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| Frederick Morton, founder of the Tempo Network |
Come Carnival 2013, the local mas bands may have a new rival from St Croix if Frederick Morton, founder of the Tempo Networks, brings his wish to fruition.
Morton announced during an event titled Tempo Tabanca on May 1 at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Port of Spain, that he may produce a mas band for Trinidad Carnival.
The suggested title of the band is Flags because the sections will represent the various islands across the Caribbean where Tempo is seen.
This was only one of the several spinoffs from the television network that Morton spoke of at the event that served as the official launch of the corporate relationship between Tempo and the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago through TSTT Blink.
After Tempo was dropped off the Flow cable television channel line-up in Trinidad, fans of the network were presented with the option of seeing it via the Blink Entertainment IP Television service.
Tempo continued to grow in popularity being an alternative source of Caribbean pop culture to other such networks such as RETV and Synergy TV. This encouraged TSTT to build on its relationship with Tempo and get involved in projects undertaken by the network. One project identified at the launch was the Win a Tempo Trip Competition.
The competition presents the opportunity for one to attend the Tempo Turns 7 Celebration at the Six Flags in New Jersey on July 14. Anyone signing up for the Blink service by June 15 will have a chance to win the prize trip for two to attend the concert. The prize includes airfare and hotel accommodation. The concert will feature performances by Kerwin Du Bois, KI, Benjai, Ziggy Rankin, Nadia Batson and others.
Another business venture Morton said he has under the Tempo umbrella is the Tempo Bottled Water, which he said is really for the purpose of encouraging the people of the Caribbean to live healthy. Citing diabetes as one of the most rampant diseases in the region because of people's bad eating habits, Morton said that water is the most natural and healthy things one can consume. Morton said that everything he does through Tempo has a purpose relating to bettering the lives of the people of the region.
Morton also invited CEO of the Rituals chain of coffee shops, Mario Sabga-Aboud, to speak about the relationship being built between Tempo and Rituals through the specially blended smoothie known as the Tempo Colada.
Sabga-Aboud said there will be other projects undertaken jointly by he and Morton in the future. One of these will be the role Tempo will play when Rituals opens outlets in India before year's end.
Morton said on the night he launched Tempo back seven years ago a man with whom he went to school was among the guests. The man was talking to other guests unaware that Morton was standing within earshot and the former schoolmate began to scoff at the idea of Tempo saying that it would not last longer than two years.
This, Morton said, did not affect his drive, but in fact served to fuel it and since then regardless of whatever obstacles popped up, he had the determination to overcome.
Several of the local artistes, including; Ziggy Rankin, KI, Erphaan Alves and Denise Belfon were at the event. Also present was Jamaica reggae artiste Jah Cure, who, along with the local artistes, would later join other artistes from Trinidad at the Tempo Tabanca event at the Woodford Café, MovieTowne.
Fans of Tempo can look forward to being able to catch the network even when on the move in maxis, buses, at the beach and just about anywhere when TSTT bmobile launches its mobile cable television services within the coming weeks. Morton, who left a lucrative job as an attorney at Viacom to establish Tempo in the midst of people telling him he was crazy, is now setting things in place to expand in to other specialised channels branching off from Tempo.
SOURCE: Wayne Bowman
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