Telephone: 0244969579 Website: www gbeghanaoniine com E-mal: goecorporate@amail.com ‘dgsecretariat abcohana@gmai.com GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION BROADCASTING HOUSE, P, 0. BOX 1633, ACCRA - GHANA PRESS RELEASE PRESS STATEMENT BY THE GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION (GBC) ON THE GHANA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION’S SELECTION OF STARTIMES AS THE TELEVISION RIGHTS HOLDER OF THE GHANA PREMIER LEAGUE AND THE FA CUP On 8" January, 2020, a Ghana Football Association press release named StarTimes Ghana as the Television Rights holder of the Ghana Premier League and the FA Cup. According to the statement, StarTimes emerged winners of the competitive bidding process after the GFA accepted their offer, which was the best among other bids. The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation put in a bid which we are certain was superior to what the StarTimes is said to have submitted. As published on the GFA website, StarTimes offered to pay UDS 5,250,000 which comes up to USD 1,050,000 annually whilst GBC made a financial offer of USD 1,100,000 annually. It is for this and other reasons that we received the news with disappointment and shock. Apart from GBC’s superior financial offer, we thought that the Premier League and FA Cup content would have been treated like a national treasure and given to the national broadcaster and a consortium of local broadcasters. GBC wishes to put it on public record that the national broadcaster and the local TV Consortium have been treated unfairly and unjustly. The GFA decision will gravely impact on Ghanaians’ access to the Ghana Premier League and FA Cup live games on Free-to-Air (FTA) broadcast.It must be placed on record that when Ghana football sunk to its lowest ebb in the aftermath of the “N° 12” expose, it was GBC that invested huge human and material resources to work with the Normalization Committee to bring the special competition to the homes of Ghanaians, live. GBC did this at the time nobody cared about showing the game on TV because it was unattractive. We demonstrated capacity by showing two matches simultaneously on GTV Sports+ and GTV. We must place on record that the African Centre Survey Report on the Ghana Premier League on 19" December, 2019 gives GTV and GTV Sports+ a whopping 56% of the market share and it defies logic that the rights would be given to a company that does not even show up in the poll and does not have FTA capabilities, which is the surest way to reach most Ghanaians. GBC has FTA capabilities like none other. Apart from GTV and GTV Sports+, we have a nationwide network of radio stations with combined effect of reaching Ghanaians better than any other station in the country. GBC thinks the right thing must be done. Thank you. Issued by: AQ0- Ms. Mamle Asare Director of Corporate Affairs, GBC, Accra Phone: 0244969579 9" January, 2020 THE AUTHENTIC AND TRUSTED VOICE OF GHANA