Brain Drain

The boss at D-FM is Khaleel. He previously served as news director of TVM for 18 years. He is one of the many adults who quit the government stations out of sheer frustration at the lack of creativity. They also get significantly more pay in the private sector, but when TVM and VOM are reorganized as a public broadcasting corporation they will be able to compete with private stations for the limited pool of talent.

The brain drain to the private stations explains why TVM is primarily staffed by youngsters. But everyone struggles to find qualified new hires and train them, so there may be a need for our training program at the private stations as well.

Until now, TVM was the only TV station in Maldives, although there are plenty of foreign channels via cable and satellite. Khaleel took us on a tour of the new private TV station being built in a former guest house, what we would call a hotel. The radio transmitter is installed in a former bathroom! We enjoyed their hospitality over a local breakfast and hope that the competition will be an added incentive for our friends at TVM to do a better job. Another private station, VTV, is being bankrolled by a hotel chain mogul and run by another refugee from TVM. We've been invited to pay a visit there as well. (See earlier post, "The Future of TV."