BON Raises the Alarm over Fate of Broadcasting Industry

BON Raises the Alarm over Fate of Broadcasting Industry

The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Zone C, has called on governors of the South-west states, The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) members of the Presidential Taskforce Force on COVID 19 and the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) to put issues of how to sustain the broadcast industry in the front burner and factor the broadcast industry into the stimulus packages being contemplated.

BON said in a statement yesterday that the broadcast media in the South-west as a creative industry contributes substantially to the nations GDP, adding that the sector is a huge employer of labour, especially youths.

It noted that at this auspicious period when the nation is battling the COVID 19 pandemic, the strategic importance of the broadcast industry cannot be over-emphasised as the potent agent of advocacy across the nooks and crannies of the nation.

BON raised the alarm that the shutdown of broadcast media in the region will spell doom to the advocacy efforts of government and unleash a large number of youths on the unemployment market.

According to it, the consequences of such a shutdown of radio and television houses are better imagined than experienced.

“The economic downturn and low revenue generation occasioned by the total lockdown as a result of COVID 19 pandemic ravaging the world has created a financial cul-de-sac for broadcast stations in the southwest which may necessitate a shutdown of operations if urgent actions are not taken.

As a result of the lockdown, the stream of income of broadcast stations have been stifled with most companies who are also experiencing a dire strait, halting the flow of commercials, the blood that runs the stations,” it explained.

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