The government is expected to approve recommendations for the merger of the operations of the Guyana Television Broadcasting Company (GTV) and the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).

The two arms of the statebroadcast media, currently functioning under separate management, are to be brought under a single managerial framework at the GTV Homestretch Avenue location.

Broadcasts of both radio and television will be transmitted from a single location. An announcement of the impending merger, this newspaper understands, will be made shortly.

Meanwhile, GBC’s High Street offices, which once housed the studios of Radio Demerara and which currently houses 98.1 FM and Voice of Guyana, are likely to be sold.

Management at the state-owned GTV recently underwent restructuring intended to ensure greater efficiency.

This has led to clearly identifiable sections, each administering a specific function as defined in a managerial structure.

Speculation has been rife recently about the possibility of the two entities merging into one unit. Recommendations for the merger have been under consideration for sometime now especially with both entities suffering losses.

Meanwhile, British remigrant, Mazrul Bacchus has been appointed to act as General Manager of the state-run radio station following the resignation months ago of former head, Desmond Mohamed.

The appointment announced at an impromptu staff meeting recently did not go down well with staffers who felt that longstanding Programme Manager, Margaret Lawrence should have been appointed.

The move had been approved at a meeting of the corporation’s board of directors and ended months of speculation as to who would head the country’s sole radio station.

Bacchus returned to Guyana in 1996 and joined the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation in 2000 as Administrative Manager. (Oscar P. Clarke)