The National Communications Authority (NCA), under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD) has commissioned a state-of-the-art Broadcasting Monitoring Centre (BMC); to supervise the quality of broadcasting through a comprehensive monitoring.
The BMC is an independent monitoring system for the analysis of the frequency and technical specifications of Television and FM radio broadcasting services.
The installation designed by an indigenous Ghanaian engineering firm monitors all 13 satellites providing Free to Air (FTA) satellite TV services over the territory of Ghana and also has the ability to record one hundred (100) video channels (terrestrial and satellite) and produce them for review, analysis or evidence.
The BMC centre would also protect consumers of broadcasting services against bad products; which lies in conformity with Section 5C of the NCA Act 769.
The NCA Act seeks to guide the interests of consumers of communication networks, especially the interests of consumers’ choice, quality of services, and value for money.
Board Chairman of the NCA, Isaac Osei-Bonsu Jnr, said the institution of the Broadcasting Monitoring Centre will tackle some constraints faced in the media space in Ghana.
He indicated it would include ensuring efficient spectrum management, making sure that operators in the field deliver on the technical specification that they are required to, and having a smart digital archiving system for the broadcasting content.
Broadcast media monitoring solutions play vital roles in society; for content monitoring for various institutions including but not limited to the National Media Commission (NMC), National Security and other security apparatus, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), and Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) among others.
Mr. Osei-Bonsu Jnr stated it will force broadcasters to operate within their bandwidth to avoid interruptions, noting, “This initiative allows observing the media without any form of interruptions.”
The Director General of NCA, Joe Anokye on the other hand took interest in the 2021 widespread public concern about the negative repercussions of the ritualist contents of television stations that entertained spiritualists as well as charlatanic advertisements which mislead large sections of the public.
He stated there were calls on the regulatory institution with oversight over the electronic media; the National Media Commission and the NCA to take action to deal with the issues.
“There Broadcasting Monitoring Centre has 16 satellite receivers and monitors all the 13 satellites providing Free to Air (FTA) satellite TV series over the territory of Ghana. It records content for 100 TV stations and 50 FM stations.
“With the continuous support of the NCA Board, we hope to scale up to exhaustively cover more stations in Phase 2 of the project,” he said.
Comments are closed.