Lisa gets Wendell’s job

MORNING SHOW host Lisa Wickham, is now the interim head of TTT after acting CEO Wendell Constantine stepped down from the post yesterday.

TTT staff was told that that Constantine will guide Wickham in her new role while he is on vacation. His tenure comes to an end on February 28 and is now on vacation which took effect yesterday. In November 2016, Constantine was appointed to head TTT then called Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG).

Speaking with Newsday briefly yesterday, Wickham said she returned to the country (yesterday) and was informed of the promotion. She said she was both humbled and honoured by the confidence placed in her. Wickham, who said she didn’t give much thought to her sudden promotion and thanked Constantine for the work he has done so far and promised to continue the work and Carnival coverage adding that “TTT belongs to everyone”.

Constantine’s leadership was questioned last year by staff who raised issued with hiring practices and expenditure. Based on a media survey conducted in 2014, CTV, the only television station in the media conglomerate which also owns three radio stations, had five to six per cent market shares and radio stations 91.1 Talk City and 99.1 Next FM both had less than one per cent audience. Then communications minister Maxie Cuffie said then that commercial revenue had fluctuated between $30 million to $33 million between 2011 to 2015. Operational costs had steadily increased with a major element being starting costs that ranged from $18.1 million in 2011 to $26.3 million in 2015.

The media house’s expenses have increased every year from $44 million in 2011 to $56 million in 2015 and, as a result, subventions increased from $10 million to $23 million in two years from 2012 to 2015. Cuffie lamented then that CNMG never achieved commercial success neither success in growing its market share. CNMG has been haemorrhaging cash for years leading to the announcement, in 2017 to change its name to TTT.