A veteran broadcaster, Mr Yemi Sonde, has urged the federal government to consider giving media houses tax holidays to help them cope with the biting nature of the economy. Noting that media houses presently grapple with other burdens imposed on them by the present nature of the economy, such as the huge cost of running largely on diesel, Sonde held that tax holidays, as a palliative, will give media houses some breather.
Speaking ahead of the NBC/Yemi Sonde Broadcast Media Stakeholders’ Forum holding in Ibadan on Thursday, Sonde tasked the President Bola Tinubu-led government to fix the economy to allow businesses to breathe urgently. He noted that the balance sheet of running several businesses was negative, saying business owners now needed God’s help and finances to pay workers’ salaries, remain afloat, and not go under.
On the increasing proliferation of media houses and continued issuance of broadcast licenses, he charged the federal government to issue broadcast licenses to only professional broadcasters. Sonde, who is the forum convener, noted that the present norm was that people with money simply obtain broadcast licenses and set up media houses as an avenue to lodge their funds.
Ibadan Zonal Director, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr. Sunday Omoge, said the commission is bound to issue broadcast licenses as long as the applicant meets the statutory requirements. For stations to remain afloat, Omoge said media houses must create quality content and carve a niche for themselves. He added that media houses also encounter problems because they do not hire broadcast professionals.
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