcasting Company

The second amateur station licensed in British Guiana was VP3MR, the Modern Radio Company, which was b u ilt by A. E. Gagan, Telecommuni­ cation Department Engineer, and two amateurs, Gerald de Freitas and

E. G. Fenty,2^2 VP3MR first went on the air on Sunday, January 20,

1935, and a fte r te stin g several wave lengths s e ttle d down on a fre ­ quency in the thirty-five meter band.2^ Test broadcasts were carried out through January and the station started regular broadcasts on 264 41.4 m eter, or 7,080 Kc/s, during the M.C.C. c rick et matches.

2^^Sunday Argosy, May 8, 1960, p. 13.

2^0James Leonard Rowe, Interview.

2^^Charles Kellman, Memorandum of sale, September 14, 1937.

262British Guiana, Report of the Broadcast Committee.

2^2The Daily Chronicle, January 22, 1935, p. 5.

264ihe Daily Chronicle, February 6, 1935, p. 4. 82 Unlike VP3BG, the owners of VP3MR did not immediately see the commer­ cial possibilities of radio and the station went off the air following the M.C.C. matches. VP3BG reopened as a commercial venture on March

31, 1935, in a building in downtown Georgetown called Luckies Chambers.

When the station reopened in March, VP3MR was registered under a new name, The British Guiana Broadcasting Company, with E. G. Fenty as p ro p rieto r; Gerald de F reitas as announcer, and A. E. Gagan as tech- m• cxan. • 265

Shortly after the station resumed broadcasting in March, 1935,

Oscar Wight, manager of the Argosy Company and unofficial advisor to

VP3MR, approached Johnny Adamson about starting a program. Wight convinced Adamson to do a C hildren’s Show three days a week w ithout pay in return for free advertising time in the program.

We did very well, but we were limited by the fact that the transmitter was always giving trouble, etc., and they wanted new equipment, so I finanaced the equipment . . . and took shares. And they paid back for the equipment by the advertising they were doing.

By the time Kellman, from Crystal Broadcasting Company, approach­ ed Adamson in 1936 about financing a new tra n sm itter for VP3BG, Adamson was Chairman of the Board of the British Guiana Broadcasting Company.

Under almost identical circumstances, Adamson became a shareholder in both broadcast companies and during 1936 assumed the role of Board

Chairman for both VP3BG and VP3MR.

^^The Daily Chronicle, June 1, 1938, p. 8.

Johnny Adamson, Ihterview.

267Ib id . 83

From 1935 through 1938, both VP3BG and VP3MR operated under

"special license" renewed annually by the Postmaster General.“ On

February 8, 1938, the Governor signed into law The Wireless Telegraphy

Regulafclons, 1938, that made detailed provisions for licensing and

establishing wireless telegraphy stations, which included wireless 970 transmitters as well as wireless receivers." Licensing transmitters and receivers after 1938, then, came under regulations outlined by

this legislation.

Shortly after the new wireless regulations became law, the

Government informed Johnny Adamson, as Board Chairman of VP3BG and

VP3MR, that only one license would be granted after 1938. In effect,

the Government action was e ith e r designed to force one s ta tio n out of

operation or bring about an amalgamation. The action reducing the number of broadcast licenses to one was taken on the recommendation

of the Colonial Broadcasting Committee, which had been investigating

Colonial broadcasting since appointment by Great Britain's Colonial

Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1936. 271 A subcommittee of the

Colonial Broadcasting Committee recommended "complete Government opera­

tion of broadcasting in British Guiana . . . failing this, . . . then

269Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1935 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1936), p. 28. Also refer to Reports for the years 1936 through 1938.

270sritish Guiana, Laws, Statutes, etc., The Wireless Telegraphy Regulations, 1938, Ch. 132, The Laws of British Guiana: 1953, 1392-1409.

^•4}ritish Guiana, Report of the Broadcasting Committee. The Colonial Broadcast Committee referred .to here is also known as the Plymouth Committee which reported their recommendation regarding Colonial broadcasting in Colonial No. 139. The subcommittee was created to deal with special problems such as those in British Guiana. 84 the existing companies should be amalgamated and operate one service on 070 what might be termed public utility lines." Other recommendations were that the Company should receive a share o£ the license fees in re tu rn "fo r an adequate measure of Government control of programme policy."273

In early 1938, following Committee recommendations, Adamson trie d to merge VP3BG and VP3MR but was unsuccessful.

Unfortunately Kellman and de Freitas had some row. I can't remember, something de Freitas said over the air about his [Kellman's] station that inferred meant him . . . I couldn't get the two stations to come together to form one unit . . . I finally decided to liquidate both stations, form one company and who ever wanted to take shares in it could do so.274

British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd.

A new p riv ate company, the B ritish Guiana United Broadcasting

Company L td ., was formed May 18, 1935 and re g iste re d in the Georgetown

City Hall Deed's Registry Division. 715 The objectives for which the

Company was established were:

1. To acquire, take over and amalgamate the broadcasting station V.P.3 M.R. and V.P.3 B.G. at present carried on in British Guiana by the British Guiana Broadcasting Company Limited and the Crystals Broadcasting Company respectively and all the assets thereof and with a view thereto to enter into such agreements as may be necessary for the purpose.

272Ibid. 273Ib id .

2^Johnny Adamson, Interview .

2^3"New Broadcasting Company to take over VP3BG and VP3MR," The Daily Chronicle, May 19, 1938, p. 1. 85

2. To carry on, manage and conduct the business or businesses of broadcasting, wireless telegraphy and television and to establish, maintain and operate one or more broadcasting wireless telegraph and television stations in British Guiana.276

The Memorandum of Association was a standard business agreement giving the Board of D irectors and o ffic e rs of the firm power to carry on the business of broadcasting and associated ventures. The Memorandum fur­ ther empowered the officers to "lease, purchase, hold, sell, exchange, dispose of . . . or otherwise acquire, or otherwise deal with nate and innate movable and immovable property of every d e sc rip tio n .1,277

Only twelve stockholders, either corporate or individual, inves­ ted in the new Company at BG$1.00 a share. Appendix I contains a list of shareholders in the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company limited as of 1938. There was a total of 10,750 shares sold and 7,980 of those shares were purchased by Booker Brothers McConnell Limited

(sugar, manufacturing merchant) , William F.ogarty Limited (Department

Store), Wieting and Richter (soft drink manufacturing), the Argosy

Company (p rin tin g and newspapers) and the Guiana Match Factory. Frank

A. Mackey and Aloysius O'Dowd, two individual shareholders, bought ten shares a piece but their major task was representing two of the above 278 corporations on the Board of Directors.

In the Memorandum of A ssociation, the number of Company d ire c-

276Memorandum of Association of the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd., Article 3. sec. 1 & 2, File 344, Deeds R egistry, Georgetown, Guyana.

277Ibid, p. 2 (Art. 3., sec. 6 & 7).

278»statement of Ownership," Deeds Registry, File 344, George­ town, Guyana. 86

tors was limited to not less than two or more than five. 279 The first

Board of D irectors consisted of Frank A. Mackey, representing Booker

Brothers McConnell & Company Ltd.; Aloysius C. O'Dowd, of William

Fogarty Ltd.; Frederick H. Martin-Sperry, from Wieting & Richter Ltd.; and Oscar S. Wight, manager of the Argosy Company Ltd.288

Noticeable by their absence as members of the board of directors or as stockholders were A. E. Gagan, E. G. Fenty and Gerald de Freitas of VP3MR and A. E. Wright of VP3BG. Johnny Adamson's name does not appear as owner or partner on any of the early agreements or trans­ actions of the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Limited.

To make sure that control of the new organization stayed in the hands of the original shareholders, article twelve of the Memorandum of

Association stated:

. . . no share shall be transferred by any member or person to any person who is not a member, so long as any member, or fa ilin g any member or person (whether a member or not) selected by the director, is willing to purchase the same at fair value.

Controlling interest in the broadcasting Company, then, would remain with the original shareholders or to those individuals selected by the Company's d ire c to rs.

Before the new Company took over VP3BG andVP3MR onJune 1, 1938,

Charles Kellman was appointed the manager and James L.Rowe was employed as the en g in eer.282 The absorbtion was accomplished on June 1, and on

279jbid., Art. 21., p. 5.

280Ibid., Art. 22., p. 5.

28-*-Ibid., Art. 12., p. 3. 282yhe Daily Chronicle, June 1, 1938, p. 1, 87 June 11, 1938, the British Guiana Broadcasting Company (VP3MR) went o qo into voluntary liquidation with Johnny Adamson as the liquidator.

The Crystals Broadcasting Company was never publicly liquidated, as apparently the company assets and liabilities were absorbed and carried on under the new company. The c a ll le t t e r s VP3BG were re tain ed , a l- though, the frequency of the service was changed to 6,130 Kc/s. 284

In a move that would have long terra effects on British Guiana broadcasting, the Governor of British Guiana appointed an eight member committee on October 20, 1938, "to consider what measures of control should be exercised over broadcasting in the Colony and the general policy to be adopted in connection with broadcasting."285 ijhe metnbers of the Committee were: Chairman George C. Green, Principal Assistant

Colonial Secretary; the Rt. Reverend Alan Guiana, the Lord Bishop of Guiana; L. G. Crease, Director of Education; J. 0. Reilly, Post­ master General; A. E. Gagan, Acting Engineer-in-Chief of the Post Office

Department; Oscar S. Wight, representing British Guiana United Broad­ casting Company Ltd.; L. Evelyn-Moe, editor of The Daily Argosy newspaper; H. R. Harewood, editor of The Daily Chronicle newspaper and E. S. S. Burrowes of the Colonial Secretariat was appointed secretary to the Committee. 288

The eight member Committee said in their report they were guided

283"The British Guiana Broadcasting Company L td ., in Voluntary Liquidation," The Daily Chronicle, June 4, 1938, p. 1.

'^B ritish Guiana, Report of the Broadcasting Committee, p. 5.

285Ib id .

286Ib id ., p. 3. 88 in. principal by the philosophy of the Colonial Broadcasting Committee, which stated:

14, We envisage the development of Colonial Broadcasting— and its justification—not only as an instrument of enter­ tainment for Europeans and others of similar education and means, who can for the most part listen indirect to Daventry and other stations on short-wave receiving sets, but also as an instrument of advanced administration, an instrument, not only and perhaps not even primarily for the entertainment but rather for the enlightenment and education of the more backward sections of the population and for their instruction in public health, agriculture, etc. . . . and we feel that the potentialities of this instrument of administration are so great th at a t le a s t some expenditure is demanded of Colonial Governments by way of experiment and investi­ gation. 287

The full report of the Broadcasting Committee was presented to the Executive Council of British Guiana on January 19, 1939.^^ While the report was under consideration, VP3BG's temporary license was extended pending the issuance of a comprehensive five uear license non based cn the recommendations of the broadcast Committee.

The broadcast Committee, heavily influenced by Great Britain's

Plymouth Committee report, recommended retention of British Guiana

United Broadcasting Company Ltd., as the sole operator of broadcast service in British Guiana on "public utility lines," To implement the public utility concept, the Committee made suggestions regarding programming, staff training, expansion of service, Government inter-

287 Great Britain, Colonial Office, Report of the Colonial Broadcast Committee (Colonial No. 139) sec. 14. (London: His Majes­ ty's Stationery Office, 1937), pp. 5-6. 288 British Guiana, Report of the Broadcasting Committee.

289British Guiana, Executive Council, Minutes of the Executive Council, meeting of February 24, 1939, Item 126 (typewritten). 89 vention, financial and technical matters,299

Programming suggestions, in the nature of sp e c ific recommenda­ tions and general policy concepts, took up the majority of the report and was the area of the most proposed Government intervention. The first advisement was that a program committee, consisting of the

Directors of the Company and other qualified Government officers, should review the program concepts of VP3BG on a regular basis. The view of the committee was:

35. It is essential that there should be an adequate measure of Government control over the programme policy of the service, and we are of the opinion that this can best be achieved by requiring that all programmes be submitted in draft in advance to some senior officer of Government, who would have rig h t of vetoing any programme or part thereof.29^

The rig h t of Government p rio r censorship apparently was meant to extend to all programs regardless of format or topic. In connection with the committee’s desire to ensure Government control of programming, the Company offered the Government the right to appoint a Government 292 nominee to the firm ’s board of d ire c to rs. Committee members also reiterated the Government’s right to preempt regular service for special purposes even though this matter is clearly covered in the 293 emergency powers article of The Post and Telegraph Act, 1894.

An organized information program carried out by various Govern-

290j3ritish Guiana, Report of the Broadcasting Committee, pp. 7-15.

291I b id ., p. 11.

292Ib id .

298Supra, p. 47. 90 merit; Department :n was proposed in an effort to live up to the goals of the Plymouth Committee. The report specifically recommended the Tourist

Bureau and the Departments of Agriculture, Medical Services, Education and Lands and Mines u tiliz e radio as a method of dissem inating inform­ a tio n .294

Throughout the report, the goal of building strong ties to the

BBC is constantly mentioned and two suggestions were made.

11. It is essential that there should be general co­ ordination with the B.B.C. . . . In our opinion, the conclusion of arrangements for receiving and re-broadcast­ ing B.B.C programming, and the training of local staff at the B.B.C. headnparters are matters which require first consideration.

Aside from specific recommendation about re-broadcasting BBC programs, the Committee made few program recommendations except in the areas of news, religion and politics.

Radio news, the Committee members noted, was unsatisfactory due. to the unwillingness of nev/s papers to release current news stories to a potential competitor. While the Committee, which contained three newspaper men, refused to make specific suggestions on how to improve relatione with the newspapers, it was Indicated that radio news should 2Q c, be encouraged and the Government should try to a s s is t in some manner.

The Committee members dealt with political broadcasting in one terse sentence.

294grj tifjh Guiana, Report of the Broadcasting Committee, p. 10.

295-jMd. . p. 7.

296ii)id . , p. 12. 91

45. The broadcasting of matters which involve political controversy has never been allowed in this_Colony, and we consider this prohibition a wise o n e . ^ 7

The meaning of article 45 is open to debate as the definition of political controversy can have various meanings. In later years the t issue was resolved to mean denying air time to the party out of 298 power.

Religious broadcasting, the Committee felt, was a benefit to the community and should be continued. Fear of possible "re lig io u s contro­ versy" was expressed and i t was recommended th at a l l re lig io u s talk s

"be submitted in manuscript to the Programme Committee, and approved before being broadcast."299

All "talks" and announcements should only be given in English, according to the rep o rt, and only a fte r p rio r approval of the Programme

Committee. If for any reason a program was to be given in a foreign language, a certified translation should be submitted prior to the broadcast. Any serious deviation from the prepared script would result in the "talk" being cut off the air.^00

Recommendations for the expansion of broadcasting in British

Guiana included having the Company provide tw enty-five community liste n in g receiv ers w ith loudspeakers. The community receivers would

297 ib id .

298Rafiq Kahn, General Manager RMdio Demerara, Personal In te r­ view in Georgetown, Guyana, on December 21, 1972.

2 9 9 ib id .

3°°Ib id., p. 11. 92 be placed in specified villages and the cost would be borne by the Com­ pany i f the Government gave fin a n cia l aid outlined in the rep o rt. Dur­ ing the l i f e of the Company's licen se , the number of communal sets would be increased to fifty. Hooking up communities outside the signal area by wired diffusion and having a private concern build inexpensive one frequency receivers were other methods suggested to increase listener- ship. Wire distribution was also recommended for connecting eighteen primary schools in Georgetown and five schools in New Amsterdam a t a cost of BG $2,750.00 to be borne jointly by the Company and the Govern­ ment. 30 X

The Committee report also called for taking advantage of the BBC o ffer to tra in two technical and two program s ta f f . I t was recommended th a t one Company and one Government nominee be trained in each category.

The primary emphasis for training, as stated by the Committee, should be in the program areas because Post Office technical staff would be avail­ able to help the broadcasting Company.3*-*3

The need for advertisements was recognized rather grudgingly by the Committee members, as commercials provided the Company's entire revenue to that point. It was noted that advertising alone did not provide the finances necessary for needed program and technical improve­ ments. A recommendation was made, however, that commercials be limited to twenty percent of program time and advertisements also be restricted to British goods and services-. An exception was suggested, though, to

301Ibid., p. 9

302Ib id . , p. 8 93 allow advertising United States goods and services recognizing prefer­

ential trade agreements between Great Britain, British Guiana and the

United S ta te s .3^3

Recognizing a need for program and technical expansion, the

Committee suggested that the Company should receive seventy-five percent

of the wireless receiver fees collected annually in consideration for

carrying out recommended improvements and allowing a measure of Govern­ ment control. To help the Company initiate certain immediate changes,

a Government grant of BG $3,000.00 was advised. To further increase

revenue and help pay for improvements, the Committee suggested a

license fee increase from BG $1.00 to BG $2.40. The failure of the

Post Office to efficiently collect wireless receiver fees and identify

non-paying individuals was mentioned in the report and a study to maximize collections was proposed.

Another possible financial source, referred to in the report, was the BBC which loaned or granted money for the purchase of equip­

ment designed to relay BBC programmes. The Committee suggested the

Government should support the British Guiana United Broadcasting

Company in any effort to acquire a BBC loan or grant for relay

apparatus.

On technical matters, the members of the Committee made few

specific recommendations except regarding the location and condition

of transmitter and studios. I t was advised that the present facilities

' 3(J3 ib id T , pp. 11-15

304 ib id .

305I b i d ., p. 7 94 be moved to an area remote from roads, buildings and power lines to

reduce interference. Committee members also indicated an air condition­

ed sound proof studio in a central location should be constructed. One

other recommendation, made to the Government, was to investigate the

desirability of legislation to require suppressors on all motor

vehicles and electrical equipment to reduce interference.

British Gciana's Executive Council considered the report and

recommendations of the Committee and acted on March 14, 1939.

Council was generally infavor of the proposals made by the committee and concurred in the main. Recom­ mendations that the broadcasting service in this Colony be operated by the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd., on public utility lines under an exclu­ sive license for five years, that the company be given a subsidy equivalent to 75 percent of the annual fees collected for receiving sets; and that the company be exempt from customs duty of broadcast apparatus.

The Executive Council, however, refused to vote the Company an

inclusive subsidy of BG $3,000.00 for the first year's operation. A written franchise between the Government and the British

Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd., outlining any licensing

agreement terms, as suggested in the Report of the Broadcasting

Committee, could not be located. There is disagreement over the

existence of any written contract or addendum to the broadcast license.

Johnny Adamson says there was no written agreement, "we just had a

306I b i d ., pp. 7-15

307 British Guiana, Executive Council, Minutes of the Executive Council, meeting of March 14, 1939, Item 173 (typewritten).

308Ibid. 95

license to operate, no agreement, nothing. It wasn't until the English

Rediffusion came into it that we got an agreement."309 j>owe confirmed

Adamson's recollection, "when Rediffusion came then Government gave a

license and added a lot of little things on to the license . . . that was in '49. Before we broadcast on the word of mouth."310 Arthur

Seymour, in charge of Government broadcasting during World War I I , disagreed, however, and claims there was a written franchise which was based on the Report of the Broadcasting Committee.Radio Demerara

General Manager, Rafiq Kahn, who has been with the station since 1949, said "there was a charter . . . in existence before 1950 and under this franchise the then local Company ’operated."312 Q0pies Qf a written agreement, if it existed, may have been lost in the disastrous fire of

1945 that destroyed the General Post Office Building and radio station.

While the existence of the charter may be debated, certain Broad­ cast Committee recommendations were carried out. G. C. Green, Chairman of the Broadcasting Committee was appointed to the Board of Directors of the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company in 1939 as the

309Johnny A. Adamson, Interview .

L. Rowe, Interview .

J311 Arthur Seymour, Personal Interview in Georgetown, Guyana, on December 24, 1972.

312Rafiq Kahn, Interview .

3-^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1946 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1948), p. 8. 96 Government nominee.^14 Green remained a Company D irector u n til he was

sent to another Colony by the Colonial Office and replaced by A. E.

Gagan, of the Post Office Department, on October 3, 1942,315

Recommendations of the Broadcasting Committee, not completed

during the license period were numerous and could be attributed to ex­

pending energy in other areas during the war years. No BBC loans or

grants were acquired, although, relay apparatus was constructed and BBC

programs were relayed with regularity. Single frequency receivers were

not built locally and disseminated, and no wire diffusion system to

reach outlying villages or schools was attempted.

In 1942, after disagreement with the Company Directors, Charles

Kellman left the firm and went to Trinidad.31° Prior to leaving the

Colony, Kellman sold 300 of h is 750 shares in the sta tio n . At BG$1.00

a share, Booker Brothers, McConnell Ltd., and Wm, Pogarty Ltd., each

took 150 of Kellman1s shares making the two firms the majority stock­ holders. 3-^ F. A. Mackey’s death was reported March 15, 1943, to the

Deeds Registry and h is replacement to the Board of D irectors was Johnny

A, Adamson, who was to continue as Booker Brothers McConnell Company’s

representative to the firm. In the same memo, the replacement of

a . Mackey, Memorandum of August 1, 1940, sent to Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana, file 344.

3-^A. E. Roberts, Company Secretary, Letter to Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana, on October 3, 1942, File 344.

316 j. L. Rowe, Interview .

317summary of Capital Shares 1942, Form E, Company Consolidation Ordinance 1913, in File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana. 97

Frederick H. Martin-Sperry by Montague H. White as Wieting & Richter's

representative was noted.318 So, despite resignations and death, the

same four British Guiana Companies, Booker Brothers McConnell L td., Wm.

Fogarty Ltd., Wieting and Richter and the Argosy Company Ltd., continued

to hold control of the radio station.

One of the final events of 1939 was the construction and instal­

la tio n of a 400 w att short wave tran sm itter for the new Company by

James Rowe. As soon as Rowe installed the new transmitter, he started work on a more powerful 750 watt transmitter which would take nearly

two years to complete.319 During the construction between 1939 and

late 1940, Rowe suggested to Acting Chairman of the Board, F. A.

Mackey, that the transmitter should be moved out of the city and away

from the studios. He suggested that the construction of a new building would give more workshop space and be able to house the transmitter and

aerials. Mackey agreed with Rowe's suggestion and Government land at

D'urban park was acquired and the building was constructed. The trans­

m itter was in s ta lle d on December 11, 1940, a t D'urban Park and the

Governor, Sir Gordon Letham, officially put the new transmitter on the

air with a new set of call letters, "ZFY."320

Shortly after the 750 watt transmitter was put into operation

Rowe was forced out of the Company after a disagreement with A. W.

318a . E. Roberts, Company Secretary, Letter to Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana, on March 15, 1943, F ile 344.

319j, l , Rowe, Interview.

320sunday Argosy, May 8, 1960, p. 13. 98 Mailer, Engineer in Chief of the Post Office Telecommunications De­ partment. 321 Charles Kellman indicated jealousy was behind the trouble between Rowe and Mailer that led to Rowe leaving the firm,322

The war years diverted the Government from some aspects of broadcasting but, at the same time, focused attention on the power of publicity. The Bureau of Public Information was established in 1942, with a moderate staff and budget and broadcasting was emphasized in their war time campaigns.323 while the Government recognized the role of broadcasting in molding public opinion, the medium was ignored legally. The five year license due for renewal in 1944 was not con­ sidered by the Legislative Council until after the war. There is no available record or recollection that the license was renewed during

World War I I . 324

Rowe's 1939 suggestion to separate the transmitter from the studio saved the Company from total disaster in 1945. On February 23, a day commonly referred to in British Guiana as "Black Friday", a massive fire destroyed twenty-eight buildings in the central Georgetown area causing nearly BG $3,000.00 damage in less than three hours. The fire roared through the mostly wood structures destroying, among other things, the General Post Office and the offices and studios of the

321j. l . Rowe, Interview.

322Charles Kellman, L etter to James L. Rowe, March 7, 1964, in J. L. Rowe's possession,

323British Guiana, Bureau of Public Information, "Publicity and Information" (Georgetown: The Daily Chronicle, 1944), p. 1.

324British Gliana, Legislative Council, Minutes of the Legisla­ tive Council, meeting of the years 1940 through 1949. 99 British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd.323 The transmitter and a small studio-worlcshop were safe, though, at D’urban park and the station was off the air only briefly. Later that evening, the Governor,

Sir Charles Kimball Wooleley, reassured the public, stating: "that there was no cause for panic" and that steps had been taken to main­ ta in the country’s fin a n cial l i f e . 32^

The Compairy's Board of D irectors changed composition in 1947 with the death of Aloysius O'Dowd, the William Fogarty Ltd. representa­ tive. O'Dowd had ten shares of the Company's stock in his own name and on May 12, 1947, the shares of stock were equally divided among five relatives in British Guiana and England. The shares were transferred to Bridgit O'Dowd, residing in England; Charles A. O'Dowd , manager of the Park Hotel in Georgetown; Patrick O’Dowd, Georgetown; and four shares were put in trust for minors Roger and Shelagh O'Dowd. 32^

The Company directors took an active part in operating the station up through 1950. There was a close working relationship between the

Board of Directors and the general manager.

Well, we would think of ideas to help him and he would think of ideas and put them to the board for their approval. So, we work more or less as a team. It was very young, it wasn't anything that was established. I t was something that had to be nursed. It was nursed from inside and outside, we had a very loyal s t a f f .328

323Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1946, p. 8.

326Ib id .

32^"Summary of C apital Shares 1947" Form E ., Companies Consolida­ tio n Ordinance 1913, in F ile 344, Deeds R egistry, Georgetown, Guyana.

328j0hnny Adamson, Interview 100

The s ta ff was small throughout the 1940’s and people were expected to do a variety of jobs. Adamson said the staff of ZFY, prior to 1950, consisted of fifteen people, or l e s s . 329

Another fire in 1947 struck the General Post Office finishing where the 1945 f ir e had l e f t off.

. . . there was a fire at the B. P. 0. on the 9th of May 1947 and all records were completely destroyed. Prior to this there had been a fire sometime in 1945 and most of the records of previous years were de­ stroyed. 330

After the second fire, members of the Post Office Telecommunications

Department started a handwritten Post Office Ledger in which they recalled as many historical events and dates as possible.331

Shortly after the Post Office fire, the Company proposed adding a medium wave service and received Government a p p r o v a l . 332 jn 1949, a

350 w att medium wave tran sm itter was put in to lim ited service a t D'urban park on a frequency of 1230 Kc/s and at the same time, the short wave

frequency was changed to 5,981 K c / s . ^33

The broadcasting Company made application for a franchise in

October, 1947, and the reaction of the Legislative Council and Executive

329Ib id .

330;gr;j_t;ish Guiana, Post Office Telecommunications Department, "Post Office Ledger", unpublished handwritten ledger, year of entry 1947.

331charles Cunha, Personal Interview on December 18, 1972, in Georgetown, Guyana.

332(jreat Britain, Report oh British Guiana for the Year 1947 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1948), p. 71

333great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1948 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1950), p. 86 101

Council to the proposal indicates there may not have been a prior written agreement.334 Both Government bodies took the franchise appli­ cation under advisement and negotiations were entered into with the

Company. Negotiations continued until 1949, but in July, 1948, the

Executive Council decided on some important points.

The local agreement would be prepared in accordance with the terms already mutually agreed upon and would provide inter alia: - (a) the license would be made exclusive for five years, (b) that the license would permit the company to instal and operate additional stations for the purpose of improving the service in outlying area.33-*

The 1948 approval to instal additional stations was needed before the medium wave service could be put into operation in 1949. The Executive

Committee also decided against appointing an Advisory Committee, relying on the Government nominee to the Board of Directors to make sure the

Company lived up to the A g r e e m e n t . 336

The Agreement was formally approved by the Executive Council on

May 3, 1949 and a draft Agreement was ordered prepared for signing. 337

The Legislative Council deferred action on the Agreement, however, due to the station changing ownership. Rediffusion Ltd., an English firm,

334gritish Guiana, Legislative Council, Minutes of the Legisla­ tive Council, meetirg of October 24, 1947, p. 2550 (typewritten).

335British-Guiana, Executive Council, Minutes of the Executive Council, meeting of July 13, 1948, Item 499. 336pbid.

33?B ritish Guiana, Executive Council, Minutes of the Executive Council, meeting of May 3, 1949, Item 314. 102 had previously tried to purchase controlling interest in ZFY and in

1949 agreement was reached with Board Chairman Johnny Adamson. Both

OOQ the purchase agreement and franchise were consumated early in 1950.

Government Broadcasting

As early as 1939, a Bureau of Publicity and Information operated on a small scale handling media relations for the Government. With the increased urgency of war time, a more aggressive information policy was needed and a Bureau of Public Information (BPI) was created in August 1,

1942, to fulfill this policy. The purpose of the BPI was "publicizing the aims and in ten tio n s of Government measures generally and Emergency

Measures in particular."339

The specific functions of the BPI included conducting public opinion surveys, normal press relations and general public relations duties for all Government Departments. Carrying out specific campaigns and advertising various Government measures and plans also fell to the bureau. The BPI also took over the information distribution function which included press releases, weekly broadcast talks, newsletters and brochures. Another function of the BPI was to act as the local agency for Great Britain's Central Office of Information and distri­ bute information materials for that agency.^40

338j 0hnny Adamson, Interview .

339Great Britain, Report on British Cuiaria for the Year 1947 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1949), p. 92.

340sritish Guiana, Bureau of Public Information, 1943 Publicity and Information (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1944), p. 1. 103

In 1943, indicating the importance placed on public information,

the BPI was made a sub-division of the Colonial Secretariat. Also in

1943, broadcasting assumed an important role in BPI programs and another

broadcasting officer was added to the staff.Table 5 shows the

growth and decline of staff and budget for the BPI throughout the period

from 1939 through 1949.

One of the BPI’s first broadcast related activities was the in­

stitution of communal listening. Bureau officers located individuals

living in rural areas who were willing to have their homes used as BPI

Listening Centers. The occupants had to be willing to receive all

scheduled BPI programs so that people in the surrounding area could

regularly gather and listen . 3 ^2

According to Johnny Adamson, BPI time was given w ithout any written agreement.

. . . we give the Government all the time that they want throughout the war years. This was co-operation. We ran several programs. I ran one for the Government called ‘Grow More Food Campaign.’ I also did ‘What To Do In Case of Emergency 1 in case we got bombed . . . what action to take . 3 ^ 3

3 4 lIbid_., p. 2 .

3^3British Guiana, Bureau of Public Information, Annual Report of the Bureau of Public Information for 1948 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1949), p. 71

3 ^3J. A. Adamson, Interview . TABLE 5

BUREAU OF PUBLIC INFORMATION STAFF AND BUDGET

FOR THE PERIOD 1939 THROUGH 1949a

Year S taff Budget

1939 3 -

1940 3 -

1941 3 -

1942 8 5,026

1943 13 12,664

1944 14 18,677

1945 15 19,777

1946 9 17,061

1947 17 14,750

1948 11 -

1949 11 18,568

aTable 5 was compiled from Eureau of Public Information Annual Reports for 1944, 1946, 1949(Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd.).

Arthur Seymour, the BPI broadcast officer, disagreed with Adamson, saying BPI time was ensured on ZFY by prior written agreement between 344 the Government and the s ta tio n .

•^^Arthur Seymour, Interview. 105

BPI radio topics were varied although each year a central campaign was selected for primary emphasis. The 1942 campaign topic, "Grow More

Food," was stressed throughout the war even when other yearly campaigns were instituted. Appendix II shows the BPI campaigns for the period

1942 through 1947.

After the addition of another Broadcast officer in 1943, the

Bureau greatly increased its broadcasting output in 1944. In the first half of 1944, the Bureau ran five programs for a weekly total of two

and a quarter hours of air time.-^ broadcast section was too am­ bitious, however, and the Bureau ran low on funds which resulted in

reducing broadcasting to a minimum throughout August, September and

October. Only programs relating to the war were aired until November when a fiv e minute Government newscast was sta rte d daily a t 5:25 P.M.^46

The BPI continued its broadcasting service throughout the war at a

fairly heavy level considering budget and personnel available. In

1945, the service was again up to five programs a week to ta llin g two

hours and fifteen minutes of air t i m e . 347 During the later part of

1945, when the BPI was running a full budget and staff, plans were made

for the coming year's voter registration campaign which would be

followed by the Colony's f i r s t General E lections. The end of World

War II, however, brought about a cut in BPI funds and personnel, as

345British Guiana, 1943 Publicity and Information, p. 8

346ibid., p. ii.

347Bureau of Public Information, "Voters Registration Campaign Publicity Measures" 1946 (mimeographed), p. 13. 106 shown in Table 5, just prior to the start of the voter registration campaign which seriously affected broadcasting. The goals of the campaign were to instruct all qualified voters how to register to vote and how to mark ballots without spoiling their votes . 348

A post campaign analysis by the BPI staff of the 1946 voter registration drive clearly indicated their dissatisfaction with the

Bureau's performance. There was insufficient time between the direc­ tive to start the campaign and the registration period for adequate planning or to prepare material to help overcome a difficult registra­ tion form. The directive was issued May 3, 1946, and the registration period started June 1, 1946, less than one month later. There was very little field work and there was no clear cut budget for the campaign . 349

The BPI so lu tio n fo r overcoming the campaign handicaps was "only sus­ tained broadcasting could have fully aroused the people to the importance of the occasion."350

The 1946 reduction of funds and staff was an indication of the mood prevailing in the Legislative Council. During a debate in 1947, a suggestion was made to eliminate the BPI altogether. A compromise was reached and the BPI was reduced to seven s ta f f w ith a budget cut of more than BG $2,000.00. 33-*-

3 4 8Ib id .

349Ibid.

33^Ibid., p. 2 .

351j$ritish Guiana, Legislative Council, Minutes of the Legis~ lative Council, minutes from 15 May, 1946 through 24 O ctober, 1947, Vol. 19, p. 1984. 107 Despite the ominous mood in the Legislative Council during 1947, it was not a portent of things to come. In 1948, as Table 5 shows, the

BPI staff was increased to eleven although broadcasting was still kept to a minimum. The major effort was a fifteen minute "BPI Sunday-at-

Noon Programme" th a t featured th irty -s ix d iffe re n t "talk s" during the year by Government o f f i c i a l s .352

After the broadcasting Company applied for a franchise in 1947, the BPI was given the task of finding ways to make broadcasting more effective in British Guiana. The Bureau’s audience analysis outside the Georgetown environs pitcured a bleak situation "of small clusters of low-income people scattered over large areas, usually without elec­ trical service."353 r e a c }1 this rural audience, the BPI suggested reviving BPI Listening Centers; supplying rural areas with low-cost battery operated receivers; revival of discussion programs and repub- « r i lication of talks and discussions in a BPI Suppliment. The Agree­ ment eventually concluded between the Government and the British Guiana

United Broadcasting Company Ltd., required the company to instal fifty battery operated receivers for communal listening.

The franchise negotiations between the Government and Company

352British Guiana, Annual Report of BPI for 1948, p. 25.

353British Guiana, BPI, Annual Report of the BPI for 1948, p. 3.

^^Ibid., pp. 3-7.

355great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1949, p. 116. 108 apparently helped change the mood of the Legislative Council toward the BPI. While staff size remained at eleven during 1949, the budget was increased appreciably. An increasing use of broadcasting was made by the Bureau throughout 1949. The "BPI Sunday-at-Noon Programme" continued as a major effort with thirty talks given by the Public

Information Officer or members of the staff and twenty-two talks were given by members of other Government Departments,356 ^ daily newscast, called BPI Communiques, was added to ZFY's morning schedule running from 1 0 :0 0 to 10:15.357

In October, 1949, the BPI conducted the first radio audience survey in British Guiana. After a fifteen minute address by the

Governor on the October 23, 1949, "BPI Sunday-at-Noon Programme,"

8,399 questionnaires were sent to owners of registered broadcast r e c e i v e r s . 358 The questionnaires were composed of two item s, which were:

(1) Did you listen to His Excellency the Governor’s broadcast a t noon on Sunday, October 23?

(2) How many other persons were listening to the broadcast through your radio? ,359

The questionnaire was sent without any advance warning about the study and there was no envelope, stamp or address needed to return the com-

356flritish Guiana, Bureau of Public Information, Annual Report of the Bureau of Public Information for 1949 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1950), p. 7.

357I b id .

358ibid.> pt 9

359ibid., p. 109

pleted form. A return of thirty-nine percent, or 3,139 questionnaires,

was reported with forty-one percent reporting not hearing the Governor

and fifty-one percent indicating they listened to the broadcast. A

total of 12,169 persons listened to the Governor over 1,852 receivers

giving an average of 6.5 listeners per set. Table 6 shows the

results of the questionnaire.

TABLE 6

NUMBER OF REPORTED LISTENERS TO THE "BPI SUNDAY-AT-NOON

PROGRAMME" OF OCTOBER 23, 1949, BY AREA, AS REPORTED IN

THE BPI AUDIENCE SURVEY3

Location Number of Number of Average Listeners Rpf'p-i T.i stanera per receiver

Georgetown 1,017 5,009 4.8

New Amsterdam 122 711 5.8

B artica 38 224 5.8

McKenzie (Linden) 86 336 3.9

East Bank Demerara* 82 1,139 13.8

West Bank Demerara* 27 319 1 1 .8

In te rio r* 9 82 9.1

3 T ab le6 compiled from British Guiana, Bureau of Public Information, Annual Report of the Bureau of Public Information for 1949 (Georgetown-: The Argosy Company L td ., 1950), p. 11.

*Rural farm areas.

360,.,Ibid. . , 110

The ru ra l farm areas in the in te rio r and on the East and West Bank of

Demerara show a high density per radio set, in all cases, at least double the density indicated in urban areas.

Legal

With the emergence of amateur wireless transmissions and broad­ casting in 1934 and 1935, the B ritish Guiana Government was forced to legally recognize what was already occuring. Ordinance six of

1935 ammended the Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894, authorizing the

Governor in Council to license, regulate and delegate authority regarding amateur and commercial broadcasting.

63. (1) No person shall establish any wireless telegraph station, or instal or work any apparatus for wireless telegraphy in any place, or on board any British ship registered in the Colony, except under and in accordance with a license granted in that behalf by the Governor in Council.

(5) The Governor in Council may by regulation prescribe -

(a) the form and manner in which application for license under this section shall be made;

(b) the fees payable on the grant of any licen se

(c) the terms and conditions under which a licen se may be g ran ted .^61

The Post Office Department was given the job of drawing up enforcement and licensing regulations under Section 63(5) of the

1894 Ordinance and on February 8 , 1938, the Governor in Council

361-British Guiana, Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894, pp. 1788-89. I l l

approved the Wireless Telegraphy Regulations, 1938.362 The 1938 regu­

lations categorize licenses as "Broadcast Receiving", "Amateur", and

"any other"; the latter category encompassing broadcasting licenses.363

Broadcast Receiver Licenses. Receiver licenses are issued only

on an annual basis by the Postmaster General, or those authorized by

him in writing. All other license applications, including amateur and

broadcast, are made to the Governor in Council and disposition is made

only by that legislative b o d y . 364

Broadcast Receiver Licenses expire on the last day of their year

of issue but a one month grace period is given the licensee before he

is delinquent. 365 Qne license covers as many sets as the household

may contain and this even includes receivers moved temporarily to new

locations. Members of the licensee’s household, though, do not include

paying guests or b o a r d e r s . 366 Receiver licenses are granted free to blind

persons and "to any such other persons as may be exempted by the Gover­

nor in C o u n c i l " . 367 An ammendment under the provisions has exempted all

diplom atic and embassy personnel from paying for receiv er lic e n se s,

362B ritish Guiana, Laws, S ta tu te s, e tc ., The W ireless Telegraphy ' Regulations, 1938, Ch. 132, The Laws of British Guiana, 1953, pp. 1392- 1409.

363 Ibid. (Sec. 20, pt. 1-3).

364jbid. (Sec. 9), p. 1394.

365 Ibid. (sec. 4), p. 1393.

3^Ibid. (sec. 5), pt. 1-2.

367Ibid. (sec. 20), p. 1396. 112

0 / 1 0 Although they are required to obtain licenses. Upon the death of the licensee, the license continues in force for the remainder of the year covering broadcast receivers used by the deceased's household. In the death of a blind person, who already has a free receiver license, the licen se immediately becomes void. 369

Amateur License. The regulations governing amateur sta tio n s are basically the same as those applying to broadcast stations except that amateurs are restricted from carrying advertisements and enter­ tainment programs.

10. An Amateur License may be granted to a bona fide amateur or experimenter authorizing him to estab­ lish and use a station for the purpose of trans­ mitting and receiving messages or conducting scientific experiments . . .

17. An Amateur License shall permit the licensee to communicate with amateur stations in this Colony and in other countries . . . Subject to the above the station shall not be used for advertising or business purposes or for gain, or for sending or receiving news, messages for third parties, or for the transmission of programmes or other matter for entertainment.

The prohibition against advertisements and entertainment programs is the basic difference between an amateur and broadcast license.

An amateur, however, must also obtain a certificate of competency from the Postmaster General. To obtain the certificate, the amateur must show by examination or other means that he possesses knowledge to operate and adjust the transmitting apparatus. Two other certifi-

368 ib id . 369rbid. (sec. 6-7), p. 1393. 37QI b id . (sec. 10 & 17), pp. 1394-5. 113 cation requirements are morse code operation at a minimum of twelve words per minute and knowledge of the Wireless Telegraphy Regulations,

1938, and any applicable international regulations governing amateur or experimental operations.37-^

Broadcast Transmission Licenses. Like amateur license applica­ tions, requests for broadcast licenses are made to the Governor in

Council through the Postmaster General . 372 The special application form for a broadcast license is contained in Appendix III, The elastic clause that permits setting criteria for broadcast licenses and the granting of those licenses is Section 19 of the 1938 regulations.

19. All licenses, other than those specifically mentioned, and granted, shall contain the terms, conditions and restrictions subject 0 7 O ° to which they are granted.

Appendix IV contains the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company broadcast transmission license with the terms, conditions and restric­ tions made by the Postmaster General through the Governor in Council.

The only qualifications to obtain a broadcast or amateur license are c itizen sh ip and age.

29. (1) No license other than a Broadcast Rkceiving Set License shall be granted to any person who has not attained the age of 18 years.

(2) No license other than a Broadcast Receiving Set License shall be granted to any person not a

3 7 1 Ibid. (sec. 12 & 14).

3 7 ^Supra, p. 102.

373British Guiana, Wireless Telegraphy Regulations, 1938 (sec. 19.), p. 1396. British or naturalised British subject, and no station for transmitting messages shall be established or used on permises controlled by an alien:37l!*

The Governor in Council, however, has the authority to grant an amateur license to an alien, subject to the terms, conditions and restrictions under which it is granted. 375

A licensee assumes an obligation to comply with a l l terms and conditions of the license and retains ultimate responsibility for the actions of "any person in any way concerned in the use or working . . . of the station " . 378 oniy defense a licensee has after a violation is to prove "to the satisfaction of any court that he had taken all necessary and reasonable precautions to prevent such act or omission." 377 Licenses are not transferable and the licensee assumes the respon­ sibility of ensuring that the station is used only for the purpose sp ecified on the lic e n se . 378 The broadcast apparatus cannot be moved or altered without prior written approval of the Postmaster General and the station license and log must be open for Post Office inspection at all reasonable times. The log, detailing all transmissions or recep­ tions, must contain:

(a) date;

(b) time (British Guiana time) each transmission is

3 7 4 Ibid. (Sec. 29.), p. 1398.

3 7 5 Ib id .

3 7 ^Ibid. (Sec. 28.), p. 1397.

3 7 7 Ibid. (Sec. 28.), p. 1397

378Ibid. (Sec. 30. &34.). commenced and ended;

(d) frequency expressed in kilocycles or megacycles, on which the transmission is effect;

(e) power (input to the anode or anodes of the valve or valves coupled to the aerial).

Transmitting stations are further required to obey copyright laws and all international copyright conventions of which British Guiana is a m e m b e r . 38® A further requirement is utilization of authorized call letters on all occasions when communication is established.

In regard to technical aspects, the licensee is charged with utilizing the station in a manner that does not interfere with other stations or electric power lines. The apparatus must be installed and utilized to the satisfaction of the Postmaster General, who has the authority to withdraw a license if the apparatus' operation is danger­ ous to life or property or beyond the skill or knowledge of the licensee.

All equipment must also be installed in accordance with the Electrical

Installation Regulations in force at the time the license is issued.

Transmitting stations must operate in accordance with International ij; agreements and on assigned frequencies. The stations' frequency must be "constant and free from harmonics and other unessential emissions."382

The 1938 regulations further grant the Government extensive auth­ ority in granting or revoking licenses. If a licensee is convicted of violating or failing to observe the Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 189A,

ST^Ibid. (Sec. 27., 44.. and 46.(6)), p. 1399-1401.

3 8 0Ibid. (Sec. 32.), p. 1398.

381ibtd. (sec. 40, & 46.), pp. 1399-1401.

3 8^lbid. (Sec. 40, to 46.), pp. 1399-1401. 116 or the Wireless Telegraphy REgulations, 1938, the Governor in Council may suspend or cancel the license. If a license is revoked for cause, the licensee will be ineligible for a new license for twelve months or a period of time specified by the Governor in Council, 383 ■jjie Postmaster

General, or those specified by him, have enforcement authority and can enter premises and conduct investigations regarding radio interference, improper operation or any possible violation of the 1938 regulations . 384

Strengthening the Postmaster General's investigative powers, it is an offense to obstruct the Postmaster General in his duties or to furnish 385 false information to an officer or in an application for a license.

The Government’s emergency powers, as specified in the 1938 regulations, are also broad and can be invoked by the Governor in

Council.

25. (1) If in the opinion of the Governor in Council an emergency shall have arisen in which it is expedient for the public service that Her Majesty's Government shall have control over the transmission or reception of messages by means of any s ta tio n , or stations, or apparatus to which these regu­ lations or the Ordinance relate, it shall be lawful for the Governor to direct or cause any station or stations or apparatus to be taken possession of in the name of and on behalf of Her M ajesty's Government and to prevent the use thereof for any purpose . . .386 General Statutes. The Wireless Telegraphy Regulations, 1938, do

3 8 3Ibid. (Sec. 26., p t. 1 & 2 ),

3 8 4Ibid. (Sec. 35.) * P* .1399.

3 8 5Ibid. (Sec. 47., p t. a & b) ,

3 8 6 Ibid. (Sec. 25.) , P. 1397. 117 not deal specifically with content or the programming of broadcast stations, except in general. Section forty-six of the regulations limit the transmission of entertainment programs only to broadcast stations.387

Broadcast station licensee's in British Guiana, however, also must

.operate within the framework of criminal and civil laws. The British

Guiana obscenity statute is print and picture oriented blit, still, clearly applies to broadcasting. Obscenity is a criminal offense only when someone "publicly ex h ib its any disgusting o b ject, or any indecent show . . ."388 The obscenity statute is vague, which places a heavy interpretive burden on the Courts which must decide if the public show or act tended "to corrupt public morals."389 Courts must first decide what are the prevailing public morals and what it takes to corrupt them.

The motives of the exhibitor of the obscene matter is irrelevant and conviction on the charge can result in imprisonment for up to too years, 390

Although no defamation actions have been tried against British

Guiana broadcasters, utterances over a broadcast station could become grounds for libel or slander suits. S. S. Ramphal, LL.M., assumes that defamation spoken "extempore into a microphone and transmitted over a broadcasting system" would be considered slander, as would any

387xbid. (Sec. 4 6 .), p. 1401.

388grxtish Guiana, Laws, Statutes, Etc., Offenses Against Morality, Ch. 10, Title 25, The Laws of British Guiana, 1953, p. 217.

389Ibjd. (Sec. 352., pt. la.), p. 217.

390 ib id . (Sec. 352., pt. 2 & 3). 118 other oral defamation. Defamation read from a script over a broadcast station, however, would be considered libel because of the print aspect. 391

Defamation may either be a criminal or civil matter depending on the circumstances. Criminal defamation is:

. . . matter published without any legal justification or excuse, designed to insult the person to whom it is published, or calculated to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him to h atred , contempt or ridicule.392

Malice is the key element in determining if defamation is a civil or criminal matter. If the defamation is honestly believed it is not a criminally indictable offense. Honest belief, however, does not relieve a person of civil liability but it does defer criminal prosecution. 393

Other defenses against a criminal defamation action are:

109. (a) defamatory matter on the invitation or challenge of the person defamed . . .

(b) any defamatory matter in any proceeding before or under the authority of the Court of Justice . . .

(c) to the Legislative Council defamatory matter contained in a petition to the council . . .

(d) in good fa ith for the inform ation of the public, a fair report of the proceeding of the Imperial Parliament, or of the Legislative Council, or of public proceedings of any Court of Justice . . .

391s. S. Ramphall, LL.M., The Law in Everyday Life (Georgetown: The Daily Chronicle Ltd., 1954), p. 40. 392British Guiana, Laws, Statutes, Etc., Criminal Law (Offences) Ordinance, Ch. 10, The Laws of British Guiana, 1953, (para. 107, sec. 1), p. 98. ^^Ibid. (para. 109, pt. e), p. 139. 119 (f) fair comment upon any person who takes part in public affairs, provided those comments are confined to the public conduct of that person in public affairs, or

(g) fair comment on any published book or other literary production, or any composition or work of art or performance publicly exhibited, or any other communication made to the public on any subject, if those comments are confined to criticism of the book or literary production, composition, work of art, performance, or communication : 39 ^

Conviction under the criminal provisions of the Defamatory Libel Ordi­ nance is a misdemeanor carrying a possible fine and/or imprisonment for up to two years. 395 Conviction under the civil provisions result in payment "into court a sum of money by way of amends for the injury 396 sustained by the publication of the libel."

While not reducing the degree of guilt, a written retraction may be placed in evidence as "mitigation of damages that he made or offered an apology to the plaintiff before the commencement of the 397 action." To reduce false or superfluous libel actions, if the defendent pleads truth as a defense and wins, he can recover his cost 398 of defense by the plaintiff.

3 9^*Ibid. (para. 109, pt. a. to g.), p. 139.

3 9 3Ibid. (para. 113, pt. a.), p. 142.

396B ritish Guiana, Laws, S tatu tes, E tc ., Libel and Slander Ordinance, Ch. 22, Laws of British Guiana, 1953, (Sec. 5., pt. 2.), p. 613.

3 9^Ibid. (Sec. 4.), p. 612.

3 9 8Ibid. (Sec. 3.). 120

Technical

The f i r s t tran sm itter th a t Rowe b u ilt in 1934 and 1935 was a home­ made device modeled after a description of a short wave receiver found in an amateur radio magazine. The tubes were purchased through Booker

Brothers McConnell Ltd., the major department store in British Guiana, and there s t of the s e t was constructed by Rowe. The f i r s t apparatus was a small ten watt short wave transmitter with a variable frequency 399 oscillator, which allowed easy change of transmitting frequencies.

This transmitter was built from angle iron as the frame . . . the angle iron was fourteen inches long by ten inches wide by six inches deep. We had, at thattime, we was using forty-seven tubes as the modulator . . . and we had a forty-two as a frequency amplifier to put a signal in the a ir . . . modulated by a forty-seven . . . and we had a forty-six as the driver . . . driving the forty-four . . . and the frequency am plifier was a fo rty -fiv e . The ten w att short wave tra n sm itter Rowe b u ilt was modified a t the insistence of the Post Office engineer. Rowe had to crystal control the transmitter which meant presetting the device on one frequency by use of a crystal and doing away with the variable frequency oscilla­ to r.

The first transmitter, although initially satisfactory, was not sophisticated enough for commercial broadcast transmission. Kellman stated the technical problems faced by VP3BG in a 1936 memorandum:

We therefore were faced with continuing the Broadcast S tatio n w ith four h a lf hour programmes per week, which because of our poor production

399J. L. Rowe, Interview.

4 0 0 Ibid.

401Ibid. were lilcely to be discontinued a t any time, two of which were eventually stopped. Added to this were the various complaints of noises during broadcasts due to our close proximity to the street . . . unless our transmission could be

improved, we would have to come out of the g a m e . 402

To remedy the declining situation, the studio was moved from Crystals

Photo Studio to the Philharmonic building which was less prone to

street noise. Acquisition of a new and better transmitter was accom­

plished through Johnny A. Adamson, who supplied the firm with money to

build a 180 watt short wave transmitter. The last transmitter Rowe

constructed for ZFY was a 750 watt short wave transmitter which was put

in operation in 1941 and functioned u n til 19 5 7 .^^

Aerials were used for transmission instead of a costly mast

antenna system. Rowe constructed the first aerial system for Crystals

Broadcasting Company which was taken over by the British Guiana United

Broadcasting Company, Ltd., in 1938. Rowe put up two poles at either

end of a roof on a two story building which was approximately forty-five

feet high. Between the two poles, he ran a sixty-six foot wire that

served as the aerial. Two copper wires were run from the transmitter

to the center of the aerial.404 Technically, the description of Rowe's

aerial system would be two delta matched half-wave dipoles. The medium wave service, added in 1949, had a different aerial system. A fifty

^O^charles Kellman, 1936 Memorandum, in the possession of J. L. Eowe.

4Q3su p ra, 78.

404j , l , Rowe, Interview. foot pole was utilized as a mast to carry the vertical radiator with a single wire t o p . 405

Financial

VP3BG started out as an amateur station financed by Rowe and Kerr.

To save money, Rowe built much of the first ten watt transmitter except for the six vacuum tubes. These tubes cost B G $ 5 . 0 0 a piece and Rowe estimated that the entire cost of the transmitter was around BG$35.00.406

Even a fte r VP3BG became C rystals Broadcasting Company, money was a rare commodity and to get a d v ertisers to try rad io , Kellman had to do a free remote broadcast advertising Narvo Paints.407

Throughout 1935, VP3BG made just enough money to stay operational.

Kellman, as fu lltim e announcer-salesman, received BG$85.00 a month while

Rowe and Kerr were paid nothing for their part-time work.^^ The profits from 1935, BG$154.68, were put back into the fledgling business for needed improvements. For the first six months of 1936, Kellman reported earnings of BG$155.70, or a to ta l of BG$310.38 for the f i r s t fourteen months of operation running from May, 1935 to July, 1936.^^

Failure to get enough advertisers interested in radio meant that major technical improvements could not be made without outside financial

^•^Great B rita in , Handbook on Broadcasting Services in the Colonies 1956 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1956), p. 15.

406James L. Rowe, Interview.

^O^Supra, p. 73.

408x936 P ro fit and Loss Statement:, fo r C rystals Broadcasting Company, signed Charles Kellman, in J. L. Rowe's possession. 409x936 Kellman Memorandum. 123

assistance. Both VP3BG and VP3MR apparently faced the same financial

difficulties which resulted in Johnny Adamson supplying capital for

improvements and, in turn, becoming a shareholder.^-^ Once Adamson's

BG$300.00 was invested in VP3BG, in the name of A. E. Wright, the

s ta tio n 's value was an estim ated BG$1,200.00, or BG$300.00 per share

for each of the four investors.

When the stations were finally liquidated in 1938, the British

Guiana United Broadcasting Company, Ltd., bought out VP3MR for BG$5,800

and VP3BG for BG$4,000.^^-^ A to ta l of BG$9,800 was paid for the

assets of the two stations by the twelve stockholders in the new

/ *1 O company who were given 10,750 shares at BG$1.00 a share.

The amalgamation halted destructive competition and the new

radio station was in a better financial position. Another economic

aspect was that the large British Guiana companies that invested in the

station also did a great deal of product advertising and much of their money would probably go into radio. Adamson recounted that after the merger "we were even able to raise our rates somewhat, because people were beginning then to realize that advertising was bringing results.

With advertising profits and Government subsidies from wireless license

43-QS u p r a , p. 78.

411i936 Kellman Memorandum.

43-2gtatement in Lieu of Properties, 1950, File 344, Deeds R egistry, Georgetown, Guyana.

413Supra, p. 78

^lAjohnny Adamson, Interview . 124 fees, the Company was able to expand the program service and improve facilities. Instead of seventy-five percent of broadcast wireless receiver fees, the Government turned over all wireless receiver fees to the Company between 1938 and 1949. Appendix V shows the number of receiver's licensed and the fees received by the Post Office between

1934 and 1949.

Throughout the 1940's, Adamson tried to get more financial back­ ing to improve ZFY but met with no success. After the 1945 fire that destroyed the studios, broadcasting was done from a reconditioned house on North Road, Georgetown, and new facilities were badly needed.

I then tried very hard to get the local business people to back me so as to develop the station . . . to put in a bigger tra n sm itter and sound proof rooms and a l l the rest of it. But, in those days what we got from adver­ tising didn't allow us much profit . . . and it wasn't sufficient to entice the businessmen to come in . ^ 7

In 1948, Thornton Crane, a representative from Rediffusion Lim­ ited (Canada) talked to Adamson about purchasing ZFY. Although the terns offered were unsatisfactory, a general shareholders meeting was called and it was decided at that time to sell if the right price could be obtained. The shareholders finally decided to sell rather than invest more money in the station.in 1949, an agreement between Adamson and

415gritish Guiana , Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1948(Georgetown; The Argosy Company Ltd., 1950), p. 10

Johnny Adamson, Interview .

4 1 7 Ibid.

418lb id . 125 Rediffusion, Ltd., was reached and the controlling interest in the station passed to Rediffusion for BG$100,000, which was four times the estimated value of the station.

Programming

Programming throughout the January, 1935, test period for VP3BG and VP3MR consisted mostly of gramaphone records and conversations.

Radio listeners in British Guiana listened to the amateurs talking back and fo rth w ith in te re s t and excitement and newspapers c arried accounts

of the various conversations. ^0 During January, programming was hap­ hazard and u tiliz e d prim arily for te s t purposes. Gramaphone records were played frequently by technicians while they made adjustments or tested equipment . ^ 1

Crystals Broadcasting Company. The 1935 M. C. C. Cricket matches provided the impetus for both stations to start a regular program schedule. VP3BG, though, was the first station to start regular nightly broadcasts on February 3, 1935, running from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. ^ 2

Cricket bulletins were announced over VP3BG four times daily at 11:30

A.M., 1:30 P.M., 4:15 P. M. and a t 6:00 P. M. The Modern Radio Com­ pany also carried crick et commentary as th is was the s ta tio n ’s primary purpose. Information for the cricket bulletins was furnished to both

Statement of Ownership, 1950, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana.

^®The Daily Chronicle, January 15, 1935, p. 5.

421j^g Daily Chronicle, January 22, 1935, p. 5.

^^The Daily Chronicle, Frebruary 2, 1935, p. 5. 126 stations by the Daily Chronicle42^

After the M. C. C. tournament ended, VP3MR went off the air leaving the field open to VP3BG. Kellman was faced with the daily task of finding a variety of program material to fill air time. He convinced a number of prominent men in re lig io n , education, Government and business to nightly talk on a wide variety of topics.4^4 L0cai people, with any degree of talent, were pressured into service to help fill the nightly two hours of air time. An early program schedule for

VP3BG consisted of the .following:

1:00 P. M. C lassical Music 2:30 Schools 3:00 Sign Off

7:30 Kiddies Half Hour 8:00 Dr. Graham on Rupununi D is tric t 8:30 Music 9:30 Sign Off425

The above program schedule for VP3BG was standard until school let out in May, 1935. The first transmission period started at 1:00

P.M. with a ninety minute program of classical music gramaphone records.

The 2:30 P.M. school broadcasts were a series of lectures or talks by nearly anyone capable of discussing an academic subject. For example,

Kellman gave one lecture on "Honey and Honey Bees" and F. H. Martin-

Sperry, a business man, gave an address on music. The "Schools" pro­ gram was created by Kellman, in s titu te d by W. Bain Gray, B ritish

422The Daily Chronicle. February 5, 1935, p. 5.

424The Daily 'Chronicle, January 1, 1938, p. 8 .

4^^The Daily Chronicle, February 24, 1935, p. 5. 127

Guiana's Director of Education and underwritten by Booker Brothers

Radio Department and Co-operative Motor Sales Ltd. Reception in

schools was made possible by the donation of receivers by Booker Bro­

thers Radio Department and private individuals . ^ 6

The second transmission period started with the "Kiddies Half

Hour" at 7:30 P.M. which was a variety type show with children songs and stories. At .8:00s a half hour talk was scheduled by prominent

British Guiana citizens or visiting individuals of interest. Such persons as the Postmaster General, the General Manager of the Trans­ port and Harbours Department and the Colony's Director of Education addressed radio listeners during this half hour time period,^7 Local drama clubs occasionally put together skits which were run in the 8 :0 0

P.M. time slot. For example, on February 11, 1935, the sketch "Just

Married" was presented by W. Fonseca and Mrs. E. Fernandes . ^ 8 At 8:30

P.M., an hour long music program of gramaphone records of live bands

and orchestras finished the evening's transmission.

Once school closed in May, VP3BG changed its first daily trans­ mission time from 1:00 to 4:15 P.M., when most people are off work.

The hours of service, after May, 1935 to amalgamation in 1938, con­ sisted of one transmission period from 4:15 to 5:30 P.M. and the second

426^he Daily Chronicle, February 23, 1935, p. 5.

^27gee VP3BG's program schedule in The Daily Chronicle on February 15, 1935; February 20, 1935; and February 7, 1935.

^2®The Daily Chronicle, February 10, 1935, p. 4. 128

from 6:00 to 9:30 P.M.^1^

After June, 1936, when the new transmitter was put in operation

and better studios were obtained, production apparently improved and

this resulted in more sponsorship. Programs were named after sponsors

and long unsponsored classical music interludes were halted.^ 0 During

1937, the two major newspapers, The Daily Chronicle and The Daily

Argosy, provided news copy and sponsorship for two ten minute news

/ 01 bulletins over VP3BG. The Report of the Broadcast Committee, however,

indicated the news was not current as the newspapers did not want to

compete with themselves. Throughout 1937 and 1938, music and variety

shows increased in allotted air time while classical music decreased,

except for the ever popular band concerts. VP3BG was the first station

to try to program to the mostly rural East Indian population by having / QQ a half hour of East Indian music every Saturday at 8:30 P.M.

Appendix VI contains a random selection of program schedules for VP3BG

and VP3MR up through 1949.

B ritish Guiana Broadcasting Company. The Modern Radio Company

was created to broadcast the M.C.C. c rick et matches of 1935 and once

the tournament was over VP3MR went off the air. On Sunday, March 31,

1935, however, VP3MR came back on the air as a commercial station with

429See for example, The Daily Chronicle, 1935 through 1938.

430See fo r example, The Daily Chronicle, December 1936, p. 7.

431see for example. The Daily Chronicle, 1937.

432see for example, The Dally Chronicle, VP3BG program schedules from 1936 through 1937. 129

a special broadcast from the Demerara Union Club at the D’urban race

course. The program started at 8:30 P.M. and consisted of a variety

of musical selections including marches, fox trots, violin solos and

duets. 433

The six weeks VP3MR was off the a ir was a cru c ia l period of

time in that it allowed VP3BG to build rapport with potential talent

and advertisers. VP3MR was never able to rectify the situation com­

pletely and until amalgamation VP3BG provided a wider service with more

sponsored programs. For example, in 1936 while VP3BG was on the air

four and a half hours daily with a variety of sponsored programs,

/ A / VP3MR transm itted three hours of band and gramophone music.

Throughout 1937 and 1938, VP3MR continued to tra il VP3BG significantly

in amounts of program time although the former did increase sponsor­

s h ip .435

One significant program developed on VP3MR was "Ferrol Kiddies 436 Hour" featuring Uncle Johnny (Adamson) and the Ferrol Orchestra.

Adamson was asked to produce the program in return for free advertis­

ing time for his Booker Brothers Drug Store remedies, Limacol and

Ferrol. Uncle Johnny's program, which, was an amateur talent contest, grew so popular that the concept had to be expanded into a "Youth Hour"

433xhe Daily Chronicle, March31, 1935, p. 12

434gee for example, The Daily C hronicle, December 30, 1936, p. 5.

435gee for example, The Dally Chronicle program schedules for 1937 and 1938.

436xhe Daily Chronicle, December 3, 1935, p. 11. 130 and a "Family Hour."^3^

I found when I ran the children’s hour the big children were coming and swamping the sm aller children so I limited the children’s hour to children up to the age of eight. Then the "Youth Hour" was from nine to fourteen and the "Family Hour" was from fourteen onward including ma and p a.^33

The audience VP3MR b u ilt on the Uncle Johnny shows grew exten­ sive and Adamson was swamped with inquiries about Ferrol and Limacol.

Letters came not only from British Guiana, but from throughout the

Caribbean in such number that in 1935 Adamson made a sales trip through the West Indies. That trip became an annual event for over thirty years and, with the help of radio advertising, Ferrol and Limacol grew into a 2.5 million dollar a year export business.^39

Adamson also helped VP3MR by bringing other businesses into radio advertising. Because of Adamson's prominent role in business, he was somewhat of a model for others to follow especially a f te r the mail response to "Ferrol Kiddies Hour."

British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Limited. After the

1938 amalgamation, the new station was stronger financially because there was no program or sponsor competition. Service was immediately expanded to three transmission periods a day and it remained so until

Rediffusion purchased ZFY in 1950. The third transmission period was in the morning from 11:30 to 12:00 noon, which was a time period neglected except on Saturdays and Sundays. The other two time periods

437j 0hnny Adamson, Interview . ASSibid.

439Ibid. 131

in the early afternoon and evening remained basically the same.

The general or guiding policy for ZFY programs, according to

Johnny Adamson, was to e n te rta in and improve the audience.

The policy x*as to try to give people pleasure from music and to educate people, that was the policy . . . we got people to speak on various subjects that we thought . . . would educate the people and at the same time give them music that they would appreciate. Like on Sundays, for the sake of argument, most radio stations would have . . . jazz. On Sundays we tried, more or less to confine our programs to light classical. Even though we very often had to repeat some, but we never-the-less got people to appreciate classical music.

Tables 7 and 8 show a comparison of ZFY's programming in minutes

and percent, respectively, as taken from six program logs contained in

Appendix VI which were chosen at random. The ten year period covered by Table 7, from 1938 to 1948, shows a doubling of program time from

four hours and fifteen minutes in 1938 to nine hours and five minutes

in 1948. The greatest increase of program time occured during the war years 1940 to 1944, when program time rose from four hours and forty-

five minutes a day to seven hours and forty minutes.

In 1938, Table 9 shows one hundred percent of program matter was o rig in ated in B ritish Guiana by ZFY. By fa r, the g re a te st amount of air time was filled with music which took up four hours and five minutes of the day's total of 4:25. Popular and classical music were

fairly even in amounts of program time although popular music made up

52.8 percent of the day's air time and all types of music took up 92.4 percent. Local news and drama, locally written and produced, each

^®Johnny Adamson, Interview. 132 TABLE 7

ZFY DAILY PROGRAM CATEGORIES IN HOURS AND MINUTES AS

TAKEN FROM NEWSPAPER RADIO SCHEDULES

DURING THE PERIOD 1938 THROUGH 1949&

Program 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 Type

Local News :10 :05 : 05 - :45 :20

BBC News :45 1:00 1:31 :55 :55

WRUL News :30 :30

Sports :15 :30

Muslc-Band & C lassical 1:45 :45 1:40 :30

Music-Popular 2:20 1:20 : 30 2:29 3:05 4:25

Drama :10 :50 :15 1:00

Religious :15 :15 :45 :15 :45

BP I :15 :05

East Indian :30 :30 :30 :30 o CO V ariety :15 • • 1:30 2:05 :35

French :45

Total 4:25 4:45 4:45 7:45 8:50 9:05 aTable 7 Is compiled from newspaper schedules of ZFY found in The Daily Chronicle. These program logs are contained in Appendix VI. 133

TABLE 8

ZFY PROGRAM CATEGORIES IN PERCENT BY YEAR

AS TAKEN FROM NEWSPAPERS

DURING THE PERIOD 1938 THROUGH 1949a

Program 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 Type

Local News 3.7% 1.7% 1.7% 8.4% 3.6%

BBC News 15.7 21.0 19.8% 10.3 10

WRUL News 6.4 5.6 5.5

Sports 3.2

Music-Band & C lassical 39.6 15.7 35.7 5.6

Music-Popular 52.8 28.0 10.5 32.0 34.7 48.8

Drama 3.7 17.5 2.8 11.0

Religion 5.2 5.8 9.6 2.8 8.2

BP I 3.2 .9

East Indian 10.5 6.4 5.6 5.5

V ariety 5.2 10.5 19.3 23.5 6.4

French 15.7

Total 99.8% 99.5% 100.9% 99.9% 99.5% 99.9% aTable 8 was compiled from newspaper schedules of ZFY found in The Daily Chronicle. These program logs are contained in Appendix VI. 134 accounted for only ten minutes of air time or 3.7 percent of the day's program schedule.

TABLE 9

SOURCES OF ZFY PROGRAMS

IN TIME AND PERCENTAGES BY YEAR

AS TAKEN FROM NEWSPAPERS DURING THE PERIOD 1938 THROUGH 1948a

Source of Programs Year B ritish Guiana United Kingdom United States WRUL of America (USA) Time Percent Time Percent Time Percent Time Percent

1938 4:25 100%

1940 3:10 66.6 1:35 33.3%

1942 3:00 63.2 1:45 36.8

1944 2:30 32.2 1:31 19.8 1:14 41.7% :30 6.4%

1946 3:25 36.7 1:50 20.7 3:15 36.7 :30 5.6

1948 5:40 62.3 :55 10.0 2:30 27.5

aTable 9 is compiled from newspaper schedules of ZFY found in The Daily Chronicle. These program logs are contained in Appendix VI.

During 1940, the total amount of air time increased by only twenty minutes but there was a significantly greater variety of pro­ gram types as is indicated in Table 7. Music still dominated the program schedules with two hours and five minutes of program time, or

43.7 percent of the total days schedule. The time allotted to local 135 news, cut in half on the 1940 program log, was down to five minutes

or 1.7 percent of the days schedule. The lack of local news was over­

come, to some degree, by the reception and rebroadcast of fo rty -fiv e minute BBC news. The upsurge in BBC program material can be attributed

to the great interest in European affairs brought about by World War II.

Table 9 shows sources of ZFY program material as indicated by the news­ paper radio schedules in Appendix VI. The rise in dramatic productions

to fifty minutes, or 17.5 percent of the days program schedule, was due

to a series of dramatizations about various aspects of the war. Re­

ligion and a variety program were each broadcast for ten minutes fill­ ing 5.2 percent of the days radio log. A half hour of East Indian music was also programmed in the 1940 schedule, which was the f i r s t re a l

concession by ZFY to the large East Indian population.

As the ferocity of World War II increased, the desire for inter­ n atio n al news also grew and in the 1942 program schedule one hour of

BBC news relays was carried. The importance of international news is

further illustrated when Table 8 shows that twenty-one percent of the days air time was taken up by BBC news relays. Local news remained at a low level accounting for only five minutes of program time or

1.7 percent which was the same as the 1940 program schedule. While

total program time remained at four hours and forty-five minutes on

the 1942 log, there were sev eral adjustments from the 1940 schedule.

The Company signed on at 7:15 A.M. with a BBC English news broadcast

immediately followed by a BBC French news show. A fourth transm ission

period was added as the BBC beamed short wave French broadcasts to

British Guiana for relay throughout the Caribbean and to French 136

Guiana. A total of forty-five minutes, or 15.7 percent of program time, in the 1942 schedule was devoted to French language broadcasts.

Music, though, remained the largest program category with one hour and fifty-five minutes of live or gramophone music which took up 40.3 percent of the days format. While total music time remained about the same as in the 1940 log, there was a decided shift in favor of classi­ cal and religious music. Of the two hours and ten minutes of music programmed, one hour and forty minutes, or 35.7 percent of the schedule, was classical music or church choirs. A fifteen minute religious pro­ gram filled on 5.8 percent of the days schedule, while variety programs took up thirty minutes.

The largest increase in broadcast time took place between the

1942 program schedule and the 1944 log, when air time increased from four hours and forty-five minutes to seven hours and forty-five minutes. Table 9 indicates the increase was due mostly to the utili­ zation of foreign program material from the United States of America and Great Britain. The United States, through the Armed Forces Radio

Service (AFRS) and WRUL radio, New York, supplied three hours and forty-six minutes of entertainment programs and news which was 48.1 percent of the days schedule. The BBC provided one hour and thirty- one minutes of short wave news broadcast that took up 19.8 percent of the 1944 program log. Foreign sources, combined, provided the Company with 67.9 percent of the days program material or four hours and fifty- fiv e minutes of programs. The Company programmed le ss than th irty percent of their air time as the BPI produced a fifteen minute news program. In all, only 32.2 percent of the program time in the 1944 137 program schedule was produced in British Guiana.

The radio schedule for 1944 showed a shift away from classical music to popular music. No classical music programs appeared in the radio log, whereas, two hours and twenty-nine minutes of popular music was aired. Overall, music accounted for thirty-two percent of the days schedule. News was the next highest category with the BBC pro­ viding one hour and th irty -o n e minutes of news and the Bureau of Public

Information preparing the only local newscast which was fifteen minutes in length. Also, WRUL radio, New York, a privately licensed inter­ national short wave station was picked up and its thirty minute

Caribbean news program relayed by ZFY. Together, the BBC, WRUL and

BPI produced two hours and sixteen minutes of news or 28,6 of the days scheduled air time. Variety programs, produced in the United

States and disseminated by AFRS, accounted for 19.3 percent of the days schedule with one hour and thirty minutes of program material.

Religious programs filled forty-five minutes of time and a thirty minute local East Indian program took up 6.4 percent of the days schedule.

The program log selected from 1946 showed another increase in program time up to nine hours. Again, foreign material dominated the program schedule with five hours and fifteen minutes, or sixty-three percent, coming either from the BBC, AFRS or WRUL, New York. The

Company relayed only fifty-five minutes of BBC news but picked up forty-five minutes of BBC entertainment programs. With the decrease of BBC news, locally produced news rose in emphasis and 8.4 percent of the days schedule, or forty-five minutes, was local news. Armed Forces 138

Radio Service supplied two hours and twenty-five minutes, or 36.7

percent, of entertainment program material. The half hour "West Indian

Radio Newspaper" from WRUL was s till relayed by the Company as indica­

ted by the 1946 program log. Music s till dominated the program.

Music still dominated the program category filling 40.3 percent

of the days program schedule with three hours and thirty-five minutes

of classical and popular music. As Table 8 shows, popular music far

exceeded classical and band music. Drama and religious programs were

each aired only fifteen minutes taking up 2.8 percent of the days

schedule. Variety programs, mostly from AFRS, filled more time than

during-1946. Variety program material accounted for 23.5 percent

of the days total air time with two hours and five minutes.

The 1946 program schedule showed th a t ZFY was broadcasting

twenty-five separate programs that day. Between sign on at 7:00 A.M.

and sign off at 9:00 P.M., the station closed down for a two hour

period in the morning and a three hour interval in the afternoon.

The hours of service during 1948, as indicated by the newspaper

program schedule in Appendix VI, remained basically the same as during

1946. Sign off was extended to 9:05 P.M. making room for a five

minute local newscast. Local programming increased appreciably in the

1948 program schedule and only fifty-five minutes of BBC news was

relayed from Great Britain. The Armed Forces Radio Service no longer

supplied program material to ZFY in 1948, but two hours and thirty

minutes of syndicated program material from the United States was

obtained. The WRUL h a lf hour regional newscast was not programmed

and local programs increased to fill the void. Local programs in the 139

1948 log increased to five hours and forty minutes, or 62.3 percent, of the days schedule.

The 1948 program log showed a su b sta n tia lly g reater amount of popular music being played. There was no classical music scheduled in the 1948 log but popular music comprised 48.8 percent of the total air time with four hours and twenty-five minutes live or gramophone music.

Local news decreased to twenty minutes or ten percent of the days program schedule. The Bureau of Public Information also produced a five minute news cast taken from the local newspapers.

Religion and dramatic program time increased in the 1948 program log. Dramatic programs took up one hour while religious services and choirs accounted for forty-five minutes. Variety programs were down to thirty-five minutes or only 6.4 percent of the days air time. The East

Indian half hour of music continued on the schedule and ZFY added a thirty minute sports program.

Foreign Ownership of The British Guiana United

Broadcasting Company Limited 1950-1967

Rediffusion International Limited, the firm that gained the controlling interest in the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company

Limited, is part of a communications conglomerate that has extensive radio and television holdings in Great Britain and British Commonwealth

Countries. Rediffusion’s involvement in broadcast started with wire relay services in Great Britain in 1928.^-*-' Peter Eckersely, former

BBC Chief Engineer, joined the firm in 1931 because wire relay offer-

4^1"World of Rediffusion," Rediffusion Publicity Division, England, p. 4. 140

ed advantages over wireless broadcasting. a Rediffusion subsidiary

created to handle wire relay in Great Britain, Broadcast Relay Services

Limited, has since become the largest company of its kind in Great

Britain servicing some 500,000 of the more than one million subscribers

who get radio and te le v isio n by w ir e .^ ^

Shortly after starting wire relays in Great Britain, Rediffusion

started expanding into British Colonies. Since 1935, Rediffusion Limi­

ted has built or bought controlling interest intwelve wire or wireless

broadcasting services in various Commonwealth Countries including

Trinidad, British Guiana, Malta, Malaya, Nigeria and Hong Kong.^^

Rediffusion International, a subsidiary of Rediffusion Limited, was

created to handle all international business holdings and prospect for

new properties. The firm acts as a sales and advertising representa­

tive in Great Britain for sixty-six overseas radio and television

stations.^45 The consultant services of Rediffusion International

does public opinion surveys as well as plan, build and/or operate

broadcast services for different nations.Since the establishment

^ ^ B r i ggs, The Golden Age of Wireless, Vol. II, p. 4.

443paulu, British Broadcasting, p. 27.

444great B rita in , Handbook on Broadcasting Services in the C olonies, Great B rita in , Sound and Television! Handbook; 1962(London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1963), and Central Rediffusion Services Limited, Commercial Broadcasting in the West Indies(London: Butterworth Scientific Publications, 1956), and Rediffusion Limited, "Independent Local Radio" (London), 1971.

445"in

446 ib id . , p. 1. 141 of another Rediffusion subsidiary in Great Britain, Rediffusion Inter­ national has also started syndicating films and television series throughout the world.

Rediffusion Limited also owns 37 1/2 percent of the stock in

Associated Rediffusion, an Independent Television Authority program

su p p lier for the London a r e a . 448 Films and television series produced by Associated Rediffusion are syndicated internationally by Rediffusion

International which interlocks production and distribution between sister companies.449 proni studio Five, a ^ 1,000,000 television com­ plex in London, Associated RMiffusion produces a variety of programs including a large amount of BBC radio and tele v isio n broadcasts to schools.450 Associated Rediffusion also owns a music publishing com­ pany, several film production agencies and is the publisher of Indepen­ dent Television’s "TV Times."451

The B ritish Guiana United Broadcasting Company, then, became part of a large broadcasting organization that had a good deal of ex­ perience in Commonwealth Countries. Under normal circumstances, Redif­ fusion International’s first step was to negotiate a long term "Agree­ ment" with the local Government. The Company, however, had already

^^•^Dizard, A World View, pp. 168-9.

4^8Paulu, British Broadcasting, p. 62.

449Dizard, A World View, p. 168.

45*-*Great B rita in , B ritain ; An O ffic ia l Handbook (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1967), p .,160

451]3urton Paulu, British Broadcasting in Transition(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1961), p. 65. 142 completed Agreement negotiations when Rediffusion became the majority stock holder on July 25, 1950.^-^ The license renewal and signing of the long term Agreement had taken place March 20, 1950, some four months before the dated transfer of shares.^3 Copies of the license and

Agreement are located in Appendices IV and VII, respectively.

The license authorizing broadcast transmission and the Agreement basically cover different matters. The license is a technical document going into greater detail than the Wireless Telegraphy Regulations,

1938. The Agreement, on the other hand, covers programming and other non-technical matters incorporating many of the suggestions made by the

1938 British Guiana Broadcast Committee contained in the Report of the

Broadcast Committee.

The license authorized operations in accordance with the Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894 and the provisions of the International

Telecommunications Convention.The licensee must operate the station on the authorized frequency and must not interfrer with other commercial, amateur or military wireless stations.The station must also maintain equipment for reception as well as transmitting, which

452»gtatement of Ownership, 1950,"September 1950, Deeds R egistry, F ile 344, Georgetown, Guyana.

^53”License to Establish a Wireless Reception and Broadcasting and Transmission Station 1950," British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Limited, March 20, 1950 and "Agreement" between British Guiana and B ritis h Guiana United Broadcasting Company Limited, March 20, 1950. Located in Appendix IV.

454"License to Establish..." Article 1. 455lb id .t Articles 5, 6, 9, 10. 1.43

takes on fuller meaning in light of the Agreement requirements. The

aerials or antenna system of the station and subsequent emissions are

subject to periodic Post Office inspection and approval.Transmitter and station books and records must also be open to Post Office inspec­

tion and an operational log, to include transmission periods, program­ ming, technical checks of equipment and unusual occurances, must be kept available for examination.^-^ The station must also operate with­ out interfering with the telegraph system, or, in case of interference, re c tify damages or pay for labor and equipment cost to rep air the service.459 The Licensee is further required to keep an accurate clock at the station for the hourly and half hourly station identifications.^®

The "Agreement" between the Government of British Guiana and the

British Guiana United Broadcast Company is a comprehensive document that covers four basic areas. These four areas 'are: (1) the license and Agreement, (2) technical and equipment improvements, (3) program­ ming serv ices, and (4) Government au th o rity .

The life of the first Agreement was fifteen years dated from

January 1, 1950, and the Government promised to continue granting broadcast rights and licenses to the Company for as long as the Agree­ ment was in force. It was further stipulated that for the first five

^•^Ibid, Article 6.

^~*^Ibid. , Article 7.

^ ^Ibid. , Articles 8, 12 and 13.

^~^Ibid. , Articles 9, 10 and 11.

46®Ibid., Article 14. 144 year terra, the license would be exclusive with the reservation that

the Government could start a non-commercial station at any tim e.^1

If the Government did not indicate otherwise, the Agreement was to be automatically extended for an additional five year period on the day

the original Agreement expired.Article twelve affirms the obliga­

tion of the licensee to live up to the conditions of the license granted in conjunction with the Agreement. This section also leaves open the possibility of modifying the annual license, whereas, the

Agreement could only be modified on the date of expiration, January 1,

1 9 6 5 . Any violations of the Agreement or license by anyone concern­ ed with the station operation "shall be deemed to be an act or omission as the case may be of the licensee."^64

Anticipating major improvements to existing facilities, the

Agreement gave the Company specific approval to move the station, sub­ stitute a transmitter for the one in operation and add facilities as

long as frequency and power remain constant.The Company was re ­ quired to provide and install fifty radio receivers for communal listen­ ing in sites designated by the Government. ^66 Agreement further stipulated that the Company would purchase and instal a new short wave

461"Agreement,11 Articles 1 and 2.

462 ib la . , Article 21.

463 ib id . , Article 12.

464n>id. » A rtic le 19.

465ibid., Article 3.

466lbid., Article lb. 145 transmitter, short wave receiving apparatus for BBC relays and record­ ing facilities, to include wire and magnetic recorders. The Government also required the construction of at least one sound proof air condi­ tioned studio. Placing the medium wave transmitter, purchased in 1949, in regular service was also stipulated in the Agreement as soon as enough medium wave receivers were available to Georgetown listeners.^67

The Agreement authorized the Company to originate local, as well as receive and relay, external program material for general recep­ t i o n . ^ ® xo accomplish the general program objectives, the Company was charged with efficiently maintaining and operating equipment for reception and transmission.^69 The licensee is required to broadcast not less than eithteen hours daily providing service at least between

7:00 A.M. and 11:00 P.M. The Government reserved the rig h t to take, without payment, up to one and a h alf hours of program time d aily a t an hour selected by the Government. ^0 T^e ]_ic e n s e e £s fu rth e r re ­ quired to include at least twenty-one hours of British Broadcasting

Corporation programs weekly in time periods decided jointly by the

Company and the Government.The licensee must also keep records of the program matter and advertisements carried and make these records

^67Ibid. , Article 25 and Schedule A.

^6® Ibid., A rtic le 3.

^69Ibid. , Article 4.

*7QIbid.

^7^Ibid., Article 5. 146 available upon request to any designated Government officer.472

In payment for abiding by the Agreement, the Government promised

to give the Company ninety percent of the annual wireless receiver

receipts for the first five years. At the end of the five year period,

the subsidy would come up for review and could be reduced or eliminated

by the Government.473 Up to ten minutes hourly can be devoted to

commercial advertisements but placement cannot be in or adjacent to

Government or BBC programs.474

Power to censor program m aterial was given the Government by the

Agreement. Hie Governor in Council may require the licensee to submit written statements about content prior to transmission.473 The Govern­

ment can also stop any program or require the transmission of program

material if it is deemed in the public interest.47^ The licensee is

further restricted from carrying programs from foreign stations "which

may contain propaganda whether of a political, social, religious or

economic nature."477 a foreign station was defined as a station not

situated in the United Kingdom or any British territory or trust.473

Program matter that is indecent, obscene or derogatory or subversive

472Ibi~d., A rtic le 4.

473I b id ., A rtic le 5.

474Ib id ., A rticles! 4 and 6.

475I b id ., A rtic le 8.

476Ib id ., A rtic le 9.

477I b i d .. A rtic le 10.

478Ib id . 147 to public order is also forbidden by the Agreement.

The Government retained the privilege of appointing an Advisory

Committee to oversee program policy and make reports to the Government.480

The Agreement also called for the appointment of two Government nominees to the Company’s Board of Directors.481 An emergency powers clause authorizes the Government to take, control of the sta tio n "for the public safety or for the maintenance of order in the Colony."482 rphe Govern­ ment is also obligated to pay the licensee the actual running cost of the station during any period of Government c o n t r o l . 4 ^

Articles sixteen and twenty-one give the Government the right to purchase the broadcast station under certain conditions. If the licen­ see goes into bankruptcy or wants to go out of business, the Government can purchase the station assets at fair market value to be determined by n e g o tia tio n .4^4 The Government also has the rig h t to purchase the station at the end of the fifteen year Agreement provided more than twelve months notice of intent is given. If twelve months written notice was not given prior to the determination of the Agreement, a five year extension to the life of the Agreement would automatically

4^ Ibid., Article 11.

48(^Ibid. , A rtic le 22.

^•''Ib id . , A rtic le 23.

48^Ib id . , A rtic le 15.

483Ibid.

484I b id ., A rtic le 16. 148 be given.

The Agreement urges the Company to hire British Guiana residents but recognizes the need for foreign employees with specialized skills in 486 order to maintain an efficient broadcast system. Arbitration provi­ sions to resolve conflict between Government and Company are also in­ cluded in the Agreement. The provisions call for the appointment of one arbitrator, if both sides agree, or titfo arbitrators, one appointed by 487 Government and the other by the Company, if agreement is not possible.

The Government fu rth er demanded th a t w ithin th irty days of the signing of the Agreement the private Company be changed to a public corpora- tio n . 488

Complying with article forty-five of the Agreement, the Company

Board of Directors, by extraordinary resolution, on February 21, 1950, voted to change the firm’s status from a private to public corporation on the date the Agreement came into force,A major stock transfer was recorded July 25, 1950, after the Board of Directors authorized the crea­ tion and sale of stock to Rediffusion International. Appendix VIII shows the re s u lts of the stock tra n sfe rs between July and December 31,

1950. Three shareholders, the Argosy Company Limited, R. G. Humphrey and Charles O'Dowd, completely disposed of their stock during 1950.

Bridget O'Dowd, Patricia O'Dowd, 0. S. Wight, C. Salvato and Rediffusion

485ibid. , Article 21. 486ibid. , Article 7. 487ib id . , A rtic le 26. ^8®Ibid., Article 24. 489"special Resolution, 1950." Deeds Registry, File 344, Georgetown, Guyana. 149.

Limited increased their shareholdings during the stock transfer. Booker

Brothers McConnell Limited, William Fogarty Limited, Charles Kellman,

H. L. Rowe and Humphrey and Sons Limited reduced their shareholdings collectively by 5,300 shares. The Guiana Match Company, Bettencourt-

Gomes, Gerald Defreitas and Wieting and Richter Limited retained their shares in the Company. Collectively, eight individuals, either totally or in part, reduced their holdings by 6,802 shares which were taken by five individuals. The five individuals who increased holdings in the

Company were Bridget O’Dowd, Patricia O'Dowd, 0. S. Wight and Rediffusion

Limited. The capitalization of the Company was also increased by creat­ ing 7,607 shares a t BG$1.00 per share. The new shares and m ajority of transferred stock were taken by Rediffusion Limited, increasing the firm ’s holdings to 15,300 shares making a foreign company majority stock­ h o ld e r.490

With controlling interest in the Company, Rediffusion changed the station call sign from ZFY to Radio Demerara, sent Canadian Warren

Robinson to Georgetown as General Manager and appointed James E. Haywood 491 and Kenrick Murray to the Board of Directors. Both Haywood and Murray were Rediffusion officials employed in the Caribbean regional office.

Johnny A. Adamson was to continue as Board Chairman for a period of three / Q 9 years as part of the sales agreement. Oscar Wight stayed on the

Ib id . , and Johnny Adamson, Interview . 491 "Statement of Ownership, 1950," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana.

492Johnny Adamson, Interview. 150.

Board of Directors even though the firm he represented, the Argosy Com­

pany, liquidated its holdings. John St. Felix Dare, representing Wieting

& R ichter Limited, and A. E. Gagan, the Government nominee, also remained

on the reconstituted Board. In accordance with Article twenty-three, the

Government appointed a second nominee to the Board of Directors, who was 493 Edwin F. McDavid, a c iv il servant.

During 1951, the Board of Directors was cut back to six members when 0. S. Wight terminated his association with the Company. Later that

year, the Board of Directors proposed a two for one stock split and a re­

classification of stockholders. A special stockholders meeting was held

December 6, 1951 to r a tif y the Board’s decisions and a l l stock was e ith e r

classified ordinary or preferred. 494 Ordinary shareholders are not

guaranteed a return on their investment but they retained voting rights

at stockholder meetings and affect Company policy. Preferred share­

holders, however, are guaranteed a minimum six percent annual return on 495 their investment but have no voice in Company operations.

Appendix IX•shows the ordinary and preferred shareholders in the

Company a fte r the December 6, 1951 general meeting. A fter the two for

one stock split, Booker Brothers McConnell Limited liquidated its holdings

of 2,000 shares which were bought jointly by two Rediffusion employees,

John Rowlatt and Frank Wilde. The shares held by Wilde and Rowlatt were

classified as Ordinary shares giving them a voice in Company operations.

493ngtatement of Ownership, 1950." 494 "Statement of Ownership, 1951," Deeds Registry, File 344, Georgetown, Guyana.

•’Johnny Adamson, Interview . 151.

Kenrick Murray and James Haywood, two other Rediffusion employees, also bought ordinary shares. The only two ordinary shareholders hot employed 496 by Rediffusion Limited were John Dare and Johnny Adamson. Adamson continued to remain as Board Chairman and despite his minority position dominated Company policy.

They Rediffusion Limited have never interfered with me in point of fact, if they write to say anything and I don’t agree with it, I just write back and say I ’m not going to do this; I don’t agree with it and they don't ^ 7 argue with me. They have given me a completely free hand.

During 1951, the Government appointed an Alvisory Committee under the terms of the Agreement. The Committee started selecting sites in the interior for communal radio sets which were to be installed by the

Company. The Committee also suggested that the Company present social welfare programs in the daily ninety minute period allocated to the

Government but not utilized.

Technical improvements dominated 1952 as the Company installed new 499 transmitters and started making plans for a new studio. With increased service, as demanded by the Agreement, Radio Demerara employment rose 500 from fifteen in 1950 to twenty-seven during 1952.

Political developments greatly affected broadcasting in 1953 and they

^^"Statement of Ownership, 1951."

497 J. A. Adamson, Interview .

^ ^ G reat B rita in , Report on B ritish Guiana fo r the Year 1951 (London: Her M ajesty's Stationery O ffice, 195.2), p. 118.

Esther Chapman, e d ., "Radio in the West In d ie s," The West Indian Review, 1960, p .40.

■^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1951, p. 118. 152. continue to be a strong force on the medium to this day. Broadcasting became the topic of debate in the February 18, 1953 Legislative Council meeting when Dr. Cheddi Jagan complained that Radio Dhmerara was taking a political stand by discriminating against the Peoples Progressive

Party. Jagan said station officials refused to take an advertisement sponsored by the P. P. P. for a train excursion trip to Buxton, claiming it represented a political event. Station officials countered by saying they would run the advertisements under an individual's name but not under a political party label. The ensuing debate over what constituted political advertising clarified the matter for the coming elections.

Political advertising was forbidden but politicians could be on the radio if they appeared as private individuals or in line with their currently held political office. The sponsorship of an advertisement or program, like the train excursion, could not be in the name of a political party. but must be sponsored by a non-political corporation or an individual.

Shortly after the 1953 elections, which resulted in a victory for

Jagan and the P. P. P ., Edwin F. McDavid and A. E. Gagan re tire d as the

Government's nominees to the Company Board of Directors and were replaced by Vivian Dias, Public Trustee, and Walter Ogle Davis, Financial Secre- 502 tary . Except for the Government nominees the composition of the Board

•*®^British Guiana, Legislative Council of British Guiana, Minutes of the Legislative Council, October 19, 1951 to April 2, 1953, Vol. 23, pp. 3892-3884. 502 Letter to Deeds Registry from the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Limited, 1953, File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana. 153.

remained stable. The number of persons employed by the Company, though,

expanded to thirty-six in 1953 which placed a further burden on the al­

ready overcrowded North Road studio and office facilities increasing the 503 need for a new building.

The political situation deteriorated rapidly during 1953 and on

October 8, 1953, the Constitution of British Guiana was suspended and

the following day the Chief Secretary read the suspension order of Her

Majesty’s Government over Radio Demerara."*^ Immediately following the

suspension order, the Governor, Sir Alfred Savage, read a statement 505 explaining the reasons for the supension. The political crises,

though, created a lack of confidence in the Government and less than a week later, on October 16, 1953, the Governor again took radio time to

try and bolster confidence in the Government and stop a rush of customer 506 withdrawals on the local banks.

The British Guiana political crises of 1953 led to social and 507 economic change in a number of areas. One Government response to the

political disorders and constitutional suspension was the request for

the Colonial Office help to reorganize the Bureau of Public Information

and systematic use of radio broadcasting. In response to British

Guiana's plea, the Colonial Office requested the service of BBC officer

503 Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1953 (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1954).

■^Great Britain, Constitution Suspension Order, p.3.

~^-*Ibid. , p. 9 .

^Q^Ib id . , p. 16.

507Supra, p. 29. 154.

Henry Straker, who had just developed Government broadcasting in Jamaica at another Rediffusion Limited commercial station. Straker was sent to

British Guiana for six months in 1954 and he helped to create the 508 Government Information Service.

Construction on a new air-conditioned broadcast house finally

started in 1954 on High Street after several years of planning. Work on

the complex, which contained three studios and two control rooms, was 509 completed in 1955. Another Agreement stipulation was also concluded in 1955 when the Company finished installing all fifty communal receivers 510 in sites selected by the Broadcast Advisory Committee. In 1957, ful­

filling one more Agreement term, the Company bought a tract of land to house transmitters and mast antennas at Sparandaam, some seven miles from . 511 the station.

The Company’s Board of Directors changed composition on April 18,

1956, when Arthur Hockenhull, Government Public Relations Adv isor, 512 became the Government nominee replacing Walter Davis. Hockenhull

resigned eight months la te r on December 17, 1956, and was replaced by 513 John Leslie Fletcher, the Government's Development Secretary. The

only other major personnel change in 1956 was the transfer of Radio

■^Henry Straker, Personal letter, May 20, 1972.

•^Chapman, West Indian Review, p. 40.

510creat Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1955 (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1956), p. 83.

■^Chapman, The West Indian Review, p. 40.

■^N ote in F ile 344, May, 1956, Deeds R egistry, Georgetown, Guyana.

S-^Note in F ile 344, Deeds R egistry, Georgetown, Guyana. 155.

Demerara’s General Manager, Warren Robinson, who was replaced by Peter

Heslceth, another Rediffusion official. 514 In December, 1957, Vivian Dias,

the Government nominee to the Board of D irectors resigned and was re ­

placed by the Chief Information O fficer of the Government Inform ation Servi

Service, Arthur J. Seymour. 51 5

Late in 1957, Johnny Adamson took a visiting Rediffusion Official

on a courtesy call to Prime Minister Jagan and the conversation resulted

in the creation of a second radio service.

He [Jagan] said, I understand you haven't got sufficient air time. I said, well when you say air time you say advertising time; I would say yes we just can't take care of all the advertisements that come in . . . He said, could you take it up [the proposed second radio service]. I said certainly; so we had two d iffe re n t wave lengths then.-’-*-®

The groundwork for adding the second service was an informal proce­

dure done orally between Adamson and F. D. Jakeway, Chief Secretary to

the Prime Minister. 517 Written permission was finally granted in a

letter dated January 27, 1958, that served as the legal basis for the

British Guiana Broadcast Service (BGBS).^-*-® Copies of the correspondence

pertaining to the development of BGBS are in Appendix X. The same broad-

Sl^British Guiana, Government Information Service, Guiana Diary, 1956 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1956), p. 169. 515 "Government Nominee, 1957," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana.

a. Adamson, Interview .

^-^-^Ib id .

^l^etter, F. D. Jakeway to P. E. M. Hesketh, January 27, 1958, Guyana Information Service Files, Reference Number C, 136/1/1/5. 156. cast license continued in force but the Government letter authorized the utilization of the second frequency. The letter also stipulated that ten percent of BGBS time would be allotted to the Government, free of charge, in addition to the time already granted the Government on 519 Radio Demerara. Subsequent letters revised clause five of the 1950

Agreement calling for a minimum ten and one-half hours of BBC relays weekly instead of the original twenty-one hours of BBC programs. 520

The Government also refused to reimburse the Company for copyright fees incurred from BBC rebroadcasts above the minimum required number of 521 hours. News relays, either from the BBC or British Regional

Caribbean Stations, were to be relayed three times daily over Radio 522 Demerara and tv/ice daily over BGBS.

Before BGBS was officially opened by British Guiana's Governor, on

December 22, 1958, extensive technical changes were made to accommodate the new service. The High Street studios were expanded and transmitters and mast antennas were installed at Sparandaam. J 523 The opening ceremony for the new radio service was a major social event broadcast simultan­ eously over Radio Demerara and BGBS. The Governor, Sir Alfred Savage,

520Tjjis was proposed in a l e t t e r from P. E. M. Hesketh to F. D. Jalceway, February 27, 1958 and confirmed by l e t t e r from M. S. Porcher (for Chief Secretary) to P. E. M. Hesketh, April 23, 1958, Guyana Information Service files or Radio Demerara files, Reference Number 136/1/1/5.

521Ibid.

523great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1958 (London: Her M ajesty's Stationery O ffice, 1959), p. 181. 1 5 7 •

and five hundred guests attended the inaugural broadcast from the ball- 524 room of the Hotel Tower.

Prior to the opening of BGBS, it was announced in August, 1958,

that the Government had agreed in principal to allow the implementation 525 of commercial television in British Guiana. The Government invited

applications from interested companies and required information on the

range of transmission, resources available to operate a television system cn/ and the facilities to be offered to the Government. The Government, however, reconsidered introducing television in October, 1959, because

of "existing economic conditions,"527

Also in 1958, John Fletcher, who had previously been appointed to

the Company’s Board of D irecto rs, resigned h is p o sitio n and Gordon

Gillette, Senior Crown Council, was appointed to fill the vacancy on

June 13, 1958.In 1960, a fte r more than a f u ll year of combined

operations, the Radio Demerara-BGBS complex employed eighty-five persons, 529 of which ninety-eight percent were native Guianese.

~*2^The Daily C hronicle, December 22, 1958, p. 5.

-^B ritish Guiana, Government Information Service, Government Information Services Annual Report; 1958 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1959), p. 6. 526^.1 Ib id .

•^B ritish Guiana, Government Information Services, Government Information Services Annual: 1959 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1960), p. 7.

528Note in File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana.

^^^Chapman, West Indian Review, p. 40. 158.

Prime Minister Cheddi Jagan*s reelection in 1961 brought the

British Colony to the edge of political disorder. Policies of Jagan and

the P. P. P. were viewed as racist or Marxist by the Africans and 530 Europeans. One action that stirred opposition was the P. P. P.

Government authorizing their own Party to construct and operate a radio station. 531 Opposition Leader Linden Forbes Burnham vigorously protested

the action in the Legislature and in the local and foreign press.

The Congress party said establishment of such a station would mean eventual suppression and supplanting of free radio here and free comment over radio. The statement also said the granting of a license for a party radio station meant it would exercise unlimited influence over the minds of the people of this country through propaganda.*^2

Burnham said the P. P. P. radio station would result in "mental enslave­ ment to the ideology of one political party . . . and put an end to the independence of thought" which is vital in a democracy.

Burnham, however, was not content to merely p ro te st the P. P. P. actions in the local and foreign press. Andrew Jackson, President of

the British Guiana Postal Union and Secretary to the Peoples National

Congress, employed a United States broadcast engineer with union funds to make a feasibility study and survey for a proposed radio station. Ronald

Stewart, a First Class Engineer, conducted the survey between February 3

^^Supra, pp. 28-29.

~*3^Sunday Graphic, September 17, 1961, p. 28.

~*^T he New York Times, September 17, 1961, p. 34.

• ^ Sunday Graphic, September 17, 1961, p. 28. 159. and 9, 1962.534

The original plan called for a medium wave service to cover 535 Georgetown and the surrounding areas up to a 190 mile radius. The cost estimate for land, construction, technical and program packages was 536 US$69,285,00, excluding tarrifs.

In the event the license application was denied, alternate plans were considered in the survey report. The first alternative was to attempt to purchase the stations, operated by the British Guiana United

Broadcasting Company. 537 The second possibility was an unlicensed

"pirate" station.

The second alternative would be to activate a mobile low-powered, unlicensed transmitter, that could be hidden inside the country or placed on a boat anchored outside the three mile limit in international waters.338

The proposed mobile transmitter would have had a limited range because the transmitter and antenna would have to be small and easily portable to reduce chances of detection. Stewart suggested a 100 to

250 watt medium wave transmitter with a coverage area of about ten miles 539 miles. An extended coverage area would not be necessary because

33^Ronald Stewart, Personal Interview, in Lexington, Kentucky, on June 18, 1973. 535 Ronald Stewart, "Engineering Survey and Report for Proposed Broadcast Station in Georgetown, British Guiana," unpublished report, 1962, p. 9.

536I b id ., p. 11.

33^I b id ., p. 20.

538Ibid.

539Ib id ., p. 21. 160.

British Guiana's population is concentrated on the coastal belt and in the Georgetown area."^®

At the end of the survey period, application for a broadcast trans­ mitting station license was made to the Ministry of Development and C / T Planning in the name of Andrew Jackson. The license application pro­ cedure had changed with the political reforms of 1953 and 1960 which

r / n created a Ministerial system of Government. Prior to 1953, applica­ tions for broadcast licenses were made to the Post Office Department and disposition was made only by the Governor in Council. 5 A3 After 1953, the Post Office Department became part of the Ministry of Communications.

Applications for broadcase licenses made under the Parliamentary system first went to the Ministry of Development and Planning and were then 544 circulated to various departments for approval or disapproval. If no objections to the applications were made, engineering data was then submitted to the Ministry of Communications for examination by the Radio , 545 Services Division under the Ministry s Engineer-in-Chief.

Stewart left British Guiana on the advice of Andrew Jackson on

February 9, 1962, before finishing the final draft of his report.

Jackson warned Stewart that the British Guiana unions and civil service

3^Supra, p. 17.

541-Stewart, "Engineering Report and Survey," p. 1.

j>42supra, pp. 27-30.

543Ibid.

■^^Stewart, "Engineering Report and Survey," p. 5.

-^ C h a rle s Cunha, Personal Interview in Georgetown, Guyana on December 1.8, 1972. 161. were to go out on strike and close the country down.starting February

10, 1962, and that would mean all flights in or out of British Guiana 546 would be cancelled. The General strike did take place and later that year racial violence occurred forcing Prime Minister Jagan to call in

British troops to quell the rioting.Because of the violence and intervention of British troops, action on the broadcase license applica- txon was never taken.* 1 548

On January 9, 1963, the two Government nominees, Arthur J. Seymour and Gordon G ille tte , were replaced by the Jagan Government with two East

Indians, Lloyd Searwar, acting Chief Inform ation O fficer, and David Yhan, a le c tu re r a t the Government Training I n s titu te .'* ^

Also in 1963, the P. P. P. Government announced that, in accor­ dance \rLth Article twenty-one of the Agreement, twelve months notice was given p rio r to the Government assuming control of the radio sta tio n s on 550 the date the franchise expired December 31, 1953. Jagan and his sup­ porters felt the radio station was a tool of big business in British

Guiana catering to Booker Brothers McConnell Limited, William Fogarty

Limited, Wieting and Richter Limited and the Argosy Company Limited.

The radio stations, according to Jagan, espoused the political feelings

5^8Ronald Stewart, Interview.

• ^ Supra, p. 32.

-^®Ronald Stewart, Interview. 549 "Government Nominee's 1963," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana.

^•^"Guyana to Seize Radio S tatio n s," The New York Times, December 18, 1963, p. 17. 162. of the sugar planters and were kept in line by the franchise and exclu- siviety clause. 551 Between the announcement and the proposed takeover, however, Jagan and the P. P. P. lost an election to a coalition of the

Peoples National Congress and the United Force.

. . . about one year before 1964 we were notified by the Jagan Government that our franchise would not be renewed. In th a t, I think the Jagan Government was serio u sly unhappy with the content or alleged slant of our broadcasting. However, when, in December, 1964, there were the elections and Jagan lost, he with great speed renewed our franchise for the fifte e n year period. We were somewhat amused a t the time because i t x?as obvious he was somewhat afraid th a t the succeeding Government might take possession of the radio station and then things might be a lost worse for him, so he renewed the franchise.-*^2

The new Government under L. F. S. Burnham’s Peoples N ational

Congress replaced Lloyd Searwar and David Yhan as nominees to the Board 553 of Directors on April 5, 1965. Burnham, however, did not choose spec sp e c ific individuals as the new Government nominees. He, in stead , selected the Government o ffices he wished to have represented on the

Board and the persons who filled these Government positions automati­ cally were named to the Company's Board of Directors. The offices repre­ sented on the Board of Directors were the Chief Information Officer of the Government Inform ation Service and the Engineer-in-Chief of the 554 M inistry of Communications. The M inistry of Communications was re -

*^Cheddi Jagan, The West on Trial (London: Michael Joseph Publishing Company, 1966), p. 107. 552 Rafiq Khan, Interview .

5 5 5 "Government Nominees, 1965," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana.

554Ibid. 163.

sponsible for all technical matters pertaining to radio broadcasting and

the Cbief Information Officer represented the Prime M inister's Chief

Secretary, who was responsible for program content and making sure the

Company lived.up to the Agreement. 555

After independence in 1966, information services were elevated to

Ministerial position with the creation of the Ministry of Information

and C ulture. Under th is new organization stru c tu re on March 16, 1967,

the Office of Chief Information Officer was replaced on the Board by the

M inister's Permanent Secretary, who was Martin V. Spence.The forma­

tio n of a public corporation to handle a l l wired and w ireless communica­

tions in Guyana on March 1, 1967, the Guyana Telecommunications Corpora­

tion, resulted in the General Manager of the new body replacing the 557 Engineer-in-C hief as the Government nominee to the Board of D irectors.

The change occurred only on paper as the Engineer-in-Chief of the

M inistry of Communications became the f i r s t General Manager of the Guyana

CEO Telecommunications Corporation.

Prior to independence from Great Britain, the British Guiana

United Broadcasting Company Limited requested, in an April 28, 1966, letter, permission to change the firm's name to the Guyana Broadcasting

Company Limited and the call letters of BGBS to GBS. The Solicitor

- ^ Supra, p. 145 and "Agreement in Appendix VII,

■^"Government Nominee, 1967," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana.

557 Guyana, Laws, Statutes, etc., Guyana Telecommunications Corpor­ ation Order, 1967, to amend The Public Corporations Ordinance, 1962, Bill 23 of 1962, The Official Gazette, September 29, 1962.

-^"Government Nominee, 1967," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana. 164.

Gfcneral approved the request by l e t t e r on May 31, 1966, four days a fte r 559 the country gained independence.

After independence, officials at the Ministry of Information and

Culture employed C. A. Nascimento, a local journalist and public rela­

tions specialist, and Hugh Cholmondely, a Radio Demerara announcer, to prepare a confidential report outlining The Development of a National

Broadcasting System for Guyana. The Cholmondely-Nascimento report stated that the existing broadcast system was not serving the needs of a newly developing country lik e Guyana. The s itu a tio n was characterized in the report.

Newly developing n atio n s, and Guyana is ty p ic a l in this respect have usually inherited a broadcasting 'system' from the recent colonial power. It is foreign owned and operated with little thought for cultural and nationalist needs and is motivated by and programmed for p r o fit. There is very seldom any broadcast legislation . . . or a broadcast authority to implement such legislation.-^1

The failure of the foreign owned commercial broadcast system, in

the view of Nascimento and Cholmondely, was its emphasis on profit. A

"National Broadcast System" would be utilized to develop channels of communication and become a stimulus for change by "focusing attention on

those things which would serve to reinforce the climate of change and the

Letter of April 28, 1966 from Eric Saul, General Manager, Radio Demerara, to the Council of Ministers, and subsequent reply from Solicitor General on May 31, 1966, in File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana. 560 Cholmondely and Nascimento, Development of a Broadcast System for Guyana.

~^Ibid., p. 3. 165. 562 mobilization of human resources." Broadcasting, then, in the view of the report should be a tool for change and must overcome existing colonial attitudes and create nationally productive feelings. The report said a

"broadcasting system must totally serve the public interest and be native in character and origin.

A specific problem pointed out in the report was that the Govern­ ment only had a lim ited amount of program time on Radio Demerara and

BGBS. Government programs offered on the station were announced as such and "the audience, as a result, is encouraged to switch off the station and avoid a 'dose of culture' or what is expected to be Government pro-

r C.L paganda." Furthermore, since the Government had a specific amount of time allotted by the radio station under the Agreement, the commercial station felt their obligation to the audience and public service ended with the transmission of Government programs.Since the granting of independence, the Agreement also became dated but the Company s till was required to adhere to the terms. For example, Nascimento and Chomondely pointed out the requirement to carry at least twenty-one hours of BBC or 566 British Regional Caribbean Station relays weekly.

To remedy the situation, the Cholmondely-Nasciraento report sug­ gested that Government's objectives should be; (1) the introduction of

-*^Ib id ., p. 2.

563I b i d ., p. 3.

564I b i d ., p. 6.

565Ib id .

566Ib id ., p. 7. 166. television, (2) providing good audio and visual transmission to a majority of the population with a minimal financial burden, (3) combine commerci­ ally sponsored light entertainment with sustaining cultural and informa­

tional programs in an intelligent and imaginative manner, and (4) create a National Broadcast Authority suitably supported by adequate legislation and authority to control and promote broadcasting in the public in te re s t.

Before discussing various possible systems, Cholmondely and

Nascimento itemized salient facts that would have a bearing on the system finally selected. It was taken for granted that television would be a monopoly because "there is not the audience nor the finance, Government or p riv a te , to support more than one te le v isio n s ta tio n ."568 ^ te le v i­ sion system relying exclusively upon Government appropriations was also 569 excluded because of the heavy drain on Guyana's limited resources.

Sensitivity to the political opposition and potential public opinion was exhibited with the recommendation that "competition in radio will be a healthy situation, since the Government cannot then be accused of

engineering a total monopoly of the air waves.""*7®

The first possible system discussed by Cholmondely and Nascimento was a commercially owned and operated system totally financed through

advertising. System one was a description of the existing situation with

~^7Ibid. , pp. 5-6.

568Ibid., p. 7.

569Ibid.

570I b id ., p. 13. 167. the Guyana Broadcasting Company Limited co n tro llin g the medium. This was rejected because profits would go to the operating firm and profit would become the motivating force precluding nationalistic ambitions or g o a ls.571

The second system discussed in the report was a Government owned and operated commercial facility financed through advertising and license fees. Cholmondely and Nascimento called this an "attractive possibility" because the Government would be in complete control and in a p o sitio n to program for the social, educational and economic needs of the country.57^

The major drawback would be "the natural tendency for the Government to place too great an emphasis on quality programming at the expense of the commercial operation and as a result operate at a loss instead of a p r o f it." 573

The th ird system was described as "the b est of both worlds" and was modeled along the lines of Great Britain’s Independent Television

Authority. The Government would own the studio and transmitting facili­ ties and would rent the studios and sixty to seventy percent of the air time to a commercial program producer. This would be advantageous to the Government because the commercial contractor has the skills and re­ sources not available in Guyana. This, too, would fre e the Government from the responsibility of providing a balanced schedule. The commercial contractor would aim at entertainment while Goverment programs could

571I b id .. p. 8.

573Ibid., pp. 8-10.

573Ibid. 168 strive, to inform and educate. More program hours could initially be offered with two program sources and the Government would have a guaran­ teed income from license fees and commercial rental. The problems, as enumerated in the report, were that there would be disagreements over who gets what time periods and the commercial contractor would make a great deal of money from the situation.

The fourth system would be the Government and p riv a te industry in p artn ersh ip . The Government would hold fifty -o n e percent of the te le ­ vision system and forty-nine percent would be open to local investors.

The problem with this system would be the constant conflict between local in v estors and Government over policy and p r o f its .J*575

The report recommended the adoption of the second system which would be a wholly owned Government commercial operation funded through adver­ tising and license fees.-^7^ With that recommendation, the report also urged the adoption of the plan for a National Broadcast Authority with defined powers and limitations. Specifically, the Authority would be given power to regulate program standards; assume control of all broad­ cast stations and authority to provi.de safequards against false and mis­ leading ad v ertisin g . Cholmondely and Nascimento also recommended pro­ viding the right to appeal Authority decisions to the courts. To ensure political fairness, the authors suggested adopting Section 315 of the

United S tates Federal Commission Act of 1934, which requires equal broadcast time for all legally qualified candidates running for the same

574Ibid., pp. 10-13.

-*7~*Ibid. , pp. 13-14.

576Ibid., p. 40. 169. office. It was further suggested incorporating into the Authority Act, the "Fairness Doctrine" which stipulates United States broadcasters must give reasonable time to all sides of controversial issues. 577 The report further suggests isolating the proposed authority from potential m in iste ria l influence. One recommended method of in su latin g the A uthority would be to enact legislation guaranteeing all broadcast license fees 578 would go directly to the Authority without Parliamentary approval.

Shortly after the report was presented to the Ministry of

Information in September, 1967, preliminary plans for television were sta rte d and a decision was made to acquire one of the Guyana Broadcasting

Company stations. '5 7 9 The Government Broadcast Service, however, did not become a reality until October 1, 1968.-’^

Government Broadcasting

From 1950 through 1953, the Bureau of Public Information was on the defensive constantly undergoing attacks. The 1950 Legislative

Council debate over a BG$22,900 budget led to severe c ritic ism of the

Bureau by D. P. Debidin who said, "I look upon this department as a

577 The rather unique suggestion of adopting Section 315 of the Federal Communications Commission Act of 1934 and the Fairness Doctrine were authored by Christopher A. Nascimento who received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, and there studied United States Broadcast Law.

■’^Nascimento and Cholmondely, Development of a Broadcast System for Guyana, pp. 23-25.

5 7 9 Vivian Harrison, Interview. COA Letter, Martin W. Carter, Minister of Information to Bernard Bonsor, General Manager of R ediffusion (West Indies) Limited, August 12, 1968. 170.

fossil on the administration . . . undoubtedly its usefulness has ended 581 w ith the w ar." Another Council member, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, supported

Debidin and levelled his own criticism at the information services.

Jagan*s remarks, however, were not aimed so much at the budget but at the staff and the job being performed.-*8 ^

As if in answer to the criticisms, Harry Harewood, the Public

Information Officer, wrote a rationale for the Bureau of Public

Information.

The case for information departments rests on too simple truths: firstly, that it is quite impossible under modern conditions for a Government to function effectively in any democratic country without explaining to the ordinary man or woman what it is doing and why; secondly that to discharge this function efficiently a specialist agency is necessary.583

The major d if f ic u ltie s faced between 1950 and 1953 were lack of CO A qualified staff and an increased workload for the Bureau. The BPI was divided into six divisions, which were: Accounts and advertising, 585 L ibrary, Film, P ress, Broadcasting and the E lection u n it. Manning these six divisions was a staff totalling thirteen in 1950 and, increas- 586 ing too members a year, rising to nineteen in 1953.

58lEritish Guiana, Legislative Council, Minutes of the Legislative Council of British Guiana: Official Report May 17, 1950 to July 13, 1951, Vol. 22, pp. 17605-17610.

582Ib id .

-*88British Guiana, Bureau of Public Information, Report of the Bureau of Public Information for the Years 1950-1953 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1954), p.l.

584I b i d .. p. 8.

585Ibid. , p. 13.

586Ibid. 171.

Throughout the three year period to 1953, the only regularly

scheduled radio program produced by the Bureau was the "Sunday at Noon 587 Program." A series of shorter talk programs were produced during this

time to stimulate interest in various Government concerns such as the

C o n stitutional Commission th at came to B ritish Guiana and recommended the

political reforms of 1953.

The political crises of 1953 resulted in the Government giving the

inform ation services an expanded ro le . R. H. Young, a public re la tio n s

specialist from the Nest Indies, was employed to reorganize the Bureau of

Public Information and increase its effectiveness. A BBC officer, Henry

Straker, was sent to British Guiana for six months to fill the radio time

made available to the Government under the Agreement and reorganize the

broadcast division.

The reorganization of the Bureau of Public Information took place

November 1, 1954. The name was changed to the Government Information

Service (GIS); the staff was expanded and the organization was stream- 590 lined for efficiency. The GIS was headed by a Chief Information

Officer ( CIO) who was responsible to the Government through the Public

CO 7 British Guiana, Government Information Service, Report of the Government Inform ation Service for the Year 1954 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1955), p. 2.

*^®Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1950 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1951), p. 115 and Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1952 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1953), p. 118. 589 British Guiana, Government Information Services, Building Confidence: The Story of British Guiana.in 1954 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1955), p. 89. 590 British Guiana, GIS Reports for 1954, p. 2. Relations Advisor who was under the Prime M inister's Permanent Secretary.

The agency was divided into a Press, Broadcasting, Photographic and Films

and Distribution Divisions which were operated by a staff of twenty-five.

With the expanded staff, two information officers, Celeste Dolphin and

Victor Forsythe,were assigned to broadcasting on a full time basis.^91

Straker definitely links the political distrubances to the

Government efforts in the information services area and his role in

British Guiana.

My main task in planning was, of course, to 'put over1 the policies of the Government. . .ti stress the links w ith the Commonwealth and show th a t i t was a good club to belong to; to encourage local talent, to support social welfare organizations.^92

Straker*s first job was to open negotiations with Radio Demerara officials to obtain air time for Government radio programs. Under the

1950 Agreement, the Government had the rig h t to specify any time and

Straker took the peak listening periods and further obtained, without charge, use of studios and recording facilities. 593 Straker is also credited with restoring good relations between the Broadcast Division of the Bureau and the radio station. Prior to Straker's arrival "the management of Radio Demerara viewed Government radio w ith h o s tility and

suspicion.The BBC officer also selected a young East Indian,

**^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1954, p. 158

592Henry Straker, Personal letter.

-^^Government Information Service, "Business Assessment of Broadcasting under Mr. Straker," Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS file box, File date 1955, (typewritten), p. 16. 173.

Lloyd Searwar, as his successor and sent him to England for training with , 595 the BBC.

In programming, Straker built around the existing "Sunday at Noon

Program" and activated dormant plans for a Broadcast to Schools series.

Before the Constitutional crises of 1953, the Bureau of Public Informa­

tion had investigated the prospects of establishing a school broadcast

unit. The Assistant Public Information Officer, A. J. Seymour, was trans­

ferred to the Department of Education on August 1, 1953, to organize and

direct the project. Seymour, however, ran into problems with the British

Guiana Teachers Association who apparently feared loss of jobs or ero­

sion of prestige and authority if the broadcasts started.The p o l i t i ­

cal disorders started during this time and there was also fear that the

Broadcasts To Schools could be used for political ends and the project 597 was abandoned. Seymour went back to the Bureau in October and the

project was apparently forgotten until a chance conversation between 598 Seymour and Straker in early 1954.

Straker overcame objections to the Broadcasts to Sch ools project

by making a series of speeches to the British Guiana Teachers Association

and convincing them th at "our task was to support them and not supplant

^^British Guiana, GIS Reports for 1954, p. 2.

-^"Memo from Chief Inform ation O fficer Harry Harewood to the Assistant Director of Education, 11 Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS file box, File Date 1955, (typewritten) and "Staff Notation of Public Informa­ tion Officer Harry Harewood to .the Honorable Chief Secretary" (1953), Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS file box, File Date 1953, (typewritten).

•*^"Memo from CIO to Assistant Director of Education," p.3.

~*^Ib id ., pp. 3-4. 174. 599 them." To further gain support for the Broadcasts to Schools project,

Straker made sure teachers were well represented on the Broadcasts To

Schools Advisory Committee. On the Committee were the President of the

British Guiana Teachers Association and two other teachers; the Principal of the Government Training College for Teachers; the Deputy Principal of

Queens College; the Assistant Public Information Officer; the Secretary of the BRitish Guiana Teachers Association and the Schools Broadcast

Organizer for the Bureau of Public Information. The Chairman of the

Committee was the Deputy Director of Education in the Colony.^®®

Straker and Celeste Dolphin, who was named to the post of Schools

Broadcast Organizer, worked with the Advisory Committee making plans for the Broadcast to Schools service. It was decided to have four broadcast terms a year with each term running ten weeks in length. There would be two programs, each fifteen minutes in length, run Monday through Friday between 2:30 and 3:00 P.M.^*^

Supporting print materials were also prepared for students and teachers involved with the project. One month prior to the inaugural broadcast scheduled for May 7, 1954, "Notes to the Teaching Staff" were sent to all head teachers of all primary and recognized secondary

*^Henry Straker, Personal Letter.

^^Government Inform ation Service, "Summary of Four Terms of Experimental Broadcasts to Schools: 1955", Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS file box, File date 1955, (mimeograph), p.,1.

^^Government Information Service, " Summary of Four Terms of Experimental Broadcasts to Schools: 1954," Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS File box, File date 1954, (mimeographed), p.l. 175

fi OP schools in the country. The mimeographed "Notes to the Teaching Staff"

contained information about the first term's broadcasts and suggestions

for preparing to receive the broadcasts and how to maximize their use.

Radios should be turned on at least five minutes before the broadcast

and tuned to the correct frequency. A minute or two before the broacast

the set should be checked to see that the whole class caii hear clearly.

Also, classes next to the listening groups should engage in quiet

subjects such as history or mathmatics and refrain from subjects that

require recitation. Teachers are also urged to prepare students for the

broadcasts with pictures or stories that would lead into the subject m atter of the radio programs. Whenever p o ssib le, teachers are urged to

seat students in a semi-circle and create a friendly informal atmosphere.

Furthermore, teachers are cautioned "not to walk around the class with

a cane" and they should appear to be enthusiastic toward the broadcasts.^03

Another adjunct publication to the Broadcasts To Schools was

"Learning by Radio" an illustrated children's newspaper. For the first

term, 60,000 copies of the newspaper were printed and sent out to the

schools. The newspaper contained information about the programs and 604 words to songs utilized in the music broadcast.

To keep track of the schools participating in the Broadcasts To

^^Government Information Service, "Broadcasts To Schools: A Brief History of the Service." Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS File box, File date 1958, (typewritten), p. 1.

^^Government Information Service, "Notes to the Teaching Staff." Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS File box, File date 1954, (mimeographed).

^^GIS, "Survey of Experimental Broadcasts To Schools: 1954," p.l. 176

Schools program, ten report cards were sent to teachers at the beginning of the term. At the end of each week, teachers were requested to fill out a report card and send it back to the Schools Broadcasting Unit.

Schools listed as participating in the program would be sent further printed materials about upcoming broadcasts.^05

A schedule showing the programs instituted by Straker and time periods taken for Government Information Service programming is contain­ ed in Appendix X. At the end of S tra k e r’s six month appointment to

British Guiana, the Broadcast Division was utilizing nine hours and fifteen minutes of the alloted ten and one half hours granted to the

Government under the 1950 Agreement.Straker had also moved Govern­ ment broadcasting out of the studio employing mobile recorders and get- 607 ting actualities for documentaries, newscasts and other programs.

Programs were concentrated in the areas of information, adult education and Broadcasts To Schools. Table 10 shows the categories of Government

Information Service radio broadcasts and times alloted to each category.

Table 10 shows that there were twenty-two separate information programs totalling three hours and ten minutes which took up 29.6 percent of the

Government Information Service program time on Radio Demerara. The most frequent information programs were five minute newscasts daily at

6:05 A.M. and 5:25 P.M.. "Topic for Tonight" was a five minute

605Ibid.

606Ib id .

607Ibid. 177

TABLE 10

CATEGORIES OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICE PROGRAMS ON RADIO

DEMERARA IN NUMBERS, TIME AND PERCENT FOR THE YEAR 1957a

Category Number Time Percent

Information 22 3:10 29.6%

Adult Education 9 5:00 46.8

Broadcasts To Schools 5 2:30 23.4

Total 36 10:40 99.8

Table 10 was compiled from British Guiana, Government Information Service, Report of the Government Inform­ ation Service for the Year 1957(Gerogetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1958), Appendix V. information program aired every night of the week at 7:25 giving back- 608 ground to news stories in British Guiana and the Caribbean. The fifteen minute "Sunday at Noon Program" continued to be a major information channel utilized by Government officials reporting back to 609 the people on their policy decisions and new Government programs.

Other information programs were the BBC’s "Talking About Teaching" aimed

^^Government Information Service, "A Review of Government Broad­ casting: 1956," Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS File box, File date 1956, (typewritten), p. 2.

^Government Information Service, "Report on Government Broad­ casting for January 1956," Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS File box, File date 1956, (typewritten), p. 1. 178 at trying to improve educational techniques; "Union Call," which was designed to strengthen responsible unionism; "Radio Magazine" and 610 "Conference Call of the Air" which were news interview programs.

Adult education programs, as shown in Table 10, accounted for the most broadcast time and was the largest program category. There were nine programs filling five hours, or 46.8 percent of the Government radio time. Many of the adult education programs played in Government time were produced or arranged by outside cultural or educational agencies, such as the British Council or the University College of the West

Indies.The British Council is a private British agency with a Crown

Charter authorizing the organization to operate on behalf of the British 612 Government in educational and cultural exchange. Examples of programs in this category would be "Music for You" an hour and fifteen minutes of the le sse r known c la ssic s; an hour radio drama on Saturday evening or fifteen minute programs nightly such as "Book Review," "Medicine in

Everyday Life" or "University College of the West Indies on the Air."

The adult education programs tried to reach special audiences, such as 613 farmers, housewives, youths or people in the interior,

^■^Government Inform ation Service, "Review of Broadcasting: 1956," pp. 2-4. 611 Government Inform ation Service, "Business Assessment under Mr. Straker," p. 16. 612 The British Council, What is the British Council (London: McCorquodale, Inc., 1967), pp. 1-2.

*^B ritish Guiana, Government Information Service, "Government Broadcasting," British Guiana Informatives: Numbers 1-50(April 1954 to June 1955), p. 9. 179

Broadcasts To Schools programs were inaugurated on Hay 7, 1954, 614 by the Colonial Governor, Sir Alfred Savage. The first term contain­ ed programs on civics, health, current affairs, English, nature studies,

Guianese history, music and two series of BBC transcriptions, "Great

Thinkers" and "Great Discoverers."^^ A survey of comments from the weekly report cards indicated the subjects most appreciated by teachers were those not included in the regular curriculum, such as current a f fa ir s and nature study.T he report cards also showed that 145

schools listened regularly to the Broadcasts To Schools programs during

1954.617

With the return of Lloyd Searwar from the BBC training school in 618 1955, the staff of the Broadcast Division numbered four. Celeste

Dolphin, the Schools Broadcast Organizer, was then sent to Great Britain

for a three month training school from March 21, 1955, to July 29, 1955,

leaving the Division short during the Spring Broadcasts To Schools term.

At the training school, Miss Dolphin studied with BBC Education 619 Officers at took the Senior Staff Training Course.

Programming throughout 1955 emphasized the Government Information

614 Government Information Service, "Broadcasts To Schools: A Brief History," p. 2.

^■*British Guiana, Informatives: Numbers 1-50, p. 9.

616Ib id .

617Ib id . 61 ft British Guiana, GIS Reports 1955, Appendix I.

619Ibid, p. 2. Service's preoccupation with getting the Broadcasts To Schools series

firmly established. At the end of the 1955 school year, the Advisory

Committee made suggestions to further involve teachers in the programs

and the suggestions were adopted. Teachers were recruited to fill

positions as script writers and announcers with the Division and two

teachers were transferred from the classroom to the Division to work

full-time with the Schools Broadcasting Unit. 620 Broadcasts To Schools'

personnel also travelled around the country talking with classroom

teachers and holding seminars on how to make effective use of the 621 broadcasts.

An assessment of the educational broadcasts was carried out at

the end of 1955 by questionnaires sent to all teachers who previously

responded with the weekly report cards. As a result of the evaluation,

two new educational series were added for the 1956 school year, which were "Guianese History" and "Geography of British Guiana."^22

Broadcasts To Schools unit had to rely on several BBC Colonial Trans-

critpion series to help fill the term schedule. Programs, such as

"Commonwealth Georgraphy" and "The BBC Science Programme" were aired

even though they were not appropriate for the audience. The science

series was dropped after one terra because it was too advanced for the

students and in its place the Principal of the Government Training

Institute gave fifteen minute talks on science subjects that were

^^Government information Service, "Four Terms: 1955," p. 3. 621 British Guiana, GIS Reports 1955, p. 3. 181

/•AO termed "very simple topics."

The Government Information Service added a program, "Countryside

Close-up," for the rural audience in 1956, which was an attempt to show 624 rural life in various parts of the Colony. The daily newscasts came under fire from the Legislative Council when content and reporting in

the newscasts were criticized. Some Council members felt the newscasts were editorializing by reporing Legislative Council actions. It was reemphasized that the Government newscasts were allowed only to announce and explain bills or actions pending before the council and were forbid- £ o C den to comment on matters until after disposition by the Legislature.

The general composition of the five minute daily newscasts was approxim­ ately fifty percent British Guiana news and fifty percent from the

Caribbean, United Kingdom or oth er Commonwealth C ountries. 6 9 6

An unsettled personnel situation characterized 1957 as the staff was depleted by a series of transfers, appointments, acting-appointments

and long leaves back to England. In fact, only one officer, an assistant 69 7 Broadcasting Officer, remained in her post throughout the whole year.

^^Governraent Information Service, "Summary of Four Terms: 1955," p. 2. 624 Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1955, p. 185. 625 Legislative Council, Minutes of the Legislative Council of British Guiana, Second Session, April 22, 1953, to March 28, 1956, pp. 1039-1045. 626 Government Information Service, GIS Reports 1955, p. 5. 627 British Guiana, Government Information Service, Report of the Government Information Service for the Year 1957 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1958), p. 3. 182

The staff problems resulted in fewer live programs being aired and a heavy use of transcriptions from the BBC, United States Information 28 Service and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The most important event of the year was the first Parliamentary elections conducted since the Constitutional suspension of 1953. The

Film Division prepared an instructional film "How to Xercise Your

Vote" and it was shown to an estimated 110,000 potential voters.629 fhe

Government made a decision to allow political broadcasts and the Govern­ ment Information Service was given the job of devising the policy to be implemented. The formula for the broadcasts was worked out by Radio

Demerara and Government Information Service o f fic ia ls who decided th at the broadcasts should be accomodated on Company air time rather than on

Government tim e.^3^

Each poltical party (there were five) irrespective of number of candidates proposed, was inv ited to ’s ta te its case1 in one broadcast. The Company decided that such broadcasts should be 10 minutes duration and should run from Monday the 5th to Friday the 9th of August at the same time each night. (As polling Day was August 12, there was a cooling off p e rio d ). The Company fu rth e r decided that days should be assigned by the drawing of lots at which party representatives were invited to be present.^31

At a meeting between Company and Department officials, the

Government Information Service advised that "to state the Party's case"

^^Ibid., pp. 3-4.

629Ibid., p. 1. 630 Memo, GIS Internal Memo on Election Broadcasting, August, 1957, Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS File box, File date 1957, (typewritten), p. 1.

631Ibid. 183 should be interpreted to mean there would be no explicit references to other political parties and no references to personalities. Also, the

Department requested, under Article Eight of the Agreement, that scripts be made a v ailab le to the Government p rio r to recording. I t was decided to record the political speeches to ensure no advantage of reply would 632 be gained by party spokesmen who were last.

During the 1957 School year, Randall Hogarth, head of the BBC

Colonial Transcription Service, visited British Guiana in February for eleven days. Hogarth recommended u tiliz in g more BBC tra n sc rip tio n s to reduce the load on the already understaffed Department and suggested instituting follow-up talks in the classroom after a Broadcasts To £0*3 Schools program. At the end of the school year, another questionnaire survey was conducted and the results led to instituting series on A / economics and stinging during the 1958 school terms.

In 1957, a Colonial Development and Welfare Act grant of BG$43,200 was approved by the Secretary of State for the Colonies for the con­ s tru c tio n of a Government recording studio. The remainder of 1957 was taken up in planning and designing studios and drawing up equipment

/! qc specifications. In anticipation of the proposed studio, the Broadcast

Division started investing in a record library although extensive use of Radio Demerara*s records and studio facilities continued throughout

632Ibid., pp. 1-2.

633Ibid. , p. 6.

634Ib id .

635Ib id ., p. 5. 184

1957 and up to 1959.

Staff problems continued to hamper the Broadcast Division’s activities during 1958, although the situation improved toward the end of the year with new appointments and the return of three officers who

/ : 0 7 were undergoing BBC training in the United Kingdom. Despite the reduced staff, the Department undertook, in addition to regular broad­ casts, to help produce and coordinate "Guianese History and Culture

Week." The week of activities stressed the cultural heritage of British

Guiana through music, art and drama. Radio played an important role in involving the rural and interior audience in the activities by informing 638 them about their country. Another task facing the Division was organizing the use of Government time on the newly opened BGBS, the second commercial service offered by the Company. 639 Plans for the

Government recording studio, though, were temporarily halted in 1958 and construction was delayed u n til funds became av ailab le.

In early 1958, the Schools Broadcasting Unit was transferred administratively from the Government Information Service to the newly 641 formed Ministry of Community Development and Education. The Unit,

636 . , Ib id . 637 British Guiana, Government Information Service, Report of the Government Information Service for the Year 1958 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1959), p. 4.

638Ib id . , p. 1. 639 Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1958, p. 183.

640Ibid., p. 20.

843British Guiana, Report on British Guiana for 1958, p. 6. 185 however, continued to work closely w ith the Government Inform ation

Service and policies developed prior to the transfer were kept in force.

Weekend seminars were conducted throughout the country to provide class­ room teachers with a short intensive study of techniques used by the Unit and to enlarge the scope of classroom participation through follow-up

y»/ n and discussion. Three seminars were planned by the Unit and two were carried out during the 1958 school year.^4^

Weekly rep o rt cards from L istening Schools reached 233 in 1958 and comments on the rep o rt cards continued to provide valuable feed­ back. ^44 Greater use of dramatization was attempted in 1958 as opposed to relying on the straight talk format utilized in most of the Broadcasts

/"AC To Schools series. Due to continued staff problems, BBC transcriptions were again utilized heavily during 1958 but the programs were better adapted for the Guianese children. For example, a fifteen minute "BBC

English Literature" series was used with extensive introductory and follow-up remarks by the radio hostess.O f the five new Broadcasts

To Schools series introduced in 1958, two series came from the BBC

T ranscription Service and th ree progams were Government Inform ation

Service talks programs. A series stressing vocational aspects of life,

"Working for a Living," was introduced with hopes of guiding students

642Ibid, p. 183.

^4^British Guiana, Report of the GIS for 1958, p. 7.

644Ib id .

Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1958, p. 184.

^4^British Guiana, Report of the GIS for 1958, p. 6. 186 in .the job market by showing them q u a lific a tio n s , demands and rewards of d iffe re n t employment.

Despite earlier negative attitudes toward the Government

Information Service by Dr. Jagan, 1959 marked the turning point in

Prime Minister Jagan’s relationship to the Department.

I t began to emerge during the year and was brought in to sharp focus towards year end th a t Government Broad­ castin g would be required to play a sp ecial ro le in the presen tatio n of Government policy. The d aily p ress, mainly urban in circulation, maintained throughout the year a critical attitude to the Government. Increasing resort was, therefore, had by Ministries to the medium of radio for the explanation and defense of Government’s policy especially as this medium alone reached the rural audience regularly and continuously.

The Press and Publications Division started regularly weekly press conferences with Dr. Jagan that were broadcast over Radio Demerara and

BGBS as p a rt of Government a ir tim e.^49 The opposition of the lo cal news media may also have provided the impetus for the Peoples

Progressive Party to apply for a radio broadcasting license.

The Broadcast Division returned to full strength in 1959 with four broadcast officers under the direction of Victor Forsythe, the

Senior Broadcasting Officer, who headed the D ivision.A full staff was needed to meet the increased program demands created by the inaugur-

**4^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1958, p. 187. a o British Guiana, Government Information Service, Report of the Government Information Service for the Year 1959 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1960), p^ 5.

649Ibid., p. 4.

650Ibid., p. 8. ation of the second service over BGBS. To fill time, some Radio Demerara programs were rebroadcast over the new service and some programs that took less preparation were started. One easily prepared program was

"The Weekly News Roundup" broadcast Sunday mornings over BGBS, This program consisted of the top stories used in the daily five minute

Government newscasts.

The Schools Broadcasting Unit, now under the Ministry of

Community Development and Education, completed the third weekend seminar /rtro for classroom teachers in 1959. The Broadcasts To Schools Advisory

Committee was enlarged and given an expanded role by the Ministry. The

Committee was enlarged by adding a working sub-committee, composed of teachers engaged in receiving Broadcasts To Schools, whose function would be liason between teachers and the Advisory Committee.^53 >phe

Committee also actively sought out problem areas by visiting schools and observing student and teacher reaction to the broadcasts. From these visits, the Committee recommended to the Chief Information Officer that

Friday programs "be more in the nature of entertainment."654

Committee also recommended a Government budget to help schools maintain radios in working order so they might regularly receive Broadcasts To

Schools.655 During 1959, the number of schools classified as Listening

6^-*-Ib id . , p. 4.

^-^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1959, p. 188.

^■^British Guiana, Report of the GIS for 1959, p. 9. 188

Schools fell to 199, down twenty-nine from the previous year.^56

Two new series were introduced in 1959 by the Broadcasts To

Schools staff. Appendix XI shows Broadcasts To Schools Program schedules for the years 1959 and 1964. It should be noted that although new series are added yearly, the overall program schedule changes very little from year to year.657

Throughout 1960, the Broadcast Division was hard pressed to fill

Government time allo te d over BGBS and Radio Demerara. Government time totalled twenty-one hours on both stations but the Broadcast Division and the Schools Broadcasting Unit,combined, could only utilize sixteen and a half hours a w e e k .658 Continued use of the BBC T ranscription and

Tape Service was made throughout the year with series such as "Talking 659 About Teaching" and "Calling the Caribbean" being aired weekly. Other foreign sources providing program material were the United States

Information Service, The British Council, the University College of the

West Indies and the United N ations.660

A signficant local program developed during the year was an hour weekend news conference with various Government Ministers. Written

656Ib id . , p. 8.

657gee for example, program schedule in Appendix XI.

^■^Great Britain, Colonial Office, Sound and Television Broadcast­ ing in the Overseas T e rrito rie s : Handbook 1962 (London: Her M ajesty's Stationery Office, 1962), p. 29. 659 B ritish Guiana, Government Inform ation Service, Report on the Government Information Service for the Year 1960 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1961), p. 5.

660Ibid., p. 6. 189

questions were submitted prior to the broadcast so the interviewees

could prepare answers with supplimentary materials. The news conferences were broadcast by both Radio Demerara and BGBS and it was estimated the 661 programs attracted a large audience.

The Schools Broadcasting Unit conducted five more seminars during

the year, meeting with 357 classroom teachers in various parts of the

country. In the personnel area, to help alleviate the constant staff

shortages, two teachers were seconded to the Unit for the school year as

assistant Broadcast Organizers to help plan seminars and work on the broadcasts.BBC progrgrams "Children of Other Lands," "The Shakes­ peare Series" and "The Shakespeare Tradition" were carried during the

school term along with new locally produced programs "Civics" and "Our

Health."^63

Also during 1960, the Government Recording Studio being constructed with Colonial Development and Welfare funds was completed at D'urban

Park. Equipment was in s ta lle d in the completed studio in December but

the facilities were not utilized until early in 1961.®^ The completion

of the Government studio greatly alleviated the growing problem of

finding recording time at the Radio Demerara-BGBS complex. The Schools

Broadcast Unit and the Broadcasting Division were,in many instances,

661I b id . , p. 2.

6^3Great Britain, Annual Report on British Guiana for the Year 1960 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961), p. 202.

^ 3British Guiana, Report of the GIS for 1960, pp. 6-7.

^^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1960, p. 4. 190 forced to utilize recording facilities late at night or early in the morning vzhen the commercial radio staff was not working. UJ6 6 5

During 1961, both the Schools Broadcasting Unit and Government

Information Service programs stressed the importance of the 1961 election that would signify full internal self government for British Guiana.

Programs and contests stressing voter registration and the changes

666 brought about by self government were common during the year. The

Broadcasts To Schools Advisory Committee suggested starting a series to help the children understand the changes that would occur with gaining independence. From this suggestion, the Schools Broadcasting Unit created a three part series, "Preparing for Independence," which ran for three school terms. The series covered changes in the constitution, the importance of human and natural resources development for emerging nations and the symbols of independence. 6 6 7

In other program areas, the Broadcast To Schools programs were characterized as static, changing little over the years.

The core of the work has remained substantially unchanged: two periods daily of scripts illustrating the British Guiana scene through its history, geography, flora and fauna, two termly series of simple singing

and a weekly ta lk on current a f f a i r s . 668

665"seven Years Old: Caribbean Radio Record," The Times Educat­ ional Supplement (London), August 18, 1961, p. 181. 666 Great Britain, Annual Report on British Guiana for the Year 1961 (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1962), p. 215.

t 6 7 British Guiana, Government Information Service, Report of the Government Information Service for the Year 1961 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1962), pp. ii-iii.

^^^The Times (London), August 18, 1961, p. 18. 191

Continuing use of Government Inform ation Service time was made by

Prime Minister Jagan and his Ministers who tried to overcome press hostility by going directly to the people through the weekly news conferences broadcast by both radio stations. As opposition to the

Peoples Progressive Party grew more in ten se, Jagan u tiliz e d radio increasingly for "explanation and defense of Goverment's policy in an e ffo rt to reach the ru ra l audience. "669 siloui<} be noted th a t Prime

Minister Jagan, in trying to reach the rural audience, was trying to communicate primarily with East Indian farmers who are Peoples

Progressive Party supporters and are suspicious of established news sources.

The political and racial disturban es of 1962 apparently had a paralyzing effect on the Government Information Service and the Schools

Broadcasting Unit. The Broadcast Division put most of its meager efforts into publicising the controversial Government budget and explaining its merits. Once the disturbances broke out and British troops were called in restore order, the Division concentrated on a

History and Culture Week and publicising the report of the Commonwealth

Commission th a t in v estig ated the r io ts . 671

The Schools Broadcasting Unit made few changes in 1962 continuing to stress preparation for independence and Guyanese history and

^^Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1961, p. 215.

^ ^Supra, pp. 25-27

^1-Great Britain, Annual Report on British Guiana for the Year 1962(London: Her M ajesty's S tationery O ffice, 1963), p. 234. 192

geography.fi7 '9

At this point in time, detailed historical information on the

Government Information Service and Schools Broadcasting Unit became

scarce. The Government Information Service stopped publishing its

annual report and the National Archives files ended at 1962, with more

current files being kept by the offices concerned. Certain current

infomration was made available by the Government Information Service but total access to files was not granted. All further research on the

Schools Broadcasting Unit was halted by failure to gain access to files or personnel.

When Guyana gained independence in 1966, the name of the Govern­ ment Information Service was changed to the Guyana Information Service and the Ministry of Infomration and Culture was created to oversee the

Information Department.Under the m in is te ria l system, the Guyana

Information Service was further protected from possible outside influence. The Minister of Information and Culture is a member of the

Council of Ministers and, therefore, wields considerable political force.

The move, too, alleviated the Prime M inister's Permanent Secretary from administrative duties concerned with the Department and relieved him from the responsibility of enforcing the terms of the Agreement. The

Minister of Information and Culture became the agent responsible for

67 2t,Ib . id, . , p . 0 3.

673gUpra, p. 147 and Guyana, C onstitution of Guyana and Related Instrumentsi 193 67 overseeing radio program content and enforcing the Agreement. lx

The Ministry of Information and Culture was organized into six divisions, which were: Publications, Press, Graphic Arts, Broadcasting,

Films and Photographs and Campaigns and Field operations. The reorgan­ ization had no effect on the operation of the Broadcast Division, which re s p o n s ib ilitie s remained b a sic a lly the same. 6 7 5

The Minister of Information and Culture, Martin Carter, went out­ side the Ministry in 1967 to employ Christer Nascimento and Hugh

Cholmondely to write a proposal for a Government system of broadcast­ ing. These two men were employed as consultants to write the report that eventually led to Na cimento becoming the Special Advisor

(Political) to the Prime Minister and Hugh Cholmondely becoming the first Director of the Guyana Broadcasting Service. Cholmondely left his post as Radio Demerara’s Senior Announcer in 1967 and headed the

Broadcast Division of the Guyana Information Service while the Govern­ ment started negotiations with the Guyana Broadcasting Company over the acquisition of GBS.

Legal

The 1959 Agreement between the Company and British Guiana was the f i r s t recognition th a t the Government would become involved in

^^Victor L. Forsythe, Personal Interview in Georgetown, Guyana on December 19, 1972, at the Ministry of Information.

^^^Memo, "Minutes of the Chief Information Officer," May 3, 1966, Guyana Inform ation Service, Georgetown, Guyana. 67 ^Supra, p, 148 194 programming other than with defamation, obscenity or national security violations. The authority to enforce the program provisions of the

Agreement fell to the Governor or Prime M inister's Permanent

Secretary.6^7 Technical matters, however, fell to the Engineer-in-Chief of the Telecommunications Division in the Post and Telecommunications

Department.®7® with the creation of the Ministry of Communication, a

Radio Services Division was created inside the Post and Telecommunication

Department to oversee all wireless technical matters, including broad- 679 casting.

In 1953, the Governor in Council passed the Undesirable Publicat­ ions (Prohibition of Importation) Ordinance to ban the importation of subversive literature or publications.®®® The Ordinance gave the

Governor in Council authority to determine what "would be contrary to the public interest" and seize those materials and ban further import­ ation.®®^ The Ordinance defines "publications" as printed matter or

"any recording of the human voice" which would apply to any transcript­ ions imported for broadcast.®®2 Conviction under the Ordinance could

®77Agreement between the British Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd., and the Government.

6 7 8 See the Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894 and the Wireless Telegraphy Regulations of 1938.

6 7 9 Supra, p. 145.

6 8 0 British Guiana, Laws, Statutes,etc., Undesirable Publications Ordinance, 1953, Ch. 131, The Laws ofBritish Guiana, 1953.

681Ib id ., (Sec. 3. p t. 1 .).

682Ibid., (Sec. 2. pt la.). 195 result in a fine "not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment not to exceed twelve months, or both."®88

The purpose of the Ordinance was to leg itim ize a Government ban on Communist related literature that was seized from Dr. Cheddi Jagan as he tried to go through customs in 1 9 5 1 . When Jagan became Prime

Minister in 1953,-the P. P. P. tried to repeal the Ordinance but the 685 Constitution was suspended before that action could take place.

. ,... Following racial rioting in 1962, Governor Richard Luyt excercised his emergency powers and made the Emergency Powers (Control of Broad- 686 casting) Order, 1964. It should be noted that the Governor made the

Ordinance on June 13, 1964, which was a f te r a December 18, 1963, Peoples

Progressive Party announcement indicating plans to take over the radio stations. 6 8 7 The Order specifically makes unlawful at anytime the broadcasting of:

(1.) Any matter tending to promote or excite enmity, hostility or ill-w ill between persons of different communities, races, places of origin, religious or political opinions in the Colony, or between any group of persons, however constituted, and any group of persons in the Colony.

683lbid., (Sec. 4. pt. 1.).

f.f>A Great Britain, Colonial Office White Paper, British Guiana Suspension of Constitution (Georgetown: Government Printery, October 20, 1953), paragraph 8.

685Ibid. > 686British Guiana, Laws, S ta tu te s, e tc ., Emergency Powers (Control of Broadcasts) Order, 1964. Order 21. British Guiana Subsidiary Legis­ lation for the Year 1964 (Georgetown: Government Printery, 1967). p. 144.

^^^Supra, p. 146. 196

(2,) The advocacy or encouragement or approbation of any disobedience or resistance to or disregard of any of the laws of the Colony.

(3.) The advocacy or encouragement or approbation of disobedience to any authority lawfully constituted.

(4.) Any matter tending to promote feelings of hostility or ill-w ill towards members of Her Majesty's forces in the Colony.688

The Order further empowers the Governor to appoint a Comptroller of Broadcasts Materials to enforce compliance. The Comptroller would have absolute authority over materials broadcast in British Guiana and it would be unlawful to allow or make transmissions not specifically or generally approved by him.^^

In 1966, in conjunction with the Guyana Independence Act, 1966 that granted total independence to Guyana, the National Security Act,

1966 was passed as a related instrument.6^ The Act immediately comes into force with the proclamation of an emergency and gives Parliament power to censor and appropriate property.

(a) censorship, and the control and suppression of pub­ lications writers, maps, plans, photographs, com­ munications and means of communications;

(b) the appropriation, or the taking of possession or control and the use by or on behalf of the Government of any property or undertaking.6^1

688B ritish Guiana, Emergency Powers(Broadcast) Order, 1964, Sec. 2, p. 144. 689 Ibid., (Sec. 4, pt. 1).

^ ^Guyana, Constitution of Guyana and Related Instruments, Part IV. 6^Ibid., (Sec. 31, pt. 2a & 2b). 197

A Governmental reorganization in 1967, resulted in the establish­ ment of the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation, a public corporation

designed to take over the telecommunications function of the Post Office

Department in the Ministry of Communications. The Guyana Telecommunica­

tions Corporation Order, 1967, created the Corporation on March 1, 1967,

and set out the following functions and duties: 692

(a) subject to section 61 of the Post and Telegraph Ordinance . . . to provide and operate good and sufficient internal and external telecommunications services on such terms as the Corporation may deem expedient and in accordance w ith th is Order and the Ordinance and, in so far as they are applicable, such provisions of the International Telecommunica­ tions Convention and any regulations made thereunder as are for the time being in force.

• (b) to advise the Government on a l l m atters re la tin g to telecommunications services.693

The Order clearly states that Corporations duties are to make sure that

Telecommunications in Guyana conform to international standards and

agreements. This means enforcing technical standards to ensure that

frequency violations do not occur. The Radio Services Division of the

Post Office Department was absorbed intact by the Telecommunications

corporation and enforcement of wireless and broadcast standards re­ mained their specific function.With the advent of television, the

692B ritish Guiana, Laws, S ta tu te s, e tc ., Guyana Telecommunications Order, 1967 Order 23, Guyana Subsidiary Legislation for the Year 1967 (Georgetown: The Government P rin tery , 1971). ^^Ibid. t (Sec. 4, pts. (l)a & b).

^^Lambert Philadelphia, Personal Interview with the General Manager of the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation in Georgetown, Guyana, on December 19, 1972. 198

Telecommunication Corporation will also assume a supervisory capacity over those technical aspects of that medium. The Order’s definition of telecommunications includes the "electromagnetic transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds of intelli­ gence of any nature, whether by wire, or by radio . . . and includes

’telegraph1 and ’wireless telegraphy"695

Since the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation took over duties previously held by the Post Office Department as specified by the

Wireless Station Regulations of 1927, those regulations had to be re­ pealed. The Wireless Station (Revocation) Regulations, 1967, made by the Acting Director of Post and Telegraph, revoked the 1927 regulations on the coming into operation of the Guyana Telecommunications Corpora­ tion on March 1, 196 7 .^^

The Order creating the Guyana Telecommunication Corporation, was made under the Public Corporations Ordinance, 1962, that authorized the can establishment of public corporations by the Council of Ministers. .

The Council of Ministers retained the right to give corporation directors general policy guidelines. The directors must also make available to the Council of Ministers, or to a Minister named by the

^ ^Ibid. t (Sec. 2) .

696GUyana, Laws, Statutes, etc., The Wireless Stations (Revoca­ tions) Regulations, 19.67, Regulation 1 of 1967, Guyana Subsidiary L egislation for the Year 1967 (Georgetown: The Government P rin tery , 1971). 69?British Guiana, Laws, Statutes, etc., The Public Corporations Ordinance, 1962, Bill 23 of 1962, The Official Gazette, September 29, 1962, pp. 346-358. 199

Council of Ministers, information with respect to the business and rno fin a n c ia l aspects of the corporation upon demand. Public corpora­ tions may be exempted from taxes, duty rates or other levys only with 699 the express written permission of the Council of Ministers. The public corporations created under the Ordinance are legal entities and they are empowered to own property and transact any business necessary to the corporations role.

6. A Corporation s h a ll have the power to do anything and to enter into any transaction (whether or not in­ volving expenditures, borrowing, granting of loans or investments of money, the acq u isitio n of any property or rights, or the disposal of any property or rights) which in their opinion is calculated to facilitate the proper dis­ charge of their functions or is incidental or conducive ■ th e re to .7^0

The overall purpose for the Ordinance is to ensure future uniformity in law relating to all public corporations created by the Council of

Ministers. Any future public corporation would have the same legal basis and the same rights or powers as any other public corporation in 701 Guyana.

Technical

When Rediffusion Limited took over the Company and the franchise calling for technical improvements, Radio Demerara was broadcasting

698ibid., (Sec. 16).

699Ibid., (Sec. 43).

700Ib id . , (Sec. 6).

701I b i d . , p. 357. 200 f u ll time on the short wave frequency of 5981 Kc/s with a 500 w att transmitter. During 1950, as stipulated in the Agreement, the 250 watt medium wave transmitter operating on 1250 Kc/s was put into operation 702 on a regular schedule. Both frequencies carried the same Radio

Demerara programs but the medium wave frequency offered Georgetown listeners a better service.

After the search for a suitable transmitter site failed, two new transmitters were installed at the old D’Urban park location outside

Georgetown. The 250 w att medium wave tra n sm itter in sta lle d in 1950 was replaced with a 500 watt Redifon G.40 transmitter purchased in

Great B rita in . The 500 w att short wave tra n sm itter was replaced, la te r in 1952, with a 2 kilowatt Redifon G.120 transmitter. The old trans­ mitters were kept operational at D’Urban park as standby units in case of a breakdown.

Plans for the air conditioned studios and offices were delayed in 1953 by the Constitutional Crises but during 1954 construction s ta rte d on the Broadcast House a t Saint P h illip s Green on High S tre e t in Georgetown. The new complex contained offices, two control rooms, ~j f\/ three studios, recording studio and a record library. The control rooms were id e n tic a l in design and each contained three tu rn ta b le s,

702^reat Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1951, p. 88. ^O^Chapman, The West Indian Review, p. 40, and Great B rita in , Report on British Guiana for 1953, p. 88.

^O^Chapman, The West Indian Review, p. 40, and Rafiq Khan, Interview and tour of Radio Demerara. 201 two reel-to-reel tape recorders and an eight channel audio console with special inputs for remote broadcasts. The announcers, during most normal shifts, operated their own equipment from one of the control rooms. The recording or continuity studio contained a six channel audio console with magnetic and disk recording facilities. The Presto disk transcription recorder was capable of recording at 78 and 33 1/3 revolutions per minute with either coarse or fine grooving. 705

Aside from the combination control room-studios, there were three major studios in the complex. Studio "A" was the smallest and could only seat four persons. This studio was used mostly for record­ ing continuity for the radio station, news and interviews. Studio MB" was the largest with a capacity for sixty persons. This studio was used for audience participation programs and special events. Studio

"C" had a' capacity of between six to eight persons and was utilized 706 for round table and panel discussions.

In 1956, a second short wave serv ice was added to provide b e tte r night time coverage of the interior. Radio Demerara continued to short wave broadcast on 5981 Kc/s but a t 4:00 P.M. d aily , the tra n s­ mission frequency was changed to 3255 Kc/s. In 1957, when the trans­ mitters were moved, a 2 Kilowatt R, F. bay was added to facilitate 707 a quick frequency change.

^Q^Ib id . t anc} Great B rita in , Handbook on Broadcasting Services in the Colonies, p. 15.

706I b i d ., p. 9.

7^7Chapman, West Indian Review, p. 40. 202

A transmitter site was finally located in 1957 at Sparandaam, 708 which is about seven miles from the station in Georgetown. Sparandaam is a good location for transmitters because it is on the coast and the salt water and clay base offers excellent conductivity which results in a more powerful signal.At the new location, two 180 foot mast antennas were erected for the medium wave service which was changed to

660 Kc/s. A ten Kilowatt G.162 Redifon medium wave transmitter was purchased and installed as the main transmitter with the old 500 watt 710 Redifon G.40 going to standby. For the two short wave frequencies, two vertical incidence aerials were erected and the quick frequency change device was added.7^

With the installation of the 10 Kilowatt medium wave transmitter, almost complete coverage of the co astal s tr ip by medium wave was accomplished. The short wave transm issions were beamed to the in ­ terior but they could also be picked up regularly in Trinidad, 712 Barbados, Grenada and Surinam.

The addition of the second medium wave service in 1958 resu lted in a number of changes. The studio and o ffic e complex had to be

708Ibid. 709 Meer Asad Rayman, Personal Interview with the Chief Engineer of the Guyana Broadcasting Service and tour of Sparandaam transmitter s i t e on December 14, 1972.

710creat Britain, Sound and Television Broadcasting in the Overseas T e rrito rie s ; Handbook 3.962, p. 32.

711Ib id . 712 Great B rita in , Handbook on Broadcasting Services in the Colonies, p. 9. 203 expanded to accommodate the added equipment and s ta f f . An addition to the High Street Building was constructed to house a five ton air con­ ditioner as well as a new master control room and recording studio.

In the old part of the complex, the production offices and record library were replaced with too studios and a control room. Additional turntables, reel-to-reel tape recorders, microphones and audio con- soles were purchased from Great Britain and the United States. 713

The management of the Company decided to have the firm a lte rin g the studios replace the too 180 foot mast antennas with a 500 foot tower that would carry both medium wave services. A Trinidad con­ struction firm, Ash and Watson, erected the 500 foot tower, weighing "71/ 14,880 points, in 12 days. The Frequency selected for BGBS was

560 Kc/s and a 10 Kilowatt transmitter was purchased and installed for the new service. Radio Demerara continued to operate on one medium wave frequency and two short wave frequencies sim ultaneously. The medium wave frequency was changed, however, from 660 Kc/s to 760 Kc/s when BGBS went on the air. Radio Demerara continued operating with its 10 Kilowatt transmitter but a 5 Kilowatt Redifon was purchased 715 from Great Britain as standby for both BGBS and Radio Demerara.

713gritish Guiana United Broadcasting Company Ltd., Christmas Annual I960; Radio Demerara and Station BGBS (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1960), p. 77. 714 The Daily Argosy, December 10, 1958, p. 7.

715 Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1958, p. 181, and Christmas Annual I960, pp. 74-76. 204

The short wave a e ria ls and frequencies were l e f t unchanged, but two short wave broadband rhombic receiving aerials were erected and oriented toward Great Britain for BBC reception. An electronic switch attached to the short wave receivers automatically selected the strongest program signal for recording or rebroadcast.

In 1958, bids were let for equiping the Government recording studio which was to be constructed at D'Urban park. Financial problems postponed construction of the building until 1960 at which time the equipment was in sta lle d . The Government contracted for a turnkey operation that included an eight channel console, patch bay, three turntables, each capable of three speeds, two rack mounted reel-to-reel tape recorders and one portable tape recorder, microphones, headsets, clocks, speakers and two-way communication system between the control room and the studio. The contractor was required to i n s t a l l a l l equip­ ment to the s a tis fa c tio n of the Government and on completion provide a complete wiring diagram. 717

Financial

The most recurring financial problem faced by the Government was the collection of radio receivers license fees. In 1950, 7,050 radio receiver fees were issued by the Post Office Department but it

^ •^Ib id .f and tour of Radio Demerara facilities at Sparandaam.

7*-7"List and Description of Equipment Required for Government Recording Studio," Georgetown, Guyana Archives, GIS file box, File date 1948. 205 was estimated there were over 16,000 sets in operation.In 1954, when 21,800 licenses were granted, the Post Office estimated more than

35,000 sets in operation. The loss of revenue has been significant and to curb nonpayment the Post O ffice Department was empowered to investigate and request prosecution of delinquent individuals.

Part of the collection and investigation problem was geography.

Officers in the Investigation Section and Radio Licenses unit seldom went into the sparsely populated interior because it was uneconomical 720 to spend that much time and travel that great a distance.

There is also no machinery whereby the Department can ascertain whether the purchaser of a radio has obtained a license in the year of purchase. Steps are, however, being taken to introduce legislation which it is hoped w ill remedy the s itu a tio n .721

The problem was that if a person did not voluntarily register his radio receiver by purchasing a license there was no other way of later determining if he had a radio receiver without entering his premises. The legislation to remedy the problem would have required all radio dealers to submit to the Post Office the names of everyone

Central Rediffusion, Commercial Broadcasting in the West In d ie s, p. 64.

^ ^ Ibid. 720 British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1956 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1957), p. 6. 721 Ibid. 206 who purchased a radio. 722 The legislation was not passed, however, and the problem has continued.

Financial arrangements between the Company and the Government came under attack in theLegislative Council during 1950 from

Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Jaganquestioned the validity of Company claims that they needed Government financial aid to expand and that they had been losing money prior to 1950 and could not pay dividends. Jagan further criticized the Agreement terms that allotted the Company 90 percent of 723 the Radio Receiver license fees collected by the Post Office.

Appendix XIII shows the number of radio receiv ers licensed; the amount of fees collected by the Government and the percent distributed to the

Company. The Company received 90 percent of the license fees to 1951, after which time they received 80 percent and the Government retained

"7 0/ 20 percent of the fees. In 1957, after Jagan returned to power, the

Government and Company renegotiated the division of receiver fees. It was decided that the Government would give the Company a grant of

BG$30,000 a year for 1957, 1958 and 1959, a t which time the Government grants to the Company would c e a s e / 25

^ ^ C liffo rd Graham, Personal Interview w ith the A ssistan t Superintendent of Police (Attached to the Post Office Department to command the Investigation Section and Radio License Unit), on December 18, 1972.

^^Legislative Council, Minutes of the Legislative Council of British Guiana, Vol 22, p. 1758.

^^Refer to the British Guiana, Reports of the Postmaster for the years cited.

7^Ibid. } anci Rafiq Khan, Personal Interview. 207

Rediffusion Limited's financial policy toward Radio Demerara was, in the Company's words, conservative.

The group's policy has been to regard its investment as a long-term one, in direct relation to the minimum span of the Agreement between the Companies and the relevent Governments. . .Every business organization is naturally anxious to make profits, and the Rediffusion group is no exception; but a conservative dividend policy has been adopted throughout, and most of the profits have been ploughed back into the business,726

Appendix XIV contains a table showing the Company's revenues for the period 1950 through 1967 and the dividends, as compared to gross revenue, only went above eight percent three times between 1950 and

1967. No dividends were declared for the years 1950 and 1964, and dividends of less than two percent were declared during six of the years between 1950 and 1967. The la rg e st dividend was declared in 1967, the year the Government started negotiations to take over BGBS. The dividend for 1967 was 38.2 percent of the gross revenue.

Following the stock issue purchased by Rediffusion in 1950, there were five other stock issues sold between 1950 and 1967. The c a p ita l of the Company was increased in 1956 from BG$100,000 to BG$150,000 by 7 28 the creation of 100,000 ordinary shares of stock at BG$.50 each.

Two stock issues totalling 120,000 shares, were sold in 1958 increasing

726central Rediffusion, Commercial Broadcasting In the West Indies, p. 19.

^ ^ R e fe r to the tab le, in Appendix XIV, which was compiled from confidential information received in Guyana and "Statements of Profit and Loss," F ile 344, Deeds R egistry, Georgetown, Guyana.

728'rincrease in Capital Shares,” File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana. 208 the Company's c a p ita liz a tio n by BG$60,000 which was u tiliz e d to help defray the costs of opening BGBS. 7 ^ Further increases in capitalizat­ ion were approved by the Board of D irectors in 1960 and 1962 to ra is e a combined to ta l of BG$240,000 by issuing 180,000 and 300,000 shares

of stock, respectively. ^0 All told, the five stock issues raised

BG$350,000 by se llin g 700,000 ordinary shares in the Company only to those persons, or corporations, who already owned ordinary shares in the Company. Of the 700,000 ordinary shares sold betx^een 1956 and

1962, Rediffusion Limited purchased 679,000 of those shares putting

BG$339,989.50 into the Company. The other twenty-one shares were purchased by members of the Board of Directors: Johnny Adamson and

John Dare each bought ten shares and Bernard Bonsor purchased one share.

Programming

Rediffusion Limited’s program policy was audience centered and an effort was made to cater to local customs, tastes and standards of education. A six point program policy was put into effect by Rediffus­ ion after control in Radio Demerara x?as assumed. The Policy was"

(i) That, to serve th e ir purpose, broadcast programmes must have appeal for the audience to whom they are

729t'increase in C apital Shares," F ile 344, Deeds R egistry, Georgetown, Guyana, 1956.

'^"Increase in Capital Shares," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana, I960 and 1962.

^ ^"Statement of Ownership, 1962," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana. 209

broadcast. (ii) That the public duty of broadcasting is to provide programmes containing entertainm ent, inform ation and education. (iii) That the daily programming shall be well-balanced as a whole. (iv) That the programmes s h a ll cater for a l l sections of the community, including substantial minorities. (v) That local talent shall be used to the maximum extent. (vi) That matters of local interest shall be given a place of special importance in the production of the programme schedule,73^

Rediffusion officials were cognizant that a program policy which satis­ fies and fulfills audience needs will not only gain listenership but 7 OO make money for the Company

Rediffusion Limited's other broadcast holdings in the West Indies afforded the individual stations the opportunity to offer regional services through interconnection. Wienever noteworthy events occurred, such as the Queen’s visit to the Caribbean or cricket matches, Rediffu­ sion stations formed networks and provided coverage of the event through-

• 1 A / out the region.

A conservative news policy was pursued by Rediffusion in British

Guiana as compared with the overall program policy. Radio Demerara initially produced very little news allowing the local newspapers to produce and sponsor local newscasts and relaying BBC news Bulletins to 735 fulfill the need for international news coverage. Local news shows

^^Central Rediffusion, Commercial Broadcasting in the West Indies, pp. 20-21.

733I b id ., p. 28.

734Ibid. , pp. 35-36.

733Ibid., pp. 26 & 37. 210 done by the station followed the station's policy of not competing with news presented by newspapers. The job of radio news, as expressed by

Rediffusion, was "to give the facts, entirely free from any bias or

7 commentary." Tables 11 and 12 show the amount and percent of lo cal and BBC relay news carried by Radio Demerara and, after 1958, Radio

Demerara and BGBS combined. For the days selected in 1950, 1954 and

1958, BBC international news dominated local news in time and percent of the program schedule devoted to the two categories. In 1962, a reversal took place and local news surpassed the BBC international news relays. Radio Demerara news director, Harry Harewood, stated that the increase in local news started after the 1962 disturbances which forced the radio stations into producing more news. 7 37 Prior to the 1962 disturbances, four local newscasts were presented daily but after 1958 as many as twelve to fourteen newscasts were presented daily over the 738 combined facilities of Radio Demerara and BGBS.

Government Information Service time increased from thirty minutes

in 1950 to two hours and forty -n in e minutes in 1966, a growth of

two hours and nineteen minutes. Even after discounting the increase in program hours due to the second service, Table 12 shows the percent

736 Ibid., p. 25.

737 Harry Harewood, Personal Interview with the News Editor of Radio Demerara in Georgetown, Guyana on December 19, 1972. 738 See for example, program logs listed in The Daily Chronicle, January 13, 1962 or February 6, 1966. 211

TABLE 11

RADIO DEMERARA PROGRAM CATEGORIES IN HOURS AND MINUTES

AS TAKEN FROM NEWSPAPER RADIO SCHEDULES

DURING THE PERIOD 1950 THROUGH 1966a

Year Category 1950 1954 1958 1962b 1966

GIS/BPI :30 1:20 :59 1:49 2:49

BBC News :35 1:00 : 40 1:00 1:05

Local Hews :25 :20 :33 1:03 1:37

Sports :35 :05 :25 :20

Public Service :15 :50 :33 :55 :23

R eligion :15 :15 :56 1:18 1:02

East Indian :30 :25 :55 :40

Music (Classical) :30 :30 :15 1:15 :45

Music (Popular) 6:40 8:10 7:47 16:57 18:30

Drama & S eria ls :30 1:15 1:50 3:20

Variety, Quiz & Talk 1:00 1:30 2:50 2:25 3:33

Unclassified 1:45 2:03 1:22 2:00 :35

T otal 13:00 16:33 17:35 31:15 34:45

aTable 11 was compiled from newspaper radio schedules taken from The Daily Chronicle of August 19, 1950, October 19, 1954, December 3, 1958, January 13, 1962 and February 6, 1966, which were selected at random.

tyrhe program schedu3.es a fte r 1962 are combined to ta ls from the Radio Demerara and BGBS program logs. 212

TABLE 12

RADIO DEMERARA PROGRAM CATEGORIES IN PERCENT

AS TAKEN FROM NEWSPAPER RADIO SCHEDULES

DURING THE PERIOD 1950 THROUGH 1966a

Year Category 1950 1954 1958 1962b 1966

GIS/BPI 3.8% 8.0% 5.6% 5.8% 8.3%

BBC News 4.4 6.0 3.9 3.2 3.1

Local News 3.2 2.0 3.1 3.3 4.7

Sports 4.4 .5 1.3 .9

Public Service 1.9 5.0 3.1 2.9 1.1

Religion 1.9 1.5 5.3. 4.1 3.0

East Indian 3.8 2.3 2.9 1.9

Music (Classical) 3.8 3.0 1.4 4.0 2.2

Music (Popular) 51.1 49.2 44.3 54.2 54.7

Drama & S erials 3.0 7.1 5.8 9.8

Variety, Quiz & Talk 7.6 9.0 16.0 7.7 10.4

Unclassified 13.4 12.3 7.7 6.4 1.7

Total 99.3% 100.5% 99.8% 100.4% 101.8% aTable 12 was compiled from newspaper radio schedules taken from The Daily Chronicle of August 19, 1950, October 19, 1954, December 3, 1958, January 13, 1962 and February 6, 1966, which were selected at random. bThe program schedules after 1962 are combined totals from the Radio Demerara and BGBS program logs. 213 of time allocated to Government programs increased from 3.8 percent in

1950 to 8.3 percent in 1966.

The time allotted for sports programs declined from thirty-five minutes on the 1950 program log to twenty minutes on the 1966 program schedule, even though program time for the same period more than doubled.

In regards to percent of time utilized for sports programs, 4.4 percent of the total air time was used for sports programs in 1950 falling to

.9 percent in 1966.

Public Service radio time, as indicated by the newspaper program schedules, rose from fifteen minutes daily in 1950 to a high of fifty- five minutes in 1962 but then fell to twenty-three minutes in 1966.

Even though program time rose between 1950 and 1966, the percent of time allocated for public service fell from 1.9 percent in 1950 to

1.1 percent in 1966. Public Service time reached a high of 5 percent in 1954, the year after the Constitution suspension when both the

Company and the Government were utilizing public service time to publicise the report of the Commission investigating the suspension.

Most of the Company’s public serv ice programs are community or personal message programs. "Community Call" was a sustaining five minute feature aired twice daily promoting churches, charities and philanthropic organizations. The cost to the Company, as of 1954, was estimated to be about BG$4,000.00 a year. 739 A personal message service, "Deaths and Messages" was run four times daily to make special announcements to

739 Ibid., p. 42 214 carry special communications between families and friends. A small charge is made to keep frivolous messages off the air but all police 740 and hospital messages are handled free of charge.

Tables 11 and 12 show that religious programming rose, in both time and percent of total time allotted, from 1950 to 1966. From fifteen minutes, or 1.9 percent of program time in 1950, religious programming rose to a high total air time of one hour and eighteen minutes in 1962. The greatest percent of scheduled air time devoted to religious programming was 5.3 percent in 1958 although only fifty- six minutes of a ir time was u tiliz e d .

Although programs directed at East Indians rose from thirty minutes on the 1950 program schedule to forty minutes in 1966, the percentage of programs in the Hindustani language dropped from 3.8 percent of the to ta l a ir time in 1950 to 1.9 on the 1966 program log.

It should be noted that radio listening among East Indians, who comprise much of the rural population, is highly selective and tends to work against national integration.

In rural areas, where most radio sets have to be operated by relatively expensive dry cell batteries, radio listening tends to be highly selective with respect to the kinds of programs tuned in. Except for news programs and programs carrying personal communi­ cations, observational data suggest that the Guianese tend to be selective in their use of radios along ethnic lin e s .741

740Ib id .

^"4)espres, Cultural Pluralism and National Politics, pp. 134-5. 215

Another interesting sociological aspect of East Indian listenership is

that radio ownership on plantations or in rural areas is a matter of

status. Rural radio listenership per set is much higher than in urban areas and therefore takes on a communal, or sociological, significance

in the small rural communities.

By far, the most popular type of programming was music. During

1950, six hours and forty minutes of air time, or 51.1percent of the

total air time, was devoted to popular music. Tables 11 and 12 show

th a t amounts of a ir time programmed with popular music f e l l during

1954 and 1958 but increased g reatly a fte r BGBS went on the a ir . Popu­

lar music rose to a high of eighteen and a half hours daily or 54.7 percent of the total air time as indicated by the 1966 program log.

Classical music was a minor category with only thirty minutes, or

3.8 percent of the daily program schedule, offered in 1950. In 1966,

c la s s ic a l music rose in the amount of a ir time devoted but f e l l to"

2.2 percent of the total schedule.

The program schedules showed th at drama and s e r ia l type programs were not carried in the program log selected from 1950. Dramatic

programs and serials took up thirty minutes, or 3 percent of the total

program schedule in 1954 and rose to a high of three hours and twenty

minutes in 1966. Much of this category and the Variety, Quiz and Talk

shows came from BBC tra n scrip tio n s carried as p a rt of the 1950 Agree­

ment. In 1954, about 33 percent of the total time on the station, or

^^Jayawardena, Conflict and Solidarity, pp. 44-45. 216

about thirty-five hours a week, was made up of recorded materials from

the BBC or Australia. Transcriptions from the United States were

7 / 3 restricted because of copyright and currency problems. The combined radio services, in 1960, carried a total of twenty-seven hours of

BBC transcriptions in line with the 1950 Agreement.The popularity of V ariety , Quiz and Talk shows increased yearly except for 1962.

Starting in 1950, one hour, or 7.6 percent of air time, was filled w ith V ariety, Quiz and Talk shows and th is rose to three hours and

thirty-three minutes, or 10.4 percent, in 1966.

The programs that could not be classified from their title in

the newspaper radio schedules comprise a substantial amount and percent of the program time. In 1950, for example, 13.4 percent of

the program schedule could not be classified. This category fell to only thirty-five minutes, or 1.7 percent, in 1966.

The Company’s second service sta rte d operating in December 1958 and was intended to "provide radio fare of a less popular type than

that provided on ’Radio Demerara’ under the pressures of commercial

y A 5 sponsorship." BGBS was supposed to place emphasis on cultural

programs offering an "alternative service" to commercially sounding

Radio Demerara,Table 13 shows a comparison of Radio Demerara and

743central Rediffusion, Commercial Broadcasting in the West I n d ie s , p. 25.

744great Britain, Report on British Guiana for 1960, p . 201.

7 ^B ritish Guiana, Report of the GIS for 1959. p. 5. 746Ibid., p. 1. TABLE 13

CATEGORIES OF PROGRAMS OVER RADIO DEMERARA

AND BGBS IN TIME AND PERCENT FOR THE

YEARS 1962 AND 1964a

L962 Category Radio Demerara BGBS Time Percent Time Percent

GIS/BPI :59 5.6% :50 6.0%

BBC News : 30 2.8 :30 3.6

Local News :33 3.1 :30 3.6

Sports :05 .4 :20 2.4

Public Service : 18 1.7

R eligion :58 5.4 :20 2.4

East Indian : 25 2.3 :30 3.6

Music (Classical) 1:15 9.1

Music (Popular) 9:32 54.2 7:25 54.2

Drama & S erials 1:15 7.1 :35 4.2

V ariety, Quiz & Talk 1:35 9.0 :50 6.0

Unclassified 1:25 8.0 :35 4.2

T otal 17:35 99.6 13:40 99.3 aTable 13 was compiled from newspaper radio schedules taken from The Daily Chronicle of January 13, 1962 and February 6, 1964, which were selected at random. 218

TABLE 13—Continued

L966 Radio Demerara BGBS Time Percent Time Percent

1:39 9.3% 1:10 6.7%

: 25 2.3 :40 3.8

:46 4.3 :51 4.9

:05 .4 :15 1.4

: 2 3 2.1

: 23 2.1 : 39 3.7

:25 2.3 :15 1.4

:45 4.3

8:54 50.6 9:42 56.5

2:15 12.7 1:05 6.3

1:55 10.8 1:38 9.5

: 25 2.3 ;10 .9

Total 17:35 99.2 17:10 99.4 BGBS for the years 1962 and 1966. The most obvious aspect of Table 13 is that in the program logs selected for the comparison all Public

Service programs were run on Radio Demerara and all classical music was played over BGBS. During 1962, there was less than a 2 percent variance between Radio Demerara and BGBS in Government Information

Service, BBC News, Local News, East Indian and Sports programming.

Religious programs accounted for fifty-eight minutes, or 5.A percent of Radio Demerara1s program time during 1962 as compared w ith twenty minutes, or 2.A percent, of the time on BGBS. Despite more than a

two hour d ifference between the amount of popular music on Radio

Demerara and BGBS, the same percent, 5A.2, was devoted to that program category by both stations. Popular music accounted for over half the program schedule on both stations during 1962, which was by far the largest program category. More than twice as much program time was devoted to Drama and Serial programs on Radio Demerara as on BGBS; one hour and fifte e n m inutes, or 7.1 percent as compared with th irty -

five minutes, or 4.2 percent. Variety, Quiz and Talk programs took up 9 percent of Radio Demerara's program time as compared with 6 percent of BGBS' total schedule in 1962.

Table 13 shows that during 1966, there was less than a 2 per­ cent variance in program time a llo tte d BBC News, Local News, Sports,

Religion and East Indian programs over BGBS and Radio Demerara.

Government Information Service time took up 9.3 percent of Radio

Demerara*s schedule as compared with only 6.7 percent of BGBS' program

schedule. Popular music rose to a high of nine hours and forty-two minutes, or 56,5 percent of BGBS* program times as compared with eight hours and fifty-four minutes, or 50.6 percent of Radio Demerara's daily air time. Drama and Serial programs took up two hours and fifteen minutes of program time on Radio Demerara, more than double the one hour and five minutes of time allotted over BGBS. Variety, Quiz and

Talk shows were fairly evenly balanced, one hour and fifty-five minutes devoted to the category on Radio Demerara and one hour and th irty -e ig h t minutes on BGBS. CHAPTER IV

PRIVATE AND PUBLIC BROADCASTING IN GUYANA: 1968 THROUGH 1972

Hugh Cholmondely, co-author of the report, "The Development of a N ational Broadcasting System fo r Guyana," was employed by the

Ministry of Information to head the Broadcast Division in late 1967 after the broadcast report was accepted by the Government. Cholmondely*s job was to run the Broadcast Division while reorganizing and preparing for development of televisio and acquisition of a Government radio station. The position as head of the Broadcast Division was an interim post for Cholmondely, who was slated to be Director of the

* 7 / " 7 Government Broadcast Service.

To prepare for television, Cholmondely sent three men from the

Broadcast Division to London for six months training with the BBC.

Ronald Sanders, an announcer-producer with free lance experience with the BBC and the Guyana Inform ation Service, was employed by the

Ministry of Information and sent to Great Britain for a television production course.Cecil Griffith, a former newspaper reporter and Radio Demerara newsman, was trained in radio and te le v isio n news

* 7 / 7 Ronald Sanders, Personal Interview with the Program Director of the Guyana Broadcast Service in Georgetown, Guyana, on December 15, 1972. 748Ibid.

221 222 and public affairs techniques. 749 Meer Assad Rayman, an electronics technician, took the technical course and then was given on-the-job 750 experience with the BBC.

While the three Ministry of Information employees were in

London, the Government sta rte d negotiations w ith the Company over the acquisition of one of the two commercial radio stations. During the course of the negotiations, Cholmondely decided against the introduc- 751 tion of television,

. . . it became obvious to Cholmondely that we could not introduce te le v isio n in th is country because of a number of things, like for instance when we wanted to do television we wanted to produce a hell of a lot of local programming. In fact, the criteria for the whole reason for having it was that we should produce programs of a local nature so we won't have cultural imperialism in cases of canned programs from the States and Britain, and so o n . 752

The logistics of producing local programs apparently proved to be too much for Guyana's limited economic and skilled manpower resources.

With the decision not to introduce television, the three Broadcast

Division employees in London were ordered to complete an additional eight week radio course before returning to Guyana, 753

7^^Cecil Griffith, Personal Interview with the News Director of the Guyana Broadcast Service in Georgetown, Guyana, on December 15, 1972. 75^Meer Assad Rayman, Interview*

75lAlthough a personai interview with Hugh Cholmondely, Director of the Guyana Broadcast Service, could not be arranged, C. A. Nascimento, V. L. C. Forsythe and Ronald Sanders indicate the decision not to introduce television was made by Cholmondely. Sanders, Interview. 753Meer Assad Rayman, Interview. 223

Negotions between the Company and the Government over the ac­ quisition of GBS were concluded in August, 1968, and formalized by a letter of agreement on August 12.^^ The letter and subsequent re­ visions are contained in Appendix XV. The letter not only provides for the acquisition of GBS by the Government but also for changes to the o rig in a l 1950 Agreement.

The 1968 agreement stip u la te d th a t the Government would assume operation of GBS on September 1, 1967, and on that date the Company sould release control of the station and inform all advertisers of the change. The Government was to continue operating GBS over the

Company's equipment u n til the Government was in a p o sitio n to operate its own transmission facilities.In return for relinquishing GBS, the provisions of the 1950 Agreement were extended for an additional

“ f C / " fifteen year term from September 1, 1968.

Clause four of the Agreement continues to charge the Company with maintaining an "efficient service throughout the said Colony" and be equipped to receive as well as transmit. The only substantive change in Clause four was elim ination of the minimum amount of a ir

^^Letter to Bernard Bonsor, General Manager of Rediffusion (West Indies) Limited from the Honorable Martin W. Carter, Minister of Information, August 12, 1968, Reference Number CM!:2/2. 755 Ibid., Paragraph 2, sub-paragraph ii and iii, p. 1. 756 Ibid., Paragraph 2, sub-paragraph i and v, p. 1. 224

time the Company was to afford the Government. The Minister of

Information, however, was still accorded the right to require the

Company to broadcast, with twenty-four hours notice, at any hour

selected by the Government any announcements or programs of n ational

in te r e s t. 7 57

Clause five was entirely deleted from the Agreement which

relieved the Company from relaying not less than twenty-one hours of

BBC programs each week. The Government, under Clause five, was

further relieved of any payment to the Company from license fees and

the reimbursement of copyright fees incurred from relaying BBC 7 co program s.7

The Government fu rth e r revised Clause twenty-one by taking out

the automatic five year extension provision if the Government did not

indicate plans to take over Radio Demerara one year prior to the

Agreement expiration date. No provision was made, though, for the

continuation or extension of the Agreement and it appears the Govern­ ment could take over Radio Demerara at any time after the Agreement 7S9 expires on August 31, 1983.

Following the conclusion of negotiations in August, the

Government requested a one month extension regarding the Ministry of

^ ^Ibid. , Paragraph 2, sub-paragraph vi, p. 2.

^ ^Ibid., Paragraph 2, sub-paragraph vii, p. 2

^ ^ Ib id .t Paragraph 2, sub-paragraph v iii, pp. 2-3. 225

Information's assuming control of GBS. Instead of taking control of

GBS on September 1, 1968, the new date set for the acquisition was

October 1, 1968.^^

Company officials appeared at a severe disadvantage in the negotiations as they potentially had everything to lose through nationalization if an agreement to the Government's satisfaction could not be reached.

I distinctly did not use the term 'take over' because it has certain emotional connotations . . . Now, there was no money passed in this undertaking. We did not sell GBS to the Government, in fact, the Government took it with our consent . . . our policy was dictated by the desires of Rediffusion to secure its one remaining radio station for some length of time and perhaps in considera­ tion for having our franchise renewed for a fifteen year period we agreed to these concessions,761

Following the October 1, 1968, Government acquisition of GBS,

Radio Demerara General Manager Eric Saul was tra n sferred to N igeria.

Replacing Saul was Ulric A. Gouveia, a Guyanese citizen and long time C. <■) employee of Radio Demerara, who rose from announcer to sales manager.

Rafiq Khan said that because of the acquisition "Rediffusion has become very sensitive to the needs for its overseas operations in the

Letter, to Bernard Bonsor, General Manager of Rediffusion (West Indies) Limited, from the Honorable Martin W. Carter, Minister of Information, in August, 1968, Reference Number CMI:2/2,

7 6 1 Rafiq Khan, Interview

769 "New Radio Station Boss," The Guyana Graphic, October 25, 1968, p. 1, Caribbean to be run by nationals and not only run but appear to be ru n ."763

With the formation of GBS, the Government loaned the radio station enough funds to operate through the transition period until commercial revenues could support the venture, Hugh Cholmondely was appointed Director of GBS and Vivian Harrison, a former Reduffusion employee, was hired as Deputy Director. All other GBS personnel were autom atically employed by the M inistry of Information when the acquis- 764 ition occurred.

GBS inherited the Government Information Studio at D’urban Park and rented production studios and transmitter facilities from Radio

Demerara. A building at the National Park, in Georgetown, was converted into the main broadcast studio and was connected to the rented transmit­ te r a t Sparandaam. T ra ffic , continuity, programming and news were housed at D’urban Park and office space for the accounting and sales staff was rented at the Aluminum Company building in Georgetown.76^

During 1969, construction on the GBS transmitter building was started at Sparandaam next to the transmitter and tower of Radio

Demerara, on land donated to the Government by the Company. The b u ild ­ ing was completed and equipment installed in December, 1969, although the formal commissioning by Prime Minister Burnham did not take place

Rafiq Khan, Interview .

76^Vivian Harrison, Interview. in 7 6 6 until January 4, 1970.

In June, 1970, the Ministry of Information participated in the eighth Commonwealth Broadcasting Conference which was held in Jamaica.

The theme of the Conference, "Practical Suggestions for M ultilateral

Co-operation in Broadcasting," led to regional program co-operation for

Government broadcast systems throughout the Caribbean. The Conference also stressed the emergence of a new mobile audience created by the inexpensive transistor radio and dealt with ways of encouraging audience participation.^^

In 1971, the Government further streamlined the operation of

Government owned public corporations with the Public Corporations Act,

1971. The Act created a holding corporation, the Guyana State Corpor­ a tio n , which was to own the assets and help manage s ta te owned public 768 corporations such as the Telecommunications Corporation.

Plans were also made during 1971 to rectify the physical plant problems by constructing a Broadcast House to be located on vacant land at D'urban Park. The Government obtained for GBS, through a loan agree­ ment with Great Britain, enough equipment to establish an adequate broadcast and production facilities in the proposed building. Unfortun­ ately, however, the Government has refused to arrange construction loans

'^ T h e Guyana Graphic, January 4, 1970, p. 19.

Great Britain, British Information Service, "Commonwealth Broadcasting Conference," Survey of British and Commonwealth Affairs, IV (September 25, 1970), pp. 841-3. 768 Guyana, Laws, Statutes, etc., Public Corporations Act, 1971, Number 18 of 1971, The Official Gazette, October 1, 1971, pp. 27-41. 228 for the Government broadcast complex and most of the equipment obtained 769 from the United Kingdom has set idle throughout 1971 and 1972. In lieu of the major broadcast complex which would centralise and combine production and broadcast facilities, GBS engineers started remodeling a shed at D*urban Park which will house a record library, control room and studio. The facilities at the National Park and Radio Demerara will apparantly continue to be utilized until the Broadcast House is constructed.

After some three years of operation as an am of the Ministry of

Information, the Government Broadcast Service was made a public corp­ oration on December 1, 1972, and GBS autom atically came under the general 770 administrative control of the Guyana State Corporation. One immediate change was the establishment of a GBS Board of Directors to set general policy. Appointed for one year terms, as of December 1, 1972, were V.

Forsythe, Chief Information Officer of the Guyana Information Service;

B.A. Haider, Principal Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and C. A. Nascimento, Special Political Assistant to the Prime

Minister. Ex-officio board members from GBS were Vivian Harrison, Acting

Director; S. Ross, Finance Controller; Ronald Sanders, Program Director;

Meer Assad Rayman, Chief Engineer and T. Holder, Public Relations and

769 Secret Memorandum, sent to February (1972) Cabinet Meeting, from E. B. McDavid, M in ister.of Information and C ulture, March 6, 1972, File: MI 10/36/3, Ministry of Information, Georgetown, Guyana.

Guyana, Laws, Statutes, etc.-, Public Corporations (Broadcast­ ing) Order, 1972. Number 76 of 1972, The Official Gazette, September 27, 1972. 229

Research Manager. 771

The internal organization of GBS is rather simple with six depart­ ment managers reporting directly to the Director. The six department heads are the News Director, Deputy Director and Sales Manager, Public

Relations and Research Manager, Engineer-in-Chief, Program Director and the Finance Control-er. The Deputy Director acts as a department head in 772 charge of sales and he also manages the office staff. The Engineer- in-Chief is in charge of the control room operators and a seperate 773 technical staff that maintains equipment. The internal organization of Radio Demerara has five departments reporting to the General Manager, who since 1970 has also retained the duties of Program Director. Sales,

Engineering, Accounting, Office Division and Programming respond directly to the General Manager. The Programming Department is further sub­ divided into the record library, announcers, control room operators and the news s t a f f . ^ ^

In late 1972, P«afiq Khan summarized the relationship between the

Government and Radio Demerara as extremely c o rd ia l.

This has not always been so but I think that the situation has changed since the division in 1968. But, in so far as our operations are concerned, the Government, the individual Ministers, have expressed satisfaction from time to time with our operation of Radio Demerara. . . we take the policy that is laid down, is that Radio Demerara will at all times

771 Sunday Chronicle, October 1, 1972, p. 8, 772 Vivian Harrison, Interview. 773 Meer Assad Rayman, Interview . 774 Rafiz Khan, Interview. 230

co-operate with the Government of the day,^**

Underneath the cordial atmosphere lies the fact that Guyana has nation­ alized the foreign owned Aluminum Company of Canada holdings and

Government officials, including the Prime Minister, have made statements against expatriate ownership indicating that Guyana's resources must 776 be exploited for Guyana by Guyanese. Khan feels that once the Govern­ ment moves against one expatriate owner it will be hard to draw the line 777 and the station could be appropriated despite the franchise.

Legal

The Public Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 1971, created the

Guyana State Corporation on October 9, 1971, to act as a holding company and provide management services for other public corporations in Guyana. 778

The Act empowers the Guyana S tate Corporation to exercise supervision and control over all corporations, in which the controlling interest is held by the State. Authority to acquire, hold and carry on any activity necessary to the continuation of the Guyana State Corporation, or any 779 subsidiary corporation, is granted in the Bill. Furthermore, the

Guyana S tate Corporation is required to provide coordinating services to a l l public corporations in the areas of management and organization,

77W 776 Supra, pp. 36 and 38. 777 Rafiq Khan, Interview , 778 Guyana, Public Corporations Bill, 1971, (Sec. 20,), p. 30, 779 Ibid. 231 personnel and fin an ce.788

To carry out the Government mandate, the Guyana S tate Corporation is directed to form separate Boards of Directors for each public corporation being managed. The Prime Minister is the President of the holding corporation and the M inister of Economic Development is desig­ nated as the Vice President of the Guyana State Corporation and is autom atically Chairman of the Board of D irectors of a l l s ta te owned businesses. The individual Boards of D irectors are composed of ex­ officio members from the respective corporations and up to five outside

Board members chosen by the Prime Minister, acting in the capacity of 781 President of the Guyana State Corporation.

The State Corporations are granted all the rights necessary to tra n sa c t business, such as, borrow money, acquire and dispose of 782 property or invest excess funds. To ensure that the Guyana State

Corporation remains sensitive to national policy, the Bill requires the

Corporation to respond to the will of the National Assembly as expressed yon by the Prime Minister. The Guyana State Corporation is further required to keep accounts of transactions entered into by itself and sub- 784 sidiary corporations which are subject to annual audit.

On December 1, 1972, the sta tu s of the Guyana Broadcasting

780 Ibid., (Sec. 20., pt. 2.). 781 Ibid., (Sec. 2A., pts. 1 and 2.).

7 0 n Ibid., (Sec. 2H to 2J.).

783Ibid. 784 Ibid., (Sec. 2K.). 232

Service was changed to that of a public corporation subject to the auth- 785 ority and control of the Guyana State Corporation. As a public corporation, GBS was charged with providing radio and television service in the country and ensuring th at "adequate and comprehensive programmes are provided by the corporation to serve the best interests of the public generally

Technical

The Guyana Broadcasting Service continued to utilize Radio

Demerara's transmitters, studios and mast antenna following the acquis­ ition. In December, 1969, however, GBS technicians under the direction of a BBC engineer in sta lle d the Government tran sm itting equipment a t

Sparandaam which is still in use. The system has two Marconi 10 Kilowatt medium wave transmitters feeding into a Marconi medium frequency paral­ leling unit, so the transmitters can operate independently at 10 Kilowatts each, or together at 20 Kilowatts.

The GBS short wave service utilizes two Phillips 10 Kilowatt short wave transmitters and two short wave antennas directed toward the interior. Both Radio Demerara and GBS have their own short wave antennas but the medium frequency services share the 500 foot mast antenna belonging to the Guyana Broadcasting Company.

Guyana, Laws, Statutes, etc., Public Corporations (Broad­ casting) Order, 1972. Number '76 of 1972. The Official Gazette. September 27, 1972, pp. 77-79. 786 Ibid., (Sec. 4. pts. a and b.). 233

The connection, between the GBS transmitter and the National Park studio is made by telephone lines with a back-up fifty watt FM transmit­ ter at the Park. At the transmitter site, two FM receivers automatically start operating when the three land lines cease functioning. During

1972, the land lines were out of order and the studio-transmitter link was accomplished with the Gates ERP FM transmitter and two McMarting,

TRM 1000 receivers. A compressor-liraiter amplifier is also in operation at the GBS transmitter site to either raise or lower the broadcast signal to an acceptable level.

In an effort to anticipate all possible emergencies and still provide radio services, both GBS and Radio Demerara have Dale diesal engines capable of running their transmitters. The diesals automatically go into operation when normal electrical power is interrupted and shut down when power is restored. A diesal to provide emergency power for the proposed broadcast complex at D’urban Park was purchased in 1971 but the engine will remain in England until there is a building to house the equipment.

The GBS studios are poorly located and designed although studio equipment is well maintained. The principal broadcast studio is on the top floor of an open frame building at the National Park. The studios and control room are not air conditioned or sound proofed and extraneous noises are picked up. All music shows, tapes and records are played from the National Park studio except for newscasts which are done from the D'urbah park studios, which are being renovated.

The N ational Park contro l room contains an eight channel Pye audio console, four bay patch panel, two Garrard 401 turntables, two 234

Series 7 reel-to-reel tape recorders and two Plessey tape cartridge playback units. For audience participation or telephone talk shows, one reel-to-reel tape recorder has been modified to allow a fifteen second tape dealy. The announce booth is partitioned off from the control room by a w all and a large p ic tu re glass window. The announce booth has a small homemade audio panel that allows the announcer to open and close his own microphone and talk to the control room operator. Next to the broadcast studio is an open room utilized by news reporters. Although news announcing is done from the D'urban Park s it e , news tapes are prepared and played from the National Park control room. The National

Park news room has three reel-to-reel tape recorders used for editing and assembling news tapes.

The Guyana Broadcasting Service also m aintains a two Kilowatt transmitter at Linden, which is the bauxite mining area of the country.

The Linden transmitter eventually will eventually be put into operation and hooked up with the main transmitter at Sparandaam by microwave. This will provide the country with a secondary service from Linden.

Technically, the engineering staffs of GBS and Radio Demerara face unique problems because of Guyana's climate and the location of facilities. The transmitter buildings of GBS and Radio Demerara are less that one hundred yards from the ocean. Salt, as well as the hot moist

Guyanese climate, require reigorous maintenance schedules to offset deterioration caused by the elements. A continuous maintenance schedule assures that twice yearly every piece of GBS equipment is overhauled.

Once a month, GBS goes off the air early and a thorough all night maintenance program is carried out that includes cleaning and testing 235

equipment that sees constant use.

Financial

A loan of BG$80,450 was made to the Guyana Broadcasting Service

by the National Treasury in October, 1968, to purchase necessary equip- 788 ment and cover the transition period. Within six months, the station 789 was making enough money to cover all expenses and report a profit.

The station was doing so well financially, that with the loan and profits,

a transmitter was purchased and a building to house the equipment was

constructed at Sparandaam. At the inauguration of the Government

transmitter facility on January 4, 1970, Prime Minister Burnham praised 790 the fin a n c ia l management of GBS which allowed the expansion. Also

during 1970, the Government arranged, through a loan agreement with

Great Britain, to obtain radio equipment for the proposed broadcast

complex. The loan of BG$452,160 was to be paid back to the Government

Treasury from GBS profits. Most of the equipment was received during

1970 but never u tiliz e d because the Government refused to arrange

financing for the complex at D’urban Park. The estimated cost for the

proposed D’urban Park stru c tu re was BG$590,000 and for the small studio

at Linden the cost estimate was BG$43,000. In a major evaluation of

GBS' financial situaion during 1972, Minister of Information, E. B.

787 Meer Assad Rayman, Interview and tour of GBS and Radio Demerara facilities. 788 McDavid Memorandum, 789 Vivian Harrison, Interview. 790 The Guyana Graphic, January 4, 1970, p. 19 236

McDavid, recommended "th a t financing fo r the co n struction. . .should be

obtained from mortgages from the private sector to be repaid from 791 profits of the station."

The financial picture for the radio stations has dimmed since the

Government took over GBS in 1968. Competition between Radio Demerara

and GBS has not financially hurt either station; in fact, the competition 792 has proved beneficial. Commercial advertisements on both stations are numerous and both stations have the same rate structure which is

shown in Appendix XVI. What has hurt radio profits since 1968 is Govern­ ment actions designed to protect locally owned businesses and improve

the country's balance of payments deficit. Since 1971, Guyana's currency was devalued primarily because the country's imports far

exceeded exports. A loss of confidence in the nation's business climate has also occured because of the nationalization of the Demerara Bauxite

Company and the Government's expressed attitude toward foreign owned businesses. In an effort to improve the balance of trade and protect

small Guyanese businesses, the Government has started restricting 793 imports on a selected basis. For example, once a Guyana firm reaches a certain level of production, the Government, to protect the firm from competition, would restrict all importation of that product. When

foreign products are restricted they are no longer advertised and when local businessmen have a captive market they do not need to advertise.

791 McDavid Memorandum. 792 Rafiq Khan, Interview . 793 McDavid Memorandum. 237

Radio advertising has suffered under the economic policies because nearly sixty percent of radio advertising is generated by foreign made products 70 A d istrib u te d in Guyana.

The economic impact of the Government import policy can best be illustrated by the GBS estimate of revenue and expenses for 1972. After negotiating advertising contracts, GBS expected a revenue of BG$720,000 and expenses of BG$618,691 which would provide p ro fits of BG$101,309.

After the December, 1971, devaluation of currency and subsequent import restrictions, ten advertising contracts totalling BG$96,500 were cancelled meaning estimated profits fell to only BG$15,000, if no other 795 advertising contracts were withdrawn. In an effort to compensate for this loss of revenue, GBS is trying to get advertising agencies, who are product oriented, to become image conscious which might increase advert- 796 ising revenues from businesses that provide services.

The Guyana Broadcasting Service, because of its Government status, has other financial problems. The Ministries of Information and Culture,

Agriculture and Finance enjoy free time on GBS totalling two hours and fifty-five minutes weely, which is an estimated yearly loss of BG$9,321 in commercial revenues. In addition, there are several public service broadcasts, such as religious programs, which are carried free of . 797 charge.

794 Vivian Harrison, Interview. 795 McDavid Memorandum, p. 2.

^^Vivian Harrison, Interview.

797 McDavid Memorandum, p. 2. 238

To help alleviate the economic problems of GBS, a three point proposal was made to the Cabinet by E. B. McDavid. The Cabinet was asked to approve the elimination of free time to Government Ministries who would then be charged the normal commercial rate. The second proposal was to take immediate steps to form a committee to study and make proposals on how to increase revenue collections from radio receivers not currently licensed. The third proposal was to give GBS revenue from the Increased number of receivers licensed above what is "now normally 798 estimated for in the annual budget of the country." The revenue from licensed receivers could be utilized by GBS in paying back loans to the

Government and p riv a te secto r.

Estim ates vary on the number of unlicensed radio receivers in

Guyana. Vivian Harrison believes that only one-third of the radio receivers are registered. To correct this situation, Harrison suggests doing away with licensing altogether and taxing receivers either as they 799 are imported or sold over the counter. After a GBS survey, the

McDavid memorandum to the Cabinet estimated 182,633 unlicensed receivers 800 which results in an annual loss of BG$273,949 to the National Treasury.

Assistant Police Superintendent Clifford Graham, head of the Investigation

Section and Radio Licenses Division, estimates approximately 150,000 unlicensed receivers while his division licensed only 49,367 during

1971. Graham feels the only way to correct the problem is to have store

798 Ibid., pp. 3-4. 799 Vivian Harrison, Interview. 800 McDavid Memorandum. 239 owners send duplicate sales slips to his division with the name of each customer's name and address. 801

During 1972, the Investigation Section and Radio License Division consisted of nine Post Office inspectors headed by an Assistant Super­ intendent of Police on detached duty to the Accounts Branch of the Post

Office. The Division is located in the central Post Office building in

Georgetown, but Superintendent Graham wants to decentralize for more efficient collections. If more inspectors are added and assigned to regional Post Offices, this would, in Graham's estimation, reduce travel time and increase time spent locating unlicensed receivers in rural 802 a re a s .

As of October, 1972, the Accounts Branch of the Post Office

Department reported collecting BG$72,753.00 for licensing 48,502 radio receivers. There were also, during 1972, 107 free radio licenses grant- 803 ed to schools, hospitals, diplomats and the blind.

Programming

Since the ownership change in 1958, GBS's program objectives have grown to reflect the political, social and economic needs of Guyana.

"GBS Programme Objectives" take note of three major problems that must be addressed by the Government radio system. These problems are: 804 national development, expansion into the interior and racisim.

801 Accounts Branch Ledger, Post Office Building, Georgetown, Guyana.

Ibxd. 803 Ib id .

804"GBS Programme O b jecties," Unpublished memo to GBS s ta f f . 240

While the staff of GBS must be cognizant of national problems, they are cautioned to remember the sta tio n must su stain i t s e l f as a commercial 805 entity and, therefore, must remain responsive to advertising demands.

In an effort to gain revenue and mass audience for educational or instructional programs, "in many cases, the information and educational programs have been planned in an entertaining manner,"

While GBS is a Government station, Program Director Ronald

Sanders does not think this inhibits the station's activities.

I d o n 't think we are a Government Inform ation Agency. I don't think the Government has the right, for instance, to call me, as the program director, and say look, I want to make a statement on this. . .He can send it to the Ministry of Information. . .and they can put it out. . . so I don't see ourselves as a Government Information arm . . .but I think we have an obligation to inform people g^ about things that happen as a result of Government actions.

To confirm GBS's independence, Prime Minister Burnham reported "that since it first came on the air in October, 1968, GBS has been impartial to such an extent that it had even brought complaints from Government 808 supporters." GBS News Director Cecil Griffity also contends the station does not serve as a Government Information arm, although, he said "we kind of mirror Government's policy.

Following the 1970 Commonwealth Broadcasting Conference in

^ ^ Ibid., paragraph g.

* ^ Ibid. paragraph i. 807 Ronald Sanders, Interview. 808 The Guyana Graphic, January 4, 1970, p. 19. 809 Cecil Griffith, Interview. Jamaica, GBS program officials have stressed regional co-operation with

Caribbean nations that have similar cultural patterns. Sunday afternoon

GBS and six other Caribbean radio stations form a network and share programs.810 GBS also bought thirteen radio plays produced in Trinidad and, in turn, plans are being made to produce a Guyanese series for 811 distribution throughout the region. GBS has also developed a delib­

erate policy of excluding programs not produced locally or in the region.

We have no foreign programming, nothing comes from the United S ta te s, nothing comes from B rita in and th is is a deliberate thing. It is deliberate on my part, because I feel at this stage in the Country's development, we have to become, first of all, aware of who we are and we have to understand that very clearly and I don't think we can afford to be confused by other cultural patterns that come from outside. ^

The program policy guiding Radio Demerara also has continued to evolve re fle c tin g re la tio n s w ith the Government and n atio n al policy.

Even though much of Radio Demerara's program responsibility to the

Government ended with the formation of GBS, programs with heavy

Government content are s till produced.

It is very difficult these days to separate what is national and what is Government. But Radio Demerara, although shedding that official obligation still sees the need to be responsible and responsive to what is happening in the community and we do produce a number of programs in cooperation with Government technicians

8i n Meer Assad Rayman, Interview and personal observation.

8 l 1Ronald Sanders, Interview. or specialists in particular fields. 813

Radio Demerara officials compared the role of radio in Guyana to the pre-television era in the United States, where radio provided more than music and news. A wide variety of entertainment programs are produced but it is kept in mind that " the majority of the population depends on us for its information. . .its education." 814

Radio Demerara's policy of co-operation with the Government in power in order to preserve the current franchise has made the staff very sensitive to what might be considered as anti-national. This inhibiting factor has led to self-censorship in news and a conservative program p o lic y .

V7e try as far as possible to be in tune with the develop­ mental thrust of the Government and we try to anticipate Government wishes in as far as the type of programming they would like to see. . .we are so sensitive to Government feelings in certain areas that we tend to exercise our own self-censorship. But there never has been, and I say this perfectly accurately, there has been no form of censorship where the Ministry of Information, or anyone else, has called me and said cut out that line or drop that particular news item, but perhaps there might have been if we did not have our own built in censorship here.815

In 1969, the United States Information Agency evaluated press and broadcast news in Guyana and concluded that broadcasting has become the main medium of communication. Newspapers are primarily confined to urban areas where only two-fifths of the population live, whereas

813 Rafiq Khan, Interview. 243

0*1 £ broadcasting is a national medium. There is no national news agency for the collection of local or regional news in Guyana. Urban news is covered by the staffs of individual newspaper and radio stations and rural events rarely get news coverage. Occasional rural news stories, though, are reported by stringers or the D istrict Information Officers 817 of the Ministry of Information.

Overall, the United States Information Service found that journ­ alism in Guyana "plays little part in the process of social and economic development" due largely to inadequate education and training of 818 journalists. The most pressing need of the local news media is intensive training and the report recommends the United States give bi- 819 lateral assistance in this area. Cecil Griffith supported the report's conclusions.

We haven't been able to obtain the right type of person, we have been getting people who come in and spend a year and slip away. . .What is really needed is proper training and training programs for people in radio and news media writing. The chaps come and write and you've got to do over again what they wrote.820

Both radio stations rely on the Reuters News Agency for the majority of foreign and Caribbean news because Reuters is the only

316 United States Information Service, Rockerfeller Foundation Report, July, 1969 (Unpublished), p. 2.

8i7T.,Ibid., , p. 3. i

8 1 8 ib id . 819 Cecil G riffith, Interview. 820 Ib id . , and interview with Harry Harewood. 244 efficient news gathering and distribution service in the region. Both stations do, however, carry BBC relays during the day. Other foreign news sources are the British Information Service and the United States

Infomration Service, which supply news releases and audio tape actual­ ities on major stories eminating from the respective countries. Short wave receivers are kept in the GBS and Radio Demerara newsrooms for monitoring the BBC and Voice of America news programs which are occasionally taped for playback in local news programs.

Foreign news takes third place in relation to local or regional stories on both stations. Radio Demerara News Director, Harry Harewood, said unless the regional or foreign news is of great import, local news always takes precedence. Approximately fifty percent of a Radio Demerara newscast is devoted to local news; twenty-five percent to regional and twenty-five percent to foreign news. GBS newscasts have a similar pattern. In a fifteen minute newscast with approximately twenty news items, fifteen stories will be local, three regional and the rest 821 international.

Both GBS and Radio Demerara appear to have sim ilar news policies, although, Radio Demerara takes a more conservitive approach.

We report the news and we try to report it objectively carrying both sides of any story. . .but, like I said we don’t question a man's political beliefs. This station here, which as you know, is British owned, Rediffusion, London. We try to keep as much a middle of order policy

more than anything e l s e . 822

821 I b id . 822 Harry Harewood, Interview. 245

GBS, as the Government station, is very concerned with losing credibility 823 and is very careful to present a balanced news program.

The difference between the stations' program policy, as stated by program officials, is that GBS is trying to place more emphasis on information and education while Radio Demerara feels its primary role is entertainment. Table 14 shows a comparison of GBS and Radio Demerara program schedules. GBS is on the air nineteen hours on weekdays as compared with seventeen hours and forty-one minutes daily for Radio

Demerara. As Table 14 indicates, both stations present a large volume of newscasts. GBS runs thirteen locally produced news shows daily which takes up one hour and twenty-six minutes or 7.5 percent of the days program time. Radio Demerara news took up 6.2 percent of the scheduled time with twelve news programs totalling one hour and six minutes. BBC news relays are carried by both stations. GBS has one BBC news relay lasting fifteen minutes as compared with Radio Demerara carrying two relays adding up to twenty minutes of program time.

Public service program time is offered on both stations but the types of programming differ considerably. GBS schedules two public service programs totalling fifty minutes or 4.3 percent of the days schedule. Radio Demerara had eight public service programs taking up thirty-seven minutes or 3.5 percent of the days air time. Radio Demerara continued to frequently run their message service throughout the day and added a "Road Safety Clinic".as well as a ten minute "Man in the Street"

823 Cecil Griffith, Interview. 246

TABLE 14

CATEGORIES OF PROGRAMS OVER RADIO DEMERARA AND GBS

IN TIME AND PERCENT FOR THE YEAR 1972a

GBS Radio Demerara Category Number Time P ercen t Number Time P e rc e n t

News 13 1:26 7.5% 12 1:06 6.2%

BBC Nev?s 1 :15 1 .3 2 :20 1.8

P u b lic S erv ice 2 :50 4.3 8 :37 3.5

B roadcast To Schools 1 :30 2.6 1 :30 2.8

E ducation 1 :05 .4

East Indian 2 :55 4 .8 2 :32 3 .0

R elig io n 4 :50 4 .3 3 :50 4.7

S p o rts 5 :45 3.9 3 :15 1.4

T alk 1 :55 4 .8

V a rie ty 4 1:57 10.2 8 1:55 10.8

C hildren 1 :15 1 .3

Soap Opera 7 2:00 11.3

Drama 1 :12 1 .0

Music (Popular) 16 9:50 51.7 16 9:36 54.3

T o ta l 54 19:00 98.9 62 17.41 99.8

Table 14 was compiled from radio schedules obtained from GBS and Radio Demerara for Thursday, December 21, 1972. interview program. GBS ran, as public service, a five minute "Bingo

Results" program and a forty-five minute "News and Today" show delving

into public affairs issues.

Broadcasts To Schools programs were run on both stations daily

for thirty minutes which was 2.6 percent of GBS's program schedule and

2.8 percent of Radio Demerara's total broadcast time. GBS also ran a

five minute educational program, "Yuh Know What Happened," which related

aspects of Guyanese history. This five minute program took up only .4

percent of GBS's program time. Although only one GBS program was

classified as educational or instructional, content in many entertain­ ment programs also had an educational basis. Examples whould be the

children's program "Sunshine Corner" or the quiz program "Brain of

Guyana" which were designed to entertain as well as educate and inform.

GBS aired two East Indian programs totalling fifty-five minutes

as compared with two programs accounting for thirty-two minutes on

Radio Demerara. These foreign language programs took up 4.8 percent

of GBS's air time, while only 3 percent of Radio Demerara's time was

devoted to the East Indian population.

The same amount of air time was devoted by both stations to

religious programming but the percentage of total air time differed

slightly. GBS aired four religious programs that took up fifty minutes

or 4.3 percent of the daily schedule. Radio Demerara only ran three

shows that totalled fifty minutes and filled 4.7 percent of that station'

daily time. In 1972, the Ministry of Information reduced the amount of

air time allocated to religious programs by GBS in an effort to reduce 248 the amount of free air time on the station* The policy required GBS to broadcast only 100 minutes of denominational programs each week by al­ locating in a "fair and reasonable manner, a block of broadcast time to each of the three mainstream religious groups." GBS was required only to provide studio and technical production time to those designated spokesmen from the Hindu, Muslim and Christian Churches. Any time in excess of the 100 minutes could only be allocated by the Minister of

Information.

Sports programs took up three times as much air time on GBS as compared with Radio Demerara. Five GBS programs totalling forty-five minutes or 3.9 percent were aired daily. Radio Demerara had three programs filling fifteen minutes or 1.4 percent of that days program lo g .

An audience participation program, "Action Line," was offered by GBS during the evenings. This fifty-five minute talk program account­ ed for 4.8 percent of the days program schedule. "Action Line" was instituted by GBS in 1968 and was desinged to "involve the people of 826 this country and reflect their thoughts as well as behaviour."

The amounts of time devoted to variety programs by both stations was nearly equivalent. GBS had four variety shows which took up 10.2

824 Letter, from J. A. Ordenson, Permenent Secretary to the Minister of Information and Culture, to Director of the Guyana Broadcasting Service, Hugh Cholmondely, January 10, 1972, Ministry of Information and Culture file, 1972.

826 Ronald Sanders, Interview. 249 percent of the schedule as compared with eight programs on Radio

Demerara that filled 10.8 percent of that station's air time. The bulk of the hour and fifty-seven minutes devoted to variety programs on GBS went to magazine type programs like "Everybodys Talking" and "Midmorning

Magazine." These shows featured recorded music and interviews covering a vide range of topics. Much of Radio Demerara's variety programs consisted of short syndicated shows such as "Our Changing World,"

"Art Linkletter and the Kids," and "Your Daily Horoscope."

Radio Demerara did not offer a show specifically designed for children according to the program schedule. GBS, however, broadcast a fifteen minute children's program accounting for 1.5 percent of the stations daily air time. "Sunshine Corner" is designed for children between the ages of four and eight and is intended to create a Caribbean cultural heritage instead of relying on foreign patterns projected in stories like Cinderella or Snow White.

GBS carried the only dramatic program, "West Indian Short Story," which was a daily twelve minute feature presenting dramatizations from

West Indian literature. The feature took up only 1 percent of the days program schedule. Radio Demerara devoted two hours, or 11.3 percent, of their schedule to syndicated and locally produced adventure or soap opera drama. From the United States and Britain came "The Man From

M .I.5," "The Guiding Light," and "Reach for Tomorrow." Locally prod­ uced soap operas like "Dr. Paul" center on familiar Guyanese themes, such as life in a Guyanese village.

For both stations, popular music was by far the greatest program category because of audience popularity and large commercial potential.

GBS ran sixteen music programs daily which took up nine hours and fifty minutes or 51.7 percent of the daily program schedule. Radio Demerara also carried sixteen music programs totalling nine hours and thirty- six minutes or 54.3 percent of the day's air time. While GBS carried more popular music than Radio Demerara, the percentage of daily program time devoted to this category by GBS was smaller. The music programs reflect a strong United States and British influence in the music selections and presentation. The GBS and Radio Demerara announcers rely on the same types of jingles, chatter and gimmicks utilized in commercial radio in the United States. CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Broadcasting in Guyana lias gone through three stages of de­ velopment. Initially, broadcasting was Government operated but finan­ cial problems brought about the second stage which was the introduc­ tion of privately owned commercial radio stations. The third develop­ mental stage, currently in effect, is private and publicily owned commercial radio stations competing against each other.

From 1926 through 1931, broadcasting in British Guiana was operated by the Government through the Post Office Department. Like

Great Britain, radio was considered an extension of telegraphy to be regulated by Post and Telegraph Ordinances as a Government monopoly.

Initially, programming came exclusively from foreign sources and was merely relayed to subscribers but the introduction of wireless broadcasting led to the development of local programming. Financing during this period was through Post Office Department grants, al­ though, a limited program sponsorship policy was adopted to offset the cost of programming. World economic problems forced Government broadcasting to an end in 1931 and this was followed by a three year period where there was no local broadcasting in British Guiana.

During this three year interval, however, the economic basis for radio was established with the passage, in 1932, of an amendment to the Post and Telegraph Act, 1894, that required licensing of radio

251 252 receivers and the payment of an annual receiver fee.

The second stage of Guyanese broadcasting, from 1935 to 1968, saw the rise of commercial broadcasting and the beginning of a Govern­ ment Information Service that utilized radio. Two small commercial stations were merged to form the British Guiana United Broadcasting

Company, which was controlled by major B ritish Guiana corporations.

In 1950, this station was purchased by a British communications con­ glomerate, llediffusion Limited, and in 1958 a second commercial station was established by the same foreign firm.

This period was heavily influenced by the appointment of a

Broadcast Committee that recommended the merger of the two small stations, Government representation on the station's Board of Direc­ tors , the concept of long-term licensing and a contract between the station and the Government. The lega? parameters for broadcasting were also established with the Wireless Telegraphy Regulations, 1938, that classified licenses and set specific regulations for each license category. Commercial sponsorship was also institutionalized as the means of supporting broadcasting, although Government grants were made to the commercial station up to 1959. Technically, broadcast­ ing grew into a national service during this period. The short wave service was expanded to cover the country and a medium frequency ser­ vice was established. Program hours increased to more than seventeen hours daily on both commercial stations and a wide variety of program categories were available.

The third stage of broadcasting, from 1969 through 1972, was 253 highlighted by the creation of a public corporation to operate the commercial Government service. The private and public stations support themselves through commercial advertising and are in competi­ tion with each other. The privately owned radio station has emphasiz­ ed entertainment, while the Government station has tried to help national development by offering programs with greater information and education content.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Guyanese broadcasting, in response to political, economic and legal events, has gone through three stages of growth. The first stage was a state operated monopoly that failed because of an inadequate lega3. and financial base. The second pattern of growth was a privat­ ely operated commercial system that Government leaders felt did not serve the best interests of a developing country. The current stage, with competing private and public radio stations, has the potential of providing Guyana with a broadcast system that can stimulate nat­ ional development.

The Government's inhibiting influence on Radio Demerara's pro­ gramming policies, however, poses a threat not only to the station but, in a wider context, to all information media. Radio Demerara's failure to aggressively seek out controversy and compete with GBS and other media is a loss to the shole country. Paulu noted that 254

free uninhibited competition between broadcast systems leads to im- 827 proved coverage of politics and controversy. Bolder approaches

are taken in news, public affairs and entertainment in a competitive

situation. Failure to have a free and unhampered flow of information

is imperative for a developing country relying on democratic processes.

Free and adequate information. . .is not only a goal: it is also a means of bringing about social change. Without adequate and effective communication, economic and social development w ill inevitably be re­ tarded, and may be counter productive.8^8

Guyanese Government officials are facing a number of crucial decisions regarding the course of private and public broadcasting.

These decisions must be tempered with the economic, political and social realities of a nation-wide development scheme. To date, how­

ever, the nation's resources, except for repayable loans, have gone

to other national ventures. Broadcasting should become a high priority item because of its potential to help motivate and direct human resources.

To increase the effectiveness of broadcasting in Guyana and alleviate certain problems, this writer proposes five recommendations.

These suggestions are: (1) the passage of a National Broadcast Act

that would set program standards and regulate private and public broadcasting; (2) introduce the medium of television without straining

the nation's limited resources; (3) provide a degree of security to the

existing private commercial radio station; (4) authorize the Guyana

827 Paulu, Transition, p. 192.

828Wilbur Schramm, Mass Media and National Development (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, .1964), p. ix. 255

Broadcasting Service to seek out private financing for new facilities; and (5) ensure adequate revenue for the Guyana Broadcasting Service.

The first recommendation is the passage of a National Broadcast

Act that would set specific program standards, consolodate existing technical and program regulations and create a National Broadcasting

Authority to supervise Government broadcasting and enforce the Act's provisions.

The Broadcast Authority should be insulated from direct Govern­ ment control by the legislation. Authority members should be selected to represent all segments of Guyanese society with special care given to reflecting racial and political groups. Legal restrictions should be included in the Act to prevent domination of the Authority by one political party or racial group. Terms of Authority members should be staggered so that every year Only one vacancy would occur and this, too, would prevent one party from dominating the Authority's composition.

To help insulate the Authority from possible Government control, the Authority should not be funded annually by the National Assembly which could exert pressure by withholding or decreasing revenue. The

National Assembly, in the National Broadcast Act, should arrange for

Authority financing that does not require yearly debate and approval.

Possible sources of funds could be a percentage of profits of both radio stations and the annual radio receiver license fees.

The National Broadcast Act should empower the Authority to grant and revoke broadcast licenses, define and enforce program and technical standards, set general policy for the Guyana Broadcasting Service, collect radio receiver fees and introduce the medium of television. 256

The consolidation of existing departments, such as the Investigation and Radio License Division and the Radio Services Divisions, under one agency would lead to better enforcement and greater cooperation.

In the area of program standards, the National Broadcast Auth­ ority should be concerned with setting positive program standards as well as program prohibitions. Most specifically, as the Chol- mondely-Nascimento report recommends, one section of the Act should deal with balancing conflicting viewpoints on controversial issues.

A positive program requirement demanding broadcasters to seek out and present conflicting viewpoints would help ensure a free flow of id e a s .

Another section of the Act should also deal with political broadcasting and ensure that all political parties receive fair amounts of broadcast time during and preceding elections. A formula based on the percentage of votes received in the most recent elections would provide proportional amounts of air time to each political party in relation to national popularity. Another aspect of political broad­ casting is to provide access to the medium for opposition parties at times other than during elections. Currently, the opposition leaders can only receive broadcast time with Government approval. Either equal or proportional time should be granted to opposition leaders on a regular schedule.

Positive program standards requiring access for all political parties and viewpoints will assure that no matter which political party is in power, the opposition view will have a chance to be heard.

The Broadcast Act should also sat positive program requirements 257 in the areas of public service, education and national development.

Certain percentages of time should be required in each program cate­ gory and specific standards should be outlined. Certainly, a message program has public service merit but it should not completely fill the proposed public service requirements.

Recommendation two differs from the current television plans, as outlined in the Cholmondely-Nascimento Report, which calls for the introduction of commercial television by the Government. Nascimento indicated that the Government television service would be expected to locally produce about fifty percent of the television programs needed to fill the air time.®^ This appears highly unrealistic as the technical, economic or human resources do not seem available for such an ambitious project. A plan more in line with the available resources in Guyana would be the Government allowing a foreign commercial firm, like Rediffusion Limited, to introduce television on a contractual basis as was done with radio.

The Government, through the National Broadcast Authority, should advertise for television proposals. In the advertisement, it should be made clear the Government intends only to grant an Agreement for a limited period of time. A time span of seven to ten years would allow the commercial operator to establish a television station, recoup his initial investment and gain a profit. At the end of the Agreement period, the television facilities would become Government property.

The Agreement could stipulate the type of equipment to be installed

829Christopher A. Nascimento, Interview. 258 and the condition to be maintained which would prevent a firm from installing inexpensive equipment and failing to properly perform technical maintenance.

This recommendation has several inherent advantages. Firstly, the foreign company would be required to develop television at no cost to the Government. The foreign company would also have the expertise to attract available sources of revenue. Secondly, the company would be required to employ and train local Guyanese in all phases of production, engineering, sales and management. This would mean that at the end of the designated period of time, when the Agreement ex­ pired, the National Broadcast Authority would take over a fully opera­ tional television station with a trained competent staff.

The Agreement should further grant the Government a certain percentage of air time with specific time periods listed in the con­ tract. These Government time periods would be the responsibility of the National Broadcast Authority and could be utilized for Government programs dealing with national development, agriculture or a myriad of topics. The cost of the Government programs could be subsidized from radio receiver license fees or sponsored by local businesses.

Recommendation three would improve the effectiveness of Radio

Demerara as a potential help in national development. Some type of security must be given Radio Demerara officials that if the

Government becomes offended by programming or news, the station w ill not be nationalized. This would appear to be an impossible task because the Government has a history of nationalizing foreign companies and has exerted subtle pressures to effect the acquisition of GBS. Unless 259 the National Broadcast Authority is created and given the power to grant and/or revoke broadcasting licenses free from Government con­ trol, Radio Demerara w ill continue with a conservative news and pro­ gram policy fearful of offending the Government and subsequently los­ ing their station. Subtle Government pressure forces Radio Demerara officials to censor themselves as effectively as any Government agency could do. Radio Demerara is more auditory of Government actions that the Government radio station which is vitally concerned with image and credibility. Positive program standards requiring the presentation of both sides of issues and granting time to opposition parties would also relieve pressure on Radio Demerara officials.

Under a system of positive program standards, Radio Demerara offic­ ials would be required to allow opposition leaders and viewpoints on the air.

The fourth recommendation is to provide desperately needed new facilities for the Guyana Broadcasting Service. GBS facilities are currently housed in three locations and a substantial savings could be made by consolidating and housing GBS in one complex. At present, GBS pays rent for office space and studios; these funds could be utilized to help pay off a mortgage for the new structure. Considerable savings in manpower would also be gained by not having to travel back and forth between the three locations. Upkeep on three facilities, too, must be more expensive than the cost for maintaining one building.

A major radio broadcasting and production complex should be constructed at D’Urban park which would also house all offices and

GBS staff. The transmitter facilities, however, should remain at 260 their present location at Sparandaam. Financing for the project could he obtained from local or foreign sources and the loan would be paid back from GBS profits. The building should be constructed so that a television wing could be added in the future. The foreign commercial television operator would be required to construct the television wing and make necessary modifications to the power plant and air conditioning system.

The fifth suggestion is to ensure adequate financial support for the Guyana Broadcasting Service. In general, the financial structure for radio advertising is adequate, although, GBS suffers from the handicap of granting free time to Government agencies. GBS should be allowed to lim it the amount of free time allocated to Government departments and on air time above the lim it regular commercial rates should be charged. Free time during peak listening hours should not be granted except in matters of immediate national import. Government departments wanting to utilize peak listening hours should be required to pay seventy-five percent of the regular commercial rate.

The present system of collecting radio receiver license fees has proved inadequate as an estimated two-thirds of the receivers are not licensed. The National Broadcast Act should require all sales of radio receivers to be registered with the National Broadcast

Authority by the seller who would have to provide the name and ad­ dress of the purchaser. The National Broadcast Authority would then have a list of new radio purchases to compare against registrations and non-licensed sets could easily be located. This would ensure that radio receivers sold after the passage of the National Broad- 261 cast Act would be registered but locating non-registered receivers sold before the Act would be expensive and time consuming. To accomplish the detection on non-registered receivers, the Investi­ gation Branch and Radio License Division should be expanded. Another recommendation would be to have the National Broadcast Act increase the fine for not licensing a receiver to BG$15.00 and offering a reward of BG$5.00 for information leading to the identification of non-licensed receivers.

Implications of the Study and Areas for Further Research

The results of this study should not be considered a model for other developing nations to emulate. The growth of broadcasting in Guyana occured under unique political, legal, social and economic conditions which w ill not likely be duplicated in other emerging nations. While the results of this study should be generalized only with great care, the study has provided information about the processes of development in a small South American country. The structural patterns of growth for Guyanese broadcasting should be interesting to students of national communications systems. Guyana has experimented with direct Government operation, private enterprise and a public corporation structure for broadcasting.

Areas for further research into Guyanese broadcasting are many.

Concentrated efforts could be made to provide more information on the

Schools Broadcasting Unit, the status of television or the original s tr u c tu r e of th e B r itis h Guiana B ro ad castin g Company (VP3MR). In depth studies could be one on the legal, economic, programming or technical aspects of radio development. For example, more than suf­ ficient information is available to do a doctoral dissertation on program content and trends of radio stations, the Government Informa­ tion Service and the Schools Broadcasting Unit on a year-by-year basis. The possibilities for further research on Guyanese broad­ casting are numerous and potentially exciting. APPENDIX I TABLE 15

THE STOCKHOLDERS AND AMOUNTS OF STOCK HELD IN THE

BRITISH GUIANA UNITED BROADCASTING COMPANY

LIMITED AS OF MAY 23, 19388

Number of Stockholder Shares Held

Booker Brothers, McConnell Co. Ltd. 2,490

Frank A. Maclcey (merchant with above firm) 10

William Fogarty Ltd. 2,490

Aloysius C. O'Dowd (merchant with William Fogarty Ltd.) 10

Wieting & Richter Ltd. 1,000

The Argosy Company L td . 1,000

Guiana Match Factory Ltd. 1,000

Clement J. Bettencourt-Gomes (merchant) 500

Reginald G. Humphrey (diamond merchant) 500

Joseph E. de Freitas (solicitor) 250

Charles Kellman (company manager) 750

James L. Rowe (engineer) 750

Total Shares 10,750 aTable 15 is taken from "Statement of Ownership" filed with Deeds Registry, Files 344, Georgetown, Guyana. APPENDIX I I 266

TABLE 16

BUREAU OF PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS

FOR THE PERIOD 1942 THROUGH 1947a

Year Campaign

1942 Grow More Food

1943 Careless Talk

1944 Death March in Soul (for Black Marketeers)

1945 Blood Transfusions

1946 R e g iste r now as a V oter

1947 Use your Vote at the General E le c tio n s aTable 16 was compiled from British Guiana, Bureau of Public Information Annual Reports for 1948 (Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1949), p. 13. APPENDIX I I I 268

G:217

Application for a Licence to install and use Radio Transmitting and Receiving A pparatus (Post and Telegraph Ordinance, Chapter 132 Section 63)

Date

The General Manager, Guyana Telecommunication Corporation, Georgetown.

Application is hereby made for a licence to be granted to ...... to install and use radio transmitting and receiving apparatus at ......

To the best of my knowledge and belief the information furnished in the subjoined Schedule is correct.

S ig n ed : ...... <

A ddress: ...... ,

SCHEDULE:

Geographical position, in degrees and minutes, of proposed station ( i f known)

(a) Nearest important centre or town to the proposed s ta t i o n .

(b) State if land-line telephone or telegraph communi­ cations will exist between the station and the centre or (over) town.

(a) Nature and purpose of the radio communications for which the station is re­ q u ired .

(b) Hours during which communi­ cations normally w ill be re q u ire d : -

(1) Daytime (2) Nightime only (3) Day and N ight any other details

Licence is required for a permanent station temporary.

If "temporary", give details.

(a) Number of p erso n s norm ally available to operate the a p p a ra tu s .

(b) Nationality of these persons (e.g.) 2 British, 1 U .S .)

(c) If any of these persons has had previous experience in operating radio stations, please give details.

Name and qualifications of:-

(a) Person it is proposed will install the apparatus.

(b) Person it is proposed will maintain the apparatus.

Receiving apparatus

(Give details for each separate r e c e iv e r ) .

(a) Make or Type.

(b) Frequency range (in kc/s): 270 (c) Power supply necessary to operate receiver (e.g. if volts AC 6 volt battery etc.)

8. Transmitting Apparatus:- (Give details for each separate transm itter).

(a) Power delivered to aerial (or D.C. input power applied to the valve (s) to which the aerial is coupled).

(b) Frequency range (in kc/s) assuming necessary crystals available).

(c) Operating frequency.

(d) Power supply necessary to operate transmitter, (e.g. 110 volts AC, 50 cycles, 1 phase; 6 volt battery, etc.)

(e) Technical details of trans­ m itter (or produce manu­ facturers specification or operating indications for inspection.)

9. Masts and aerials it is proposed to u s e :-

(a) Number and h e ig h t. (e.g. 2-30' 2-401) (if aerial (s) to be supported on building please indicate.)

(b) Description of each aerial to be erected, (e.g. Trans­ mitting - horizontal dipole, 60’ in length, mean height above ground 30', centre fed 600 ohms open w ire f e e d e r ) .

10. Power Source, normal and emergency if any:- (e.g. Normal - from Dem. Bauxite Co. power mains, Primary - 100 volts, 3 phase, 60 cycles; Secondary - 100 volts, 1 phase, 60 c y c le s ).

o r

5 KVA D ie se l-d riv e n generator 110 volts, 50 cycles, 1 phase.

Emergency - 24 volt battery charged from 1.5 Kw petrol engine driven generator). APPENDIX IV 273

BRITISH GUIANA

LICENCE TO ESTABLISH A WIRELESS RECEPTION AND BROADCASTING TRANSMISSION STATION

The Post and Telegraph Ordinance, Chapter 185, as amended by the Post and Telegraph Ordinance (No. 6) 1935.

Licence is hereby granted to the British Guiana United Broad­ casting Company Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies

(Consolidation) Ordinance, Chapter 178, and having its registered office at 30-32, New North Road, in the City of Georgetown, in the

County of Demerara and Colony of British Guiana (hereinafter referred to as "the Licensee") to establish maintain and operate in and throughout the Colony of British Guiana and subject to the conditions set out hereafter, a broadcasting station situate at 30-32, New North

Road, aforesaid or other stations (hereinafter called "the station") as may from time to time during the continuance of this Licence as approved by the Governor and equipped for the reception of wireless telephone broadcast news and programmes whether radiated outside or within the said Colony of British Guiana and for the transmission and broadcasting of such news and programmes and also of matter originated at the Licensee's station.

2. The Licence is issued subject to the provisions of the Post and

Telegraph Ordinance, Chapter 185, as amended by the Post and Telegraph

Ordinance (No. 6) 1935, or of any Ordinance amending or replacing the aforesaid Ordinance (hereinafter called "the Post and Telegraph

Ordinances"). In particular, the Licensee shall observe the provisions of the International Telecommunications Convention

(Madrid) 1932 and the service regulations made thereunder and of any Convention and Regulations which may from time to time be in

force in substitution therefor or in amendment thereof and of any

International Convention relating to broadcasting to which His

M ajesty's Government may become a party during the continuance of

these presents.

3. This Licence shall also be subject to all the provisions,

rights, liabilities, obligations and conditions contained in an

agreement (hereinafter called "the Agreement") of even date with

this Licence and made between the Government of the Colony of British

Guiana of the one part and the Licensee of the other part and the

Licensee shall not use or allow the Station to be used save in strict

conformity with the authority contained in the Agreement and the rights and privileges thereby conferred.

4. The Licensee shall at all times strictly observe Article 24 of

the said International Telecommunications Convention or any other

convention amending or replacing the same for the time being in

force to which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland is a part. If any matter not authorised by the

Agreement is unintentionally received by means of the Station the

Licensee shall not make known its contents its origin or destination

or its receipt to any person, other than a duly authorised officer of

Government or a competent legal tribunal, and shall not copy or make

any use of such matter or allow the same to be copied or made use of. 5. The Station shall not he operated on any wavelength or wave­ lengths or frequencies other than those which may from time to time be notified to the Licensee by the Governor. The Licensee shall tune accurately to authorised wavelengths or frequencies. The

Station shall not be used in such a manner as to cause any electrical interference with other wireless services which operate on wave­ lengths or frequencies not allocated to the Station.

6. The Station shall always be equipped for reception as well as sending. The sending apparatus shall be crystal controlled, or the transmitting frequency properly stabilised by some other approved means, and tuned as accurately as possible to the frequency author­ ised for transmission. Emissions from the transmitting station shall always be kept as stable as possible (i.e. free from variation other than necessary modulation from the frequency intended to be used) and shall also be as free as possible from harmonics and other spurious emissions. The Station shall be used in such manner as not to cause interference with other stations so far as this may be reasonable having regard to the frequency allocations granted.

7. The height of the aerials at the Station, the frequencies and type of waves emitted therefrom and the aerial power and the frequencies used for the Station shall be such as shall be approved from time to time by the Postmaster General in writing after con­ sultation with the Licensee’s engineers. The constancy and purity of the waves emitted shall be maintained at as high a standard as may be reaso n ab ly p r a c tic a b le . 276

8. (1) The Station shall be subject to the inspection and super­ vision of any engineer for the time being nominated for the purpose by the Postmaster General but so that the Licensee, his engineers and officers shall not be interfered with in the general conduct and operation of the Station.

(a) The Licensee shall afford all requisite and proper facili­ ties for such inspection and supervision and shall secure to the

Postmaster General the right for the purpose aforesaid or for any other purpose of these presents of entry from time to time into and on the Station and promises that may be in the possession or occupa­ tion of any person or persons other than the Licensee.

9. For the purpose of avoiding interference with Naval Signalling,

Army Signalling and Royal Air Force and Government aircraft sig­ nalling the licensee shall act in agreement with the Postmaster

General as to conditions of working the Station.

10. Without prejudice to the other provisions of these presents and in order to prevent interference with the working of any wireless telegraph station established in the Colony or the territorial waters thereof (whether on shore or on any ship) or in any aircraft by or for the purposes of the Postmaster General or any Department of His

M ajesty's Government aforesaid or for commercial purposes and in particular with the sending and receipt of any ship and shore messages or aircraft and ground messages the following provisions shall have effect:

(1) (a) The Licensee shall comply with all reasonable

directions which shall be given to the Licensee 277

by the Postmaster General and vrith all rules and

regulations prescribed by the Postmaster General

for observance by his licensees with respect to

avoiding interference between one wireless telegraph

station and other.

(b) The Postmaster General shall give consideration to

any objection raised by the Licensee to any direc­

tions given by him as aforesaid and to any such

rules and regulations as aforesaid but if the

Postmaster General shall after consideration main­

tain such directions rules and regulations his

decision shall be final and the Licensee shall act

in accordance therewith.

(2) In any case the Licensee shall so far as is reasonably practicable having regard to technical consideration so work the

Station as not to cause any such interference as aforesaid.

11. (1) The Station shall be so worked by the Licensee as not directly or indirectly to interfere with the efficient or convenient maintenance working or user of any telegraph line of the Postmaster

General whether or not such telegraph line already existed at the time when the Station commenced to work or to expose any such line to risk of damage or to risk of interference with the efficient or convenient working or user thereof.

(2) In case any such telegraph line of the Postmaster General shall be damaged or the efficient working or user thereof shall be 278 wholly or partially interrupted or otherwise interfered with and the

Engineer-in-Chief of the Post Office for the time being shall certify in writing under his hand that such damage interruption or inter­ ference has in his opinion been caused directly or indirectly by the construction, maintenance or working of the Station or by anything done by or on behalf of the Licensee in relation thereto the Licensee shall on demand pay to the Postmaster General all costs that shall be reasonably incurred by him in repairing such damage and in removing or altering such telegraph line so as to restore the same to efficient working order and in adding thereto or substituting therefor either temporarily or permanently any other telegraph line if the said

Engineer-in-Chief shall certify in writing under his hand that in his opinion such addition or substitution is reasonably required in consequence of the_construction maintenance or working present or future of the Station.

(3) If and whenever the Engineer-in-Chief shall by writing under his hand certify that by reason of the construction maintenance or working of the Station it has been necessary for the Postmaster

General to place any telegraph line in a position other than that in which he would otherwise have placed it or to insulate, or otherwise protect any such telegraph line then the Licensee shall on demand pay to the Postmaster General any additional cost incurred by him on account thereof.

(4) For the purposes of this clause the expression "telegraph line" has the same meaning as in the Post and Telegraph Ordinance, Chapter 185 as amended by the Post and Telegraph Ordinance (No. 6)

1935, and the expression "telegraph line of the Postmaster General" includes a telegraph line belonging to or worked or used by the

Postmaster General or constructed or maintained by him for any

Department of the Government or other body or person.

12. The Station and the books and records required to be kept by the Licensee pursuant to the provisions of this Licence and the

Agreement shall be open at all reasonable times to inspection by duly authorised officers appointed by the Government.

13. The Licensee shall cause to be kept at the Station an operation­ al log which shall include the actual times of operation, the type of programmes radiated, a record of stipulated routine checks, and a record of interruptions of service with notes as to cause and duration and any abnormalities of operating the equipment,

14. The Licensee shall cause to be kept on the premises of the

Station or at the studies connected therewith a reliable clock in order that the standard practice of hourly or half-hourly station identifications may be observed.

15. The Licensee shall be obliged to furnish to any duly authorised officer of the Government or other person entitled to obtain the same any information which may be required by International Regula­ tions for the time being in force or otherwise.

16. The Licensee shall pay-to the Postmaster General of the said

Colony in respect of this Licence a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00), 17. This Licence shall not be transferable without the previous consent in writing of the Governor.

18. This Licence shall expire on the 31st day of December, 1950.

Approved by the Governor-in-Council and issued this 20th day of

March, 1950.

(Sgd.) I. Crum Ewing

Clerk of the Executive Council. APPENDIX V TABLE 17

BROADCAST RECEIVER LICENSE FEES COLLECTED BY

THE BRITISH GUIANA POST OFFICE FOR THE PERIOD 1934 TO 19493

Number of Wireless Money Received Year Receiver Licenses From L icenses Issued in BG$ 1934 265 265.00

1935 329 329.00

1936 944 944.00

1937 397 397.00

1938 2,353 2,353.00

1939k - -

1940 - -

1941 --

1942 - -

1943 - -

1944 --

1945 - -

1946 5,156 6,007.00

1947° 5,403 8,1 0 4 .0 0 °

1948 6,292 9,437.00

1949 6,924 10,382.00 aTable 17 was compiled from Colonial Reports, Great Britain, Report on British Guiana for the Year 1934 through 1949.

^Wireless license receipts for war years 1939 through 1945 unavailable. cIn 1947, wireless receivers fees were increased from BGtfl.OO to BG$1.50. APPENDIX VI 284

PROGRAM LOG FOR VP3BG AND VP3MR ON DECEMBER 3, 1935a

VP3BG Transmission I - PM

4:15 Musical Program 5:00 Crystal Program

I I - PM

6:00 Kiddles Hour 7:00 Dance With Me 7:30 Microphone Discoveries Hour 8:30 Imperial Bar Program 9:30 Close Down

VP3MR Transmission I - PM

6:00 Electrical Transcriptions 6:16 Ferrol Kiddies Hour

aDaily Chronicle, December 3, 1935, p. 11. 285

PROGRAM LOG FOR VP3BG AND VP3MR ON DECEMBER 23, 1935a

VP3BG Transmission I - PM

4:15 Music Program 5:00 Crystal Program 5:30 Sign. Off

I I - PM

6:00 Kiddies Hour 7:00 Dance With Me 7:30 Microphone Discoveries Hour 8:30 Imperial Bar Program 9:30 Close Down

VP3MR Transmission I - PM

6:00 Music Program 6:45 T alk on Boxing by Ked Tanner 7:00 Imperial Bar Dance Program 8:00 A Grand Christmas Concert 9:00 Sign Off

aDaily Chronicle, December 23, 1935, p. 7. PROGRAM LOG FOR VP3BG AND VP3MR ON DECEMBER 30, 1936*

VP3BG Transmission I - PM

4:15 Music Program 5:00 Band Program 5:30 Sign Off

I I - PM

7:00 Jaikaran’s Drug Store Program with Robert Frank 7:30 Garnett and Companies Program 8:00 The M inisterials Jasmins and Gomes Program 8:15 Our Wonderful World 8:30 Roberts and the Aristocrats Presented by the Demerara Meat Company 9:30 Close Down

VP3MR Transmission I - PM

5:00 British Guiana Malichia Band 6:00 Electrical Transcriptions 9:00 Sign Off

^ aily Chronicle, December 30, 1936, p. 7. 287

PROGRAM LOGS FOR VP3BG AND VP3MR ON JANUARY 21, 1937&

VP3BG Transmission I - PM

4:45 Piano Forte and Song Numbers 5:15 Light Classical Program 5:30 News Bulletin (Daily Chronicle) 5:40 Everybody's Music 5:45 Sign Off

I I - PM

6:00 Kiddies Hour 6:30 Weather Report 6:31 Kiddies Hour, continued 6:45 Old F a v o u rite s (Jasm ines and Gomes) 7:15 Scott's Emulsion on the Air 7:30 Sparks and Flashes (Camp Street Bazaar) 8:00 Late News Flashes (Daily Argosy) 8:10 Globe Advertiser's Musical Program 9:00 Sign Off

VP3MR Transmission I - AM

11:30 Breakfast Hour Program (central garage) 12:00 Sign Off

I I - PM

5:30 Birthday Request Program 6:00 Daily Argosy News Bulletin 6:30 Camp Street Bar Program 7:00 Listener's Request Program 8:30 Closing Announcements

aDaily Chronicle, January 21, 1937, p. 11. PROGRAM LOGS FOR VP3BG AND VP3MR ON JANUARY 15, 19383

VP3BG Transmission I

12:00 Kaiser Store Breakfast llour 1:00 Hack's Cycle Store Music Program 1:30 Sign. Off

II

4:45 Dance Band 5:00 Band Program (relayed from Sea Wall) 5:45 Sign Off

III

6:00 Latest Dance Music 6:29 Weather 6:30 Narvo Paints Presents Music 7:00 Bharat Kokii (an Hour of Indian Music) 8:00 Late News Flashes (Daily Argosy) 8:10 Dance Music 9:00 Sign Off

VP3MR

5:30 Birthday Requests 6:00 Daily Argosy News Bulletin 6:15 Talk by Mr. G. T. Manly on 'Poultry Management* 6:30 D'Aguar Brothers Program 6:45 Eno's on the Air 7:00 Bookers Drug Store Musical Program 8:00 Kaieteur Variety Program 8:30 Weekly Mail Bag of VP3MR 9:00 Sign Off

^ aily Chronicle, January 15, 1938, p. 15. 289

PROGRAM LOG FOR VP3BG ON JUNE 1, 19383

AM

11:30 Breakfast Hour Programme—presented by the House of Fogarty 12:00 Sign Off

PM

5:00 Melody Time—feature Randolph P rofitt at piano and Bert Rodgers on Saxaphone 5:30 News Bulletin—presented by Daily Chronicle 5:35 Dancing Time—orchestry 5:45 Sign Off 6:00 Special Programme—from the souvenir album of classical music presented by Sergei 6:30 Radio Sketch—presented by Mr. W. Fonseca and party 6:40 Music from the shows—featuring Booker Brothers Drug Store classical trio 7:00 Special Programme—featuring the philharmonic orchestra 7:55 Latest News Flashes—presented by Daily Argosy 8:00 Music in the Modern Manner—presented by the British Guiana Cigarette factory 8:30 Songs and Violin Numbers—by Olga Lopez and August Vervuurt 8:45 Bookers Drug Store special jamboree hour 9:00 Sign Off

aDaily Chronicle, June 1, 1938, p. 15. 290

PROGRAM LOG FOR VP3BG ON MARCH 9, 1940a

Transmission I - PM

Noon 12:00 Church in the Wild Wood 12:15 Rabroadcast of the BBC News (BBC) 12:30 Musical Clock 1:00 Sign Off

Transmission IX - PM

A:45 Local News 4:50 Birthday Requests 5:00 M ilitia Band Concert relayed from sea wall 6:00 R ebroadcast of BBC News (BBC) 6:30 The Dance Hour 6:45 Music Workshop presented by the House of Jeffrey 7:00 The Shadow of the Swastika - Episode number 2, the Rise of the Leader 7:50 Musical Interlude 8:00 Waltz Time presented by the Walkerville Brewery 8:15 Home Folks Frolic 8:30 Indian Hour of national music 9:0~ Sign Off

aDaily Chronicle, March 9, 1940, p. 7. 291

PROGRAM LOG FOR ZFY ON APRIL 11, 1942a

Transmission I - AM

7:15 News rebroadcast from BBC 7:30 News in French rebroadcast from BBC 8:00 Sign Off

Transmission II

11:00 Good Morning—Friday programme 11:30 Death and Transfiguration - by Richard Strauss 12:00 Church in the Wild Wood 12:15 News rebroadcast from BBC 12:30 Sign Off

Transmission III

3:30 News in French rebroadcast from BBC 3:40 Forces Libres Francaises 3:45 Les Francais Parlent Aux Francais rebroadcast from BBC 4:00 Sign Off

T ransm ission IV

5:00 News rebroadcast from BBC 5:15 Local News 5:20 The Crucifixion by Stainer 6:15 Birthday Requests 6:30 Organ Reveries 6:45 Trinity Choir 7:00 News rebroadcast from BBC 7:2.5 Sign Off

aPaily Chronicle, April 11, 1942. PROGRAM LOG FOR ZFY ON DECEMBER 11, 1944*

Transmission I - AM

7:00 Moments of Melody 7:15 BBC E nglish News 7:30 The Daily Service 7:45 GI J iv e (Armed F orces Radio S erv ice) 8:00 Sign Off 11:00 Johnny Mercer's Music Shop (AFRS) 11:15 BBC English News 11:30 The Charlie McCarthy Show (AFRS) 12:00 Refreshment Time with Morton Downey (USA) 12:15 BBC English News 12:30 Command Perform ance (USA) 1:00 Local and Hollywood News Flashes (AFRS) 1:15 Sign Off

PM

4:00 The Birthday Requests Programme 4:30 BBC News and Headlines 4:31 Guy Lombardo and his Orchestra (AFRS) 5:00 Spotlight Band (AFRS) 5:15 Local News Bulletin (BPI) 5:30 The Family Hour (AFRS) 6:00 The Lutheran Hour 6:30 West Indian Radio Newspaper (WRUL) 7:00 BBC News 7:15 Spotlight on Sports 7:30 Radio Newsreel (BBC) 8:00 Bose’s Indian Hour 8:30 Sign Off

aDaily Chronicle, December 11, 1944, p. 4. PROGRAM LOG FOR ZFY ON FEBRUARY 28, 1946a

AM

7:00 Moments o f Melody 7:15 The News rebroadcast of BBC 7:30 Daily Service 7:45 A Date with the Duke (AFRS) 8:15 B r itis h Band of th e AEF (ORBS) 9:00 Sign Off

11:00 Over to You (ORBS) 11:30 Fred Waring Show (AFRS) 12:00 Refreshm ent tim e w ith M orton Downey (USA) 12:15 News rebroadcast from BBC 12:30 Lynn Murray Program (AFRS) 12:45 Caribbean News 1:00 Sign Off

PM

4:00 Remember (AFRS) 4:15 The News rebroadcast from BBC 4:25 Interlude 4:30 Birthday Requests 5:00 The Family Hour (AFRS) 5:30 A ll Jo in In (LTS) 6:00 Sigmund Rombergs Orchestra (AFRS) 6:30 West Indian Radio Newspaper (rebroadcast from WRUL) 7:00 The News rebroadcast from BBC 7:10 Tomorrow’s Programme 7:15 The Uplift Hour 7:45 Caribbean News Bulletin 8:00 Indian Hour of National Music 8:30 The Modernairs Entertain (USA) 9:0° Sign Off

aDaily Chronicle, February 28, 1946. PROGRAM LOG FOR ZFY ON JULY 5, 1948a

AM

7:00 Music by Martin (USA) 7:15 The News rebroadcast from BBC 7:30 Morning Devotions 7:45 On Stage America (USA) 8:15 Frank Morgan (USA) 8:45 Guiana Graphic News Bulletin 9:00 Sign Off

11:00 Manhatten Merry-Go-Round (USA) 11:30 Caribbean Serenade 12:00 Refreshment time with Coke A Cola 12:15 The News rebroadcast from the BBC 12:30 The Village Store 1:00 Sign Off

PM

4:00 What America is playing (USA) 4:15 The News broadcast from BBC 4:30 Birthday Request Programme 5:25 News in Brief from the daily papers and weather forecast (BPI) 5:30 Family Theatre (USA) 6:00 Piano playtime with Randolph Profitt 6:15 International Lutheran Hour 6:45 Matinee Melody 7:15 News rebroadcast from the BBC 7:25 Tomorrow's programme and the weather forecast 7:30 Spotlight on Sports 8:00 Bose's Indian Hour 8:30 Music for Dancing 9:00 Daily Argosy News Bulletin 9:05 Sign Off

aDaily Chronicle, July 5, 1948, p. 8. APPENDIX VII BRITISH GUIANA COUNTY OF DEMERARA

AGREEMENT

Between: The Government of British Guiana

And: British Guiana United Broad­ c a s tin g Company L im ite d .

Dated the 20th day of March, 1950.

Vivian C. Dias Croxm S o l i c i t o r . 297

BRITISH GUIANA

COUNTY OF DEMERARA.

THIS AGREEMENT made and entered into at Georgetown in the county and colony aforesaid this 20th day of March, 1950, between THE

GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY OF BRITISH GUIANA ( h e r e in a f te r c a lle d "th e

Government") of th e one p a r t and BRITISH GUIANA UNITED BROADCASTING

COMPANY LIMITED, a Company in c o rp o ra te d under th e Companies (C o n so li­ dation) Ordinance, Chapter 178, and having its registered office at

30-32 New North Road, in the City of Georgetown, in the County and

Colony aforesaid, (hereinafter called "the Licensee" which expression shall include its permitted assigns) of the other part.

WHEREAS:

(a) The Licensee has applied to the Government for the grant

of a wireless receiving and transmitting licence under

the Provisions of the Post and Telegraph Ordinance,

Chapter 185, as amended by the Post and Telegraph

Ordinance (No. 6) 1935; and

(b) The Government has agreed to grant the said Licence

subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter set out:-

NOW THIS AGREEMENT WITNESSETH AS FOLLOWS:-

1. (a) Subject to the provisions hereinafter contained the Licensee shall during the continuance of this Agreement have a broadcasting

Licence and broadcasting rights in and throughout the Colony of

British Guiana and shall be at liberty to establish, maintain, and operate a broadcasting station or stations equipped for the reception 298 of wireless telephone broadcast news and programmes whether radiated outside or within the Colony, and for the transmission and broad­ casting of such news and programmes and also of matter originated at the Licensee’s station or stations (hereinafter called "the Station") which expression shall include the Licensee's station or stations wherever situate in the Colony as well as any other premises such as studios and the like which may be necessary or convenient for working the said station or stations.

(b) The Licensee shall within six months or within such further time as the Government may allow provide and install not less than fifty receiving sets for communal listening in such premises in any part of the Colony as may be specified from time to time by the

Government.

2. The Licensee with the consent of Government may at any time during the continuance of this Agreement remove the said broadcasting station to some other suitable site approved by the Government. The

Licensee shall also be entitled at any time and from time to time to substitute another broadcasting transmitter or transmitters for the one which is at present in use and from time to time to add further transmitting equipment to the station, but so that the radio frequency output power of the same shall not without the express permission of the Government, exceed or be reduced below what is required to pro­ vide a clearly audible signal throughout the Colony. The Government w ill at all times as far as lies within its power make adequate provision for the allocation by the appropriate international authorities to the Licensee of such wave-length or wave-lengths and frequencies as may be necessary for operating the said service.

3. Subject as hereinafter provided the Licensee shall be entitled during the continuance of this Agreement, to receive and transmit at any relevant broadcasting station any radio communication service of transmission radiated from any external station for direct reception by general public on frequencies assigned to such services. The

Licensee shall also be entitled to originate at the station news items, programmes, advertisements and announcements (hereinafter called "originated matter") and transmit the same to the public.

4. The Licensee shall at all times maintain and operate at the

Station an efficient service throughout the said Colony and shall provide equipment suitable for the transmission of the said pro­ grammes and originated matter and of such nature and design as to be

capable of receiving the Overseas programmes of the British Broad­

casting Corporation intended for reception in the Colony and the programmes of any British Regional Caribbean Station to be established

and of efficiently transmitting the same to the public. The Licensee

shall be entitled to transmit the said programmes and originated matter daily between the hours of seven o'clock in the forenoon and

eleven o'clock at night PROVIDED that the Licensee shall be obliged

to operate the said service daily for a period of not less than eight

hours but so nevertheless that the Licensee shall not be obliged to

provide a continuous service PROVIDED ALSO that the Licensee shall

transmit free of charge and without accompanying advertisement during 300 the working hours of the Station and subject to twenty-four hours notice, at an hour to be selected by Government up to a lim it of one and one-half hours daily, any programme announcement or other matter which the Colonial Secretary may require to be transmitted

PROVIDED FURTHER that the Licensee shall not transmit any advertising matter or announcements (other than Government announcements or announcements of births, marriages and deaths, announcements of local entertainments and routine station announcements) which may be originated at the Station for more than ten minutes in every hour.

"The Licensee shall keep a record of the matter transmitted each day showing the source of such matter with the appropriate times of reception and transmission. Such record shall be available at all reasonable times for the inspection of any officer of the Government designated for the purpose."

5. (a) The Licensee shall include in its broadcast programmes, overseas programmes of the British Broadcasting Corporation or of any

British Regional Caribbean station for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than twenty-one hours in each week. The daily times at which the said programmes shall be broadcast shall be settled quarterly by agreement between the Government and the Licensee. Each such settlement shall cover the period of three calendar months next succeeding the date of settlement and shall not be departed from save by agreement or through circumstances beyond the control of the

Licensee. In consideration for the carrying out of all the terms of this agreement, the Government shall pay to the Licensee in quarterly 301 instalments ninety per centum of the annual receipts from fees in respect of wireless receiving licences for the first five years.

After the expiration of the above mentioned period of five years the subsidy of ninety per centum above mentioned shall be subject to review, and may be discontinued or reduced to such sum annually as may from time to time be determined by the Government with the approval of the Legislative Council.

(b) The Licensee shall in the first instance pay all fees in respect of copyright or performing rights in respect of the entire programmes broadcast or re-broadcast by the Licensee as the case may be, whether in respect of items from the Overseas programmes of the

British Broadcasting Corporation or the programmes of any British

Regional Caribbean Station or otherwise but the Government shall at the end of each year of this Agreement reimburse the Licensee for such proportion of the liability in respect thereof as may be attributable to the re-broadcasting of the items from the Overseas programmes of the British Broadcasting Corporation or from the programmes of any British Regional Caribbean Station.

6. The Licensee shall be entitled for its own use and benefit to charge and receive payment for any advertisement or announcement

(other than a Government announcement) originated at or transmitted from the Station, save that no advertisement or commercial announce­ ment shall be associated either directly or indirectly with re­ broadcasts transmissions or transcriptions of the British Broadcasting

Corporation or of any British Regional Caribbean Station without the 302

prior, permission of the British Broadcasting Corporation or of the

:bodyor authority in charge of the British Regional Caribbean Station

as the case may be.

7. The Licensee undertakes so far as circumstances permit to use

and employ persons who are permanently resident in the Colony in the

operation of its broadcasting service hereunder it being however under­

stood and agreed between the parties hereto that for the efficient

operation of such service, it shall be lawful for the Licensee from

time to time to engage and employ in its service persons resident

outside of this Colony to serve the Licensee in respect of work and

services requiring special technical or expert knowledge and ability.

8. The Licensee shall, if required so to do, and in such manner

and at such intervals as the Governor in Council may require, submit

to the Colonial Secretary statements in writing of all matter intended

to be transmitted from the Station.

9. The Governor in Council may in his discretion require the

Licensee to transmit any specified matter or to refrain from trans­

mitting any matter which in the opinion of the Governor in Council

should not in the public interest be transmitted.

10. The Licensee shall not, except with the permission in writing

of the Colonial Secretary, transmit any broadcast programme received

at the Station in the English or any other language from any foreign

station which may contain propaganda whether of a political, social,

religious or economic nature or otherwise. The expression "foreign

station" shall mean a station which is not situate in any part of His Majesty's Dominions or in any British protectorate or mandate or trust territory for which His Majesty has been designated as adminis­ tering authority, but shall include a station situate in any part of a British Colony leased to a foreign Government.

11. The Licensee shall not transmit any matter of an indecent, obscent, defamatory or offensive character or any matter subversive to public order.

12. The Licensee shall duly observe and perform all the stipulations and conditions set out in a Licence issued of even date herewith and on the part of the Licensee to be observed and performed as if the same were herein set out at length.

13. These presents and the liberties, licences, rights, powers and authorities granted to the Licensee hereunder shall continue for a period of fifteen years commencing from the First day of January,

1950. The Government w ill so long as this Agreement shall continue in force from time to time cause to be granted to the Licensee in each year upon payment of the prescribed fees, a wireless receiving and transmitting licence under the provisions of the Post and Telegraph

Ordinance, Chapter 185, as amended by the Post and Telegraph Ordinance

(No. 6) 1835 or of any other Ordinance amending or replacing the same.

During the first term of five years of the said period of fifteen years the said licence and the said broadcasting rights shall be exclusive to the Licensee: Provided that nothing in this Agreement contained shall be so construed as to prevent the Government at any time and from time to time during the continuance of this Agreement from establishing or operating contemporaneously with the Licensee's service a non-commercial receiving and transmitting broadcasting station or stations within the Colony.

14. The Licensee shall be exonerated from observing or performing the provisions of this Agreement if and so long as the failure to observe or perform the same shall be directly attributable to the act of God, the King's enemies, restraint of Princes, and Rulers, strikes, combinations of VJorkmen's lockouts, riots, or any other interference or circumstances beyond the control of the Licensee.

15. (a) If and whenever in the opinion of the Governor in Council an emergency shall have arisen in which it is expedient for the public safety or for the maintenance of order in the Colony that the Govern­ ment should have control over the receipt or transmission of matter by means of the Station it shall be lawful for the Colonial Secretary to direct and cause the Station to be taken possession of in the name and on behalf of the Governor and to prevent the Licensee from using it and also to cause the Station to be used for His Majesty's Service during such emergency. Any person authorised in writing by the

Colonial Secretary may from time to time enter upon any of the premises at which the Station is maintained and carried on and take possession thereof and use the same as aforesaid.

(b) So long as the Governor shall retain possession of the

Station the Govenunent w ill pay or cause to be paid to the Licensee the actual running cost of maintaining and operating the service established hereunder but shall not otherwise be liable to pay 305 compensation to the Licensee for any act or thing lawfully done by the Government by virtue of the provisions of this clause. Provided that in the event that the period during which the Governor shall retain possession of the Station shall exceed three months, this

Agreement and the said Licence granted to the Licensee shall be extended for a period equivalent to the period during which such possession has been retained as aforesaid.

16. (i) The Colonial Secretary on behalf of the Government may by notice in writing under his hand determine these presents in any of the following cases

(a) If the Licensee shall go into liquidation whether voluntary

(save for the purpose of amalgamation or reconstruction) or

compulsory, or in case a permitted assign of the Licensee

not being a corporation, shall become bankrupt or make any

assignment to or composition with his creditors; or

(b) In the case of any breach, non-observance or non-performance

on the part of the Licensee of any of the terms and con­

ditions on the part of the Licensee to be observed and

performed under the provisions of those presents or of the

Licence to be granted to the Licensee pursuant to the pro­

visions of Clause 13 hereof which go to the root of this

A greem ent.

(ii) The Government shall have the right within two calendar

months following the determination of these presents upon the happen­

ing of any of the events set out in the next preceding sub-paragraphs 306 hereof, to purchase the Licensee’s property including its plant, apparatus and equipment used in connection with and for the purpose of the Licensee’s service hereunder, by giving notice in writing to the Licensee requiring the Licensee to sell to the Government on the last day of one calendar month following the expiration of such notice, the said property, plant, apparatus and equipment at a fair price to be fixed in default of agreement by arbitration as herein­ after provided.

(iii) The determination of these presents under any of the provisions hereinbefore contained shall not prejudice or affect the right of the Colonial Secretary to exercise any remedy which the

Colonial Secretary may have for or in respect of any breach, non- observance or non-performance of any of the agreements on the part of the Licensee herein contained,

17. The Licensee shall not without the consent in writing of the

Colonial Secretary, assign or underlet the Station or any of the liberties, licences, rights, powers and authorities hereby granted.

18. It is hereby declared that nothing herein contained shall authorise the Licensee to do any act which is an infringement of any copyright which may exist in any published programme or other printed matter or in any matter received by means of the Station or in any originated matter.

19. All the terms and conditions herein contained or imposed here­ under to be observed and performed by the Licensee shall be complied with by all persons in any way concerned in the operation or manage­ ment of the Station and any breach or non-observance or non-performance thereof by any such person or persons shall be deemed to be the act or omission as the case may be of the Licensee.

20. It is agreed between the parties hereto that the Licensee observing and performing all the terms and conditions on the part of the Licensee to be observed and performed under the provisions of the Agreement, all the liberties, licences, rights, powers and authorities hereby granted shall be exercised and enjoyed by the

Licensee during the subsistence of this Agreement.

21. The Government shall have the right by giving not less than twelve calendar months notice in writing to the Licensee prior to the determination of these presents by effluxion of time (if it shall not have been sooner determined pursuant to the provisions hereof) to acquire and take over the Licensee's undertaking established under the provisions hereof and the property, plant, apparatus and equip­ ment belonging to and used in connection with and for the purpose of such undertaking and the Government w ill pay to the Licensee com­ pensation for the same based on the fair market value thereof as a going concern, due regard being had to past profits which may have been earned by the undertaking but excluding any allowance for future profits. In case the Government shall not elect to exercise such right this agreement shall stand renewed for a further period of five years commencing from the expiration of these presents upon the same terms and provisions as are set out in this agreement including this clause, or upon such terms and provisions as shall be mutually agreed on between the parties. 22. The Government shall have the right at any time and from time to time during the existence of this Agreement to appoint an Advisory

Committee whose functions shall be to advise the Company as to its programme policy and presentation of its broadcasts and to report to the Government on any matter affecting the Company's obligations under the terms of this Agreement.

23. The Government shall have the right to nominate two persons to be Directors of the Licensee Company during the existence of this

Agreem ent,

24. Within a period of not more than thirty days after the sign­ ing of this Agreement, if this has not already been done, the status of the Licensee Company shall be changed from that of a "Private

Company" to a "P ublic Company" and th a t s ta tu s s h a ll be m aintained during the existence of this Agreement.

25. The Licensee shall carry out the improvements as detailed in

Schedule "A" to this agreement.

26. All questions or differences whatsoever which shall at any time hereafter arise between the parties hereto touching or concern­ ing these presents or the construction, meaning, operation or affect thereof, or of any clause herein contained or as to the rights, duties or liabilities of the parties hereto respectively or any of them under or by virtue of these presents or otherwise or touching the subject matter of these presents or arising out of or in relation thereto shall be referred to a single arbitrator in case the parties can agree upon one, otherwise to two arbitrators, one to be appointed 309 by each party and in either case, in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Arbitration Ordinance, Chapter 24 or of any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in fo rc e ,

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals the day and year first above written in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

SIGNED, sealed and delivered by the H onourable Desmond John P ark in so n , (L.S.) acting Colonial Secretary, acting herein on behalf of the Government of the Colony of British Guiana in the presence of (S gd.) D. J , PARKINSON.

1. (Sgd.) Percy W. King

2. (Sgd.) I. Crum Ewing

The Common Seal of B ritish Guiana United Broadcasting Company Limited was hereto affixed in the presence (L.S.) of Oscar Stanley Wight, Director, and Malcolm Louis Raymond Andrade Assistant Secretary of the said (Sgd.) OSCAR S. WIGHT Company in th e p resen ce of - D ire c to r. (Sgd.) M. ANDRADE 1. (Sgd.) Percy W. King. Asst. Secretary.

2. (Sgd.) I. Crum Ewing. 310

SCHEDULE “A"

Summary of Programme o f Improvements to be c a rrie d ou t by th e B r itis h Guiana United Broadcasting Company, Limited.

1. Purchase and installation of a new short-wave transmitter (approximately 2K).

2. Purchase and installation of receiving equipment to improve reliability and quality of programmes, news, etc., received from British Broadcasting Corporation and other approved stations for re-broadcast.

3. Purchase and installation of new recording equipment including magnetic tape or wire recorder.

4. Sound-proofing and air-conditioning of at least one studio.

5 . Medium wave tra n s m itte r purchased by th e Company l a s t y ear to be placed into regular service for the benefit of listeners in the Georgetown and environs area as soon as such operation is justified by a number of such suitable medium-wave receivers being available, (It is expected that inexpensive medium-wave receivers w ill be available from a British source in the near future.) APPENDIX V III 312

TABLE 18

BRITISH GUIANA UNITED BROADCASTING COMPANY

STOCK TRANSFERS AND SALES IN 1950a

Result of Stock Stockholder No. of Shares Held on: Transfers and Sales July 24, 1950 July 25, 1950 net loss net gain Argosy Co. Ltd. 1,000 -0 - 1,000 -0 - Booker Bros. McConnell Limited 2,650 1,000 1,650 - 0 -

Nrn. Fogarty Ltd. 2,650 2,500 150 - 0 -

Guiana Match F a c to ry 1,000 1,000 - 0 - -0 -

Bettencourt- Gomes 500 500 - 0 - - 0 -

R. G. Humphrey 500 - 0 - 500 - 0 -

C. Kellman 450 100 350 - 0 -

G. Defreitas 250 250 - 0 - - 0 -

C. S a lv a to -0 - 100 -0 - 100

J . Rowe 750 100 650 -0 - W eiting & Richter 1,000 1,000 - 0 - - 0 - B. O'Dowd 2 6 - 0 - 4

C. O'Dowd 2 - 0 - 2 - 0 - P. O'Dowd 2 6 -0 - 4 Humphrey & Sons 5,000 1,500 2,500 -0 - 0. S. Wight -0 - 1 -0 - 1 Rediffusion Ltd. -0 - 15,300 - 0 - 15,300 T o ta l 15,756 23,363 6,803 15,409 aTable 19 was compiled from "Special Resolution, 1950," File 344, Deeds Registry, Georgetown, Guyana. APPENDIX IX 314

TABLE 19

SHAREHOLDER CLASSIFICATION IN THE BRITISH GUIANA UNITED BROADCASTING

COMPANY LIMITED AFTER GENERAL MEETING OF DECEMBER 6, 19513

PREFERRED "A" ORDINARY "B" Shareholder No. Shares after Shareholder No. Shares After 2 for 1 split 2 for 1 split Wm. Fogarty Ltd. 5,000 Rediffusion L td . 30,500 Guiana Match F actory 2,000 K. Murray 970

Bettencourt- J . R ow latt 1,000 Gomes & 2,000 C. Keliman 200 Frank Wilde

G. D e fre ita s 500 J . E. Haywood 10

J . Rowe 200 J . A. Adamson 10

Weiting and John Dare 10 R ic h te r 2,000

B. O’Dowd 12 P . O'Dowd 12

Humphrey & Sons 3,000

0. S. Wight 2

C. S alv ato 200

T o ta l 14,126 T o ta l 33,500

aTable 19 was compiled from "Statement of Ownership, 1951," Deeds Registry, File 344, Georgetown, Guyana. APPENDIX X COPY CHIEF SECRETARY'S OFFICE

Ref: No. C.136/1/1/5 British Guiana

27th January, 1958.

S ir ,

With reference to our discussions of your Company's in­ tention to start a second broadcast programme during 1958, I am directed to confirm that Government w ill wish to be allocated 10% of the air time on the proposed second programme; this percentage of time to be in addition to the airtime now provided to the Government on the existing programme, to be accorded at good listening times and to be distributed proportionately between the morning and evening transmissions of the proposed new programme. It is understood that, as at present proposed, those transmissions will initially be from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

2. The Government w ill also wish to ensure that re-broadcasts of the B.B.C. news bulletins w ill be included in the second programme, an d , in t h is connection i t i s understood th a t your Company w ill undertake to re-broadcast the B.B.C. news bulletins four times daily on the existing (or first) programme and twice daily on the new (or second) programme.

3. Further, the Government w ill wish to have provision made for B.B.C. programmes i.e. other than B.B.C. news bulletins, to be re-broadcast daily on the proposed second programme at good listening times. In this connection, it is also proposed that the periods aggregating not less than twenty-one hours in each week, during which your Company has undertaken (in Clause 5(a) of the Agreement with the Government dated 20th March, 1950) to include in its broad­ cast programmes, overseas programmes of the British Broadcasting Corporation or of any British Regional Caribbean Station, should be reduced to a minimum of between 10 1/2 to 15 hours per week, distributed equitably between both the existing programme and the proposed second programme when established and put on at times to be determined by mutual agreement between your Company and the Government Information Services. The Government w ill reimburse your Company for fees paid in respect of copyright or performing rights relating to overseas programmes rebroadcasted on either programme during the time actually allocated at the Government's request in accordance with the above arrangement. P. Hesketh, Esquire, General Manager, B.G. United Broadcasting Co, Ltd., Georgetown. 317

4. The Government is willing to agree to the proposed re­ duction in the total minimum time of 21 hours provided for under Clause 5(a) of the Agreement dated 20th March, 1950, being applied to the existing programme as soon as suitable arrangements can be worked out between the Company and the Government Information Services and subject to adjustment when the proposed new programme is inaugurated.

5. I shall be grateful to receive confirmation from you that the terms of this letter are acceptable to your Company.

I have the honour to be, S ir , Your obedient servant,

(S gd.) F. D. JAKEWAY

Chief Secretary 318

LETTERHEAD OF B. G. UNITED BROADCASTING COMPANY LIMITED

27th February, 1958.

The Honourable the Chief Secretary, Chief Secretary's Office, Public Buildings, Georgetown.

S ir ,

We thank you for your letter No. C.136/1/1/5 dated 27th January, 1958.

2. It is now proposed that transmission on our second service will initially be on weekdays from 6.00 a.m. to 8.00 a.m., 11.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m., while on Sundays we w ill transmit from 7.00 a.m. to >10.00 a.m. and from 2.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.

3. We would ask you to alter paragraph 2 of your letter to read that my Company w ill undertake to broadcast BBC news bulletins three times daily on our existing programme and twice daily on the second programme, making five instead of six news bulletins in all. This means that we w ill broadcast BBC news on our existing service at 12.15, 4.15 and 7.15 p.m. local time and at 7.15 a.m. and 10.15 p.m. local time, on our second service.

4. Reference paragraph 3 of your letter, we would be grate­ ful if the number of hours for BBC broadcasts could be specifically stated as 10 1/2 hours and not shown as between 10 1/2 and 15 hours. It is felt that to show a fluctuating figure could perhaps cause a lot of misunderstanding some time in the future. On the other hand, my Company w ill, in all probability, broadcast as much as 15 hours of BBC programmes per week, and perhaps it should be made c le a r th a t Government w ill re in b u rs e my Company f o r fe e s p a id in respect of copyright or performing rights relative to these pro­ grammes up to 15 hours a week. I f on th e o th e r hand, my Company should happen to broadcast more than 15 hours of BBC m aterial a week then it should be made clear that my Company w ill pay the copyright and performing rights for any time over and above the 15-hour agreement. 319

5. Other than the above comments, the remainder of the terms of your letter are quite acceptable.

I have the honour to be, S ir , Your obedient servant, B.G. UNITED BROADCASTING CO. LTD.

(Sgd.) P. E. M. HESKETH General Manager

t COPY CHIEF SECRETARY'S OFFICE

British Guiana

No. 136/1/1/5 25th April, 1958.

S ir ,

I am directed to refer to your letter of the 27th of February regarding B.B.C. material to be used in the second broadcast programme which you plan to establish and to say that while Government is agreeable to a reduction of the BBC/BRCS allocation to 10 1/2 hours now that it is accepted that this airtime will be made available at reasonable listening periods, it cannot in these circumstances agree that it should reimburse your Company for fees paid in respect of copyright or performing rights for such programmes rebroadcast In excess of the 10 1/2 hours actually allocated at Government’s request.

2. Apart from the above, the other matters raised in your letter under reference are acceptable to Government.

3. Although the position is, I thinlc already clearly understood, I consider that it should be on record that the Government w ill not be required to pay for the airtime which the Company w ill g ra n t i t on th e second programme,

A. I should be glad to receive confirmation of your acceptance of the modification to your letter of the 27th of February indicated in paragraph 1 above and of the terms of paragraph 3.

I have the honour to be, S ir , Your obedient servant,

(sg d .) M. S. PORCHER

for Chief Secretary. COPY

LETTERHEAD OF B.G. UNITED BROADCASTING CO. LTD.

2nd May, 1958.

The Honourable Chief Secretary, Public Buildings Georgetown.

Dear S ir ,

Thank you for your letter No. C.136/1/1/5 of the 25th of April, 1958.

We confirm our acceptance of the modification to our letter of the 27th of February, as indicated in paragraph 1 of your above referenced letter.

Also, it is agreed that the Government w ill not be required to pay for the airtime which we will grant it on our second programme.

Yours faithfully,

(S gd.) P. E. M. HESKETH General Manager APPENDIX XI 323

WEEKLY GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICE RADIO PROGRAM

SCHEDULE ON RADIO DEMERARA da 2 . period programme d u ra tio n

M-F 6.05-6.10 a.m. G.I.S. NEWSCAST 5 2.30-3.00 p.m. Broadcast-to-Schools 30 5 .2 5 -5 .3 0 G.I.S. Newscast 5 7 .2 5 -7 .3 0 Topic for Tonight 5 (Commonwealth Survey on F riday)

M 7 .3 0 -8 .0 0 Mainly for Women 30 T Rural Notebook W Midweek Service Th British Council Half Hour F ' Your Radio Magazine

M 9.15-9.30 p.m. Book Review 15 T Medicine in Everyday Life W Talking About Teaching Th Union Call/Conference on the A ir ( a lt) F UCWI on the Air

7 hrs. 15 min.

S at 7.25-7.30 p.m. Topic for Tonight 5 7.30-8.30 Radio, Drama, features, etc. 60

1 h r . 5 m in.

Sun 12-12.15 p.m. Sunday at noon 15 2-2.30 Rebroadcast of Rural Notebook 30 7 .2 5 -7 .3 0 Topic for Tonight 5 9.45-11 p.m. Music for You 75

2 hrs. 15 min.

grand total 10 hrs. 40 min.

aAppendix XI was compiled from Report of the Government Information Service for the Year 1958, Appendix V, APPENDIX XII 325

BROADCASTS TO SCHOOLS PROGRAM SCHEDULES

FOR THE YEARS 1959, 1961 and 1964a

1959

Time Day of Weeli Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday F rid ay

2;30 Once Upon P e o p le , Working for Romance of N ature to A P laces & a L iving E n g lish Study 2:42 Time Things (BBC)

Music Interlude

2:46 L ets Sing When I C urrent Songs to S to rie s & to Together was a t A ffa irs Share Rhymes 2:58 School (BBC)

1964 Time Day of Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

2:30 N ature G uianese Science ABC of L is te n in g to Study H isto ry Economics i s Fun 2:42 2 .3 2 -2 .4 2 1 .3 2 -1 .4 2

Music Interlude 2:46 L ets Sing P io n eers C urrent Songs to Once Upon to Together in A ffa irs Share A Time 2:58 2.46 -2 .5 8 H ealth 1 .4 6 -1 .5 8

aAppendix XII was compiled from "Notes to the Teaching Staff" for 1959 and the August, 1964, term. APPENDIX X III TABLE 20

BROADCAST RECEIVER LICENSE FEES COLLECTED BY TI1E BRITISH

GUIANA POST OFFICE FOR THE PERIOD 1950 TO 1962a

No. of sets Amount Amount given Year Licensed C o llected to Company

1950 7,050 14,031 12,622

1951 11,081 16,621 14,282

1952 13,287 19,926 18,483

1953 14,833 22,250 17,750

1954 21,800 32,801 26,247

1955 27,449 41,145 32,936

1956 30,146 45,624 36,481

1957 32,683 48,925 30,000

1958 34,315 51,473 30,000

1959 32,139 49,209 30,000

1960 36,778 55,167

1961 42,237 63,356

1962b 43,792 65,688 aTable 20 was compiled from British Guiana, Report of the Postmaster General for the years listed.

^Figures for the receiver sets issued after 1962 through 1967 were unavailable. APPENDIX XIV 329

TABLE 21

REVENUE AND DIVIDENDS OF THE BRITISH GUIANA UNITED

BROADCASTING COMPANY: 1950 THROUGH 1967&

Revenue from: Year Program L icense Sundry Commercials Sponsorship Fees R eceip ts

1951 94,619.76 8,829.86 14,289.75

1952 128,123.48 20,458,38 18,483.95 347.99

1953 165,040.71 21,963.58 17,750.40 1,775.00

1954 238,876.41 22,145.72 26,247.60 577.07

1955 269,139.52 24,018.34 32,936.40 882.49

1956 301,758.05 36,912.72 36,481.20 1,291.80

1957 337,271.31 58,708.34 30,000.00 1,099.70

1958 422,004.76 71,346.57 30,000.00 960.61

1959 670,758.79 88,346.57 30,000.00 2,406.42

1960 697,589.86 65,640.05 1,899.18

1961 776,183.92 96,649.04 2,0 2 8 .5 0

1962 648,920.75 79,420.01 1,369.30

1963 574,131.43 55,415.27 2,654.69

1964 613,154.26 48,621.95 2 ,5 2 7 .8 0

1965 768,202.89 57,980.04 2,903.30

1966 983,753.68 47,137.62 1,733.96

1967 1,169,924.34 49,677.31 1,70 5 .2 5

^able 21 was compiled from confidential information given to this writer while in Guyana• 330

TABLE 21—Continued

T o tal Idividend Gross Percent of Revenue Amount Gross

117,739,37. 460.62 .003

167,413.80 921.25 .005

206,529.69 921.25 .004

281,846.80 5,000.00 1 .7

326,886.75 10,000.00 3.0

376,443.77 25,000.00 6.9

427,078.35 35,000.00 8 .1

524,311.94 40,000.00 7.6

791,511.80 60,000.00 7.5

765,129.09 60,000.00 7.8

874,861.46 60,000.00 6.8

729,710.06 15,000.00 2.5

632,201.39 10,000.00 1 .5

664,304.01

829,086.23 45,000.00 5 .4

1,032,625.26 100,000.00 9.7

1,221,306.90 467,303.12 38.2 APPENDIX XV 332

Ref. No. CMI:2/2 CONFIDENTIAL

(L etterh ead ) MINISTRY OF INFORMATION

18 BRICKDAM

P. 0. BOX 108

GEORGETOWN

GUYANA

12th August, 1968.

Mr. Bernard F. Bonsor, General Manager, Rediffusion (West Indies) Limited, Port-of-Spain, TRINIDAD.

Dear S i r ,

Operation of Station GBS from 1st September, 1968.

Further to our recent series of discussions and communi­ cations on the above subject the following sets out the new arrange­ ments agreed on between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Broadcasting Company Limited, and consequently the alterations and adaptions to the Agreement between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Broadcasting Company Limited dated the twentieth day of March nineteen hundred and fifty . a 2. It is hereby agreed by the Government and the Company

(i) that such of the provisions of this Agreement as are consistent with the new arrangements contained herein, and now agreed on between the Government and the. Company, shall continue to apply for the purpose of the operations of the Company in relation to Radio Demerara.

( i i ) th a t th e Company s h a ll te rm in a te th e s e rv ic e provided by Station GBS on the first day of September, nineteen hundred and sixty-eight, and that in keeping with the nature of our discussions, Government, either directly or through a public corporation, will operate this service using the Company's transm itters and such 333

other of its facilities as may be mutually agreed until the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and sixty-eight or such time as Government is in a position to operate its own transmission facilities.

(iii) That the Company shall inform the advertisers on Station GBS that as of the first day of September, nineteen hundred and sixty-eight the service w ill be operated by the Government of Guyana instead of by the Guyana Broadcasting Company.

(iv) that a public announcement to this effect be made by the Government of Guyana within the very near f u tu r e .

(v) that subject to sub-paragraph (i) of this para­ graph, the existing Agreement with the amendments contained herein shall apply for fifteen (15) years as of the first day of September, nineteen hundred and sixty-eight.

(vl) that CLAUSE 4 of the Agreement shall now read:

"The Licensee shall at all times maintain and operate at the station an efficient service throughout the said Colony and shall provide equipment suitable for the transmission of the said programmes and originated matter and of such nature and design as to be capable of receiving the Overseas programmes of the British Broadcasting Corporation intended for reception in the Colony and the programmes of any B ritish Regional Caribbean Station to be established and of efficiently transmitting the same to the public. The Licensee shall be entitled to transmit the said programmes and originated matter daily between the hours of five thirty o’clock in the forenoon to eleven o'clock at night, except on Saturdays when the hours of transmission shall be between five thirty o'clock in the forenoon and twelve midnight, PROVIDED that the Licensee shall be obliged to operate the said service daily for a period of not less than eight hours but so nevertheless that the Licensee shall not be obliged to provide a continuous service PROVIDED ALSO that the Licensee shall transmit free of charge and without any accompanying advertisement during the working hours of the station and subject to twenty-four hours notice, at an hour to be selected by the Government, any programme announcement or other matter of national interest which the Minister for the time being assigned 334

responsibility for Information, may require to be transmitted in the national interest, PROVIDED FURTHER that the Licensee shall not transmit any advertising matter or announcement (other than Government announcements or announcements of births, marriages and deaths, announcements of local enter­ tainments and routine station announcements) which may be originated at the station for more than ten minutes in every hour. The Licensee shall keep a record of the matter transmitted each day showing the source of such matter with the appropriate times of reception and transmission. Such record shall be available at all reasonable times for the inspection of any officer of the Government designated for the purpose."

(vii) that CLAUSE 5 sub-sections (a) and (b) shall be d e le te d .

(viii) that CLAUSE 21 of the Agreement shall now read:

"The Government shall have the right by giving not less than twelve calendar months notice in xrciting to the Licensee prior to the determination of these presents by effluxion of time (if it shall not have been sooner determined pursuant to the provision hereof) to acquire and take over at thirty-first day of August, nineteen hundred and eighty-three, the Licensee's undertaking established under the pro­ visions hereof and the property, plant, apparatus and equipment belonging to and used in connection with and for the purpose of such undertaking and the Government w ill pay to the Licensee compensation for the same based on the fair market value thereof as a going concern, due regard being had to past profits which may have been earned by the undertaking but excluding any allowance for future profits."

(Company Seal Affixed) (Martin W. Carter) MINISTER OF INFORMATION c.c. Permanent Secretary, Prime M inister's Office Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information Attorney General's Chamber, Mr. B.T.I. Pollard 335

The Minister of Information: (Letterhead)

Ref: CMI:2/2 August, 1968

Mr. Bernard F. Bonsor, General Manager Rediffusion (West Indies) Limited, Port~of-Spain, TRINIDAD.

Dear S ir ,

Operation of Station GBS from

1st September, 1968.

Further to my letter of even number dated 12th August, 1968, on the subject noted above, it now appears very unlikely that Government would be able to meet the date 1st September, 1968, in view of the limited time.

2. In the circumstances I would be grateful if your Company would accede to a request that wherever the date 1st September occurs in the letter under reference the date 1st October be substituted therefor.

Yours sincerely,

(Martin W. Carter) (Company S eal A ffixed) Minister of Information APPENDIX XVI 337

1972 ADVERTISING RATES FOR RADIO DEMERARA AND GBS

Program Category and Number of Programs Sponsored Length CLASS A $ $ $ $ $ $

1 Hour 124.25 118.00 111.75 105.50 99.25 93.00 1/2 Hour 74.50 70.75 67.00 63.25 59.50 56.00 1 /4 Hour 49.75 47.25 44.75 42.25 39.75 37.25 10 Minutes 37.25 35.50 33.50 31.75 29.75 28.00 5 M inutes 26.25 25.00 23.50 22,25 21.00 19.75

CLASS B

1 Hour 82.75 78.75 74.50 70.50 66.25 62.00 1 /2 Hour 51.00 48.50 46.00 43.50 40.75 38.25 1/4 Hour 35.75 34.00 32.25 30.50 28.75 27.00 10 M inutes 27.50 26.25 24.75 23.50 22.00 20.75 5 Minutes 20.75 19.75 18.50 17.50 16.50 15.50

Commercial Category and Number of Commercial Plays Length 1 50 100 250 500 1,000 CLASS A

60 s e c s . 21.75 21.25 20.75 19.25 16.50 14.75 45 s e c s . 18.25 17.75 17.25 16.00 13.75 12.25 30 s e c s . 15.25 14.75 14.50 13.25 11.25 10.25 15 s e c s . 10.25 10.00 9.75 9.00 7.75 7.00 5 s e c s . 6.00 6.00 6.00 5.50 5.00 5.00

CLASS B

60 s e c s . 17.25 16.75 16.50 15.00 13.00 11.50 45 s e c s . 14.50 14.00 13.75 12.50 10.75 9.75 30 s e c s . 11.25 11.00 10.75 10.00 8.50 7.75 15 s e c s . 8.00 7.75 7.50 7 00 6.00 5.50 Class "A" time periods are from: sign on to 8:00 A.M. 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. C lass "B" tim e p e rio d s a re from : 8:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. 9:30 P.M. to sign off

) BIBLIOGRAPHY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

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Bell, Frank. "Ships and Shipping in the Caribbean." The Caribbean: Its Economy. Edited by A. Curtis Wilgus, Gainsway: University of Florida Press, 1962.

Briggs, Asa. The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom. Vol I: The Birth of Broadcasting. London: Oxford University Press, 1962.

______. The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom. Vol II: The Golden Age of Wireless. London: Oxford University Press, 1965.

British Guiana. Administrative Reports: 1927. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1928.

. Administrative Reports: 1928. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1929.

Administrative Reports: 1929. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1930.

. Administrative Reports: 1930. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1931.

Administrative Reports: 1933. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1934.

Administrative Reports: 1934. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1936.

, Administrative Reports: 1935. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1937.

Administrative Reports: 1936. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1938.

339 340

Bureau of Public Information. 1943 Publicity and Information. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1944.

_. Bureau of Public Information. Report of the Bureau of Public In fo rm atio n : 1946. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1947.

Bureau of Public Information. Annual Report of the Bureau of Public Information for the Year 1948. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1949.

Bureau of Public Information. Annual Report of the Bureau of Public Information for the Year 1949. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1950.

Bureau of Public Information. Report of the Bureau of Public Information for the Years 1950-1953. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1954.

Government Information Service. Report of the Government Information Services for the Year 1954. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1955.

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Government Information Service. Report of the Government Information Services for theYear 1957. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1958.

Government Information Service. Government Information Services Annual Report: 1958. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1959.

_. Government Information Service. Government Information S erv ic es Annual R eport: 1959. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1960.

Government Information Service. Government Information S e rv ic e s Annual R eport: 1960. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1961.

Government Information Service. Building Confidence: The Story of British Guiana in 1954. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1955.

Government Information Service. Guiana Diary: 1956. George­ town. The British Guiana Lithographic Co. Ltd., 1962.

_. Post Office Department. Report of the Postmaster General for th e Year 1927. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L t d ., 1928. 341

. Post Office Department. Report of the Postmaster General for "the Year 1928. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1930,

. Post=0ffice Department. Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1929. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1930.

_. Post Office Department. Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1930. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1931.

. Post Office Department. Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1931. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1932.

Post Office Department. Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1932. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1933.

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______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1952. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1956,

______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1954. Georgetown:. The Argosy Company L t d ., 1956.

______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1955. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1957.

______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Postmaster General for the Year 1956. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1958.

______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Posts and Telecommunications Department for the Year 1958. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1959.

______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Director of Posts and Telecommunications for the Year 1959. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1960.

______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Director of Posts and Telecommunications for the Year 1961. Georgetown: The Argosy Company Ltd., 1962.

______. Post Office and Telecommunications Department. Annual Report of the Director of Posts and Telecommunications for the Year 1962. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1963.

______. Post Office Department. Blue Book. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1929.

______. Post Office Department. British Guiana Post-Office Guide. 5 th . ed. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1954.

______. Committee on British Guiana Broadcasting. Report of the Committee. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1939.

______. Ministry of Agriculture. Annual Report of the Ministry of Agriculture: 1964, Georgetown: The Government Printery. 1965.

______. Ministry of Agriculture. Annual Report of the Ministry of Agriculture: 1965. Georgetown: The Government Printery. 1966.

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Central Rediffusion Services Limited. Commercial Broadcasting in the West Indies. London: Butterworths Scientific Publications, 1956.

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Fox, Annette Baker. Freedom and Welfare in the Caribbean: A Colonial Dilemma. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1949. 344

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. Report on British Guiana for the Year 1958. London: Her M a je sty 's Stationery Office, 1959.

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.. Central Office of Information. Sound and Television Broad­ casting in Britain. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1966.

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_. Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Colonial Territ­ ories (1949-50). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1950. 346

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______. British Broadcasting in Transition. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. 1961.

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Rodway, James. History of British Guiana from 1668. Georgetown: The Argosy Company L td ., 1891. 347 Rose, J. Holland. Cambridge History of the British Empire. Vol. I. Hew York: The MacMillan Company. 1929.

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Whitaker’s Almanack: 1972. London: William Clowes & Sons, Ltd. 1971.

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Wilson, Danieal. Broadcasting: Vision and Sound. New York: Pergamon Press. 1968. 348

Wilson, H. H. Pressure Group: The Campaign for Commercial Television in England. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. 1961.

Newspapers, Periodicals

and Pamphlets

British Council. What is the British Council. London: McCorquodale, In c . 1967.

"The BBC: This is London. . ." British Affairs. V (Spring, 1961), 27-31.

British Guiana. Government Information Service. British Guiana Informatives: Numbers 1-50. Georgetown: The Daily Chronicle Ltd. April 1954 to June 1955.

______. Bureau of Public Information. Publicity and Information. Georgetown: The Daily Chronicle Ltd. 1944.

Burnham, Linden Forbes. To Own Guyana. Georgetown: The Daily Chronicle Ltd. 1971.

Chapman, Esther. "Radio in the West Indies." The West Indian Review. Kingston, Jamaica: The West Indian Review, ltd. 1960.

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The Daily Argosy. "Local Broadcast Experiments." June 27, 1928.

______. "Short Wave Broadcast Experiments." June 30, 1928.

______. J u ly 1, 1928.

______. "Local Broadcast Tests." July 7, 1928.

______. J u ly 11, 1928.

______. January 4, 1931.

______. "Phantom Station on the Air." January 15, 1935.

______. "New Radio Hast Completed." December 10, 1958.

The Daily Chronicle. March 6, 1926.

______. February 4, 1927. 349

"Local Broadcasting." February 24, 1927.

_. March 13, 1927.

"Broadcast Service." March 12, 1927.

"No Service Tonight." March 15, 1927.

"Local Broadcasting." April 12, 1927.

_. April 13, 1927.

_. March 1, 1927.

_. March 9, 1927.

_. April 26, 1927.

May 4, 1927.

"Broadcasting over the Telephones." May 31, 1927.

"Broadcasting Committee." November 30, 1930.

"To-night’s Broadcasts." December 21, 1930.

"Georgetown Broadcasting Station VRY May Not Be Closed." March 27, 1931.

_. January 15, 1935.

_. January 22, 1935.

February 2, 1935.

. "Governor opens Amateur Station VP3BG." February 5, 1935.

. F ebruary 6, 1935.

_. February 10, 1935.

. February 15, 1935.

. F ebruary 23, 1935.

. February 24, 1935.

.. March 31, 1935.

. December 3, 1935. 350 December 10, 1936.

January 1, 1938.

"New B ro ad castin g Company To Take Over VP3BG and VP3MR." May 19, 1938.

June 1, 1938.

_. "The British Guiana Broadcasting Company Ltd., In Voluntary Liquidation." June 4, 1938,

"Opening of B.G.B.S. Today." December 22, 1958.

June 13, 1962.

. February 6, 1966.

. "Blood, Sweat and Tears." December 16, 1972.

Evening Post. February 6, 1962.

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______. Bureau of Public Information. The Constitution Suspension Order: October 8, 1953. Two broadcasts by his Excellency, the Governor, Sir Alfred Savage, K.C.M.G., and white.paper re­ printed by the British Guiana Public Information Bureau.

The Guyana Graphic. "New Radio Station Boss." October 25, 1968.

______. December 29, 1966.

______. "Telephone." March 1, 1967.

______. January 4 , 1970.

Haynes, J, A. "The Economic Importance of the Sugar Industry to British Guiana." Bookers Sugar. (Report of Booker Brothers, McConnell & Company L td ., 1954).

The New York Times. "Sugar Slump Hits Radio." December 16, 1930.

______. "Guiana Party Protests." September 17, 1961.

______. "Guyana to Seize Radio Stations." December 18, 1964.

Rediffusion International Ltd., Independent Local Radio. England: Rediffusion International. 1971. 351

Rediffusion Publicity Division. The World of Rediffuslon. England: Rediffusion Ltd. 1972.

Reporter. "Cheddi Jagan Returns to Battle." March 7, 1968.

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______. "New GBS Equipment." January 4, 1970.

The Times (London). "Seven Years Old: Caribbean Radio Record." August 18, 1961.

______. May 26, 1971.

______. March 1, 1924.

Tomasek, Robert D. "British Guiana: A Case Study of British Colonial Policy." Political Science Quarterly. XXXVI (October-December, 1965). 393-411.

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Legal Citations

British Guiana. Offences Against Morality. Ch. 10, Title 25. The Laws of British Guiana, 1953.

______. L ib e l and S lander O rdinance. Ch. 22. The Laws o f B r itis h Guiana, 1953.

______. Criminal Laws (Offen es) Ordinance. Ch. 10. The Laws of British Guiana, 1953.

• The Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1894. Ch. 185. The Laws of British Guiana, 1953.

« The Wireless Station Regulations, 1927. Ch. 132. The Laws of British Guiana, 1953.

« The Post and Telegraph Ordinance, 1932. Ch. 185. The Laws of British Guiana, 1953.

• The Wireless Telegraphy Regulatioins, 1938!. Ch. 132. The Laws of British Guiana, 1953. 352

______. Undesirable Publications Ordinance, 1953. Ch. 131. The Laws of British Guiana, 1953.

______. The Public Corporations Ordinance, 1962. Bill Number 23 of 1962. The Official Gazette. 1962.

______. Emergency Powers (Control of Broadcasting) Order, 1964. Order Number 21 of 1964. The O f f ic ia l G a z e tte . 1964.

Great Britain. The Telegraph Act, 1868. 31 & 32 Viet., Ch. 110. Halsbury's Statutes of England (3rd ed.) Vol. XXXVI.

______. The Telegraph Act, 1869. 32 & 33 Viet., Ch. 73. Halsburyrs Statutes of England (3rd ed.) Vol XLVII.

______. The Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1904. 4 Edward 7. The Law R e p o rts.

Guyana. Constitution of Guyana and Related Instruments. 1966.

______. Guyana Telecommunications Corporation Order, 1967. Order Number 23 of 1967. The O f f ic ia l G a z e tte . 1967.

______. The Wireless Stations (Revocations) Regulations, 1967. Order Number 1 of 1967. Guyana S u b sid iary L e g is la tio n fo r th e Year 1967.

______. Public Corporations Act, 1971. Act Number 18 of 1971. The Official Gazette. October 1, 1971.

______. Public Corporations (Broadcasting) Order, 1972. Order Number 76 of 1972. The Official Gazette. September 27, 1972.

Unpublished M aterials

Adamson, Johnny A. Interview with the Chairman of the Board of the Guyana Broadcasting Company (Radio Demerara) in Guyana on December 28, 1972.

British Guiana. Legislative Council Minutes: 1934. Vol I. (1935).

______. Legislative Council Minutes 1938-1939. Vol. 3. Fourth Session. (1942).

•____ . Legislative Council of British. Guiana. Vol .. 19; (15 May 1946 to 24 O ctober 1947). ' 353

. Legislative Council of British Guiana. Vol. 1. (24 October '1947).

Executive Council Minutes. (July 13, 1948),

Executive Council Minutes. (May 3, 1949).

______. Legislative Council of British Guiana. Vol. 22. (17 May 1950 to 13 July 1951).

Legislative Council of British Guiana. Vol. 23. (19 October 1951 to 2 April 1953).

______. Legislative Council of British Guiana. 2nd Session. (22 April 1953 to 28 March 1956).

Bobbert, Larry. "Telecommunications in Brazil." Unpublished Master of Arts Thesis. Wayne State University. 1968.

Cunha, Charles. Interview with the former Superintendent of the Radio Division, Guyana Telecommunications Corporation, in Guyana on December 18, 1972.

Forsythe, Victor L. Interview with the Chief Information Officer of the Guyana Information Service, Ministry of Information and Culture, in Guyana on December 19, 1972.

Graham, Clifford. Interview with the Assistant Superintendent of Police in charge of the Investigation Section and Radio License Division of the Post Office Department, Ministry of Communications, in Guyana on December 18, 1972.

G riffith, Cecil. Interview with the News Director of the Guyana Broadcasting Service in Guyana on December 15, 1972.

Guyana National Archives. Government Information Service File Box.

Guyana Broadcasting Company (Georgetown) "Agreement" between the B ritish Guiana Broadcasting Company and the Government of B ritish Guiana for the operation of Radio Demerara and the British Guiana Broadcasting Service (Guyana Broadcasting Service).

Guyana B ro ad castin g Company (Georgetotm ) "L icense to E s ta b lis h a Wireless Reception and Broadcasting and Transmission Station 1950."

Guyana Deeds Registry (Georgetown). B ritish Guiana United Broadcasting Company (Guyana B roadcasting Company) F ile . F ile Number 344.

Guyana Ministry of Information. Guyana Broadcasting Service File MI: 1 0 /3 6 /3 . 354

Guyana Post Office Department. "Post Office Ledger." Ledger of the Radio Services Division of the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation, (handwritten).

Harewood, Harry. Interview with the News Editor of Radio Demerara in Guyana on December 19, 1972.

Harrison, Vivian. Interview with the Acting Director of the Guyana Broadcasting Service in Guyana on December 12, 1972.

Khan, Rafiq. Interview with the General Manager of the Guyana Broad- . casting Corporation (Radio Demerara) in Guyana on December 12, 1972.

Kucera, Geoffery Z. "Broadcasting in Africa: A Study of Belgian, British and French Colonial Policies." Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation. Michigan State University. 1969.

Nascimento, Christopher A, Interview with the Special Assistant to the Prime M inister in Guyana on December 24, 1972.

Philadelphia, Lambert M. Interview with the General Manager of the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation in Guyana on December 14, 1972.

Rayman, Meer Assad. Interview with the Engineer-in-Chief of the Guyana Broadcasting Service in Guyana on December 12, 1972.

Rowe, James L. Interview in Guyana on December 16, 1972.

______. Personal papers signed by Charles Kellman relating to station VP3BG during 1935 to 1938.

Stewart, Ronald. "Engineering Report and Survey for Proposed Broad­ casting station in Georgetown, British Guiana." Unpublished report submitted to Andrew Jackson, Georgetown, B ritish Guiana.

______. Interview with the Deputy Director (Engineering) of Kentucky Educational Television in Lexington, Kentucky, on June 18, 1973.

Sanders, Ronald. Interview with the Program Director of the Guyana Broadcasting Service in Guyana on December 15, 1972.

Seymour, Arthur, Interview with the former Chief Information Officer of the Government Information Service in Guyana on December 24, 1972.

Straker, tHenry. Personal letter to this writer, dated May 20, 1972. 355

United States Information Service. "Rockerfeller Foundation Report.'1 Unpublished report prepared for the Rockerfeller tour of Latin and South America in 1969. July, 1969.

United States Information Agency. "USIA Fact Sheet." Unpublished fact sheet dealing with Guyanese communications. 1970.