ZNS-TV

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

• Template:Infobox broadcasting network
• Template:Infobox television channel
• Template:Infobox television station

ZNS (Zephyr Nassau Sunshine) is a national television broadcaster operated by the state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (BCB).

ZNS-TV's two transmitters, serving Nassau and Freeport, are the only over-the-air TV stations in the Bahamas. The rest of the country receives these channels (and a privately owned station) via Cable Bahamas, a privately held company that maintained an exclusive license to operate cable TV services until 2009.

The BCB also owns ZNS-1 AM Radio 1540 (a clear-channel station), its repeater, ZNS-1 on 104.5, ZNS-2 AM 1240, 107.9 "Inspiration 107.9 FM" in Nassau, and ZNS-3 AM 810 / FM 104.5 "Power 104.5" in Freeport.

History

Older ZNS-TV logo, with variant colors

ZNS radio was founded in 1937 as a way of broadcasting hurricane warnings to the various islands throughout the archipelago. At its inception, the station would broadcast for two hours a day, Emily featuring news and musical recordings from the BBC and Nassau sources. The radio station eventually established another transmitter in the city of Freeport on the island of Grand Bahamas.

ZNS-TV launched in the city of Nassau on New Providence Island in 1977. The TV station aired programming to entertain, educate and inform the people of the Bahamas. It aired sitcoms, sports, dramas, and even movies. In 1992, the stations started to only air public affairs programming.

In October 2010, the BCB implemented a major restructuring exercise in which approximately 80 employees were downsized. This event sparked much public debate. The government offered a severance package to all employees who separated from the company both voluntarily or involuntarily. One reason for restructuring was that the previous governments had declared the BCB to be a major strain on the public purse, bringing in little revenue and costing the government major payouts in salaries and maintenance. The further reason for the downsizing was to enable the corporation's transition to a public broadcasting service.

The people behind the changes at the BCB were the Minister of National Security with Responsibilities for Broadcasting, Hon. Tommy Turnquest, and the chairman of BCB, Michael Moss, along with his board members and management of the corporation. Payouts during this process were reported to cost the government around $4 million. Many of those who received separation packages and termination letters generally were unhappy because it did not compare to their years of loyal service to the company. However, the government maintained that the separation package was generous, considering the economic climate in the country and that they were more than what was required by law to pay. In addition to the monetary payouts, those affected were provided with medical insurance for 12 months.

On December 14, 2011, ZNS-TV announced that it was planning on converting to ATSC digital terrestrial television, with the additional capability of adding a mobile DTV feed.

At some point in 2017, ZNS-TV shut down its on-channel repeater in Freeport, ZNS-TV-1 (also using VHF 13), and had substantially reduced power at its remaining transmitter in Nassau from 500 kW to 54 kW.

See also

• Television in the Bahamas
• List of the Caribbean television channels

External links

• Official website