Radio and TV Martí

The Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) oversees the operations of Radio and TV Martí from its headquarters in Miam i, Florida. Radio and TV Martí serve as consistently reliable and authoritative sources of accurate, objective, and comprehensive news for people in Cuba, where media are controlled and highly censored by the authorities.

Radio Martí provided groundbreaking reporting on local events across Cuba, through its expanded outreach to a growing community of Cuban bloggers and independent journalists and by capitalizing on cell phone access. Along with U.S. and world news, OCB’s hallmarks include human rights topics such as marches by the “Ladies in White” (relatives of political prisoners in Cuba) and the harassment and imprisonment of independent journalists by the Cuban government. Radio Martí broadcasts breaking news and analysis programs seven days a week, 24 hours a day by shortwave and medium wave.

TV Martí broadcasts 24 hours per day, seven days a week on the Hispasat satellite; two and a half hours per day, five days a week from a modified aircraft, AeroMartí, on VHF and UHF frequencies, and three hours per day, five days a week on DirecTV satellite. Approximately ten hours of original, contemporary, fast-paced TV programs are produced in-house weekly. In addition, Radio and TV Martí are streamed live at Martínoticias.com.

These broadcasts face Cuban government jamming as well as press censorship and intimidation. Audience surveys, which must be done by telephone rather than face-to-face interviews can provide only a limited perspective on audience levels, given that less than a fifth of Cuban adults have published phone numbers and that interviewees may be wary of admitting in a telephone call to listening to or watching the Martís. Interviews with Cubans who have recently arrived in the U.S. provide anecdotal information of higher audience rates than reflected in the telephone surveys.”

2011 Highlights

• Re-designing Martínoticias.com into a polished destination site, increasing daily traffic over 1,000 percent between February and December 2011.

• Establishing proxy sites and Psiphon nodes to facilitate Internet access from Cuba.

• Expanding phone call-ins with listeners in Cuba to participate live on Radio Martí programs including El Revoltillo (The Scramble), a one-of-a kind show mixing classified listings of products available in Cuba with lessons in entrepreneurship and market economy in a light-hearted format.

• Continuing coverage of human rights abuses, particularly the struggle led by Las Damas de Blanco (The Ladies in White) a group of women highlighting the plight of political prisoners in Cuba.

• Increasing coverage of news events outside of Havana, aided by cell phone audio, video and pictures.

• Radio and TV broadcasts of Major League Baseball’s World Series and delivery of thousands of DVD game recordings to Cuba.

• Rebranding the Martís with a new logo and a new graphics packages and sets.

Earlier Highlights

For more information about Radio and TV Martí, click here. (In Spanish)