The Federal Government on Tuesday said it has approved the issuance of operating licences to 213 new public and private broadcasting outfits in the country.
The Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Ishaq Modibbo-Kawu disclosed this on Tuesday in Port Harcourt at the opening of the 71st General Assembly of Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON).
Giving the breakdown, Modibbo-Kawu said that the president approved 147 new FM radio licences; 23 DTT Television licences, three new national radio network licences and two national television licences.
He said the commission had also received presidential approval for 16 campus radio stations; 24 community broadcasters and three public organisations FM licences.
The Director-General said that the total of 213 licences were the single largest number of stations ever licensed at any point in Nigerian broadcasting history.
He reiterated the importance of BON as the umbrella body for all the broadcasting outfits in the country.
“Our industry is opening up and the importance of broadcasting will become greater as a contributor to the economic fortunes.
“It is also a platform of molding the values of national development,” he said.
