Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is the state-owned national broadcaster of Barbados. It was established under the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation Act in 1963, initially operating Radio Barbados, and introduced television broadcasting in 1964. Today, CBC operates CBC TV 8, three radio services and the Multi-Choice TV subscription service. CBC TV 8 remains the only legally licensed domestic terrestrial television station in Barbados.

Media assets

Television: CBC TV 8

Radio: Vibe 94.7 FM; 98.1 The One; Q 100.7 FM

Subscription television: Multi-Choice TV, commonly branded MCTV

Ownership and governance

CBC is a state-owned statutory corporation established under the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation Act. The legislation gives the corporation responsibility for providing broadcasting services and for developing programming intended to inform, educate and entertain the public. A 2019 amendment replaced the former position of general manager with the offices of chief executive officer and chief operating officer.

Since February 2026, responsibility for CBC, information and broadcasting has rested with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Information rather than directly with the Prime Minister’s Office. Gregory Nicholls was assigned responsibility for the ministry following the February 2026 general election.

CBC’s board is appointed by the responsible minister. Under the corporation’s governing legislation, the minister may revoke the appointment of a board member at any time. A new board took office on 30 March 2026 for a term running until March 2029, chaired by Oliver Jordan, with Cheyne Jones serving as deputy chair. The permanent secretary responsible for information and broadcasting also serves on the board in an ex officio capacity.

The minister also exercises authority over senior management. Following the 2019 amendment, CBC may not appoint or dismiss its chief executive officer or chief operating officer without the minister’s prior approval. The minister may additionally require that appointments to other specified positions receive ministerial approval.

Sanka Price, who was appointed chief executive officer in 2020, continued to be publicly identified by CBC as its CEO during and after the corporation’s 2025 restructuring. The restructuring therefore changed CBC’s staffing and operating model but did not replace its chief executive.

The legislation gives the responsible minister further authority to issue general policy directions concerning CBC’s functions. The corporation is required to comply with those directions. While this is not an explicit power to order the inclusion or exclusion of individual news stories, it gives the executive substantial formal authority over the broadcaster’s institutional and strategic direction.

Source of funding and financial position

CBC earns commercial revenue from advertising, programme services and its MCTV subscription operation. Its governing legislation authorises the corporation to charge for advertisements and other services and envisages that it should seek sufficient revenue to cover its expenditure. These commercial activities have not, however, given CBC financial autonomy from the state.

CBC has experienced sustained financial difficulty. In March 2025, the minister then responsible for broadcasting told Parliament that the corporation’s accumulated debt exceeded B$125m. The figure was presented by the government as part of the justification for a major restructuring of the broadcaster.

The financial problems predated that restructuring. In March 2023, the government provided approximately B$6.92m to help CBC meet obligations including salaries, payments to suppliers and outstanding debts. The need for repeated government interventions demonstrates that CBC’s commercial income has not been sufficient to support its operations independently.

In April 2025, CBC terminated its existing employment arrangements as part of a government-supported restructuring and digital transition. Employees received severance arrangements, while selected personnel were retained or re-engaged to continue operating the broadcaster. CBC said that the transition to a more fully digital operating model would take approximately six to nine months and would involve new working practices, technology and potential digital revenue streams.

The government’s 2026 Fiscal Risk Statement continued to identify CBC as being under severe financial strain, characterised by persistent operating losses and high fixed costs. The assessment indicated that the corporation was expected to remain solvent only with continuing government support.

Supplementary estimates for the 2025/26 fiscal year also included approximately B$9.44m in CBC-related expenditure. This covered liabilities including government advertising debt owed to CBC and costs associated with severance, payment in lieu of notice and compensation for contractors. The amount should not be described simply as CBC’s annual operating subsidy, but it provides further evidence of the corporation’s continuing financial dependence on state decisions and resources.

Editorial independence

The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation Act does not contain a binding guarantee of editorial or institutional independence. It allows CBC to formulate standards concerning programme quality, accuracy, impartiality and taste, but these are internal programming responsibilities rather than legal protections insulating the broadcaster from government intervention.

The corporation’s governance framework leaves important decisions under ministerial control. The minister appoints and may remove board members, must approve the appointment or dismissal of the chief executive and may issue general policy directions that CBC is required to implement. No independent appointment mechanism, protected tenure system or statutory editorial firewall offsets these powers.

Barbados has a sector regulator, the Barbados Broadcasting Authority. The authority licenses and supervises broadcasting services, may request programme information and can develop standards concerning matters including due impartiality. It is not, however, an independent guarantor of CBC’s editorial autonomy. Its members are appointed within a ministerially controlled framework, broadcast licences are issued by the minister, and programme standards developed by the authority require ministerial approval.

State Media Monitor’s earlier research also recorded persistent perceptions of government influence over CBC’s news output. Journalists interviewed by SMM in 2024 and 2025 described the broadcaster as routinely prioritising ministers and government officials and referred colloquially to its principal television newscast as a “ministerial parade.” These accounts reflect professional perceptions of the broadcaster’s editorial orientation; the primary structural grounds for the State-Controlled classification remain its ownership, appointment system, ministerial powers and financial dependence.

AI and digital policy

CBC’s 2025 restructuring placed considerable emphasis on digital production and distribution. The corporation said that it intended to modernise its technology, working practices and revenue model and to expand the production and distribution of content through digital platforms.

No publicly available CBC-specific editorial policy governing the use of artificial intelligence was identified as of mid-July 2026. In July 2026, the minister responsible for broadcasting said that artificial intelligence, misinformation and disinformation were among the challenges requiring modernisation of Barbados’s media framework. No enacted framework specifically protecting editorial standards or institutional independence in CBC’s use of AI had been identified at that point.

Classification rationale

CBC is classified State-Controlled because it is a state-owned statutory corporation operating under an executive-controlled governance structure. Its board is appointed by the responsible minister and its members may be removed by the minister. The appointment and dismissal of its chief executive require ministerial approval, and the corporation must comply with general policy directions issued by the minister. The law provides no binding editorial-independence guarantee capable of counterbalancing these powers.

CBC also remains financially dependent on the state. Advertising and subscription income have not prevented persistent operating losses, substantial accumulated debt, government cash injections and a restructuring whose staffing and financial terms were determined with government support. The 2026 Fiscal Risk Statement concluded that continued government assistance was necessary to maintain the corporation’s solvency.

The classification does not depend on the identity of the governing party. Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the Barbados Labour Party won a third consecutive term in the general election held on 11 February 2026, after which responsibility for CBC was assigned to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Information. The administrative portfolio changed, but the broadcaster’s state ownership, ministerial appointment system, financial dependence and lack of an editorial firewall remained in place.

CBC is therefore an institutional broadcaster of the state rather than an autonomous public-service broadcaster.

July 2026