Arnold Kelly is a Jamaican Broadcaster. Easily recognized by his trade mark contagious laugh, Arnold has won the hearts of many who have invited him into their lives on a daily basis via the most ubiquitous broadcast medium–Radio. Arnold was born and raised in a Christian household. Being the youngest of eight (8) children, he followed closely the example of his older siblings, always being very active in church even from a very tender age. Being comfortable behind a microphone comes from these early days at Vaughansfield SDA Church in the hills of St. James, Jamaica.

This 1983 Graduate of Cornwall College got his first taste of radio when he ventured through the doors of JBC Radio West; a community service radio station operated by The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. He was responding to an invitation for interested persons to participate in a one week Introduction to Broadcasting course in July 1986. During that week he was selected as one of the hosts of a new program “What’s Right With Teenagers”. After about a year of waiting his hopes of getting a full time job in radio faded and he moved on to work as a photographer / videographer at his brother’s photo studio in Clarendon. While there, he grabbed every opportunity to be emcee or commentator at any school function, community sporting activity or concert, without even a thought of the need to be paid.

In 1988 a position became available at Radio West and he received the call he was waiting for.
Arnold moved back to Montego Bay and started working as Technical Operator and resumed as host of “What’s Right with Teenagers”. The doors kept on opening and when one staff member migrated, it created the need for a new host for two (2) 15 minute features; a Gospel program and a Country Music show. He was encouraged by station manager Marline Stephenson to audition for both. To his delight he was accepted for both features and was on the air that very weekend. While working at Radio West, Arnold was also freelancing as cartoonist with the Western Mirror.

In 1990 – The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation sold JBC Radio West to Western Broadcasting Services and station became Radio WAVES (Hot 102) Arnold continued with the new company as technical operator and got more involved in on-air work. His Sunday morning show “Sunday Cavalcade” recorded the highest listenership for Radio Waves. He married Christine Watt in 1991, two years after they met at a gospel concert in his home district. The union produced two (2) daughters; Chris-Ann and Arnolique who have both inherited multiple talents from their parents.

In 1993, in addition to the Sunday program, he took on the morning show and other features including writing, producing, and hosting the morning comedy “Long John’s Short Tales” It was also during this period that he introduced nineteen (19) year old Ron Muschette to the airwaves. Ron continues to be a big hit on Jamaican radio. In February 1993 Jamaica welcomed Love 101 FM, the island’s first religious station. General Manager Winston Ridgard who had only recently moved on from Radio Waves issued an invitation for Arnold to join the team at Love.

After much thought and prayer, Arnold said good bye to Radio WAVES and joined the staff at Love 101 FM as Producer/Presenter in May 1994. This move to Kingston also provided him an opportunity to take on the challenge of further study at The Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) University of The West Indies, Mona where he successfully completed a diploma in Mass Communication in 1996.While at Love FM Arnold also hosted “Caribbean Breeze”, a daily four (4) hour afternoon radio show on The Caribbean Gospel Network (CGN). The network served some 20 stations in the region from its base in Miami, Florida.

His love for the region strengthened when he visited Barbados for a Love FM broadcast and was invited by Barbados Gospelfest producer Adrian Agard to return for Gospelfest the following year. That spurred a greater interest which saw him adding other islands to his itinerary. Because of Love FM’s already tight schedule the station only aired specific features from CGN. As a result, much of the rich Caribbean music being played via the network was not being heard in Jamaica so when “The Grace Thrillers Inspirational Hour” ended its final season on Love FM Arnold proposed a one (1) hour Caribbean music program to fill the slot. His stint on the satellite network also came to an end when CGN discontinued the live satellite service.

Arnold was still determined to continue his relationship with listeners in the region he had come to love and so in 2004 he started to explore the idea of working with announcers from other Caribbean stations to develop a weekly program to be aired on stations across the region. One of the first to respond was Linda “Chocolate” Berthier, an announcer at Prayz FM, St. Lucia who not only accepted the invitation but also brought on board her co-worker Winston Florent, a technical operator to form the first official Caribbean Hour team.

The first program aired on four (4) stations in February 2005 and has seen as many as twelve (12) stations airing the weekly show and special broadcasts. In addition to being the official broadcast team for The Marlin Awards, The Caribbean Hour has provided its partner stations with live and delayed coverage of many other Caribbean events including Barbados Gospelfest, St. Vincent Gospelfest, The Maja Awards, Grenada Gospel Splash, Genesis (Jamaica), Fun In the Son (Jamaica), Cayman Gospel Festival, Jamaica Cultural Development Gospel Festival, Pilgrimage (T&T). The team has also hosted broadcasts in St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, St.Maarten & Anguilla and a number of Caribbean shows staged in the USA.

Arnold has served as a Marlin Awards judge for several years and has also been a presenter at The Marlin Industry Workshop. As a radio announcer he has had the opportunity to interact with and interview many gospel greats including Bill Gaither, Don Moen, The Crabb Family, Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams and Michael W Smith. Perhaps one of Arnold’s most rewarding experiences was introducing Ayiesha Wood’s music to Toby Mac, founder of Gotee Records and then seeing the success story unfold including the call to say she was nominated for a Grammy Award for her debut album.

In 2006 Arnold resigned from Love FM to take join the Media Services Department at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) as Coordinator, Media Affairs. With the formation of the new NCU Media Group he now serves as Acting Manager for NCU FM which is set to be launched in November 2010. As for the future of The Caribbean Hour he remains committed to seeking ways to continue being the link connecting the artists with opportunities to be heard, whether on the radio or on the stage both at home and abroad. In his words: “We are one Caribbean, it’s only a little water that separates us, let’s bridge the gap”.