Caribbean Broadcasting Union Information

The Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) founded in 1970 is a not-for-profit association of public service and commercial broadcasters in the Caribbean. Its secretariat is based in Barbados. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the CBU created several regionally syndicated programmes including CaribScope, Caribbean Newsline, Caribbean News Review, Caribbean Business Weekly, Talk Caribbean, the Caribbean Song Festival, Riddim Express and the CaribVision television news exchange, among other programmes. These were some of the first television programmes to contribute to a nascent regional integration movement and enjoyed wide viewership, particularly CaribScope, a magazine containing arts, cultural and general-interest features submitted by member stations. Leadership of the association is mainly rotated between representatives of the affiliated media houses. On 9 June 2000 the commercial operations of the CBU and the Caribbean News Agency were merged into the Caribbean Media Corporation, also based in Barbados, which has carried on the business of television production begun by the CBU. The CBU's current mandate includes the facilitation of some broadcast services, representation, and training of the staff of member stations in support of a unified Caribbean community. It holds an Annual General Assembly (AGA) in one of the member nations every August. Member stations are drawn from the 15 member nations of the Caribbean Community, with the exception of Haiti. Other member stations are drawn from Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and Cuba. In fulfilling its commitment to the deepening of the integration process, CBU functions in both an advocacy and representation role. As a regional institution, it facilitates discussion and analysis that assist in policy formulation on major integration issues. CBU is the only Pan-Caribbean medium, reaching over 4.8 million people in the Caribbean and millions of others extra-regionally.