Executive director of the Broadcasting Commission, Cordel Green, vividly remembers when the licence to operate TBC 88 FM was granted, and 26 years after that momentous occasion, he assures that the Christian radio station still has the full support of the regulatory body.
Green, an attorney-at-law and former broadcaster, knows that navigating today’s media landscape is not for the faint of heart, but he said he is delighted that the station has lived up to its mantra of being the “Breath of Change.’ He advised that the station’s now-infamous tagline should never be taken for granted.
“I distil from that statement my own mantra, which is that the man or woman who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd, especially in these times of generative artificial intelligence and all the exponential technologies that are changing the operating systems of society,” he told those who gathered on April 7 at the Tarrant Baptist Church for TBC FM’s 26th-anniversary service.
“We each have two choices in life. We can dissolve into the mainstream, or we can be distinct, and to be distinct, we have to be different, and that is synonymous with the breath of change,” he said.
Being different is often synonymous with being controversial, however. This observation was made by Bishop Augustine Odih, who hosts Divine Connection, one of several programmes aired on TBC FM.
“TBC, without trying to be ambiguous, has been a controversial radio station, and when something is controversial, it is not necessarily negative, because Jesus was controversial. If He was not controversial, he would not have died,” he asserted.
Odih started Divine Connection on TBC 20 years ago, and he recalled that the station had a fledgling listenership at the time.
“But today, it has gone [beyond] Jamaica, very far distances, and we give thanks,” he said before commending the leadership of TBC for embracing programmes such as the one he hosts, among others.
President of the Association of Christian Communicators and Media (ACCM), Jenni Campbell, also commented on the reach of the radio station. She noted that it is usually played by taxi operators and public transportation operators, who help broadcast the Word of God to the commuting public. At a time when traditional media is struggling to maintain viewership, listenership, and readership, and as people turn to social media, she is pleased that TBC FM is enjoying strong support.
“You don’t need to be looking for people to boost your listenership, because it’s boosted from above, and so TBC continues to grow and expand,” she said.
Bishop Basil Hanson founded Mercy and Truth Ministries Television (MTMTV) the same year TBC FM was birthed, and he is pleased with how much the radio station has grown over those years.
“I have watched the change in the landscape of media over the last 26 years. Many media houses have gone woke, you know, say what people want to hear, and those who pay the biggest money, they say what they want to say, and it is not truth anymore. But we must continue to stand and support TBC resolutely, as we continue to proclaim God’s truth without fear or favour,” he declared.
“Even when the enemy comes in like a flood, TBC radio has stood flatfooted and refused to bow to the enemy,” Hanson said.
Referencing Matthew 5:13–16, TBC FM board member Ingrid Lee Clarke-Bennett pointed to the fact that the radio station continues to let its light shine before men so that God is glorified.
“So we thank God for this station. This station has educated, inspired, [and] helped to convert through the power of the Holy Spirit. It has done so much for this nation,” she said.
Another crucial thing that the station has been doing is praying for the nation. This is something that co-host of the programme Midnight Cry, Dr. Patience Alonge, is particularly pleased about.
“When people are sleeping and slumbering, TBC is up and supplicating to heaven,” she said.
TBC 88 FM has been leading the nation into a series of intercessory prayers since February to break spiritual strongholds that are causing death and stagnation in Jamaica.