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Trinidad and Tobago Television

TTT Limited formerly Trinidad and Tobago Television
CountryTrinidad and Tobago
Headquarters11 A Maraval Road, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i HDTV
Ownership
OwnerGovernment of Trinidad and Tobago (100%)
Key peopleLord Roy Thompson
Ronald F. Goodsman
Barry Gordon
Mr. Michael Clarke[1]
Jack Elvin
Norman Hartley
Neville Welch
History
Launched24 August 1962
Re-launched on 30 August 2018
ReplacedC TV
Links
Websitewww.ttt.live/
Availability
Terrestrial
Analog VHFChannels 9 and 13

TTT Limited is a state owned national television broadcaster in Trinidad and Tobago with its headquarters located at 11 A Maraval Road, Port of Spain.[2]

The company formerly operated two stations; TTT channels 2 & 13 from 1962 to 2005, and Alternative Television popularly known as TTT Channels 9 & 14 from 1983 to 1990. The station and its parent company, the National Broadcasting Network (NBN) was closed at midnight on 14 January 2005 due to bankruptcy with C TV becoming its successor in 2006.[3][4] After several years of being off the air, it was found that TTT still had a strong brand identity[5] among the population and a cult following on social media. On 30 August 2018, TTT Limited was re-launched by Prime Minister Keith Rowley at 3:00 PM AST.[6][7]

Company information

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TTT has been the state-owned television broadcaster, and the only television operator for over thirty years from 1962 to 1991. TTT provided the young nation with its earliest collection of cultural heroes, showcasing the diversity of Trinidad and Tobago's plural society by embracing some of its best exponents of indigenous artistic expression. Today, its main goal is to develop an ecosystem for the distribution of local content that would be relevant to modern Trinidad & Tobago and attractive in the fluid global markets.

History

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TTT "It's Yours" rebrand 2001
TTT's logo from 1962-2005

Trinidad & Tobago Television was created by Canadian businessman Roy Thomson, then owner of the Thomson Organization. The Trinidad & Tobago Television Company, a partnership by the Thompson Organization (50%), Rediffusion (30%), CBS (10%) and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (10%) was developed to serve the two islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

On Friday 24 August 1962, Trinidad and Tobago Television was launched one week before the two-island state of Trinidad and Tobago gained independence on 31 August 1962 within the Commonwealth of Nations.[citation needed] It was the first television service to operate in the Commonwealth Caribbean.[8] Mervyn Telfer, a former Radio Trinidad announcer, read the station's first broadcast, the 7.00 p.m. News. The two channels to transmit the service to the new twin island state were channels 2 and 13. News shown during that first week included highlights of Independence Day preparations.[citation needed]

Other former Radio Trinidad personnel who joined TTT were announcers Clyde Alleyne and Hazel Ward (later Hazel Ward-Redman); salesman (later 'Scouting for Talent' host) Holly Betaudier; and technical operators, including Errol Harrylal, Hugh Pierre and Miley Duke.

The first events that were shown on the evening of 30–31 August were the flag raising ceremony and the playing of the national anthem, and the inauguration of television.[9]

Timeline of events

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Programming

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The previous incarnation of TTT was best known for its local and cultural programming such as Know Your Country, At Home, College Quiz, It's In The News, Time To Talk, Turn of the Tide, Teen Dance Party, Party Time, Play Your Cards Right, Meet The Press, Mainly for Women, Rikki Tikki, Beulah Darling, Calabash Alley, Mastana Bahar, Community Dateline, 12 & Under, Treasured Classics, Forever Classics, Indian Variety, Indian Cultural Magazine, Party Flava by Request, Calypso Showcase, Steelband Concert, Planet Bollywood, Zingray, The Issues Live, Best Village Competition and Scouting For Talent.[citation needed]

The station's flagship news programme, Panorama, remains an icon in Trinidad and Tobago, even as the station has gone off the air. For 29 years it was the nation's only evening news programme, allowing the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago access to television pictures from across the country and around the world.[citation needed]

Alongside the TTT re-launch in 2018, new programming introduced included TTT News, NOW Morning Show, Got Carnival, Video Vibe, Indigenous Bites with Wendy Rahamut, Miss Supranational 2022, and Mister Supranational 2022.[17][citation needed]

Personalities

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Trinidad and Tobago Television launched the careers of several of the most recognized journalists and broadcasters in the Caribbean across two generations which are listed below. With the 2018 relaunch, TTT retains the on-air personalities from its predecessor, C TV.

Current staff members

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Former staff members

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Other notable presenters include Peter Minshall, Ann Austin, O'Brian Haynes, Freddie Wharwood (deceased, 1994), Melina Scott (deceased, 2009), June Gonsalves (died August 10, 2018), Errol Chevalier (who died in London, England, on June 6, 2021), David Evelyn (deceased, 1994), Salisha Ali (deceased), Carl Redhead (deceased, 2002), Gideon Hanoomansingh, Mariel Brown, Sharon Coward, Danielle Dieffenthaller, Gary Moreno (now Bermuda Broadcasting Company), Debbie Lewis-DeGannes, Raffie Knowles (deceased), Don Proudfoot (deceased, 1982), Ashton F Chambers (deceased, 2013), Farouk Muhammad, Jose Ramon-Fortune, Lloyd Roehler, Brian Carter, Bobby Thomas (deceased, 2001), Terrance Greaves (deceased), Vaughn Salandy (deceased), Gary Moreno, Josanne Leonard, Afzal Khan, Bernard Pantin.

Network slogans

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References

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  1. ^ "**TTT (Trinidad and Tobago Television) Memories*".
  2. ^ Angela Pidduck and Ann Winston, "A Momentous Period In Television History", ttt Pioneers, 7 January 2009.
  3. ^ https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48488457880 [user-generated source]
  4. ^ "The Trinidad Guardian -Online Edition Ver 2.0". Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2007.
  5. ^ "TTT to make comeback as CNMG faces closure". www.looptt.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b "New 'positive' TTT launched". www.looptt.com. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b "TTT.Live". www.ttt.live. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  8. ^ Hosein, Everold N. (December 1976). "The Problem of Imported Television Content in the Commonwealth Caribbean". Caribbean Quarterly. 22 (4): 7. doi:10.1080/00086495.1976.11829274. Retrieved 5 October 2024 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  9. ^ Barry Gordon, "Here is my ttt story leading to the Inaugural Launch", ttt Pioneers, 1 February 2012.
  10. ^ "Journalist Raoul Pantin, 71, dies". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  11. ^ "Forecast". Archived from the original on 4 January 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2006.
  12. ^ "The Trinidad Guardian -Online Edition Ver 2.0". Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
  13. ^ Charleen Thomas, "TTT Closed: End of an Era", Trinidad and Tobago News Forum, 1 August 2005.
  14. ^ "CNMG to be wound up, TTT returns". The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian Newspaper. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  15. ^ "TTT launches August 30". The Trinidad and Tobago Newsday Newspaper. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  16. ^ "FILMCO, TTT deal: Local content 3 nights a week". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  17. ^ "The 13th edition of the Miss Supranational pageant and the 6th edition of the Mister Supranational is airing on @tttliveonline". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
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