Omni TV vibrates to a Caribbean beat on Saturdays

Caribbean Vibration TV

Alain Arthur 14-years on TV

By Stephen Weir for the Caribbean Camera

Alain Arthur covers Toronto's Caribbean Tales Film Fete

Every Saturday afternoon for the past 14-years Alain Arthur has been warmly welcomed into hundreds of thousands of households across Canada. He never gets old, he never gets fat (although wonder where that hair went anyway?) and he always has positive, fun stories to tell us about Caribbean Canadian culture.

Not seen the show? This Saturday at 5.30 pm. Omni TV will be airing the best travel stories of 2017 with visits to Trinidad, St Vincent, Dominica, Barbados and the Bahamas.  On the last Saturday of the year Omni will be airing  the best  Caribbean Vibration 2017 celebrity interviews, including up close and personal chats with Machel Montana, PJ Puffy and many other Soca stars. Caribbean Vibration TV for this year.

The show has a huge following not just on the Omni network, where each episode is aired twice every week, but, it also runs five times a week on the CaribVision Network in 14 different Caribbean nations. And, this year, both the new Afroglobal Network and a British Columbia station are broadcasting the 26 episodes of Season 13.

“This show is my passion and my way of sharing what I love the most about my heritage, with the world.,” said Alain Arthur “What started out as a family business is now a global message of love shared across Canada and throughout the Caribbean.”

Alain Arthur began the show in 2002 in partnership with his wife and host Royette Baptiste.  The weekly programme was a big hit right from the start, but in August 2012 Royette passed away suddenly in hospital. The show has continued on  with  Alain continuing  to maintain the Caribbean Vibrations TV brand. 

In June 2014, Alain partnered with a Canadian film and broadcast veteran Toni Anne Thomas to create a new and exciting multi-layered format show. They are in the process of rebranding  Caribbean Vibrations TV to access social media platforms like YouTube as well as on a growing number of traditional TV outlets. 

Caribbean Vibration tapes 26 episodes a year, making it North America’s longest running Caribbean-focused Entertainment, Lifestyle and Culture TV show. Since 2013 they have used a number of hosts on the show. But for the past three years Alain has been the friendly face viewers see each week.

While many of the stories Caribbean Vibration follows are strictly Canadian – from the Montreal Caribbean Fashion Festival, to Toronto’s Caribbean Tales film fete – the show does go on the road. Last month Arthur and the crew travelled to the Bahamas to produce a special episode called “The 5 Steps to Owning Property in the Caribbean".  That special will air at the end of January.

“It is everyone’s dream (to buy property in the Caribbean) but there are things you need to know.” said TV and film veteran Toni Anne Thomas.  “This episode shows you how to pick a Caribbean real estate agent to help you find the right property. We also talk to a local attorney to discuss costs, timeline and country regulations. The most fun?  Capturing exclusive property hotspots in the Bahamas for our viewers!”