FG Prohibits Exclusivity Rights in Sports Broadcasting
The Federal Government has prohibited exclusivity rights in broadcasting sporting events in the country.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday.
The statement was made available to newsmen by Mr Segun Adeyemi Special Assistant to the President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the statement in general directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately implement measures aimed at sanitising and re-positioning the broadcast industry.
The Minister specifically directed NBC to implement a new regulation mandating broadcasters and exclusive licensees to share such exclusive rights with other broadcasters.
”This regulation prevents the misuse of monopoly or market power or anti-competitive and unfair practices by a foreign or local broadcaster to suppress other local broadcaster in the television and radio markets.
“This is so, having removed exclusivity from all content in Nigeria and mandated the sharing of all content upon the payment of commercially viable fees,” he said. Mohammed said the new regulation is contained in the report of the committee which he set up to work out the modalities for implementing the recommendations approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to re-position the broadcast industry.
NAN reports the minister inaugurated the NBC Reform Implementation Committee on Oct. 10, 2019 and the committee chaired by Prof. Armstrong Idachaba submitted its report on Nov. 19 same year.
The minister stressed that the break in monopoly will boost reach and also maximise utilization by all broadcasters of premium content, in order to grow their platforms and investment in other content.
It would be recalled that Mohammed, last year, said that the Federal Government was determined to end all forms of monopoly in broadcasting because “itt is detrimental to the actualisation of the immense potential in the industry”.