IN NEED OF A GOOD ANTENNA

Jul 08, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A few days ago I saw my neighbour erecting a huge steel tower next to his house. The poles extended way into the air and I wondered just what he was constructing.
I said to myself that this must be some transmission tower he was erecting. Perhaps, he was lucky and got a license to establish a television station. But that made no sense because my neighbour was much too poor to be able to establish a studio much less all that comes with a television station.
So just what was he building. My curiosity got the better of me and so I hailed out to him and asked what he was building. He said, “ Is an antenna to catch 98.1 FM.”
There have been of recent, exchanges in the media concerning how far the signal of 98.1 Fm reaches. It was suggested that the signal can be received with a good antenna on the Corentyne. But this is not so. The greater part of the Corentyne needs more than a good antenna to catch this station with any clarity. They need a dish. And even this does nor guarantee that the signal will be received.
There is of course a simple way to solve the dispute. All it will take is for the technical people to drive with their car radios and try catching 98.1 at various points along the Corentyne.
Gone are the days when in some homes, the radio was the first thing that was turned on when you awoke and the last thing to go off at nights. Those were the heyday of radio in Guyana. What passes for radio at the present time, is generally a disappointment and it deprives a great deal of citizens of the joys of listening to the radio.
The government runs three radio channels, but not all is available throughout the country. There is Voice of Guyana, Radio Roraima and 98. 1 Hot FM. The latter two are dedicated to entertainment in the form of music. Voice of Guyana is dedicated to general programming but judging from the number of death announcements- traditionally a very popular feature- there is a serious decline in listeners.
Radio has an important role to play in national development. It is being underutilized for such purposes. There is no need for two channels to be dedicated strictly to music, more especially when neither reaches all of the population. It would be much better if instead of having two stations, there was one which reaches all areas of the country.
One of the three stations should be dedicated to providing more informative programmes to the populace and for allowing greater feedback through call in programmes in which citizens would better be able to report on problems within their communities.
There are a great many call-in programmes on television today but these are mainly about citizens giving their opinions and venting their frustration. What is needed is more a focused programme in which citizens can interact with policymakers about specific problems in their community. This would allow the policymakers to be more familiar with what is going on in the country.
Too many of the decision-makers in the country are restricted to their desks with not sufficient time to get out on the ground to see for themselves what is going on. A focused call-in programme can be the perfect solution to this problem by allowing a form of interaction, which allows citizens to report problems and to get feedback.
Many Government agencies are making use of television, but radio has always had the potential of reaching a wider audience. Radio also allows for a different form of content, one that is less about visual effects and one more suited to education, information and feedback.
This potential needs to be exploited to the hilt if the problems of citizens are going to be better addressed. At least one channel should be dedicated to religious programmes since there are so many religious programmes today that it will take an entire channel to do this.
The government should see this as a lucrative source of revenue.
A second channel should be dedicated to entertainment. 98. 1 can be this channel.
The final channel should be dedicated exclusively to informative, educational and phone in programmes. There is no need for music to be played on this channel. But a great deal more time and effort should be spent on producing proper programmes that are well researched and properly presented.
In a subsequent column, I will indicate some ideas for producers to consider.
In the meantime, my neighbour should be encouraged to stop putting up a massive antenna. The signals of all the channels should be extended so that they can be heard throughout the entire country and not just in some areas.

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