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Mass Media Although the Bahamas has had a lively and relatively free press since the early 1800's, all broadcasting was government controlled until 1992. Radio broadcasting was launched by the government in the early years of the 20th century as a hurricane warning service under the call letters 'ZNS' (Zephyr Nassau Sunshine). A statutory Broadcasting Corporation was formed in the 1970's to operate ZNS' television and radio channels (local TV was introduced in 1978). The stations are partly funded by advertising, but heavily subsidised by the government. This monopoly was broken in 1992 when the new Free National Movement government allowed private radio stations, and in 1994 when Canadian investors were licensed to provide cable television service. There are currently four private radio stations on New Providence and three in the Family Islands (on Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera). Cable Bahamas Ltd (partly owned by the government and local shareholders) began installing an advanced fibre-optic network in 1995. Over 98% of New Providence and Freeport households now have access to cable service. Family Island connections began in 1997 on Abaco, Bimini and Eleuthera. With an exclusive 15-year license, Cable Bahamas offers a 52-channel basic service plus premium movie channels, pay-per-view movies and digital audio. Cable also carries ZNS TV and a parliamentary channel. Due to government regulations, no commercial advertising is currently accepted. However, a community channel runs non-commercial programming and public announcements. The country's oldest newspaper is the Nassau Guardian, which has published continuously since it was founded in 1844 by an Englishman named Charles Mosely. Its main competitor, The Tribune, was founded in 1903 by Leon Dupuch, a Bahamian. A twice-weekly downmarket tabloid, the Punch, was established in 1990. The more cerebral Bahama Journal hit the streets in 1987 as a weekly and is now published daily. Television
Number of sets - estimate
50,000 ZNS Channel 13 Format: Heavy American sports emphasis, otherwise mainly foreign soaps and movies with some local productions.
Broadcasting Corporation of
the Bahamas
Radio
Number of sets - universal ZNS-1 - National coverage, news, music, talk. ZNS-2 - New Providence only. Religious music and talk. ZNS-FM - New Providence only. Pop music and news. ZNS-3 - Grand Bahama only. Pop music and news (local and networked).
Broadcasting Corporation of
the Bahamas 100 JAMZ FM - New Providence and Grand Bahama only. Pop music and news briefs. First private radio station.
Tribune Radio LOVE 97 FM - New Providence only. Oldies, news and talk.
Jones Communications
MORE FM -New Providence
only. Upbeat pop programming, news. ISLAND FM - New Providence only. Caribbean and world music, news and talk.
Carter Marketing
COOL 96 FM - Grand Bahama
only. Island music, local news and talk.
RADIO ABACO FM - Abaco
only. Island m usic, local news and talk.
RADIO ELEUTHERA FM -
Eleuthera only. Island music, local news and talk. Newspapers
Nassau Guardian
(broadsheet)
Owned by Bahamian
shareholders.
The Tribune (broadsheet)
Family-owned.
The Punch (tabloid)
Owned by Bahamian
shareholders.
Bahama Journal (broadsheet)
Owned by Bahamian
shareholders.
Freeport News (tabloid)
Owned by the Nassau
Guardian 1844 Ltd. Magazines
Bahamas Journal of Science
Financial Digest
Globe Magazine
Destination Magazine THE INTERNET Telecommunications services are being deregulated in the Bahamas, but it is still unclear whether or not the government-owned telephone utility will be privatized. The total Bahamas market is 88,000 households. Cable Bahamas provides television and pay-per-view services to 56,000 of these households over its advanced fibre-optic network. Cable Bahamas launched broadband Internet service in early 2000 and later installed a fibre cable between Florida and the Bahamas to upgrade connection speeds. It has 18,000 cable modem subscribers and is planning to introduce direct fibre-to-the-home service. The publicly-owned Bahamas Telecommunications Company has about 8,000 DSL subscribers, and Bahamas Online - which connects to the Internet via leased phone lines linked to Florida via a fibre-optic cable - has some 2,000 subscribers.
Bahamas Online: P. O. Box
N-3920, Nassau, Bahamas.
Cable Bahamas: P. O.
Box CB-13050, Nassau, Bahamas. E-mail:
info@coralwave.com
BaTelNet: P. O. Box
N-3048, Nassau, Bahamas.
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