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Monday, June 04, 2007

Gibralta Broadcasting Corp to be reviewed


According to the Gibraltar Chronicle daily newspaper, the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation will be undergoing a major independent review.
The Chronicle has today revealed that a Government spokesperson has confirmed that the Gibraltar Government will be carrying out a “thorough review of GBC for the future.” This is expected to include technology, premises, staffing and management structure, statutory framework and funding. The expected announcement of a new General Manager is being delayed until an appropriate time due to the expected review.
GBC has maintained its monopoly status locally even though the broadcasting industry in general has been liberalised by the European Union. With a new digital era now being entered into, and with GBC expected to be allocated all except one of the digital licenses to operate locally, the expectation is for future interest to re-emerge in relation to the possibility of competing channels.
In recent years GBC was in discussions over the possibility of selling broadcasting hours to outside operators, although the discussions fell through. Speculation of GBC looking at just one or two hours of coverage has been raised in recent months, with the other broadcasting hours seen as a way of introducing new players within the industry, especially from the commercial sector.
(Source: gibfocus.gi/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)