Jamaica had commercial radio stations since the 1930s, but these were controlled by foreign companies (RJR was owned by the British Rediffusion Group) and programming consisted of imported shows and music.Padovani, Cinzia (2008) "Would We Create It If It Did Not Exist? The Evolution of Public Broadcasting in Jamaica" - Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 21, 2008 The JBC was established by legislation in December 1958 as a 'state owned and statutory corporation' and launched on 15 June 1959 and provided a greater focus on Jamaican culture, as Jamaicans sought to celebrate their own culture in the 'dominion' era shortly before the country's independence in 1962. In the early days of the JBC, the corporation had a resident big band featuring musicians such as Ernest Ranglin and Sonny Bradshaw and a drama department producing original programmes. The JBC radio channel that began broadcasting in 1959 played a major part in the development of the Jamaican music industry, giving previously-unavailable airtime to Jamaican musicians.
