Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

Established under an act by the British colonial government in 1935, the Gold Coast first operated a broadcasting outlet called Station ZOY, a relay station operated by the BBC. It later became the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation after Kwame Nkrumah changed the name Gold Coast to Ghana, upon political independence in 1957.

Broadcasting began on 31 July 1935, from a wired relay station opened in Accra. The brain behind the introduction of broadcasting into the country was the then Governor of the Gold Coast, Arnold Hodson. He was assisted by a British radio engineer, F. A. W. Byron. Gramophone records of martial and light music were relayed, and Hodson spoke the message:

One of the main reasons for introducing the Relay Service is to bring news, entertainment and music into the homes of all and sundry. This will bring to an end the barriers of isolation and ignorance in the path of progress and also to enable the people of Gold Coast to improve on their very rich cultural music.

In 1965, Kwame Nkrumah inaugurated the television division for black and white screens. Both radio and television became main components of GBC's electronic outlets for information dissemination. In 1996, the Supreme Court settled a key debate in Ghana when its ruling committed the state broadcaster to the equal opportunities doctrine in broadcasting. Thus, the corporation is obliged to be fair and grant equal publicity to all political parties in Ghana. Over time, it expanded to meet increasing expectations occasioned by population growth. As a result, the station now operates seven television channels and thirty-three radio frequencies which broadcast in twenty-five languages.