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Gayelle The
Channel "At Last We Own Television!" is a community based television station which
is dedicated to bringing out the beauty and talent of the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago by highlighting and celebrating
the positive aspects through 100% local programming. Register with JumpTV and Watch Gayelle TV live 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year on GayelleTV.com
Welcome to our website. We would love to get
feedback on the on going design.
Click here to Email Us.
About Us
Gayelle The Channel
came on air as a community television station on 16th February, 2004. Gayelle's reach now covers all of the Island of
Trinidad free-to-air, and on FLOW Cable channel 07 to over 200,000 households. It is carried live on cable in Tobago in collaboration
with TRICO Cable on channel 03 and in Grenada to over 12,000 more households on Cablevision channel 07. Gayelle is also available
on the Internet through JumpTV.com and on GayelleTV.com at broadcast quality all over the world.
This explosive growth is due to a revolutionary approach to television as a medium and as a
service.
Gayelle has developed over 20 original television series and changed television
viewing habits and assumptions in the Caribbean. Transmitting for 24 hours, 7 days a week, it is the only station in the region
that premiers more than 10 hours of original programming every single day. Gayelle continues to facilitate the emergeance
of new television talent through the endorsement of producers, actors and writers and its focus on 100% 'locally-flavored'
television content.
Goals, values & beliefs
We are the leading local programming
provider in Trinidad & Tobago, providing clients with a choice of local programming & informative series. We perform
our work competently and carry out our business in an ethical and professional manner. We strive to maintain a work environment
that is serious yet friendly and invest significantly in technical and soft training for all our staff to ensure we provide
an excellent level of service.
| Mural depicting the Banyan Community 1985-1989 |
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| by Lari Richardson |
History of "Gayelle The Channel" Gayelle The Channel began transmission
on 16 February 2004 with the slogan: At Last We Own Television. The name “Gayelle The Channel” originates from
the weekly cultural magazine television programme “Gayelle” (the programme” that was produced between 1985
and 1991 by Banyan, the majority shareholder in Gayelle Limited. Banyan, formed in 1974, was the first independent television
prgramme production facility in the Southern Caribbean and the winner of dozens of national and international awards. It
has produced over 500 television programmes and has one of the world’s largest video archives of contemporary Caribbean
culture. In 1992 Banyan applied for and was granted a license to run a community television channel but it wasn’t until
2004 that, with Errol Fabien and Valmiki Kempadoo, later joined by Timmy Mora, it succeeded in raising the resources to start
Gayelle The Channel.
What does “Gayelle” mean
“Gayelle”
refers to the traditional name for the arena in which cockfighting or stick fighting takes places. The metaphor refers to
a space where one or two combatants put themselves at risk and show what they are made of. They strut and show off and dance
and foght but the space allows for differences in perspective to be expressed and to contest. As we see the station as providing
that space for us all.
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At Last We Own Television!
For the first
time in the English speaking Caribbean there is a free-to-air television station that stays in the Caribbean all day, maintaining
constant contact with its audience by telephone, email and on location attempting to use the medium to provide a service -
a channel - that people may see themselves and each other, share experiences and support community and individual initatives
on behalf of all.
This is possible because Gayelle is not owned by any conglomerate, religious or political
interest.
Gayelle has established a relationship with its audience which is unique and
distinct. This relationship is an intimate one, where the community is assurred of access and ownership. Gayelle
represents the appropriation of space on behalf of every single member of its community where none existed before - making
real the slogan: "At Last We own Television!"
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| Gayelle, The Channel logo (Copyright 2008) |
What do the “Pierrots” symbolize
The Pierrots associated with the Gayelle
logo are references to the Pierrots which features in the opening sequence of the original ‘Gayelle’ (the programme).
The Pierrots were designed by Peter Minshall and appeared in his mas’….
The traditional Pierrot grenade
was dressed in a robe made of multicoloured strips of cloth, wore a net mask and carried a stick as a stick fighter but challenged
other Pierrots verbally by exchanging elaborate word play in Creole or French patois.
Minshall’s pierrots
were dressed solely in white and were totally silent, communicating only in mime.
Gayelle’s Pierrots symbolize
the tradition of the Gayelle and also of the public contesting by word or action. All we do in Gayelle must have its roots
in our traditions and also allow for the contestation of viewpoints and expression while at the same time reinterpreting tradition
in new ways that are relevant to the present time.
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