Hurley’s to make more local TV after station buyout
Randy Merren
(CNS): Hurley’s Entertainment begins its move into the world of television this week after its purchase of Cayman27 from Logic was approved by the ICTA and completed. Randy Merren, the owner of the local broadcast company, said viewers can look forward to more original local programming as his licence has strict requirements for the new TV station to air at least four hours of local content per day as part of its public service broadcast obligations, and two of those hours must be original and not repeated content.
Merren told CNS that the move into TV was a “natural one” for Hurley’s Entertainment. Previously focused on radio with Z99 and Rooster, the firm will now be taking over and broadcasting Cayman27 News and Daybreak for the time being as usual, but Merren said there would be new shows on the horizon and the local service would be available free via digital broadcast.
The best kept secret in Cayman was finally confirmed yesterday and the terms of the new licence have now been published by the ICTA. The licence requires the new TV station to provide four one-hour free slots per week to the community for specific local content.
Television Centre in George Town was not part of the purchase package from Logic, Merren said, and the TV company is moving to new studios at Camana Bay Tuesday and Wednesday, so there would be no news bulletin broadcast on Tuesday evening or Daybreak Wednesday morning. However, he said the news would be back on Wednesday evening and Daybreak on Thursday.
Existing employees will end their contract with Logic and sign new contracts with Hurley’s, and Merren confirmed that at this point none of the broadcast staff have been let go, though some are on vacation and others are covering the Special Olympics in Los Angeles.
The new TV boss said that rather than cutting the staff, the new licence requirements to increase local content may see more people recruited. Merren also pointed to opportunities for freelance producers and programme makers to help with the new content.
With the provision of local content by cable, internet and satellite television service providers still in debate, Merren said he believed the new requirements in the licence issued to Hurley’s TV Ltd to provide news and local programming would see those providers take up the new TV station’s content. Pointing to the problems that the cable services would all have in such a small market covering the costs, Merren is optimist that, in addition to his own C3 internet cable TV service, the other Cayman-based providers would also broadcast the shows that Hurley’s TV plans to produce.
Refusing to comment on how much his new TV station cost him, Merren told CNS that he was excited about the future of the station and meeting the new, much more stringent requirements to provide interesting, quality TV news and local shows.
Category: Art & Entertainment, Local News
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I don’t think CBS is going to like this much at all. Bermuda’s station folded last year and they had both CBS and NBC affiliation on two major stations in Bermuda.
It makes sense. WestStar was sold last year with $70 million debt load. Much of that has to do with them having to subsidize the TV station. Randy probably got the TV station at pennies on the dollar since they basically got evicted from their beautiful building at Television Centre since Logic’s Bermuda bosses couldn’t handle the losses anymore. Expect to see a lean and mean Cayman 27 (if that is what they continue to call) down the road. Most Caribbean TV stations (BVI, TCI, St. Martin) run on a staff of around five to ten.
I have Logic does this mean that I will be forced to get C3 just to get the local programming??
Congrats Randy and Ms. Merren Ebanks, I am proud of you and wish you every success with your new venture.
Oh, I so hope they keep the day break segment where they make ‘turtles’ out of used jello cups, paint and pipe cleaners!
Loved there choice of interim programing, crappy cartoons with no explanation of why. Professional!
That’s interesting. Obviously Randy needs to enact some cost-cutting measures. I hope there aren’t too many people let go.
It’s better that Randy own it than Dart…
But then he is moving it to Camana Bay…
Umm… Let me think a bit more about who really owns it…
what about Cayman Brac and Little Cayman , will be getting local TV.?
No, unna stay over there. Grand Cayman is the only Cayman Islands.
They could have segments on knitting patterns for their specialty gloves.
I could count the number of viewers on one hand. There would be six of them.
Yes, when you contribute rateable to the economy. So never.
The Brac dont need no local tv. You all already have the bluff to look at…
we have ppm radio…now we can have ppm tv!
we need expat only programming….
That’s every other channel.
I’d like to see more local sports coverage. A bit shameful that we can host international tournaments and competitions and have no clips for even a highlight montage after the news. Pretty easy to do nowadays!
Now Randy can make some money of Woody/IGA. LOL.
If I see how to make a lemon pound cake one more time I might puke.
Trollers, where is your sense of humour? Stupid question!
i watch Geezum on facebook now, much better
I have no interest whatsoever in local TV.
Then why take the time to comment on it?
Because pointless nationalist crap like this makes the place worse.
You just couldn’t resist such comments. It must be terrible to be you. If you are not nationalist for whatever rock you lives under that is your business but some of us still love where we live.
It will be turgid and unwatchable.
You have no choice.
I never really thought about how much that would suck.
I am sure the Country you came from, calls that patriotism …………….but with unpatriotic citizens like you I can see why they let you go……..so sorry you had to end up here!
Feel free to pick another country to antagonize………otherwise put up with our “nationalism” while you keep your snide remarks to yourself.
I’m sure your opinion will be given the consideration it is due.
Risky move with Internet TV seemingly being the future of television, and social media dominating people’s leisure time and advertising dollars, but… I guess he knows what he’s doing. Good for you Randy, we wish you the best success!
TV can also be streamed to the internet. He will already have the studio and broadcasting infrastructure. the internet ad on would be rather simple, be it either directly broadcasted from a website or via a streaming provider such as Aereo, YouTube Vevo or others.
I think you will find Randy already has that; c3 is what his company is called I believe?
I have never been able to stream from Cayman 27. Maybe their gerbil was tired.
Isn’t CUC suing his company?
Randy is a stand up guy for taking on the additional license requirements but it still begs the question how LIME and to a lesser degree LOGIC are being let off so easy. It should absolutely without question be an enforced requirement for both of them to pick up the Hurley’s local content.