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Tag: nbc code

  • Arise TV issued final warning by NBC after alleged violation of Broadcasting Code

    Arise TV issued final warning by NBC after alleged violation of Broadcasting Code

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has given the operators of Arise Television final warning on alleged violation of Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

    Director-General of NBC, Balarabe Shehu llelah, gave the warning in a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Arise Global Limited and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Abuja.

    In the letter titled “Preponderance of derogatory and incendiary remarks: Final warning”, Ilelah said the commission had observed with concern, the preponderance of incendiary remarks allowed on Arise News.

    “This letter once again seeks to underscore the tremendous responsibility put on the broadcaster to manage array of guests that may feature on the station from time to time.

    “For the benefit of doubt, on Oct. 5 during the programme – ‘The Morning Show’, anchored by Reuben Abati, Rufai Useni and Ayo Mairo Ese, featured Oladotun Hassan and Dele Farotimi as guests.

    “The programme contained unguarded incendiary remarks by Dele Farotimi against the legislature, executive, judiciary and Mr President.

    “Similarly, On Oct. 6, during the programme “Newsday”, it featured Kenneth Okonkwo (Spokesperson for Labour Party) who used derogatory remarks on air.
    “Your attention is therefore drawn to the relevant sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code for compliance please,” Ilelah said.

    The NBC boss explained further that section 1.10.3 says the broadcaster shall ensure that its presenter does not express his or her opinion in the programme, as a matter of professional standard.

    He said section 3.3.1 (a) stipulates that the broadcaster shall ensure that any information given in a programme, in whatever form, is accurate Illelah said 3.3.3 (c) provided that the broadcaster shall be above inherent biases, prejudices and subjective mindsets

    According to section 3.3.1(e), the Broadcaster shall not treat any individual or organisation in an unjust and unfair manner in any programme.

    The NBC boss further explained that section 5.3.3(b) of the code stated that the broadcaster shall, in using political materials for news and current affairs programmes, avoid hate speech, inflammatory, derogatory, and divisive remarks of allusions.

    “Section 5.5.6 says, the broadcaster shall have a delay mechanism to guard against possible undesirable content.
    “Arise TV is advised to install a delay mechanism to guard against possible undesirable contents as prescribed in Section 5.5.6 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

    “Please note that henceforth, your station shall be held liable for any infraction on your platform and applicable sanctions shall be imposed as prescribed by Law,” Ilelah stressed.

  • BREAKING NEWS: NBC slams N5m on Trust TV

    BREAKING NEWS: NBC slams N5m on Trust TV

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has imposed a fine of N5 million on Trust Television Network (Trust TV) over the broadcast of the documentary titled “Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story.”

    The documentary was aired by the station on the 5th of March, 2022.

    In their reaction, management of Trust TV said in a statement that the fine was communicated to the media firm in a letter signed by the NBC Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illela.

    Illela had said the fine was imposed on Trust TV because its broadcast of the said documentary contravened sections of the National Broadcasting Code.

    Trust TV further stressed that they are currently studying the Commission’s action and weighing their options.

    Related Story: 

    The media outfit said,”We wish to state unequivocally that as a television station, we believe we were acting in the public interest by shedding light on the thorny issue of banditry and how it is affecting millions of citizens of our country.

    “The documentary traces the root of the communal tensions and systemic inadequacies which led to the armed conflict that is setting the stage for another grand humanitarian crisis in Nigeria.

    “It presents insights into the intersection of injustice, ethnicity and bad governance as drivers of the conflict.

    “It also aggregates voices of experts and key actors towards finding solutions, including those of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and Senator Saidu Mohammed Dansadau, who hails from one the worst-hit communities in Zamfara State.

    “Other experts featured in the documentary include scholars like Professor Abubakar Saddique of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Dr. Murtala Ahmed Rufai of the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, who have both studied the subject of banditry for a long period.

    “The documentary also brought to the fore the horrifying stories of victims of banditry.”

  • For the NBC, a nightmare that may heal – By Okoh Aihe

    For the NBC, a nightmare that may heal – By Okoh Aihe

    The nightmare which all regulators fear came upon the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) last week. Unable to accept the depth of weakness in the new Nigeria Broadcasting Code which was largely pilloried by all, the NBC allowed itself to be dragged to court by an aggrieved party who challenged some sections of the Code, and the  prayers were granted. As it is, the Code has been thrashed and it can hardly be useful to the industry any more.

    All over the world, no regulator wants to receive a court humiliation. Each defeat  in court hamstrings the regulator and whittles down its capacity for regulation. Some litigations are good to test the capacity of any law, but not this particular case whose end could only bring disaster to the regulator.

    The NBC Act empowers the NBC to work with the industry to produce A Nigeria Broadcasting Code that will guide operations in the broadcast industry. The sixth edition was signed by Ishaq Modibbo Kawu. In all the history of the Code in Nigeria there hardly has been anything so contentious. It may not really be Modibbo’s fault. The hawks took away the process from him, and he was perhaps too weak to cry for help.

    Not everybody was helpless or that weak to take action. Mr Femi Davies went to a Lagos High Court to seek help from a temple which is also taken as the last hope of the common man. There was so much to cry about. The amended sixth edition of the Code  virtually made it impossible for people to transact good business in broadcasting or for a broadcaster to source for premium content to boost his market opportunities. The Code says that after you have done all these things, put special programmes together, or commission prime content like Front Row on M-Net in those days, or even source for football content like premiership or even WWF, you must now make those programmes available to your competitor. It was difficult to locate this development in the realm of common sense, but Davies ran to the Courts to help make sense out of an unfolding development that could ruin the business of so many people.

    Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa did his job clinically without room for emotions. The NBC he said didn’t have the powers to regulate advertising and equally lacks the power to prohibit exclusivity on privately acquired intellectual property right in programme contents of a right holder.

    Said Justice Lewis-Allagoa,  “I agree with the submission that acquisition of exclusive rights to Broadcast a particular program is an investment for returns and by virtue of the above-stated provisions, no one should be forced to surrender same when it is lawfully acquired…

    “I am in agreement with the plaintiff counsel that the said proposed amendment is a violation of the principle of fair hearing and natural justice. The proposed amendment purports that the defendant NBC shall without any fact-finding or recourse to the other party place the advertising agency on its black list, solely based on the complaint of a media house and shall pass its verdict without hearing the other parties.

    “I have determined the questions in the originating summon in favour of the plaintiff. For reasons hereinbefore given, consequently, all the reliefs sought by the plaintiff are granted as prayed. That is the judgment of the court .”

    He therefore set aside the amendment to the 6th Edition of the NBC Code for being ultra vires, incompetent null and void, and perpetually restrained the Commission from implementing it.

    It is the responsibility of the NBC to make a Code but in developing the sixth edition, external but powerful forces took the process away from the Commission and introduced some very unsavoury details which were all primed to create business for some overlords who were not  ready to invest before harvesting.

    There were too many red flags on the Code and we tried to point some out but not so many people have the stomach to accept a truth that is not palatable. We warned that the Code would destroy the industry which is already too fickle but people see the glamour of television and just assume that all is well.

    Here is our position on this matter in June 2020 but which has now been validated by the Honourable Justice Lewis-Allagoa.

    • The broadcast market is an open market where people shop for what they want, just like any open market in Abuja, if stripped of technology accoutrement.

    • All contents are essentially raw until you begin to build them into attractive packages and channels

    • TV especially Satellite, Cable and IPTV, among others, depends on premium programming

    • Broadcasters build premium channels for niche audiences, which sometimes are segmented, for onward marketing to advertisers; niche audiences marketed to advertisers

    • There are business decisions which should be left to business or broadcast partners for them to hammer out a relationship.

    • TV avails are paid for by subscribers and advertisers who are more interested in professionalism than patriotism. But know that patriotism can professionally be packaged to attract commercial interests.

    • Most broadcasters build premium channels to have a special cut of the market. This is not abominable. What is abominable is the fraudulent who wants to hide under patriotism to destabilize the market.

    This writer then concluded at the time that “in spite of some exciting takeaways, the amended Code in the main, is an attack on market democracy. It leaves little encouragement for people to scrutinize why some local broadcast businesses fail in Nigeria and can hardly go beyond our shores while foreigners succeed. What springs hope here is that the life of a Broadcasting Code is four years. It is recommended that the NBC should not begin to savour a mission accomplished but should immediately commence stakeholder engagement on creating a better industry and working on a robust document that will be less discriminatory.”

    With the Code thrashed in court this suggestion has turned the bend to embrace reality. The pronouncement of the court has given my suggestion even more speed. Under this administration, the NBC has suffered the casualty of leadership, so many DGs coming into office in stunning regularity, to the extent that whoever gets into that office will be afraid to take measures that could attract repreminds from the authorities.

    Seven years of this administration hasn’t done broadcasting well. That is not the fault of President Muhammadu Buhari. That is plainly the fault of the supervising minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who is either overzealous or just really has not taken time to understand the business of broadcasting. But whatever it is, it is our opinion here that the NBC has a great opportunity to start afresh, have the strength of character to admit that the sixth edition of the Code was a complete disaster, and then mobilise the industry to develop a document that can do everybody good. So instead of seeing the judgement as a death blow, I see it as a wake-up call to do something more humanising for both man and business.

  • Can Osinbajo bring lasting peace to broadcasting? – Okoh Aihe

    Can Osinbajo bring lasting peace to broadcasting? – Okoh Aihe

    By Okoh Aihe

    There is hardly any homogeneity between khaki (military) and Agbada (civilian). Which is why anyone with a descent respect for, and recollection of the country’s history will confess that the relationship has not fared better than a poisoned chalice. Premised on the foregoing, it will not be farfetched to suggest that apart from being initially nonplussed about the coming together of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) to run for elections as president and vice president of Nigeria, quite a number of people may have gotten sufficiently relaxed by the cooling thoughts that the SAN is able to introduce malleable manageability of the rule of law to the military adroitness or even stubbornness of the general.

    So, when things happen in our nation now the first question they ask is: Where is Osinbajo? The people expect him to do magic. I also expect him to. But we always forget that he is not the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General of the federation. He is a professional enjoying a higher calling in the political ecosystem and may even be as trapped as we are or even more trapped. But you can’t blame us for expecting too much from a government who promised us the stars!

    Since the self-inflicted controversy of the 6th edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) with the remote imprimatur of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the same question has been asked by some concerned stakeholders; perhaps for two reasons: the first being that he is the learned academic at the top level of government, so matters of erudition should stop on his table, and the second being that he is from the same source like Mohammed – the Bola Tinubu stable – and should therefore be able to put a leash on his former colleague.

    We don’t have to wait forever. Last week he spoke, according to media reports. During a session with Nick Clegg, Facebook Vice President, Policy and Communications, Osinbajo dropped the hint that the controversies generated by the new Code would mean that the government has to revisit the matter as urgently as possible. The life circle of the Code is about four years but subject to review within the period. Moreover, the Code is an industry document that has to capture the aspirations and expectations of industry operators. It is in Osinbajo’s place to assure the local and international community that the Nigerian government has not gone to sleep while issues that can affect performance in the business environment are allowed to fester. Prominent among the issues are the regulation of content exclusivity and N5m fine for hate speech instead of N500, 000, while a third, which is extraneous but very subterranean, is the independence of the regulatory agency.

    “Basically, it says if you have a licensed product for TV, you are expected to share it with other platforms. It’s one which I understand the argument of those who say this is a violation of copyright and intellectual property, which is a very strong point and this is why we have to take a second look at it and see whether there are ways of moderating it to be more acceptable so as not to stifle the work of very hard working creative people,” The Eagle Online reports Osinbanjo as saying.

    It will be germane to add here that even within the NBC, there was a split right through the middle. The Board headed by former Communications Minister, Alhaji Ilkra Aliyu Bilbis joined the fray when it accused the Minister, Alhaji Mohammed, of being the one pulling all the strings and thus deny the regulator the opportunity to function independently. Unfortunately, that voice has been muted because the NBC Act ascribes very little strength and responsibilities to the Board.

    Let’s try and make some meaning out of this. Under Composition of the Board, the Act says: (4) The chairman and members of the of the Commission shall be part-time members. Under Tenure of office, etc. (1) The chairman and other members of the Commission shall hold office for three years renewable for one further period of three years only.

    The lesson arising therefrom is that NBC is not set up to have a stable Board. Three years term for the Board and even on part-time basis is thin and fragile and can expose the members to the almightiness of a minister made supremo by the Act. Only a politician with the heart of gold will not exploit such latitude, and they are not many in this dispensation.

    Another sister agency also established in 1992, like the NBC, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) doesn’t endure such fickleness. The tenure of the 9-man Board of Commissioners is five years and this is renewable for another term by the President. There are two executive commissioners whose appointment are permanent along with the chief executive or executive vice chairman. This has guaranteed some level of stability in the Board while also giving untrammeled opportunity to the executive commissioners to contribute to the development of the telecommunications industry without a busy-body minister breathing over their shoulders, especially if they are picked on merit, based on sound knowledge of the sector.

    Here is a point of emphasis. If the government mulls a revisit of the Code, it should also consider as priority a total cleanup of the entire Act in order to strengthen it for performance. As it is the document is too weak for a landmark performance in an industry in perpetual motion because of new technologies.

    Let me also quickly submit here that the broadcast industry at the moment is too fractured for any meaningful growth and development. There is the Ministry and the NBC on one hand and there are others scrambling to be heard; they include: Broadcasting Organization of Nigerian (BON), Independent Broadcasting Association of Nigeria (IBAN), Cable TV Association of Nigeria, The Association of Licensed STB Manufacturers of Nigeria (STBMAN), and a few others not listed here.

    There are so many stakeholders in the industry with disparate voices and variegated views of their sector. It is my humble suggestion that their voices and views be considered and harmonized in order to build strength for the industry. I am particularly troubled by a document released by the Cable TV Operators whose definition of exclusivity, in summary, is monopoly practice to exclude local cable TV operators from the industry and, in fact, completely obliterate them even as subscribers are oppressed with convoluting subscription rates. While trying to reinforce the argument that what is stated in Article 6. 2.5 in the new Code is not really new, a voice emotionally told this writer that local operators have been routed from the cable TV sector and really need to be given a whiff of life by the government.

    I am used to these stories. However, the truth is that something needs to be done about the broadcast industry especially the DSTV and Cable TV services. This demands that Prof. Osinbajo moves with speed to stem the distrust and hemorrhage. There has to be peace for the industry to prosper. There is something that is not right at the moment. I am suggesting that to mark the beginning of a détente the regulator should call for a big stakeholders meeting where the various parties will be encouraged to canvass their positions meaningfully and also make suggestions. The cable TV operators are too infinitesimal in their approach to business operations in an industry that guzzles cash. While suggesting they change their approach, it is the responsibility of government to device very creative ways of supporting their operations and, for once, encourage Nigerian business entities to grow into big businesses and strong groups. While we have always trumpeted the strength of our economy, which is smoke that evaporates in the face of reality, it is sometimes important to endure the insipidity of a humble pie and find out how other African countries are doing it, sending businesses into other territories including ours, while green-eyed, we complain bitterly of internal colonization.

    The fight for dominance in any business sector would usually hurt the weak and also the imperially positioned. While the fight is on, all parties bleed, there is atrophy and the returns grow anemic in the record books. For instance, while Uber China devoted a hefty sum of $1bn annually to fight its competition, Didi Chuxing, the coming together of the two organizations in 2016 created a deal of $35bn. My humble appeal is that operators of this genre of broadcasting should not see treat or death in the eyes of a competitor but should look well and closely enough to see advantage in those shrewd eyes that can create a big industry and generous returns. And also remember, it makes great sense to have a small part of a big business that is doing well than to have a whole business burdened by inefficiency and crippling debt.

    Okoh Aihe writes from Abuja

  • SERAP to Buhari: Order Lai Mohammed to withdraw NBC ‘insult code’ within 7 days

    SERAP to Buhari: Order Lai Mohammed to withdraw NBC ‘insult code’ within 7 days

    The new National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Code and Memo threatening to sanction any broadcast that denigrates, disrespects, insults, and abuses president, governors, lawmakers, and other elders and leaders in authority, must be withdrawn urgently.

    Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari today urged him to instruct Mr Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture to do so.

    SERAP also asked President Buhari to “instruct Mr Mohammed and the NBC to immediately rescind the fine of N5m imposed on Nigeria Info 99.3 FM radio station.

    The fine was imposed following comments by a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Malafia, in which he alleged a serving governor is a commander of Boko Haram.

    Malafia later said he picked up the information from the market and apologised to the DSS last week.

    The NBC thereafter issued a stern warning to journalists and broadcast stations.

    It stated: “To denigrate our governors, lawmakers, elders and leaders in abusive terms is not our culture. We respect our leaders as a positive cultural value. The Commission may be compelled to impose sanctions where stations fail to curb this practice.”

    In SERAP’s letter dated 15 August and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “Rather than pushing to enforce a culture to respect president, governors, lawmakers, elders, and other leaders, Mr Muhammed and the NBC should use their entrusted public office and mandates to promote a culture of public debate, access to information, transparency and accountability in government.”

    “Nothing can be more destructive to people’s exercise of basic human rights, and to democratic politics than the suppression of the media, and media freedom. The alleged ‘cultural codes’, which Mr Muhammed and the NBC are now using to punish journalists, broadcast stations and other Nigerians are patently contrary to the public interests.”

    “The implementation of the code and the memo would further deter meaningful citizens’ engagement, and have a chilling effect on Nigerians’ human rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, undermine the idea of representative democracy, as well as make public officials less responsive to the people.”

    The letter, a copy of which was sent to Mr Lai Muhammed, read in part: “We would be grateful if the requested action and measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then that the measures have been taken, the Registered Trustees of SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you to do so in the public interest.”

    “Our requests are entirely consistent and compatible with the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended), and the country’s international legal obligations, including under the UN Convention against Corruption, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which the country is a state party.”

    “SERAP is seriously concerned that the implementation of the code and the memo would lead to unjust punishment and self-censorship among journalists and the media, and exacerbate the growing level of impunity for attacks on media freedom.”

    “Self-censorship would undermine media freedom and the right to receive and impart information, public debate and further impair the ability of Nigerians to hold to account public officials and politicians accused of grand corruption.”

    “SERAP is concerned that the action by Mr Muhammed and NBC has further undermined public trust in government and politicians, as it shows that public officials are taking for granted their entrusted public functions, and accountability to Nigerians.”

    “The speed at which the code and the memo have been issued and applied may lead to public suspicion that the authorities are deliberately pushing to undermine the ability of journalists and the media to report on public interest issues, such as the growing poverty, widespread violence and killings, poor quality education, poor infrastructure and lack of access of millions of Nigerians to basic public goods and services.”

    “SERAP is concerned that rather than addressing these matters of public interest and revelations of massive allegations of corruption and mismanagement in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), your government is devoting time and energy to stop the media and journalists from reporting on the issues.”

    “Transparency would build trust and confidence in the government. The public interest in transparency and public monitoring of the use and management of the country’s natural wealth and resources by politicians outweighs any perceived cultural injunctions of ‘respect for president, governors, lawmakers and other leaders.’”

    The Board of NBC has denounced the code as illegal.

  • NBC code is strangulatory – Wole Soyinka

    NBC code is strangulatory – Wole Soyinka

    Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has stated that the proposed amendment to Nigeria Broadcasting Code (6th edition) is a clear and obvious economic sabotage, adding that it is strangulatory.

     

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), in the new regulation, stipulates compels that broadcasters must share content with competitors to prevent monopoly.

     

    t also seeks to give the NBC powers to determine content prices in the event of a dispute.

     

    “A broadcaster must license its broadcast and/or signal rights in any genre of programming to another broadcaster in Nigeria if “the genre of programme(s) enjoy(s) compelling viewership by Nigerians,” the code said.

     

     

     

    In an article titled’ NBC’s New Strangulatory Code’, Soyinka said: “I have just read excerpts of the newly proposed NBC broadcasting code and become aware of some potentially dangerous aspects of the code. Whilst one concedes that some of the regulations are well intentioned, I shudder to imagine unintended consequences such as backhanded censorship in the age of digital media. These restrict intellectual property rights and their scope of exploitation with whomsoever one chooses to collaborate. It is economic sabotage writ large, directed against thousands of practitioners. Regulatory? This is strangulatory in effect!

     

    “Several practitioners’ voices have been raised in protest. For one such insider’s detailed and passionate exposition on the deleterious provisions of this Code, I shall draw particular attention of policy makers to Chris Ihidero’s Why Does the NBC Want to Kill Local Content in Nigeria? If I may invoke a contemporary tragic image to render graphically what Ihidero and others have pleaded on behalf of both creators and consumers of this artistic productivity:

     

    “Let government kindly take its knee off the neck of this industry. Please – let it breathe!”

  • NBC Code: Netflix, Amazon, iROKOtv, Africa Magic may terminate investment in Nigeria

    NBC Code: Netflix, Amazon, iROKOtv, Africa Magic may terminate investment in Nigeria

    Content streaming service providers, Netflix and Amazon, as well as pay television channels, iROKOtv and Africa Magic are considering terminating additional investments in the Nigerian content industry,

    The four platforms have been forced to consider suspension of investments in Nigeria because of the 6th Broadcast Code recently released by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

     

    Creative and broadcasting industry sources disclosed that four platforms, which have invested immensely in local content production that are exclusive to them, are convinced that the new broadcast code is a huge threat to their investments, as it seeks to end exclusivity to broadcast properties and compel re-sale or sub-licensing to other broadcasters, including direct competitors. Sources told our correspondent that the new code makes exclusivity illegal, compels content sub-licensing and aims to regulate the prices at which content is sub-licensed.

     

    According to an industry source, the broadcast platforms view Sections 9.0.1 to 9.0.3 of the broadcast code represent a direct assault on investors, as it eat into the possibility of reaping dividends on their investments.

    “These sections prohibit broadcasters from entering into rights acquisition agreements that do not allow the sub-licensing of such rights in Nigeria. The implication is that any such agreement entered into is void,” she explained. An Enugu-based industry source also reasoned that Sections 9.1.1.8 to 9.1.1.11 of the Code are most injurious to investors in the industry.

     

    The sections provide that a broadcaster must sub-license a programme in any genre if such enjoys massive viewership among Nigerians. The implication of this, explained the source, is that investors, who fund the development of hit movies, series and shows, will be forced to sub-license that programme irrespective of whether or not they have recouped their investments.

     

    “This isn’t just silly, but also wicked. It amounts to uncompensated use of intellectual property. The proper thing is for a broadcaster to freely bid for, negotiate or acquire rights at prices dictated by the market and on terms acceptable to channel suppliers,” he said. He further explained that forced sub-licensing will inhibit investments, especially by foreigners in the content creation and broadcasting industry.

     

    “I wasn’t surprised to learn that Netflix and Amazon are fretting. They should fret because they have invested heavily in the acquisition of Nigerian content.

    “They are yet to recoup their investments, but you’re saying they must sell to competitors. Do you think other investors will be encouraged to come and invest? No. “AfricaMagic has spent tonnes of money buying and creating local content. They are right to panic. So is Irokotv,” he said.

    A former content creator clarified that the broadcasting industry is already a difficult terrain to operate and has been made worse by the new code. He stated that NBC is seeking to turn private enterprise into state property and be the one to determine the scale of dividends an investor should reap on his investment. He argued that broadcasters will invest only if they are certain that the content on their platforms will help differentiate their offerings and they are able to sufficiently recoup what they invested. He warned that NBC’s interference in broadcasters’ freedom to trade will discourage investment in the broadcasting industry. This, in turn, he said, will have a negative impact on the production sector and the wider economy.