Silverbird Boss Urges FG to Liberalize Broadcast Industry

Ben Bruce, president, Silverbird Group, owners of Silverbird TV and Rhythm FM, has urged the federal government to free up the Nigerian broadcast industry so as to facilitate rapid growth of the sector.
He stated this during a courtesy visit to Prof. Dora Akunyili, minister of Information and Communication, he urged the minister to see that there is full implementation of the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting as directed by the federal government.
Bruce observed that a situation whereby only the National Television Authority (NTA) has the licence to cover the whole of the country does not augur well for the industry, and urged the government to issue such licences to all the private broadcast stations in the country that would enable them transmit in all parts of the country.
He said that NTA alone cannot publicize federal government policies, and that private stations have a very major role to play in the dissemination of information on the policies and activities of the government.
In her response, the minister promised private broadcast station owners that they would be granted national licences to realize their ambitions of operating national stations.
According to her, most Nigerian companies advertise on CNN because of wider coverage, and if private television stations could have such wide coverage, it would discourage them from advertising there. As a result, money which could have been transferred abroad through such advertisements would be saved.
She added that if private stations are given national licences, it would help them to grow, and this culminates in the creation of more employment for the people.
The minister advise the Silverbird boss to apply for a national licence, assuring that such application would be given the attention it deserves while pledging her support to private broadcasters, encouraging them develop themselves to be able to compete with their foreign counterparts.