By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

SHENIQUE Miller, host of the daytime talk show The Conversation, is disappointed ZNS has terminated her contract after what she says is the huge success of the show.

She believes politics played a role in her departure and emphasised yesterday that she has never pursued a political agenda.

When she was called into a meeting last Monday, she was informed her contract would be terminated effective January 31 — shortly before it was set to expire — with officials claiming her show was not making enough money, she says. News of the termination caused social media to explode with commentary.

“The advertising dollars were coming in,” she told The Tribune. “It started very slow. I lodged a complaint with management in 2018 letting them know I wasn’t pleased with the show’s performance given what I had done at Guardian Radio. My message wasn’t received very well by them but I continued to work and a turnaround happened in 2019 because they had new managers in charge of sales and marketing so there was a very good accounting of the advertising dollars coming in. I made most of the dollars from people coming in to book time to talk about their events, their products, their business, etc.”

A manager at ZNS said her show brought in $35,997 in 2019, she said.

“This show was resonating and doing well and potentially did even more than this amount given the problems we have accounting for advertisement dollars,” she continued.

“At the end of 2018, I brought in just in excess of $7,000 and I had to fight for just two full days for a show because if I didn’t, I’d have paid guests five days per week. I had to fight for two full days without paid guests because people want to enjoy the show. I want to make ZNS money but I want to present what people came for so it could be a nice little balance.”

Ms Miller, who did not shy away from discussing government controversies on her show, says a day prior to her meeting at ZNS she was warned of her impending termination by someone who overheard a conversation at an event.

“I figured the show was rubbing whomever the wrong way,” she said yesterday. “The show discussed a broad range of topics but I talked about national issues and whatever is happening in the country at a given time. We brought them to people and gave our perspectives, our analysis and so on. I’ve been previously warned that I needed to do some things differently.”

Her contract was to expire this month, on February 14.

“I feel very disappointed,” she said. “Every move I have made through my career has been an effort to maintain my professionalism and my objectivity, particularly in the talk show space. I always made an effort not to wear political colours or push one party over the next on my show and as a host I do not discuss politics, I do not bring biases because I realise I have responsibility to myself and then to the Bahamian people not to try and lean one way. I have worked hard to do that. Yes I know many people have painted me as a FNM and that’s okay but nobody has heard from my lips that I go campaigning for any particular party or that I got on my show to push an agenda.”

After the 2017 general election, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis told staff of Bahamas Information Services and ZNS: “The chains that were on you yesterday have been broken.” He said his administration would free the government owned corporation up to conduct its business fairly and professionally.

Mike Smith, chairman of ZNS, declined to comment yesterday on Ms Miller’s departure.

“That’s an internal matter, we’re not going to comment on it,” he said.