Being a paper presented By Prof. Nwachukwu Faustinus Ginikanwa, Professor of strategic Communication and Advertising Department of Public Relations and Advertising, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, At the official Commissioning and launch of CemTV in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Introduction:
The media are invaluable communication outfits in the world including Nigeria. The reason for this is not far-fetched. The media play very vital roles in the social, economic, political and cultural development.
In a world where the flow of information is not only huge but changing very fast, having access to timely and current information has become very essential and critical driver of enlightenment and growth. Information is life. If you are not informed, you are deformed. Information is uncertainty reducing. Information is the fulcrum on which the wheel of development revolves. If the society’s information needs must be satisfied, there must be sufficient means of information gathering, processing and dissemination. The Media perform this essential role for the society. It therefore means that Media establishment and sustainability is an imperative in every Society interested in capitalizing on the role of the media to ensure growth in all areas of its development. In doing this, one major consideration which may hinder this necessity is the high COST OF MEDIA OWNERSIP IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA.
Cost of Media Ownership in Contemporary Nigeria
The cost of media ownership in Nigeria today is varied ranging from operational license to set up costs, operation costs, regulatory fees and the challenges posed by the economic and political environments. Among the above, it will be good to start looking at the issue from the available data on the license fees. This fee vary between and among cities in Nigeria.
For better appreciation of this we take a look at the breakdown of the 2025/2026 data of Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) license fees. It is worthy to note that the NBC sets the official fees depending on the location and platforms on which the Broadcast system wants to operate.
NBC License fees for 2025/2026 Period
S/N TYPE FCT, LAGOS, PORT HARCOURT OTHERS STATE
1 Radio ₦20 million initial payment, ₦5 million renewal every 5 years ₦15 million initial payment and ₦4 million renewal every 5 year.
2 Terrestrial TV ₦15 million initial payment and ₦5 million renewal every 5 years ₦11.25 million initial payment and ₦4 million renewal every 5 years.
3 Cable/Satellite ₦10 million initial ₦7.5 million initial payment.
4 Direct-to-Home Multichannel ₦25 million initial payment and ₦50 million renewal every 5 years.
In all these, Community radio which is one very vital development instrument which is owned and run by the Community seems cheap compared to the other but at an application fee of ₦50,000 and license fee of ₦2-5 million could still be considered expensive when looking at the ownership pattern and in consideration of the role Community Radio is expected to play in engendering and supporting the development theory principles.
Set-up and Operational costs.
We may consider the license fees to be high, a closer observation indicates that the real challenge is with the set-up and operations cost.
The license is just the entry but having the resources to set up the system and cope with the operation costs is more worrisome. Major considerations here include:
The Real Challenge Starts After Licensing.
1. Equipment: This involves procuring Transmitters, studio gear, masts, cameras. In this, Television equipment costs much more that radio.
2. Infrastructure: The investor in media business may have to cater for the cost of renting the structure from which to operate, provide power, run on diesel for power generators (which most do because of the consistent and erratic power supply). Power supply is one major concern for media owners in Nigeria.
3. Staffing: The media owner would also have to higher workers such as journalists, presenters, engineers and general administration staff. These do not come cheap too.
4. Local Content Quota: NBC regulations recommend 80% local content for Radio and 80% for Television. Producing local content is definitely not a small cost.
5. Local Government Levies: Local Governments in which the Station operates charge annual levies for TV/Radio and Mast fees.
All these make the set up and operations fees very expensive for the media owners.
It is important that there are credible reports that media owners complain that cost of set up and operations keep rising while advertising revenue keeps plummeting.
Economic and Political Challenges.
Why it’s not for faint hearted?
1. Gaps in Funding: One key challenge in the running of the media in Nigeria is that posed by poor funding by the government especially for government owned media. No thanks to the Media Commercialization law. Consequently, these government owned media organizations struggle due to poor funding and legal bars on advertising revenue. For private Media owners, some go all out to subsidize costs through funds from other businesses or when the pressure is much, they resort to loans from commercial banks. The later has been the cause of some legal battles.
2. Political interference: While government owned media organizations may face government interference and control issues, private owners are not immune to harassments, intimidation and raids from many quatres.
3. Debts Risk: Some media organizations took loans in dollars in order to undergo the digital switchover as demanded by NBC but at the moment are struggling with servicing such loans as the Naira weakened.
4. Business environment: The business environment can be very unfriendly especially when you consider the nature of the job of media organizations. Sometimes, the media organization can be targeted by politicians or business people having stepped on some toes in the course of doing their job. It could be as bad as not allowing them operate from certain places due to political or economic reasons.
Looking at the above scenario, we observe that the cost of Media ownership in Nigeria is huge and not a business for the faint hearted. Now what is the way forward?
Way Forward
The way forward for Nigeria to develop a media startup friendly policy which will lower barriers, grow the industry and strengthen independent media.
The challenge at the moment is that Nigeria’s media space is dominated by a few high-cost players. Controlled by high licensing fees of ₦15 million – ₦20 million, marked by high operational costs and limited access to funding. This has discouraged young entrepreneurs from entering the industry. This limits diversity, local content, and job creation.
The policy pillars
A. Tiered and digital-first licensing:
– Community/local license: ₦2 million – ₦5 million
– Regional license: ₦8 million -₦12 million
– National license: ₦15 million – ₦20 million
– Digital broadcast license for online TV/Radio/Podcast: ₦500k – ₦2 million
– Allow payment in 3-year installments
B. Media innovation fund
– N10 Billion fund via CBN/BOI at 5-7% interest
– Covers equipment, setup, and 12 months operations
– Priority for youth-led, women-led, and regional startups
C. Tax and incentive relief
– 3-year tax holiday for media startups less than 50 staff
– 100% tax deduction for corporate sponsorship of local content
– VAT/import duty waiver on broadcast equipment for license startups
D. Content and Advertising Support
– 30% quota of government advertising spend for regional/community media
– ₦1B annual grant for regional content for regional content creation.
– National Media Directory to connect advertisers with verified outlets
E. Protection and Independence safeguards
– Fast-track tribunal for harassment/unlawful shutdown cases.
– Bar political appointees from NBC Board roles
– Editorial independence as a license renewal requirement
F. Talent and infrastructural pipeline
– Media incubators in 12 federal university by 2027
– 50% solar equipment subsidy for media houses outside Lagos/Abuja
– Annual Media Startup fellowship: 100 founders, mentorship plus ₦2 million seed grant
3. Expected outcomes in 3 years
– 200 plus new media startups will be launched
<span;><span;>- 15,000 plus jobs created in creative/media sector
<span;><span;>- Stronger regional voices and reduced dependence on foreign platforms
4. Implementation and oversight.
I suggest that this proposed way forward should be led by Ministry of Information and NBC, with an advisory board of independent media owners, creators, and civil society representatives. There should also be Annual public report on progress.
Conclusion
It is a known fact that Media Ownership in contemporary Nigeria would not grow under the present capital-intensive structure and the attendant unfriendly economic/political environments. It grows when it’s handled like a tech startup which encourage lower entry cost, digital tools, diverse revenue, and protection from free expression. Nigeria should learn from other countries in Africa like South Africa and Kenya in encouraging the growth of Media Ownership. This is in view of the invaluable role played by the media in the ensuring economic, political, social and cultural transformation and wealth creation.
