The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) is the public broadcaster in Namibia. Established in 1979 as the South West African Broadcasting Corporation (SWABC), NBC has grown into a fully-fledged broadcast conglomerate that airs nine radio stations and five television channels (NBC1, focused on news and current affairs, drama, and children’s programs; NBC2, focused on news; NBC3, a pay-TV channel focused on telenovelas, sports, and movies; NBC4, focused on educational programming; and NBC5, a pay-TV channel airing music).
Media assets
Television: NBC1, NBC2, NBC3, NBC4, NBC5
Radio: Kati FM, Kaisames FM, Funkhaus FM, Nwanyi FM, Wato FM, Hartklop FM, Omurari FM, Tys FM, National FM
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
NBC was created through the Namibian Broadcasting Act (Act no 9 of 1991), which defines the corporation as a “juristic person.” The NBC is supervised by the NBC Board of Directors, who are appointed by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology for a period of five years. The NBC Board, in turn, appoints a Director General. This Director General is a member of the Board but is not entitled to exercise a vote at board meetings. According to the Broadcasting Act, the Director General exercises control and supervision over the other officers and employees of the NBC and performs duties assigned to him or her by the NBC Board.
Source of funding and budget
NBC’s main source of funding is an annual state subsidy. Other sources of income are the sale of airtime and programs, the issuing of yearly television licenses, and fees from the rental of transmitters. NBC was allocated by the state a subsidy of NAD 140m (US$ 8.6m) for the 2019/20 financial year. The funding came from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology out of a yearly ministry budget of NAD 321m (US$ 19.7m). The state subsidy for NBC has decreased in the past five years as the government has faced a gaping budget deficit. For the fiscal year 2021/2022, the government allocated a state subsidy of NAD 127m (US$ 8.6m), according to Namibia’s state budget.
According to media reports, NBC received a state subsidy of about NAD 392m (US$20.66 m) in the 2023/2024 financial year, the largest allocation of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology’s total budget. Some NAD 310m was used to cover the station’s operational costs, and the remainder was used to upgrade the broadcaster’s studios and equipment in rural areas.
As a recipient of state subsidies, NBC is first accountable to its line ministry, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, and second to the Namibian Parliament. The ministry is the keeper of the NBC budget. In recent years, ministry officials have stressed that NBC should improve its funding model by generating more revenues of its own to decrease the reliance on the state budget.
Editorial independence
NBC’s General Director has repeatedly boasted that the station is editorially independent. However, the broadcaster has been criticized for being biased in favor of the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation, officially known as SWAPO, party. Allegations of political interference have intensified in the past year as government representatives have increased their control over the broadcaster’s editorial coverage.
No domestic statute establishing the editorial independence of NBC has been identified.
There is a Media Ombudsman in Namibia, which is an independent assessment institution that takes complaints about all the media in Namibia, calling on media outlets to remedy the situation or improve their editorial coverage. Although it is not a mechanism established specifically to monitor the editorial coverage of NBC, the Media Ombudsman includes NBC’s coverage in its work. Yet, this institution doesn’t guarantee NBC’s editorial independence in any way.
July 2024