The management of Inspiration 105.9 Radio  in Akwa, Ibom state has named power outages and hike in telco tariffs as key among challenges affecting the broadcasting industry in Nigeria.

The station said that the National Assembly’s plan to enact laws to increase telecom tariff will automatically bring down operations of broadcast stations and shut their business nationwide.

It also observed that power outage has made the cost of production more expensive considering the high cost of diesel to run broadcast stations.

Speaking in Uyo Akwa Ibom state capital during the new Thanksgiving Service at Solid Rock Kingdom Church, the General Manager of Inspiration 105.9 Radio Rev. Silas Ufot stated if the telecom companies will increase their tariffs, broadcast stations may have low patronage by subscribers.

He listed other challenges to include high cost of diesel, unfriendly economy, inflation and low patronage.

Silas who led other staff for the Thanksgiving Service said the planned tariff hike will reduce number of callers on their phone-in programs and cut down audience interactivity/ participation as well as patronage.

“I pray the tariffs will not start now. I don’t know if it has been signed into law already. It will affect station callers that phone-in during our Radio programs. We will not have robust interactive session on our Radio station any longer,” he said.

“And when the tarrif is hiked, so many things are involved. Some of the stations that are live streaming using data will certainly suffer. This means that many subscribers who are using data will stop their subscriptions.”

Silas therefore urged the federal government to intervene in the planned telecom hike to save broadcasting industry from total collapse.

“Already some broadcast stations have fold up. We have some broadcast stations in Ibadan and parts of Lagos that are not operating any longer. Others have received License but cannot commence operations because of power problems.”

The Station Manager said he thank God for helping the station to operate in the last 8 years despite harsh economic situation, power outage and other unfriendly business climate in the nation.

However, the founder of the church Apostle Dr. John Okoriko who preached on theme “The Heart of Gratitude” encouraged the Radio station to continue to be the voice for the voiceless and remain a family Radio Station, adding that the family is smaller unit of the society.

“Thanksgiving involves the heart, the hand and the mind. Continue in your good works for you shall reap in due season.”