Tag Archives: RADIO

NBC to revoke 54 television, radio licences.

Posted on by
Reply

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has revoked 54 television and radio licenses while another 120 licenses are being processed for revocation due to offences bordering on inability to pay for their licenses within the mandatory 60 days period and failure to go on air two years after the licenses were issued.

The Director General of the commission, Ish’aq Modibo Kawu, who disclosed this to newsmen yesterday in Abuja observed that frequencies cannot be held indefinitely by individuals as there are other people waiting and ready to make use of those frequencies.

He also announced that NBC has extended the deadline for the payment of the over N5 billion debt owed the commission from March 15 to March 31, 2017 adding that after the date, any station still owing the commission would be closed down.

He said: “There has been no plan by any station to pay. Some even wrote us that the amount they were expected to pay was too much, suggesting to the commission the amount they intend to pay.

“However, this is a new era. All outstanding sums owed the NBC must be collected. The practice of using political connections or going to the Aso Villa to seek black market endorsement will not work,” Kawu said.

The NBC boss stated that the commission has commenced the settlement of all indebtedness arising from the contracts awarded in respect to the Digital Switch Over (DSO), especially to the Set Top Box manufacturers to the tune of N5billion.

According to him, the next phase of payment being processed is that of the signal distributors, Pinnacle Communications and it is to enable them meet their obligations and deepen the efforts to meet a nationwide DSO.

 

Source: The Guardian

NBC revokes 54 radio/TV licences

Posted on by
1

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) revoked the licences because fees were not paid within the mandatory 60-day window.

NBC Director General Is-haq Modibbo, who stated this yesterday added that 120 licences that were paid for but which did not go on air within the mandatory two-year period are soon to be cancelled.

Modibbo, who addressed a news conference in Abuja, gave a deadline of end of this month to stations owing the commission a cumulative amount of N5 billion, to pay up their fees or lose their licences.

He said: “Over the past two weeks, I gave a directive that the licences of 54 companies that were issued licences but had refused to pay their fees within the mandatory 60-day window,be revoked.

“Those licences are revoked. There is another list of over 120 licenses that were paid for within the mandatory period but were unable to come on air, within the mandatory two years; they are also being processed for revocation. And they will be revoked! Frequencies cannot be held indefinitely by individuals.

“At our stakeholders’ conference with broadcast organisations, I informed stations of a persistent pattern of refusal to pay licence fees. Stations around Nigeria owe the NBC over N5 billion. Even the statutory act of informing NBC, six months before expiration of licenses and signification of intention to continue as licensees is willfully ignored by stations.

“License fees are in arrears; there is no plan by many of these stations to pay; while some even have the temerity to write NBC, the regulatory institution, that the amount they are obliged to pay is too much, consequently, they then tell us how much they are willing to pay, and even adding the time they are going to pay such sums that they have decided to pay.”

He warned that cases where some private station owners use political connections with the top most political leadership in the past to get illegal and undue favours that run contrary to the NBC Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code would no longer be condoned.

“We are delighted that Nigerians are investing in setting up radio and television stations; they create jobs; open up accesses for content producers to showcase talents and are contributing to national development. But no one has a right to hold on to allocated frequencies indefinitely, when the resource itself is finite and there are other people waiting and ready to make use of those frequencies,” he said.
He said June 2017 deadline remained sacrosanct on Digital Switch Over (DSO).

On Digital Switch Over (DSO) launched on December 22, 2016, Kawu said 251, 447 STBs were sold in Abuja.
“In the same period, 145, 357 boxes were activated; our call center received a total of 325, 028 calls in the same period.

“The next phase is our plan for the six states that we have chosen to switch on. As I address you today, Pinnacle Communications Limited has commenced the installation of the facilities for Kaduna. I was there to inspect the work being done at the weekend.

“Our colleagues can go to the site on Rabah Road, in Kaduna to verify that work is advancing very rapidly there. They have also concluded plans for Delta and Gombe states, while the second signal distributor, ITS, will similarly mobilise into Kwara, Enugu and Osun states,” he added.

Niger signs N300m contract to digitise Radio

Posted on by
Reply

The acting General Manager, Radio Niger, Mr Andrew Achanya, has said that the state government had signed N300 million contract to ensure the digitilisation of the station.

Achanya disclosed this on Monday, in commemoration of ?World Radio Day with the theme for 2017 edition, “Radio is You”?.

He also said that the state government had sent two staff of the station to Italy for two-week training on the job, to enable them manage the digitisation when in operation.

According to him, the effort is also due to the premium government places government on broadcasting and the need to transit from analogue to dititilisation of the radio.

“The state government has, however, promised to train more of our staff to enable us manage the machines on ground.

“The training will virtually go round, those we cannot train abroad we would train them at the National Broadcasting Academy,(NBA), Lagos”, he said.
?
?He said that the AM and FM station would continue to operate together until March ?when the station would have been completely digitised.

“Between now and April, when we are digitised completely, ?we are going to be global, and Radio Niger will be heard everywhere around the world”.

Achanya identified fluctuation in power supply as one of the challenges affecting the operations of the station.

“We are usually on plant, we use diesel throughout the 18 hours that we transmit.

“We buy diesel for N270 per litre and we use almost 200 litres daily and that brings it to N54, 000 on a typical day.?”

The World Radio Day is an annual event usually marked on Feb. 13 to celebrate radio as a medium to improve international cooperation amongst broadcasters and to spur other networks.

Radio broadcasting started in Nigeria in 1933 by the British colonial government, named the Radio Diffusion Service (RDS) which gave birth to the Nigerian Broadcasting Service with radio stations in Lagos, Kaduna, Enugu, Ibadan, and Kano, April 1950.

The development allowed the public to hear British Broadcasting Corporation’s foreign radio service broadcasts in certain public locations over loudspeakers.

The service was later reorganized into the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) on April 1, 1957, by act of parliament, to “provide, as a public service, independent and impartial broadcasting services”.

There are at least, 315 radio stations, both public and private, in the country as at 2017 across the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, nation’s capital.

Gambian government closes fourth radio station in one week

Posted on by
1

Gambian authorities have closed a fourth radio station in one week, a presenter with Paradigm FM, the affected station, said on Monday.

 

Andree Gibba, the presenter, said the station was closed on orders allegedly given by communication and information ministry.

 

The closure came hours after Paradise FM had interviewed a spokesman of a coalition backing Adama Barrow, the president-elect, to whom President Yahya Jammeh has refused to cede power after losing the December 1 election.

 

The closure followed those of Teranga FM, Hilltop FM and Afri radio, all of which the authorities did not given an explanation for.

 

The Gambia press union has expressed concern that the closures could signal a crackdown on independent media amid the country’s escalating political crisis.

 

Barrow has said he would take power on January 19 as mandated by the constitution, despite Jammeh having challenged the election results in court.

 

After more than two decades in power, Jammeh, 51, lost the election to Barrow, a former real estate agent who was little-known even in Gambia before he announced his candidature.

 

West African leaders were due to meet in Abuja today to discuss the crisis.

BREAKING: Radio Journalist, Iyuadoo Tor-Agbidye has been kidnapped.

Posted on by
1

The Benue Police Command said a Radio Journalist, Iyuadoo Tor-Agbidye, was kidnapped on Friday at her home in Makurdi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the kidnapped journalist is married to Achim Tor-Agbidye, a Zonal Manager of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Makurdi.

The Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Makurdi.

Mr. Makama said the police had already swung into action by setting up a network for the arrest of the suspects and appealed to the public to volunteer information that would lead to their arrests.
“We have already visited the site; we are constructing our narrative with the purpose of narrowing down possible suspects before effecting arrests.
“The police cannot provide security for each person so, what we do is to improve the general security of the people by taking proactive steps to curb crime in the state,” he said.

Governor Obiano to establish radio station to broadcast in Igbo

Posted on by
Reply

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra, on Tuesday, said he would float a radio station that would broadcast its programmes in Igbo language.

He made this known during a public event organised by an Igbo cultural society known as “Otu suwakwa Igbo’’ headed by former Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof. Pita Ejioforon.

Obiano said: “This is my contribution toward preventing the Igbo language from going into extinction.”

Obiano expressed dismay at the failure of parents to teach their children the Igbo language and culture.

He added that henceforth, pupils in the state would wear Igbo traditional attire to school every Wednesday.

According to him, folklore will be taught to primary school children every Wednesday evening.

The governor said that the Igbo folklore he learnt while growing up had helped in shaping his behaviour and guided his relationship with other people till date.

He said: “Igbo folklore is powerful in building morals and values. I can’t forget my late primary school teacher and the way he used Igbo folklore to teach us great lessons.

“Even as a governor, those stories about the tortoise and other animals still guide my life.”

He assured the Igbo cultural society that the state government would strengthen the law that would make it mandatory for all to communicate in Igbo language and wear traditional attire on Wednesdays.

Former National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh, described language and religion as the true identities of a people.

Umeh said: “We should not allow Igbo language to die as predicted. For me, I have Igbo odour and I smell Igbo; my red cap is my joy as an Igbo man.”

In her remarks, Stella Onuorah, the Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Culture and Tourism, appealed to the Igbo in the Diaspora to strive to teach their children the language and inculcate in them the cultural values.

We Generated N500 Million from Radio License in 6 Months – Minister

Posted on by
1

Minister of communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu on Wednesday disclosed that his ministry generated a sum of N500 million in 6 months.

While noting that effort was being made to increase the internally generated revenue, the Minister explained that the intention of the ministry to rebrand and reposition Nigeria Postal services NIPOST is to ensure effective operation and increased revenue generation.

Shittu who made stated this while speaking with newsmen in Ibadan also hinted that the plan is to widen the scope of Nigeria Postal services beyond selling of postage stamps and letter delivery.

According to him, NIPOST which has about 1500 outlets across the federation will not only distribute letters but engaged in other services such as e-commerce, investment and property promotion, transportation and logistics services, commodities and merchandise as well as e –government.

He said further that, NIPOST will also partner with developers to convert some of the NIPOST properties into shops and offices for commercial purposes.

Speaking on the radio licensing, the minister maintained that the Ministry has also generated over N500 Million naira from Radio Licensing and they are working taking serious steps toward generating more.

Barrister Shittu also disclosed that the ministry had appealed the judgment that ceded part of the land belonging to some agencies under the ministry to Omo Onile.

He said “Some of the Omo Onile colluded with judiciary officers, and government officials to retrieve the land from the government, they get judgment against us, but we have appealed against it.”

Wendy Williams Confirms She’s Returning To Radio

Posted on by
1

he talkshow host started her career in radio before moving to TV. There were now rumours a few months ago that she was returning to radio because her producers were finding it difficult to book guests for her TV show. Whether that is true or not, nobody knows but Wendy has confirmed she’s heading back to radio. In an interview with Sway on Shade 45, Wendy said;

“I’m coming back to radio by the way. I’m working on something…I mean TV’s a bigger platform but the intimacy of radio, being able to talk to people…I’m a fan of radio.”

 

King Sunny Ade Set To Launch Radio Station

Posted on by
1

King Sunny Ade, popularly known as KSA is set to float a radio station. The radio station which has been under works for years now will start transmission before the end of the year. According to him, the station will be the first music and culture station in Nigeria. It has also been named M&C (Music and Culture) Station. When asked why the commencement of the radio station took so long, the musician said;

Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. The NBC has its operational standard, so do I. I deliberately took time off to carefully select a team of loyal partners who share same vision on what a music station should be. Don’t forget also that this will be the first radio station in Nigeria that will be solely devoted to promoting our culture and our music, he said. We say big congrats to him.

Kano Lady Gets Husband After Begging On Radio

Posted on by
1

Twenty-two-year-old Zainab Abdulmalik made the appeal on Freedom Radio on Tuesday during a programme titled ‘Inda Ranka’, after she was jilted by a lover in whom she had invested about N5 million.

She threw her search open to all interested men between the age of 17 and 25. Speaking with BBC, Nasiru Zango, a staffer of the radio station, said Abdulmalik asked prospective husbands to come to the station on Wednesday for screening. “Hundreds of men turned up, lured by her promise to give the one she chose a car and house,” Zango said.

Zango said that due to the turmoil generated by crowd of ‘applicants’, staff had to call in the police to whisk Abdulmalik away, but not before she had made her choice. The men who turned up for the ‘screening’. The details of the selected man have not been released.

Credit: thecable

Kogi Radio Station Bombed, 4 Killed

Posted on by
Reply
There was a bomb blast on TAO FM in Okene, Kogi State, last night at about 8pm which had 4 people, suspected to be security personnel killed.

The radio station which was located at the centre of Okene town, which is the headquarters of Kogi Central Senatorial District has been reduced to nothing. The radio station which broadcasts mainly in Ebira language was popularly known for its radical stance on politics of the people of Ebira.

Kogi state Police Public Relations Officer, Shola Collins, confirmed the incident said that police detectives had already been mobilized to the scene of the incident.

The reason for bombing the radio station was not known as no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomb explosion destroyed the radio station at about 8pm on Monday 27th April.

The police have promised to capture the perpetuators of this crime and are currently investigating the case.