The Managing Director of Owelle Media Limited, Joe Anichebe, has thrown his weight behind the profileration of radio broadcasting stations in Nigeria.
Anichebe,in a chat with PREMIUM NEWS,said the country needs more radio stations to promote divergent views with a view to grow Nigeria’s democracy.
He,however,said more radio stations are becoming burdensome on account of over regulation of the country’s broadcasting industry which makes it difficult for them to break even in the business.
He added:”I think the broadcast media (Radio in particular) is over regulated, compared to other climes especially when in competition with the Social Media which is barely regulated. I think more people are thinking toward the internet radio which may not require spectrum assignment from the regulator to operate.
“The revenue sources are dwindling while regulation is stifling the subsector. Broadcasting is no longer a profit making business, rather a cost center. Those in that business today either have passion for the industry or politicians who may want to use it to advance their political careers.”
He spoke on why his radio station,
Owelle FM 99.5, Enugu,broadcast in Igbo language,saying it was borne out of passion.
He said Owelle FM 99.5,is the first
all Igbo language radio station in the world.
He added:”We are glad to say that one or two stations have joined us in the last few years. The passion is what is keeping us. Some advertisers believe that only the rural poor who have low purchasing power listen to us but we are proud that even at that, we are one of the most listened station in the Southeast.
“I toyed with the idea in the United States in the 1990s to use Montgomery County Cable network as a carrier and got approval but the issue of creating content for a 24-hour broadcast wasn’t going to be easy so we rested the idea.
“Since then I vowed to take an early retirement and move back to my village to actualize the idea.”
Anichebe,a former spokesman of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, said his station’s key success is to be continuously on air for more than five years without breaking even.
He also mentioned that the resilience and passion of the staff and fear of disappointing our listeners are the key drivers
He lamented that the station has not made appreciable profit since it started operations,on account of harsh business environment in Nigeria.
He added:”Unfortunately, for more than five years of operation, we are yet to break even. All our initial projections were thrown out of the window. We projected foreign exchange at about N187 to a dollar but purchased our equipment at about N700 to a dollar.
“We are not on national grid, we provide our own power with diesel generator and solar. We had projected diesel at N200 per liter but purchased as much as N3000 from black market to stay on air. Meanwhile, our advert rates have not changed in five years.”
The station,he said, is collaborating with Igbo language teachers to improve and increase the teaching of the language based on requests by the global listeners.
He also said the station is working on apps to convey the tutorials to the global listeners’ homes.
