We can be certain that Radio Caribbean International (RCI) is a household name when talking about popular radio stations in St. Lucia. We’ve had the privilege to speak with the current Managing Director, Tamara Gibson. She gave us an inside look on what this company is all about, it’s roots and where the RCI is headed in the near future.
Tamara revealed that RCI was started by the French in 1961, and this year celebrates its 60th Anniversary. It was only in 1982 the company’s Trading Name became RCI when the French linked the Francophone Islands across the region. Few years later it was passed over to local handlers. “My mother worked at RCI from the 1970s. Sometime around 1990, herself and another employee at the time bought out the shares from the French and took ownership of it.” Today, RCI’s ownership remains in the hands of the same local handlers.
Starting with their tagline ‘The Caribbean Sound’, RCI is most well known for playing Caribbean music and featuring news, to keep it simple. Tamara added “We do a mixed programming style to keep things balanced between informative and entertaining.” As we found out, there’s so much more that flies under the radar. For example, their events; Forever Gold, Big People Party and Party In The Yard. They’re also collaborators for Colour Me RED. “On radio, we have quite a few popular programs. ‘She Speaks’ with Mareen Alexander is one of our most popular right now; this show features St. Lucian women with an inspiring story to tell. ‘The Lunch Room’ with Calixte George, ‘Youth Unplugged’ with Ron Isidore, “Lettre La” with Iwa. With Lettre La people may be surprised to know that the letters are from actual people and it’s not made up by us.” Lettre La is definitely a staple in the RCI lineup. Alston “Iwa” St. Remy came up with the idea for it. Once it was established, Lettre La pioneered the way for the creation of the other shows that are also well known today. “Since the pandemic we’ve also created ‘Spotlight’ and Drop In, also hosted by Mareen. So far we’ve featured regional and local artistes like Sean Paul, Buju Banton, Teddyson John, and quite a few others.”
When it comes to staying relevant, the team at RCI have always made it a priority to stay on top of their game. However, Tamara will admit that it can become quite challenging, especially with many other radio stations currently in the industry. “We try to keep it interesting and avoid being monotonous. When searching for people to feature on our various programmes we try to find a variety from different walks of life.” RCI also happens to be the radio station with the longest track record of them all. “With Radio St. Lucia not being around anymore, it puts an even greater strain on us to deliver accurate information in a timely manner. Very few of the other radio stations have a newscast like we do; most of them play music and deliver entertainment but we try to balance content with entertainmnet. That being said, it’s also challenging to balance the informative and entertaining side of RCI. Based on our online listenership, we’ve discovered that our listeners range from ages 16 to 65. Keeping such a wide range of listeners interested is a challenge.”
Part of their effort to keep up with the times came in the form of a recent rebrand. “Two years ago, we rebranded our look, our website we introduced new programmes and launched an app. We made that decision to keep our younger listeners engaged. I’ve found that the youth spend more time on their phones or computers, so a mobile app for listening will help keep them tuned in to us. On a broader level we try to reinvent our programming on a yearly basis to ensure that we’re remaining relevant. Based on feedback from our clients we can tell we’re doing a very good job at that.”
As mentioned earlier, there are tons of other radio stations currently in play, which leaves one to wonder, how does RCI manage to do what they do after all this time? “I believe that if you’re in this business you have to believe and act as if you’re #1. With us, we know that and we’ve certainly proved that we’re #1. Staying ahead of the competition… you just have to use your initiative and invent packages and programmes that will keep your clients interested. Our clients have been loyal, and I believe that’s because we offer them a service that’s a cut above the rest. We strategize as a team and plan what we’ll do and how we’ll achieve it.”
Naturally, with constant change there’s sometimes resistance within the team. Tamara though, has a simple but effective strategy in place to keep everyone on board with what’s going on. “I have a fantastic team. My managing policy is that I keep an open door. I encourage my team to come in and pitch me ideas that they can develop with my support. Alston (Iwa) and Orlando (Hyper D) are always coming in flowing with ideas… and they’re always very enthusiastic, so that gives me a drive to want to try things with the business. Naturally you’ll find people in the business who are resistant to change. I think that as a good leader you have to be able to assist them in getting past these hurdles. Proper communication and explanation could help us come to a solution that moves us forward.”
Closing off our conversation with Tamara Gibson, we had to ask her to shed some light on what goes on outside the RCI studio. In terms of RCI’s corporate social responsibility efforts, what has been going on?
“Our ‘Feed The Need’ Programme is very near to our hearts; it’s something we’ve been doing for over 28 years. We ask listeners and clients to donate supplies along with us, which we then give out to communities in need during the Christmas Season. LUCELEC have been huge contributors in this. Keeping active even outside of the studio is important to Tamara and her team. “We also have our ‘Back to School’ Promotion in August. In a similar way, we build up supplies and donate them to children in need of school supplies. Apart from that, we try to do smaller feel-good monthly promotions. With the pandemic it’s very important for people to still have some hope. Even if we don’t do it as grand as we normally would, we still try to do something for others. You can also expect great things from us in the future, we’re working on them right now!” Dazzle Magazine hopes to see what Team RCI has been up to soon and would like to wish them all the best in their future endeavours.
