London — Regulating media in general (and broadcasting in particular) is always a deeply 'political' activity in Sub-Saharan Africa. This week Russell Southwood looks at moves by the regulators in Malawi and Nigeria to shutdown broadcasters over the non-payment of their operating licences.
Nigeria's broadcast regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission, extended the deadline for 52 defaulting broadcasting stations to pay their license fees, extending it up to Tuesday this week, another 24-hor grace period. It is unclear whether the shutdown threat has had much effect of many of threatened TV stations are still broadcasting.
According to local media reports, the broadcasters owe the regulators US$6 million. This sort of 'public shaming' approach to debt collection is common on the continent where business pressures mean that everyone seeks extend the time before they make payment.
Another Nigerian ritual is the annual set of stories about non-payment by advertising agencies. There have been various initiatives by professional bodies and the regulator to address this issue but the results are unclear. In 2019, there was N8 billion worth of media buying and advertising agency debt but there are no more recent figures.
In Malawi, the broadcast regulator MACRA revoked the broadcasting licences of several TV and Radio stations, the latest being Ufulu FM, Ufulu Television and Galaxy FM, for unpaid licence fees. According to the regulator, the broadcasters owe a total of US$72,307 in license fees.
A statement signed by Daud Suleman, MACRA Director General, says Ufulu FM owes MACRA US$26 577, Ufulu Television owes US$17 686, while Galaxy Radio is required to pay US$28 239. Last week, MACRA also revoked the content licences of Joy Radio, Sapitwa FM and Capital Radio. In addition, the licenses of Angaliba Radio, Angaliba Television, and Rainbow Television were also cancelled by MACRA for similar reasons.
In the case of both countries critics pointed out that the broadcasting industry has had a terrible two years because of Covid-19 and in the case of Malawi that perhaps the fees are too high.
In April of this year, the Government of Guinea-Bissa allowed 77 radio stations to re-open that it had suspended their broadcast licenses for non-payment of license fees. On April 3, the country's media regulator, the Ministry of Social Communication, notified 88 radio stations that they had 72 hours to renew their licenses or risked having these revoked, according to reports. Of these operators, only nine - mostly religious stations - were able to complete this procedure within this timeframe. As a result, the inspector general ordered 79 radio stations to cease broadcasting. Authorities then followed with another decree warning those who continued to broadcast would be in breach of the broadcasting law and could face up to three years in jail or be fined.
On April 27, 77 of these radio stations were allowed to resume broadcasting after multiple media and civil society groups helped negotiate staggered payment plans between each station and the Ministry. However, two privately owned radio stations, Radio Cidade and Radio Capital, were unable to successfully negotiate their payments and remain off air, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa.
Ghana's broadcast regulator went through a similar process in 2021 but actually re-licensed broadcasters who had been shut down in earlier audits. "The Governing Board of the National Communications Authority (NCA), at a Board meeting held on 11th October 2021, approved the grant of a total of One Hundred and Thirty-Three (133) FM radio broadcasting authorizations, which include new applications from entities whose FM radio stations were closed down after the 2017 FM Audit, as well as existing stations which applied for renewal of their expired FM radio broadcasting authorizations," the NCA said in a statement on October 12, 2021.
In this instance, its main critic the Media Foundation of West Africa argued: "We at the MFWA have always expressed deep concern about the shutdowns, arguing that it was extreme, discriminatory and toxic for our democracy. The only redeeming feature of the decision to allow these stations to resume broadcasting is the fact that it enhances press freedom and the right of citizens to access information from their trusted sources. The decision rectifies a situation that we believe could have been avoided." said Muheeb Saeed, Senior Programme Officer at the MFWA.
The regulator said the authorisations of the stations involved had expired over several years. These included very popular stations like Montie FM, a station aligned to the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hello FM and Kapital Radio. The dilemma for regulators and broadcasters is that if you have broadcast operating licenses then the fees are actually meant to be paid. In the current poor trading circumstances in most African broadcast markets, these fees should be lowered to provide some financial relief to broadcasters. But the principle that you pay your operating license in a timely fashion also seems fair and equitable.
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In Brief
Netflix brings the mystical and supernatural to life In a new series titled, The Brave Ones. Set in modern-day South Africa, this captivating supernatural series is inspired by the rich mythology of African gods and divine beings. It tells the story of Ntsiki (Sthandile Nkosi), a goddess reincarnated as a human being to avenge her sister's death. But first, she must learn how to use and harness her superpowers in order to defeat her enemies and save her family from destruction. The series was created by renowned film director, writer and actor Akin Omotoso, featuring, Sthandiwe Kgoroge, Bonko Khoza and Tony Kgoroge.
MTN Group has announced its partnership with TBTM Studios to sponsor Season 3 of "The Mic: Africa" - an interactive talent search programme that discovers and empowers talented youth across the continent. According to the telecom operator, the sponsorship is part of "The Voice" phase of MTN's brand refresh, which highlights the importance of people using their voice to inspire others and facilitating conversations that showcase Africa's progress. "The Mic: Africa" is set to air in September on the tbtm.app and Pulse TV as part of Premium Free Satellite TV's offerings across 20+ African countries.
According to Digital TV Research research, the number of subscribers to paid video on demand (SVoD) in Africa will reach 13.64 million by 2027. The data was published in a report titled: "Africa SVOD Forecasts", released on August 18, 2022. The report revealed that the number of paid video-on-demand subscribers in Africa was 4.9 million at the end of 2021. However, of the 859 million Internet users counted on the continent, by the Digital 2022 study, only 0.57 per cent pay for a video streaming service.
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