Dear Editor,
Over four years ago I approached Dr Roath at the Guyana Learning Channel with some samples of 3D animations that I personally produced with the intention of producing educational animation for the Learning Channel for a fee. Dr Roath and some staff of the channel looked at the video and were appreciative of it, and one of them was surprised that it was produced here. Amazingly I was told that I could only get twenty-five thousand dollars for the ninety second ad which takes approximately eight days to produce, and she said she would prefer if I could take the same ninety seconds ad and extend it into a five-minute infomercial because the staff comprised university graduates and she would have to explain to her bosses why she had to pay so much when she had highly qualified people working there.
Years after our brief meeting, the Guyana Learning Channel is still showing animations dating back to the 1980s, and many emerging talent animators in Guyana cannot get the exposure or opportunity to showcase their talent in Guyana. Sometimes whilst looking at their regular 8 o’clock movie at night it will stick and a guide will replace the movie for sometimes half an hour or more. When the movie resumes, the part covering the time when the movie was stuck is deleted, so on the movie’s resumption you are at loss to know what you’re looking at, or else the exciting part of the movie is lost. I have to hear groans and complaints from my entire household because no explanation or apology is issued.
I recall whilst working at the CNS CH-6, a staff member by the name of Bibi used to play the movie in its entirety before it was aired, just to ensure that it was without faults. Perhaps they should explore that avenue instead of getting people disappointed if not angry almost every night.
Many nights you are watching a movie and the name of the movie on display is different, and I’m wondering if there’s a monitor in the control room of the Guyana Learning Channel. What are the taxpayers paying for? Apart from that, when the channel was launched during the PPP/C era, everyone was under the impression that its sole purpose was to air educational programmes, but on Saturday gone I noticed a government programme that has nothing to do with educating anyone. The programmes keep being repeated and on Sunday they continue. I believe on Tuesday another government programme was added to the existing two programmes. Many things could be said about the PPP/C when they were in power and how they used the NCN channel to promote themselves, but I cannot recall them being so brazen as to use the Guyana Learning Channel to promote themselves, unlike what is happening currently.
Editor, my observations do not apply to that channel alone. Many programmes are being cut off before the end, especially the games show on TVG, and you are at loss to know who the winner is, or you have to guess. I’m wondering why the advertisers are advertising on that channel, especially when viewers are tuning to another channel just to avoid disappointment. Sometimes the programmes just have one minute to finish and they’re cut off. Are the operators doing that for fun?
Looking at the local call-in shows is another amusing way of wasting time. Almost all the shows have the same concept. Host/hostess introduces the programme, calls each advertiser and promotes their product or business, plays a song and runs ads. The host/hostesss then sends greetings to family, friends, advertisers, advertisers’ families, and selected staff of the advertiser’s business, and elaborate on the service you will get. Finally they allow people to call in and give their greetings. The only differences are that they play different songs and the host/hostess is different on the various programmes, but basically, all the programmes are the same. Why can’t they give some facts about Guyana or concentrate on making programmes about Guyana? It just shows the attitude we have in Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Sahadeo Bates
