The Gombe Media Corporation’s management has emphasised that the digital television and radio wings are ready to take over homes in the Northeast now that the state-of-the-art equipment is fully installed.
Mr Ibrahim Isa, the Director General of the Corporation, gave this assurance when he welcomed Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, the Secretary to the Gombe State Government, who toured the renovated facility.
Reminiscing about the terrible state of the corporation when he took office last year, the Director General commended Governor Inuwa Yahaya for embracing the suggestions made to redesign the facility for efficient image-making.
“Our studios of the two stations, radio and television, were in shambles. Our equipment was outdated and obsolete, our staff has been demoralised, and our operation was quite crippled by power outages, incessant power supply, and the difficulty getting diesel, being very, very expensive. So, our stations had been on and off air, which was the highest nightmare of a media outfit,” Isa said.
He described the terrible condition of the corporation then as a major setback for any media outfit, saying, “If a media outfit cannot dominate the air, you are finished.”
According to Gombe Media Corporation’s director general, the company was not making any money because it would not receive the necessary advertising revenue from any source if it were not broadcast.
However, he said that Governor Yahaya’s involvement within a year had improved the corporation’s state-of-the-art studios, which now cost millions of naira, and allowed it to compete effectively with other powerful broadcasting companies.
“Modern equipment has been provided for both radio and television stations. A new transmitter of 5KV and other complementary facilities have been installed, and new studio equipment and furniture have also been supplied. The television is now fully digitised. We operate 24 hours.”
He emphasised that the television studio was completely digital, equipped with the newest studio cameras, the PDZ, which operates without a cameraman, and extra cameras for news gathering, audio recording, laptops, and desk tops for staff training.
With a steady power supply from 60 KW of solar power, Mr Isa declared that the Gombe Television Station could now be accessed via StarTimes and NIGCOMSAT.
This allowed the TV station to operate around the clock.
He said the radio transmitter was also on 45 KW of solar, while the studio operated independently on 5 KW of solar power, describing the transformation of the two arms as “Media Technological Revolution for the GMC and a real-time transformation.”
The Director General of the Gombe Media Corporation said with the development, the staff of the corporation were now in high spirits and eager to work for the overall development of the state.
He, however, appealed for the provision of security lights for the environment because the installed solar power was for operations and not sufficient to cover the entire area.
According to him, the facility housing the corporation and some government ministries and agencies is in a state of disrepair, thereby appealing to the state government to once again intervene.
Responding after the tour of the facility, the Secretary to the Gombe State Government, Prof. Njodi, said he was not surprised at the development because the governor had placed the right peg in the right hole.
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