PRESS RELEASE

The Central Working Committee of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria met Wednesday 4th August 2021 at the BON Secretariat, Abuja.

The meeting reviewed holistically the process of Digitization, the formation of the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters, Audience measurement, NBC licence rates and other Industry matters.

After careful deliberations, the CWC decided as follows:

1. That the process of establishing the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters should begin immediately with a committee to work on modalities for its take off.

2 The CWC calls for a complete review of the digitization process specifically in the area of legal framework as the only document available remains the Government White paper of 2012 which does not capture contemporary technological development and it’s deficient in addressing decade-long issues that have emerged since its issuance.

3 Finds the collection of Digital Access Fee complicated and illegal.

The meeting therefore called for the immediate stoppage of the collection of Digital Access Fee while the amount so far collected should be accounted for.

4 The CWC proposed the following as broadcast license fees pending the final migration from analogue to digital per annum.

I. National DTT N20 million

II. Regional N10 million

III. Abuja/Lagos/Kano and Port Harcourt N15 million

IV. State DTT N500,000

5. The CWC called on Federal Government of Nigeria to ban importation of analogue TV sets into the country while the cost of   Set-top boxes should be made affordable.

6 That NBC should bring together as a matter of urgency all critical stakeholders in broadcast industry to take a total review of the entire DSO process.

7 That the CWC has noted the reported directives given to broadcast Stations on the issue of insurgency and banditry reportage. While appreciating the concerns of NBC as regulator, BON believes there should be more interface with practitioners than issuing directives that are interpreted as moves to gag the industry. 

Signed:

Sa’a Ibrahim, Chairman

Yemisi Bamgbose, Executive Secretary