Radio Jamaica Celebrating 70 Years

Page 8 Sunday July 4, 2021 O n September 1, 1939, Hitler and his German army invaded neighbouring Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany. This was the first engagement of what would become World War II. In Jamaica “ham radio” operator, John Grinan was taking note. He had been listening to the news out of Europe on his radio for some time, and now he sought a licence from the British government to begin broadcasting out of his 2 Seaview Avenue home. His negotiations with the colonial authorities were successful, and on November 17, 1939, the new station, with call- sign VP5PZ had its first ever broadcast with a statement from then Governor Sir Arthur Richards. At the time, VP5PZ did weekly broadcast, offering about 30 minutes of wartime news and information. Grinan did not retain control of his station for long. The colonial government, then in wartime mode, wanted firm control of radio, and Grinan acceded to Governor Richards’ request to hand over the station. In 1940, the Government took over ownership of the station, rechristening it ZQI . The new station increased its airtime and frequency of broadcasts, but listenership never exceeded 100,000, given the relatively high cost of radio sets. As the war ended, the Government lost its imperative to hang on to ZQI and its drain on government resources. As a result, it decided to sell the station. On July 9, 1950, the Jamaica Broadcasting Company took over the station under the new name ‘ Radio Jamaica ’. The new entity was owned by the British Rediffusion Group. The very first voice on Radio Jamaica was that of Dennis Gick, then station manager, who signed off ZQI’s programming and immediately signed on Radio Jamaica. He was followed by a statement by then Governor John Huggins. The first announcer whose voice was heard was Archie Lindo, who was also noted for his many years as a theatre critic with The Gleaner Company. The Early Years In 1951, the Jamaica Broadcasting Company started its rediffusion service (distributing radio by wire to a speaker box that had one switch that turned on the radio and adjusted the volume,) and the new entity became known as RJR (Radio Jamaica and Rediffusion). Rediffusion carried RJR’s programmes to subscribers throughout the 19¼ hours of radio broadcasting and continued throughout the night after radio ‘signed off’ at midnight with uninterrupted recorded music. The rediffusion service was discontinued in 1968, after 17 years during which it revolutionised radio in Jamaica. Game Changer Radio broke the stranglehold of the printed press on news and information dissemination. Now, the quickest and easiest way to get news was via RJR. This enabled a generation of Jamaicans, illiterate or semi-literate, with no funds to buy a daily newspaper to keep abreast of current affairs. It also meant that Jamaicans could follow election analysis and results in real time at a crucial period when the country was heading towards independence. One of the very first major news stories to be carried by RJR was the August 17, 1951, direct strike on Jamaica of Hurricane Charlie, the first direct hit to the island by a hurricane in many decades. Interestingly, RJR’s hurricane coverage continued uninterrupted throughout the heart of the storm although the story was that because of the ferocity of the storm, all RJR transmitters were down, and in fact, only one The Radio Jamaica Story The History of RADIO in Jamaica Left to right, RJR’s Engineering Department in the 1960s: Hal Clarke, Melvin Spence, Howard East and George Frost. Radio Jamaica and Rediffusion in the 1960s. continues on page 9