By Mark Dawes, Staff ReporterDURING THE mid-1990s, the Rev. Neville Callam, pastor of Tarrant Baptist Church in Kingston, read a paper presented in 1995 by Dr. Hopeton Dunn, of the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communications, at the 125th Annual Synod of the Anglican Church. Among the things argued in the paper were the benefits of narrowcasting versus broadcasting. The Rev. Callam and the membership of the church were sold on the idea. On April 12, 1998, The Breath of Change (TBC) FM was born a ministry of the Tarrant Baptist Church. It is still doing well five years later.
TBC FM, which is located on the grounds of the Tarrant Baptist Church, is the sole Christian radio station in Jamaica. LOVE FM is, according to its licence, a religious radio station though most of its programmes are distinctly Christian. With a broadcasting capacity of 500 watts, TBC operates with a low-power antenna. Its geographical target area is the Kingston Metropolitan Region. But depending on weather patterns, its signals can be received from as far as Manchester in central Jamaica.
"We are happy with the geography that we are reaching. We are making an impact where we are. We continue to give God thanks for that. There is, however, a desire to go islandwide. As a Christian body we go where God leads," said Gairy Callam, general manager of TBC FM. He believes one day TBC will be broadcasting islandwide.
TARGET AUDIENCE
From the outset, TBC FM sought to cater to a mature audience largely persons 40 and older. The station also has as a particular target audience the elderly and persons who, because of age and ill health, are unable to be in regular attendance at church, Mr. Callam said.
Without the benefit of any TBC-commissioned scientific listenership survey, the station believes it is reaching its target audience. A listenership survey is an expense the station does not at this time have the funds to commission. But "based on the feedback, phone calls, etc., from that we believe we are reaching our target audience. Some call and say they enjoy the programmes, and not to change anything as the format is working. We believe we are on track," he said.
Mr. Callam, 28, who has been with the station from its inception, is the son of the Rev. Neville Callam. He was appointed general manager of the station in August. TBC FM is a not-for-profit company. It survives largely on the basis of a subvention from the Tarrant Baptist Church, sponsors, and the generosity of listeners.
MODERATE SPONSORSHIP
Its licence does not allow for the broadcast of advertisements it may only announce the name of sponsors of various programmes. Its list of sponsors, Mr. Callam acknowledges, is quite modest. TBC, which has a staff of three (including Mr. Callam), has no plans to revisit the licence. "We are happy with it. When you start having advertising and you have four or more ads back-to-back on the hour, and every half an hour it distracts from the music," Mr. Callam said.
Asked why it is that the business community has not warmed to TBC, Mr. Callam said: "I think that really relates to our inability to advertise. When someone wants to push a particular product, they almost want to become a part of the entire operations. When that begins to happen you find that your ability to have control over what is actually going out on air is hampered somewhat. At the same time, there are people who have been led to really support us. We believe, in time, we will have much more support than we do now. Also, advertising dollars are not as plentiful as they used to be and people are looking for maximum value for money and with us being a station with a very limited reach, that does not attract many advertisers to us."
TBC FM's broadcast times span from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays and 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
LESS TALK, MORE MUSIC
Effective December 1, the station will, however, be moving to 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays as a result of newly-secured sponsorship of the Jamaica Baptist Union Bookstore. As funds and other resources become available, it is prepared to become a 24-hour station, Mr. Callam said.
The station is committed to the notion of 'less talk, more music'. For that reason, Mr. Callam unhesitatingly states that talk shows are a 'no-no' for the station. Most of the Bible-devotional programmes are for a duration not exceeding 15 minutes. There are two main 'preachy-type' programmes - one which lasts for 30 minutes and the other an hour.
The station plays a wide range of music, and is particularly emphatic with its servings of hymns and sacred anthems. "We are one of the stations that play a lot of hymns - there are some shut-ins who can't come to church on Sundays and we cater to them, too," Mr. Callam said.
"I don't know that gospel music has benefited from TBC at all," he said. A lot of local gospel music is substandard. Hence, such does not make it to the airwaves of TBC, he said.
BALANCED CONTENT
"Too many mediocre (music) products get on the air on Jamaican radio stations. While substandard products do come here from overseas, there tends to be less of it coming to the attention of TBC. We are not into hardcore music in general. We created a segment called 'Ja Gospel', where we play a lot of the local stuff in that segment," he said.
There is scope for churches and Christians to get air time on TBC FM, especially with the expansion of broadcast hours on December 1. At a rate of $1,500 per 15 minutes, one could find oneself on the TBC airwaves, Mr. Callam said.
This is especially so, if the programming envisioned by air-time applicants fits into the 'less talk, more music' culture of TBC. "Our first and foremost concern is the content. It must have a balanced diet of edification and the inspirational. It must not be something which pushes a person's particular belief or particular denomination. If someone has a programme idea, we have facilities to enable them to record and create for these programmes. They can even speak with us and we might partner with them to seek funding," Mr. Callam said.
The TBC family is quite happy with the station's progress after five years of existence. It intends to stick with
its formula.
