Errol Fabien, co-founder of Gayelle the Channel yesterday told the Express rumours that the television station had $5 million in debt were untrue.

Errol Fabien, Gayelle co-founder

He said that although revenue was down and the station was forced to move out of its studios at Western Main Road, St James, Gayelle is still broadcasting from its temporary location at upper St Vincent Street, Port of Spain.

“We are not five million dollars in debt. That is completely untrue. Revenue is down because people have not been advertising on Gayelle and we had to move out of the building in St James. We are owing some rent and left equipment with the landlord until we can settle.”

“We would not be in this situation if we showed foreign content or if we advertised alcoholic products. People are not willing to advertise on a station showing only local content. We had to shrink the company and are starting from scratch, but if you tune in you will see that we are still running programming and we are still training young people,” Fabien said.

“When you buy foreign content it costs about US$500 per half an hour. That is money leaving the country. Advertising and investing in local content means the money remains here giving the consumers more buying power, which benefits local business. The shows we produce may not be the high quality of Hollywood, but they are all relevant to us. In the past seven years we have produced more local programming than anyone else,” Fabien said.

Fabien said the Government should provide incentives for television and radio stations that offer fully local content.

“It is easy to just buy foreign content and advertise alcohol to see the station make it, but we are not going to sell out or give up and stop. It is hard, but it will never end even it comes down to only me here,” Fabien said.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business/Gayelle_owing_rent__forced_to_move-121819169.html