Minister challenges electronic media to develop irresistible content
The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Ato Sarpong, has challenged television media houses to develop compelling content to be able to survive in the highly competitive media landscape.
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He said, currently, there were about 43 television stations in the country, and as such the ability of a television station to attract a large viewership would depend on the content, creativity and the human resource at its disposal.
Mr Sarpong gave the challenge at the first-ever Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) stakeholders’ conference in Accra on the theme, “The role of the public service broadcaster in a competitive broadcasting environment.”
The conference brought together former workers, past broadcasters and a section of the consumers to brainstorm the viability of the GBC as a public service broadcaster in the face of stiff challenges in the broadcasting landscape.
Assurance
Mr Sarpong assured Ghanaians that by June 2015, the country would smoothly migrate from the current analogue broadcasting to the digital terrestrial television (DTT).
He said the country was working hard to ensure that the implementation of the national DTT infrastructure took off by January 2015.
The assurance follows concerns that six months to the deadline, June 17, 2015, very little had been done towards a smooth migration from the current analogue to the digitisation.
Mr Sarpong urged the public service broadcaster to look at retaining its experienced human resource to prevent them from being poached by private broadcasting houses.
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GBC to reposition
The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, in a remark, said the theme of the conference was relevant and timely because it sought to reposition GBC as a true public service broadcaster, adding that in spite of all the challenges on the media landscape, there would always be a place for a public broadcaster.
He, therefore, charged GBC to adopt meaningful strategies to position the corporation as the source of matters that concerned the public.
Mr Blay-Armihere tasked the board and management of GBC to take steps to ensure that GBC remained what the founding father, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, wanted it to be, “A voice for the nation, a voice for the underprivileged, underdog, society and a voice for all.”
On professional standards, Mr Blay-Amihere said he expected GBC to continue to set standards and guidelines and commended the corporation for its high level of professionalism.
The Board Chairman of GBC, Mr Richard Kwame Asante, welcoming the stakeholders, said it had come to the point where the government and the public needed to pay attention to the plea of GBC for funding.
Writer’s Email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh