Communications regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), has tasked all television stations to reschedule all gossip shows from 10.00 PM onwards in the new directives on the broadcasting of gossip shows in the country.
The statement was made by Ibrahim Bbossa, the UCC spokesperson while appearing on NBS Morning Breeze show yesterday, the gossip television shows are not suspended but asked that they be rescheduled.
“We have segments of our society that need to be protected. Information that has sexual innuendos, for example, has to be aired past the watershed period (10 PM to 5 AM). This doesn’t mean you (media houses) should share x-rated content,” Bbossa said.
Earlier this week, UCC ordered media houses to only air gossip shows between 10pm and 5am, adding that any media house that fails to adhere to the directive risks losing its license.
“We are not stopping these programmes, we have directed that they are scheduled appropriately. We have also advised that even when it is screening, let such content follow the law,” Bbossa said.
According to UCC, the gossip shows have often failed to meet the minimum broadcasting standards and they contain adult content and profanity which has potential to disturb and harm some sections of the public.