KINGSTON, JAMAICA--(Marketwired - Sep 18, 2014) - Columbus Communications, operators of the Flow and Columbus Business Solutions brands, announced this week a partnership brokered with Guinness Jamaica for the regional broadcast of the annual Arthur Guinness Day Concert, to be held from 9 p.m. - 12 midnight EST, on Thursday, September 25, 2014, at the National Arena in Kingston, Jamaica.
Live and exclusive coverage of the event will be broadcast on Flow TV in Jamaica between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time; and concurrently on CC6 in Grenada and Flow PPV (FREE) in Trinidad. The concert, featuring such acts as Assassin AKA Agent Sasco, Lady Saw, Jah Cure, Bugle, Skinny Fabulous, and Mr. Killa, will also be streamed live in 10 other countries: Dominica, SVG, St. Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, Belize, Turks & Caicos, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda and Tortola.
As part of its support to the event, Flow will also produce a pre-concert show that will air at 7 p.m. local time/8 p.m. EST. The program will run for 55 minutes, and will include four live links to additional material, such as backstage interviews with the artistes and red carpet entrances.
This partnership between Columbus and Guinness Jamaica marks another of Columbus' efforts to increase live and differentiated local and regional content, while simultaneously ensuring viewers can access this content at their convenience via On-Demand and Pay-Per-View options, across the region.
Flow is also taking advantage of the power of broadband to fuel local content production and presentation to a wider market via its streaming partners. As such, millions of reggae, dancehall and soca fans across the region will have access to the much talked about concert.
"We are pleased to announce this partnership with Guinness Jamaica, which allows us to deliver the highest-possible quality coverage of Jamaica's exciting annual event," said Columbus' president and chief operating officer, John Reid. "Airing this important local production will not only help unite the people of Jamaica, but will connect those tuning in all over the Caribbean. Most importantly, it will provide a platform to truly showcase our region's local talent, which is among our most important objectives here at Columbus."
According to Cedric Blair, Managing Director of Red Stripe, producers and distributors of Guinness in Jamaica and the Caribbean, "to have Columbus Communications on board this year to provide live streaming of our Arthur Guinness Day concert to millions of viewers is indicative of our mutual commitment to deliver the highest quality product to our consumers and the Caribbean communities we serve. We are grateful that Flow recognizes the benefits such a high calibre event brings to its cable offerings. Music lovers all across the Caribbean will have a chance to enjoy top flight performers showcasing their talent in what has been dubbed by many as one of the most professionally produced music concerts across the Caribbean. It is certainly a win-win for all of us and we will work to make sure Flow's investment is realized."
ABOUT COLUMBUS
Columbus International Inc. is a privately held diversified telecommunications company based in Barbados. The Company provides digital cable television, broadband Internet and digital landline telephony in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Curacao under the brand name FLOW and in Antigua under the brand name Karib Cable. Columbus also provides next generation connectivity and IT solutions, managed networking and cloud-based services under the brand Columbus Business Solutions. Through its subsidiary, Columbus Networks, the Company provides capacity and IP services, corporate data solutions and data center hosting throughout 42 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central American and Andean region. Through its fully protected, ringed submarine fiber optic network spanning more than 42,300 km and its 38,000 km terrestrial fibre and coaxial network, Columbus' 3,100 plus professionals provide advanced telecom services to a diverse residential and corporate client base approaching 700,000 customers. Visit www.columbus.co