By: Ashiadey Dotse
The Director-General (DG) of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Professor Amin Alhassan, has stated clearly that only the government can afford to purchase the rights to broadcast Black Stars matches.
Speaking during a conversation on X space on Wednesday October 1, 2025, the Director general said cost of acquiring broadcast rights for national team games is extremely high, and no television station in Ghana including GBC can bear that cost on its own stating that since independence government has been the financer of black star games.
“Let me put it on record: since independence, all Black Stars matches shown on GTV have been paid for by government using public funds. Neither GBC nor any private TV station has ever been able to buy those rights independently,” Prof. Alhassan stressed.
He explained that even during the 2022 World Cup, government had to purchase the rights before a consortium of 16 television stations, including GBC, Multimedia, and Media General, came together to share the broadcast. In that arrangement, the media houses could only raise about half of the money government spent on the rights.
Prof. Alhassan further noted that GBC’s Internally Generated Funds (IGF) are insufficient to support such huge expenses. He revealed that less than 2 percent of GBC’s IGF comes from TV licence fees, while the cost of acquiring premium sports content like English Premier League or Black Stars matches runs into millions of dollars.
He said the sustainability of GBC as a true Public Broadcaster depends largely on public funding. “We cannot deliver premium content without the needed resources. Government support is the only guarantee that the public will continue to enjoy high-value broadcasts such as Black Stars games,” he added.
The GBC boss also announced that Unique FM has now been rebranded as Radio Ghana to strengthen its nationwide identity as a true national broadcaster.
