Avia Collinder, Business Writer

Jamaican cinemas continue to face falling revenues and television stations are routinely pummelled by competition from cable TV, but now the visual entertainment media are betting on local content to revive the flagging interest of an audience with smaller income and competing diversions.

The oldest of the visual media companies, Television Jamaica Limited, has recently invested "millions and millions of dollars in our portfolio of local programmes", says General Manager Kay Osborne, and has been rewarded, she claims, by higher levels of revenue and an increase in market share.

"Advertising revenues are definitely more for local programmes versus overseas programmes. For example, advertising revenues for Rising Stars and Kings and Queens are greater than our broadcast of America's Best Dance Crew," Osborne told Sunday Business.

While Osborne did not reveal what those revenues were, the television company's parent, RJR Group, has reported a small improvement in revenues in its nine-month earnings report ending December 2008 of $1.26 billion, compared to $1.18 billion in the 2007 period.

Group turnover is from sale of airtime, programme material and the rental of studios and equipment.

Local preferences

Melanie Graham, marketing manager of Palace Amusement Company, operators of the Palace chain of cinemas, says that in general, Jamaicans love action, romance and comedy movies, but the highest-grossing films of all time showed in theatres locally was the local production Third World Cop.

In the movie, a Jamaican cop returns to his old neighbourhood in Kingston to deal with local criminals. After a transfer back to his old neighbourhood in 'Dungle', one of the poverty-stricken tenements of Kingston, Jamaica, he uncovers a burgeoning gun-running operation headed by the local 'don'.

With most of its fare based on increasingly expensive non-Jamaican products - a movie ticket now costs $600, up from less than $450 in May 2008 - and with Jamaicans having less to spend in an inflationary and recessionary environment, Palace has seen its profits plunge.

At December 2008, the group posted second-quarter results, including a reported net loss of $9.36 million on revenues of $119 million, against net income of $850,000 on revenues of $112.7 million for the same quarter in 2007.

For the six-month period ending December, the company reported net loss of $10.8 million on revenues of $250.5 million, against net income of $9.9 million on revenues of $235 million for the 2007 six-month period.

Graham notes that most movie-goers are young and single.

"They are 15 to 34 years of age. They are students, young, working professionals and teachers. We do not know their income," she said.

Osborne of TVJ notes that the station produces and broadcasts youth-oriented local programmes with great production values, such as TVJ's All Together Sing - a high-school choir contest that attracts an enormous audience - Schools Challenge Quiz, Junior Schools Challenge Quiz, and Watch N' Win.

There is also Smile Jamaica, It's Morning Time, a two-hour magazine programme aired on weekdays.

"The main point is that it's not enough to just produce and broadcast local material - though this is important. It's equally important that the production values are good and that the content appeals to a large cross section of Jamaicans."

A new vision

Osborne said that when she joined TVJ in 2004, she developed a new vision, mission and strategy focusing on the production and broadcast of high quality resulting in the growth of market share from 34 per cent in 2004, to the current 62.2 per cent share.

The Don Anderson's All Media Survey, 2008-9 revealed that the market share of the station's chief competitor, CVM, has declined over the same period to almost half of TVJ's, at 33.2 per cent, while the remaining 4.6 per cent is divided among Love TV and all cable stations and channels combined.

Osborne claims that TVJ's success cannot simply be ascribed to having local programmes on the station - its rivals also offer local content - but that the difference lies in the focus on producing and broadcasting programmes of high quality.

"Over the years, we've invested significantly in improving our production capabilities and in improving the quality of our programmes. Each year, we consistently add new local programmes to our portfolio and improve every single programme that we produce," said the TVJ boss.

"As a result, we now have a large portfolio of successful, local programmes that include entertainment hits such as Kings and Queens of the Dancehall."

The show featured a talented young man who adopted the stage name 'Poor and Boasy', who lived out his dream of leaving the street corner where he wiped car windows to become a dancehall star.

avia.ustanny@gleanerjm.com