Law no. 2004-644 regulates the broadcast media in Côte d’Ivoire. It is the equivalent of Law no. 2004-643 (which focuses on print media). This law is rather broad except when it comes to the status of television. No private television is in fact permitted to operate at present. Government has eventually accepted the principle of the privatisation of television, which could become a reality in 2012. The High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA) regulates broadcastors. On the basis of the documents that govern this organ, it is, on the whole, independent. It manages its budget autonomously even though it is put in place by the Ministry of Finance. Its independence, however, is not absolute. To illustrate this point, the HACA during the 2010 elections, decided to place itself under the State’s administrative supervision. Today, the HACA governs broadcast media in a transparent manner. Frequencies, for example, are allocated on the basis of calls for tenders. The board of directors of the public broadcaster media is not independent and certainly not representative. The process of nominating members is lead by the Presidency of the Republic. Hence the board of directors predominantly consists of senior civil servants and members of political parties. The board of directors, in principle, elect the public/State broadcaster’s Director General. However, in practice it always is a political choice. Government influences the editorial policy of the public/State broadcaster. The rights and duties of the public/State broadcaster are set by a convention. Its functioning depends on insufficient and not entirely independent funding. Part of it is generated from licence fees, another from the budget and the State, and the public broadcaster covers the remaining funds from advertising and sponsoring revenues. Lack of funds has, as a matter of fact, lead to a drastic cut down in staff. The public/State broadcaster does not cover the entirety of the national territory. The situation deteriorated with the destruction of power pylons during the electoral crisis in 2011. While the coverage of the national territory used to rank at 80% before the crisis, today it stands at 49% for radio and television. A rehabilitation programme is underway in order to restore these levels. With regards to the content, the state broadcaster relies on quotas in order to ensure diversity. One therefore finds cultural, religious, business etc. programmes. Due to financial constraints, this formula is not always adhered to. Production costs of local programmes are indeed higher than importing soaps, for which sponsoring can be arranged. Major public debates are rare on public channels. Political opinions are, in fact, not really balanced, even though efforts are presently made in order to switch from State to public service broadcasting. Community broadcasting in Côte d’Ivoire has been the victim of political drifts since its inception in the 90s. As a matter of fact, seven local radios were looted during the electoral crisis. The State makes an effort to ensure the survival of local radios. While the licence fees of these radios amount to 150 000 CFA (€229), the cost for commercial radio stations is a hundred times higher, coming up to 15 66 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER COTE D’IVOIRE 2012