It’s?the end of an era.
Sam On Sports, a daily household feature on local radio for more than four decades, has been cancelled by the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Veteran journalist Sam Wilkinson, the voice of the popular morning programme that dates back to 1971, told SUNSPORTS that he had been informed on Friday that the show, which had not been sponsored in recent times, will no longer be aired.
“I was informed by CBC management that they can longer keep bringing the programme anymore because it is not generating any sponsorship,” he said.
The prevailing economic hardship may have impacted on the continuation of the show.
“I presume the economic climate may be the reason but that has not been communicated to me by anyone. I guess it has been difficult for CBC to carry on with the programme, having not been able to secure sponsorship for the show,” said Wilkinson, who added that the programme was last aired on December 23 and was expected to resume tomorrow.
Wilkinson, 72, became a household name with the pro-gramme that was sponsored by Seven Up and called Seven Up Sam for ten years (1971-1981).
“I think it is unfortunate that CBC could not have acquired the sponsorship but I guess it may be a sign of the times. I think the programme has made its mark in this country and set a standard,” he said.
Wilkinson said he enjoyed doing the all-embracing programme, which aired at 7:30 a.m. and took a fearless analytical view of sports ranging from cricket, football and boxing to table tennis, motorsport and horse racing.
“In the absence of Internet, the programme was the voice of the region in the 1970s. When you think of it, if you take 43 years times five days a week, preparation, analytical assessment, involvement, participation, it has been a reasonable effort towards the nation’s sporting development in some respects.
“It speaks to a deep sense of commitment. It was daily and fresh and was unprecedented in Barbados. People have done things for a weekly or month period but no one had ever attempted to do something in any discipline over such a sustained period, five days a week, every year for 43 years,” he said.
Wilkinson was a 29-year-old freelancer at Barbados Rediffusion when he was invited to do the progamme, which was designed to be the local version of a similar Trinidadian show hosted by the late Raffie Knowles.
“Much credit has to be given to the late Stanley Carter, who was at Corbin Compton Agency at the time. Carter wanted to develop a programme which was similar to what was being done in Trinidad and?Tobago.
“He felt that we could have done like that if we had the right person to do it and he invited me to do it on a short-term basis for a period of three months just to see how it would go. The response was phenomenal and we just kept going,” said Wilkinson who started the five-minute show that over the years has been sponsored by Sunshine Bread, Harris Paints, Rayside Group of Companies, Zephirin’s and the Mutual.
Programme manager of radio at the CBC, Pearson Bowen, could not be reached for comment.