I Was a TV Co-Host in Browns Town

This post has been in the making since the day I appeared on Channel 5 in Browns Town, St Ann in May 2011. I held off posting because it was supposed to include video since I have the whole thing on DVD…..somewhere. That’s the problem. Since I departed the island in disarray I can’t find the thing for the life of me so all I have a are a few nondescript photos of the TV studio.  This DVD is probably buried in one of my storage boxes I left in Steer Town.

Anyways! On to the story! The night I attended a segment of the Noranda Jamaica talent contest, in true JMW style I approached the camera man and asked him if he could link me up with the MC of the show for a small on-camera rundown.  I got to the MC and got my clip but it was actually the camera man who made me a better offer!  Turns out he runs Channel 5 TV in Browns Town and wondered if I would be interested in visiting the studio for an interview.  As if I’d turn that down, I’ll do anything media related even if it gets me nowhere but into the homes of Browns Town residents.

Mr Gallimore wanted me to arrive at the studio at 7:00 am which meant I’d have to leave my apartment in Ocho Rios at 5:45 am in order to get breakfast on the run and be on time.  I’ve never done anything in Jamaica at 5:45 am except return home from a night out!  The roads were dead quiet except the few people heading to work and the police radar traps on the highway which seemed odd.  I also discovered that nothing food-related was open at all so I had to stop at a gas station and buy a cheese bun for the road.

The drive was quite nice besides the morning rain and fog.  I drove at a leisurely pace since I didn’t have to keep up with the speed demons that come out during regular highway hours.  Once I reached Runaway Bay I exited the highway at the sign that read “Stewart Town / Browns Town”.  I’ve never been up that way before but had passed the sign a million times so it was familiar to me.  Once on this road it was a piece of cake and the drive was beautiful, climbing further up the hill into the countryside.  It was one curve after another in the shadows of trees hanging over the road and I had some calm reggae tunes playing.  Finally I reached Browns Town and started to look for the KFC.  Mr Gallimore told me to park at KFC and ask anyone around where the station was and they will know.

He came out to greet me and we went inside the building together.  I’m telling you one would never know there’s any kind of studio in there unless you actually went inside.  And once inside you might be surprised at the appearance of this TV studio compared to ones you might know of.  It was one small room and one man who operated the whole thing….Al Gallimore himself.  There was a desk set up similar to a newsdesk and this is where it all goes down.  Behind the news desk is a poster on the wall of the view in Ocho Rios so when the camera is centered and zoomed properly it looks as though Ochi behind is us.

All of Channel 5 is filmed and broadcasted from here every single day by one man.  The programming begins at 7 am with about thirty minutes of gospel music which I found refreshing, it was a nice vibe.  While the music was playing the channel was broadcasting scenery video of different places in Jamaica.  Al invited me to sit behind the desk with him for the entire morning and little did I know this wasn’t just an interview.  He handed me the weather report and said “Welcome to co-hosting”!  With only a brief introduction to the strictly local audience of Browns Town I was thrown into doing the weather all across Jamaica!  Browns Town is not a tourist section of the island so I wondered what the families watching were thinking as a white Canadian girl was all up on their screen.

Finally, after another segment of music and programming was finished Mr Gallimore started the interview.  It was very cool.  First he asked me why I was living in Jamaica at the time and what my purpose is for writing about local things to do on the island.  I explained my love of the culture and the people and the new things I’m discovering along the way.  Then the conversation shifted to Canada and he asked all kinds of questions on what it’s like where I come from.  Questions about the seasons, snow, culture, etc.  He asked if a Jamaican were to come where I’m from what would be the first thing I’d show them.  My answer to that is undoubtedly the Canadian Rocky Mountains because  I’m fortunate to live only an hour’s drive away from them.

The entire morning program was around three hours and by 11:00 am we were able to step away from the camera and he let some previously recorded programming play.  This allowed us to go next door to a cookshop for lunch and chat about his station and how he’s continued to keep it on air.  He does have several community businesses that sponsor the station which was apparent from the commercials that played.  His audience right now is strictly the Browns Town area but he did speak of hopes to expand further on the north coast.  That costs money and there are stricter regulations that come along with it so there was no indication of when that might happen.

Even though this was a little TV studio with a limited audience I still really appreciated the opportunity to be his “co-host” that day.  I sincerely hope I come across my DVD of the program eventually because I’d love to see what I looked like while pretending to be a weather girl!  I have three hours captured on it so the editing would be fun.