Radio Jamaica Ltd announces board changes

The board of directors of Radio Jamaica Limited (RJL), the parent company in the RJRGLEANER Communications Group, has announced changes in its board and executive management.

After 15 years as head of the group, CEO Gary Allen will demit office as managing director of the company and CEO of the group, effective December 31, 2023.

The board also announced that Deputy CEO for Print and Digital Services, Anthony Smith, will assume duties as the new CEO on January 1, 2024.

A statement from the group indicate that Allen will remain with the group, serving as group senior executive, corporate and external affairs, working closely with Chairman Joseph M. Matalon and the new CEO.

Allen will lead the regulatory and policymaking interface of the group, especially relating to digital switchover. He will continue to chair the boards of the overseas businesses in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, as well as being a member of the Editorial Board, the boards of the print and broadcast subsidiaries and being chairman of the RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation.

The company also advised that Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Christopher Barnes will be resigning as a director of the board of the parent company, effective October 31, 2023, and as CSO, on December 31, 2023, but will continue as a consultant with the group and remain on the The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited (GCML) and broadcast subsidiary boards.

Barnes has been with the group for more than 15 years, serving GCML as managing director before becoming chief operating officer, then CSO after the amalgamation of GCML and RJL in 2016.

Effective today, Smith will be appointed to the board of Radio Jamaica, and on January 1, 2024, will be appointed managing director, and automatically become an executive director as provided under the company’s articles of incorporation.

Smith was appointed group deputy CEO and GCML general manager on October 1, 2022.

A seasoned business and technology executive, he has successfully led diverse teams and transformational programmes throughout his career. Among his impressive achievements, as CEO of Massy Technologies Jamaica and Group COO for Massy Technologies Group (Massy Technologies Trinidad Limited), Smith was successful in growing the company’s profits before tax each year, for the five years of his tenure. He has also served on several boards, including that of the Massy companies he led.

In the statement to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, RJL, a publicly listed company, says “these organisational changes are driven by the strategic imperative to strengthen our leadership position in the local and diaspora markets and to support the digital-first transformation programme, as outlined at the most recent AGM (annual general meeting). The agreed strategy is designed to take advantage of the changing media landscape, which has seen technology convergence; impact of AI technologies; new media; on demand access and DSO, to achieve sustained future growth”.

As the new CEO of the RJRGLEANER Group, Smith will be responsible for spearheading the strategy and execution of the new operating model for the group. All departments and revenue channels will fall within his responsibility.