Migration from analogue to digital tops African Broadcasters’ meeting

Migration from analogue to digital tops African Broadcasters’ meeting
Ahaziah Suleiman, Ghana

African Broadcasters under auspices of the African Union of Broadcasters have converged on Accra, Ghana to chart a new course for broadcasting on the continent.

Topping the agenda is the expected migration from analogue to digital by 2015 and issues relating to cost of television rights for sporting events not only in Africa but globally where Africans are participating.

Addressing the opening session, the Ghana Minister of Information John Tia Akologo, urged African broadcasters to hold leaders responsible for actions or inactions as they affect the public.

Proper agenda setting

He said African Radio and Television Stations should be able to tell the African story the way it is and not to wait for sources outside the continent which in most cases are not conversant with the issues at stake.

The Ghana Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akologo, who is also a member of the Ghanaian Parliament, while declaring the Assembly open, urged public broadcasters in Africa not to tilt towards public officers only but to tell the story of the common man and set agenda for what the leaders should do for the people.

The Minister said the inability of the media to hold public officials accountable, leads to lack of trust in the media by the ordinary man on the street thereby taking the laws into his hands as the case of the Arab spring and indeed other parts of Europe.

Mr John Tia Akologo called on the African Union of Broadcasters to always champion the course of the African Union and make sure that fellow ups are made on issues raised in the interest of the public.

Slow migration process

The Director General of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Berifi Apenteng, who is the host of the fifth assembly of the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB), spoke extensively on issues relating to the development of broadcasting in Africa, the liberalization of broadcasting and the advent of commercial broadcasting which is taking over in most countries.

He said: “with less than four years, to the deadline for migration from analogue to digital most African Countries are still lagging behind and might not meet it”.

The AUB is a voluntary umbrella body of all Radio and Television stations.

Annually, the body come together to review challenges facing broadcasting on the continent and in some cases reach agreement and revenue sharing formula for commercials coming in from joint rights for sporting events.

The AUB general assembly will be followed immediately with the World Electronic Media Forum.

Williams