By LISA S. KING

FN Asst. Editor

lisa@nasguard.com

As significant changes take place at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (BCB), newly appointed Chairman Michael Moss noted yesterday that those changes will soon be taken to a higher level when the BCB converts from a state-run enterprise to a public service broadcaster.

Moss, who is a renown engineer by profession and a former president of the Grand Bahama Power Com-pany, confirmed that the move falls in line with the Government's mandate to ensure that ZNS is removed from the commercial broadcasting business.

This will not only require some form of organizational changes within the BCB, he said, but will also require some legislative changes to ensure the mandate is fulfilled.

In an exclusive interview with The Freeport News, Moss explained that a state-run enterprise is answerable to the Government of today, while a public service broadcaster has a much more broader mandate. He added that while a public service broadcasting operation may receive some funding support from the Government, that funding support is normally indirect and the bulk of the funding comes from private sources in order to regulate the enterprise as much as possible without Government interference.

Moss indicated that broadcasting like most operations in the world have gone into digital format where images are generated and transmitted digitally as opposed to by an analog system.

"That is going to require massive expenditure by the corporation to the tune of several million dollars," Moss said.

According to a prepared statement issued on Sunday by BCB Board of Directors, several reports, dating back more than a decade to as recently as 2006, have critically referred to the serious overstaffing at ZNS. At the same time, absence of talent in a number of crucial areas and the fact that the Corporation's accounts have not been audited since the 2002 financial year is a major deficiency which the present Board is working hard to correct.

To deal with the situation, Moss said they intend to improve the accounting department of ZNS to make sure that they can operate a little bit more sensibly and prudently as a business enterprise

"The last set of audited financial reports from the Corporation was put out in respect of the 2002 financial year, which is not a good way to run any business," he said. "This was a very long time and so as a Board, we have undertaken to over a period of 18 months to two years to set our target on bringing all the financial reports of the Corporation up todate."

The Board is seeking to bring staffing levels at ZNS more in line with the requirements of a modern broadcasting operation, primarily through a process of attrition. Individuals are being required to retire when they reach the normal retirement age. Exceptions are those who possess some unique, specialist skill which will add value to the Corporation.

The Board also states that over a period of time there may be a need to sever from the Corporation's employ, a handful of individuals who are unable or unwilling to fit into the organization's new mandate. At the same time new talent may have to be added.

Even though Moss confirmed that some employees of ZNS in Freeport will be affected by the changes, he was quick to point out that the Board has not concentrated on staffing in detail as yet. So far, he said what they have done is some augmenting of their news broadcast teams in Nassau via the appointment of three seasoned broadcasters.

"Once you go to a computer-based form of information gathering and transmission, it generally speaking requires less staff as opposed to an old analog type of approach," Moss said. "So we expect that there will be staffing reductions.

"We don't have a precise quantum, we do have some reports that have been presented by consultants over a period of 10 years and they have all said that even though before you go to a digital format ZNS is overstaffed.

"So we certainly understand that some overstaffing exists and our objective is as far as possible to allow the staffing numbers to fall away through attrition as people see fit to leave, people passing on or people reaching retirement age.

That is going to be the principal means we are going to be looking at in the staffing numbers to be more in line with what is a more ideal staffing number for an enterprise of this type (public service). The government has made this decision and it has given this Board the mandate to ensure that it is carried out.

Notwithstanding the overstaffing situation, 80 new employees were added to the Corporation's already bloated payroll between 2002 and 2007. Moreover, in spite of the overstaffing, the Board believes several employees who had reached normal retirement age were allowed to continue in their jobs, effectively denying opportunities for younger, more energetic and in most instances more capable individuals.

Moss revealed that at the forefront of the Board's plans for digital upgrades is the replacement of a tower on Settler's Way that was condemned about eight years ago.

The old tower, which he said is causing the broadcast signals from 810AM to be deficient, is expected to be removed before the end of the year.

CHANGES CONFIRMED — Newly appointed BCB Chairman Michael Moss confirmed yesterday that staff reductions are expected at ZNS as the organization intends to improve its service through digital upgrades. Such a move, he said, would require less staff and falls in line with the Government's mandate to convert BCB from a state-run enterprise to a public service broadcaster.