Paul Adom-Otchere, former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, has cautioned that Ghana’s television and radio stations are in deep financial crisis, with 90% reportedly operating at a loss as traditional advertising revenue dwindles.
Speaking on the urgent need for new revenue models during the Broadcasting at the Crossroads forum, hosted by the Africa Media Bureau at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on Friday, September 26, Adom-Otchere emphasised that monetising local content is the key to reviving the struggling media sector.
He highlighted that many broadcasters are increasingly turning to digital platforms like YouTube to generate income, as conventional advertising no longer provides sustainable funding.
“Right now in Ghana, 90% of TV and radio stations are running at a loss because advertising is not working anymore,” Adom-Otchere explained. “The only way to redeem this situation is to have a way in which content can be monetised so that people can earn money from their content.
“Radio and TV stations are opening YouTube channels and putting their content there because that is how they get money.”
Adom-Otchere called for a serious national conversation about how the National Communications Authority (NCA) and other stakeholders can support local content monetisation through infrastructure and policy interventions. Without such efforts, he warned, many media houses could cease operations.
“It is important that this conversation about monetising local content through the NCA infrastructure is taken very seriously,” he said. “Otherwise, a lot of these stations are grounding to a halt, and the danger is that they will be overtaken by politicians and politics.”
