New fees to run UTV
Feb 22, 2004
THE Broadcasting Council has justified the annual payment of sh10,000 per television set by owners as the only way to sustain the public broadcasting service, Uganda Television
THE Broadcasting Council has justified the annual payment of sh10,000 per television set by owners as the only way to sustain the public broadcasting service, Uganda Television, reports Fred Ouma.
Godfrey Mutabazi, the chairman of the Broadcasting Council, yesterday said the impending TV annual license fee had been in existence since the 1960s and 1970s and has just been revamped to cover the costs incurred to run ‘expensive’ public programmes.
“This license fee is not a new thing. It has been there and now we want to implement it to be able to sustain the public broadcasting programmes which the commercial TV operators cannot offer,†he said.
He said there were areas which lacked economic potential to attract commercial operators, yet it is very expensive to run public programmes. The annual fee has to be paid by every one owning a TV set, irrespective of the channels one views.
There are about six TV stations in the country and among these it is only Uganda Television also popularly known as The Big Network, which has the widest coverage and runs public broadcasting services
Mutabazi said its an international practice being applied other countries like the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Godfrey Mutabazi, the chairman of the Broadcasting Council, yesterday said the impending TV annual license fee had been in existence since the 1960s and 1970s and has just been revamped to cover the costs incurred to run ‘expensive’ public programmes.
“This license fee is not a new thing. It has been there and now we want to implement it to be able to sustain the public broadcasting programmes which the commercial TV operators cannot offer,†he said.
He said there were areas which lacked economic potential to attract commercial operators, yet it is very expensive to run public programmes. The annual fee has to be paid by every one owning a TV set, irrespective of the channels one views.
There are about six TV stations in the country and among these it is only Uganda Television also popularly known as The Big Network, which has the widest coverage and runs public broadcasting services
Mutabazi said its an international practice being applied other countries like the United Kingdom and South Africa.