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2 channels
The Bahamas has one of the smallest dedicated TV markets in the Caribbean, just four locally broadcast channels, all in English, and all running on a single public-service backbone. The dominant player is the state-owned Bahamas Broadcasting Corporation (ZNS), which operates the main general entertainment and news channel. That’s where you’ll find the nightly newscast (formal, direct, with an emphasis on government press conferences and hurricane updates), local talk shows, and syndicated American sitcoms and dramas. The second channel is entirely legislative, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House of Assembly and Senate debates, a rare open-window format that reflects the country’s small-town political culture where everyone knows the MPs. The remaining two channels are a mix of religious programming, low-budget local productions, and overflow news slots. But for most Bahamians, the real TV diet comes from cable and satellite. The vast majority of households subscribe to a provider that carries dozens of U.S. networks, CNN, NBC, ABC, TNT, HBO, and the prime-time schedule essentially mirrors that of Miami or Atlanta. So the local broadcasting culture is a peculiar hybrid: a tiny, earnest public-service tradition in the morning and evening news, then a complete handoff to American programming the rest of the night. Live sports are almost entirely imported via cable, except for national team events and the annual Junkanoo parade. The lack of a dubbing industry is a given, English is the only language. What makes the Bahamas different from, say, Jamaica or Barbados is its near-total reliance on U.S. content for entertainment, leaving local channels as a thin but essential layer for civic and emergency information.