Sustainable Funding Model For Public Service Broadcasting In The Digital Age: The Case Of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

Abstract

PSBs financial sustainability is a topic of keen scholarly interest. Their conventional funding model: government grants, television license fees and commercial revenue are shrinking largely because of audience fragmentation, declining compliance to payment of television license fees, and competition from commercial broadcasters and digital platforms. In view of this, this study sought to find out how GBC’s PSB mandate has performed in the digital platform media environment; assess GBC’s current funding arrangements and their adequacies to sustain its PSB mandate in the digital environment; and examine sustainable funding models being used by PSBs globally and assess their applicability to the GBC. The study was anchored on Political Economy of the Media theory, using mixed-methods research approach, the study purposively sampled data on GBC’s sources of revenue from 2015 to 2024, GBC’s social media metrics from September - November 2025, interviewed participants with expertise on GBC’s operation. The study found that although GBC is delivering its public service mandate, it is grappling with volatile funding sources including government subvention and commercial revenue while television license, which is meant to be its main financial muscle has collapsed. This has compelled the corporation to lean more towards commercial broadcasting to stay afloat. Similarly, although the corporation has significant social media presence, the implementation of its digital media policy remains highly urbanised and has failed to yield significant revenue while it is confronted with a government bureaucracy that has left it with little room to manouvre to employ digitally savvy staff necessary to drive its digital strategy. These factors significantly affect GBC’s quest to be sustainable. The study, therefore recommended the adoption of innovative funding mechanisms including establishment of an independent funding architecture for GBC to replace the failed television license while strengthening and implementing its digital strategy to ensure the sustainability of the more than 90-year-old PSB in the digital age.