The station manager for Ya Rona FM, Dumi Lopang was excited at the news although he was worried that if the market has five players, that might lead to the collapse of other radio stations.
“I think it is fine, and we are not prevented from applying for those licences. We have been complaining about (state-owned) RB 2 because it is national, but now we are given the chance to apply for those licences,” Lopang said.
The National Broadcasting Board (NBB) is expected to issue three licences for private commercial radio stations in addition to the current two held by Ya Rona FM and Gabz FM. The three new licences will allow holders to broadcast nationally while the ones held by the two existing radio stations do not. Botswana Telecommunication Authority (BTA) licensed Ya Rona FM and Gabz FM in 1998 before the establishment of NBB. The two licences expire in 2007.
However, he was concerned about the declining advertising in the industry. He was equally worried by the commercialisation of the government media, which he said gives unfair competition to the private media.
“It is a problem. Government is using our tax to compete against us. If the government media becomes a parastatal, it will compete on the same footing with us and the prices will come in line with the market,” Lopang said.
He was supported by Gabz FM station manager Kennedy Otsheleng, who was concerned about the impact the envisaged entrance of three competitors in the market would have.
Otsheleng said the entrance of three competitors would crowd the market and this might lead to the collapse of other radio stations within six months like it has already happened with one newspaper. On the contrary,he said only two companies are in the lucrative mobile phone industry, while the commercial radio industry will now have five private stations.
“Definitely, there will be competition, but they do not (NBB) say we cannot apply for those licences. I expect that they know that the market cannot support five radio stations,” said a worried Otsheleng.
“I do not know what they would decide, but they cannot increase the number of radio stations to five because three of them could die in six months,” he added.
Other broadcast competitors are government owned media - RB2 and Btv and the private press.
Since government decided to commercialise its media under the disguise of ‘cost recovery’, the private press has suffered reduction in advertising. Otsheleng expects that more will close shop. He said that if Gabz FM were to apply for a licence, it would be basically for the expansion of existing coverage.
He said it is wrong for the government to be talking about a market economy and privatisation yet it is busy entrenching itself as a major commercial player in the media industry. “It has now become a highly capitalised competitor.” Otsheleng added that government is disguising commercialisation as cost recovery. He asserted that there are other forms of cost recovery that the government should follow. “This is not cost recovery because you are putting other businesses out of the market while the same government is saying it is privatising.”
The chairman of NBB, Masego Mpotokwane said that they do not have a market guarantee and people have to make their own assessment. He added that the decision to issue more licences is not a deliberate move to stifle the market.
