CBC in critical condition
THE grim reality facing the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has been outlined by General Manager Doug Hoyte, who says not only is the company faced with millions in debt, it is also faced with shrinking revenues.
His comments came yesterday against the backdrop of the Barbados Workers’ Union led strike action which has gone into the weekend as approximately 20 percent of the staff protests the non-payment of increments dating back to 2013. However CBC principals maintain that to exceed the salary scale would be the equivalent of a pay increase, which was not agreed upon and not their decision to make.
Stressing that the goal is to preserve jobs, he stated that there is a possibility that the BWU would have to create a ratio – how many jobs to go in order to meet their demands.
Hoyte maintained that CBC simply does not have the money to meet the demands of the BWU, which he explained would cost the company an additional $102 000 per month to pay staff. Employee costs for the year are currently $7.32 million.
In an interview with the Barbados Advocate yesterday, Hoyte explained that as of August 31 2017 the accumulated deficit stood at $124 972 000. Revenue to date stands at $16 million while the net loss is 3.7 million. “We are down approximately 2 million when compared to last year at this time between April and August.”
Hoyte explained that the big-ticket earner, MCTV has been hard-hit by competitive forces which have substantially eroded its profitability. Comparing 2017 to 2016 he said advertising revenue has seen a dip of $600 000. All of this he stressed, without getting a subvention from government in two decades.
In fact, Hoyte says since he joined the corporation in April last year, MCTV subscribers have dipped to 19 000 from 27 000. “We are haemorrhaging 150 subscribers per month. When you juxtapose that with all the other technology like smart phones, not to mention competitors on the market...and they have advantages such as duty free status allowed to them under the Telecoms Act which the CBC is not entitled to.”
Additionally, he noted that advertising dollars have also taken a hit, which he attributed to social media effect.
He reiterated the company’s position, saying that when it was agreed to provide increments for employees, it was done with the understanding that it would not exceed the existing salary scale. In fact, he explained that going above the salary scale is in reality a salary increase, which according to the Caribbean Broadcasting Act, can only be administered by the Minister.
“The Union is asking for us to pay above the scale. The challenge with that is that it creates anomalies for people. To pay outside of the scale means a salary increase. We would be granting salary increase only to 27 percent of the employees. About 68 people out of 246 employees. How can you give a salary increase to those people? As much as 10 percent in some instances,”
“There is a chance that if we were to exceed the scales we would have some managers earning more than the deputy general manager....or we would have janitors and our maids earning more than a reporter with a university degree.”
Stressing that this would be procedurally incorrect, he stated that such an increase would pose additional hardship for the already cash-strapped company.
“I don’t know how we would accomplish it given our financial situation. Some would suggest we should close our doors and it is a real juggling act, because we want to preserve jobs, yet we are faced with the pressure of coming up with additional money which we don’t have. So how do we deal with it?”
Hoyte also revealed that the company has still managed to reduce costs over the years, and has a number programmes set to come online in the final quarter of this year geared towards increasing the revenue stream.
He lamented that the company is also incurring some heavy losses during this period of this strike, noting that with radio and television personnel of the job “substantial” advertising revenue is being lost.
Hoyte apologised to all workers and assured that all efforts are being made to ensure that normalcy resumes to the CBC as soon as possible. (JH)