On a Caribbean television station, I want to be able to turn on the TV on an ordinary evening and find a new Caribbean drama or comedy. I don’t want to wait for a heritage special, a festival screening or an overseas streaming deal. Imported shows can stay. What I want is for our own stories to stop feeling like the exception on our own channels.

I’ve been paying attention to how Caribbean people are portrayed since I was a teenager. Now I’m in my mid-forties writing fiction with Caribbean characters, and I think about what a weekly television slot could do that even a good film can’t. It lets people get to know a character slowly. The neighbour who annoyed you in the first episode can become the person you look forward to seeing by the sixth. You can give an audience that experience with a family in St. Elizabeth, a newsroom in Port of Spain or a workplace in Bridgetown. None of those shows has to sell itself as a lesson about the Caribbean.

Local news matters. Scripted TV does a different job.

I’m not saying Caribbean stations have no local programming. News, sports, interviews and public affairs all have a place. A drama or sitcom does something different. It gives writers room to invent, actors characters they can play over time, and viewers a reason to return next week to find out what happens. Jamaica’s Lime Tree Lane, which aired on JBC from 1988 to 1997, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Westwood Park show that a homegrown series can last. A 2007 study hosted by CARICOM identified Westwood Park and Jamaica’s Royal Palm Estate as exceptions to the then-common pattern of national productions staying within their own borders. That’s a historical finding, not a count of what’s on television today. It does show that a story can travel between islands without losing what makes it local. PBCJ programme archive · Danielle Dieffenthaller’s production record · CARICOM-hosted cultural industries study

Give one night a name and give it a chance

Here’s where I’d start: give homegrown scripted television one dependable evening slot. Commission one six-episode comedy and one six-episode drama to run back to back across the year, not necessarily on the same night at the same time. Announce the schedule before launch. Promote it during programmes people already watch. Offer a repeat and a free catch-up window where the rights allow it, with captions and a version that works on a phone without using much data. If you want to find out whether audiences will turn up for local drama, first make sure they know when it’s on.

A broadcaster shouldn’t have to carry the entire cost alone. Stations in two or three territories could jointly commission or license a season, with clear terms for creator pay, reruns and online rights. Give independent producers a published brief and a deadline. Pay for development rather than asking everyone to bring a finished pilot at their own expense. The Caribbean Broadcasting Union already has a portal for sharing programmes among broadcasters. That doesn’t pay for a new show, but it’s one route stations could build on instead of trying to start a new platform from scratch. Caribbean Broadcasting Union Media Share Portal

After the first season, look at how many people came back for episode two, how many finished the run, and whether the catch-up window helped. Give a promising show a chance to improve and renew before its team scatters. Make room for a comedy that’s simply funny or a romance that doesn’t have to explain the entire region. That variety is part of what makes an audience come back.

I don’t need Caribbean TV to stop buying everything made overseas. I want to stop having to go overseas to find so many of the stories I’d like to see at home. Give our shows a regular time, promote them like they matter, and let us put them on the calendar.

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