Cultural Economy and Television in Jamaica and Ghana by Deborah Hickling Gordon

Author:Deborah Hickling Gordon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030380656
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

New Institutional Players

The introduction of capital through Malaysian media giant Media Prima led Ghana to launch its second terrestrial, or free-to air, television channel, TV3. The TV3 Network Limited was incorporated in 1997 as Ghana’s first privately owned television station and began broadcasting in the Greater Accra Region in October 1997. The new station, TV3, was a sister company of another Ghana-Malaysia joint venture with the Ghana Film Company, a production house that supported the television station in providing local films and drama.

Ghana and Malaysia actively sought to translate the rhetoric of south-south cooperation into tangible action; this public-private partnership (PPP) was touted as representative of the sound political and economic relations among countries in the southern hemisphere. Sampson Quainoo and Edmond Schandorf, two of the original employees of the new TV3, explained that within this public-private joint venture, the foreign investors in TV3 provided the capital and ran the business of television, while the Ghanaian government provided technical services and personnel.

In 1997 a television license was granted to Metropolitan Entertainment Television (Metro TV). The GBC and a private businessman jointly owned the station. GBC’s interest in the station was restricted to the sharing of its transmitters. The agreement did not, however, include Metro TV on the budget from its subvention. Metro TV was established completely as a commercial station, relying solely on advertising for its revenue. Metro broadcast material mainly from other countries, including other African countries and Asia, for 19 hours daily.

A third free-to-air television station, TV Africa, was granted a license and brought to air in 2004. TV Africa was the brainchild of acclaimed Ghanaian filmmaker Kwah Ansah, whose aim was to begin a process of “cultural revitalization”. TV Africa transmitted to 60% of the Ghanaian population. The company was a family business, managed by his daughter Gwasiwa. The notion of television as family business is a significant comparator with Jamaica. Puplampu’s categorization of businesses in Ghana identifies the paternalistic, family-styled business in Ghana as an important part of business culture in that country (Belling 4). Ansah noted that although TV Africa’s debt levels were extremely high, causing the firm to have to examine the option of downsizing; they still maintained the structure of a family business.

By 2002, 17 broadcast licenses had been issued (Alhassan 2004:137), and in 2006, there were 32 licensed television stations, cable and satellite subscription service providers in Ghana. Stations in Accra included Ghana Television (GTV), TV3 , Metro TV and TV Africa, all free-to-air stations (Osei-Hwere, 93). Cable television also expanded during this period and in the mid-1990s satellite subscribers in Accra accessed programming from the BBC World Service and M-NET from South Africa. Early cable operators included Cable Gold and TV Agoro, and Multi Choice, all of which operated as terrestrial MMDS/cable pay TV broadcasting services. Three other pay-per-view stations were established outside Ghana’s capital. They were Crystal TV, Fontomfrom TV and Skyy TV. Crystal TV and Fontomfrom TV operated in Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Skyy TV operated in Sekondi and Takoradi as pay-per-view television stations (Osei-Hwere 93).

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