NBS Television has formally appealed to the Minister of ICT and National Guidance to intervene against a Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) directive banning split-screen and “squeeze-back” advertising during news and current affairs programmes, a decision that has now drawn industry-wide opposition.
The appeal, dated January 28, 2026, challenges a UCC ruling delivered a day earlier in Arbitral Complaint No. 4 of 2025, which arose from a complaint filed by AdLegal International Limited.
The Commission found that NBS violated the UCC Advertising Standards 2019 by airing split-screen advertisements during programmes including Morning Breeze, NBS Frontline and NBS Eagles.
In its decision of January 27, 2026, UCC directed NBS to “immediately cease and stop the use of split-screen advertising, including the use of squeeze-backs, during news and all current affairs programmes.”
The regulator warned that failure to comply could attract sanctions and extended the directive to all television broadcasters in Uganda.
NBS says the decision is unreasonable, economically harmful and disconnected from technological developments in modern broadcasting.
In the appeal signed by Chief Executive Officer Kin Kariisa, the broadcaster asked the minister to exercise supervisory powers under Section 7 of the Uganda Communications Act to halt enforcement of the directive and order an urgent review of the Advertising Standards.
“The UCC’s current decision applies a 2019 rule to a 2026 reality, ignoring five years of dialogue, practice and technological change. This threatens to cripple the very industry the Commission is meant to nurture,” Kariisa said.
According to NBS, the ruling disregards sustained engagement between UCC and broadcasters following the adoption of the Advertising Standards in 2019.
The broadcaster says that between 2020 and 2022, the regulator held discussions with industry players through the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) on revising the standards to reflect changes in digital broadcasting and advertising practices.
“The broadcasting industry relied on these engagements and the Commission’s subsequent five years of non-enforcement as clear indications that the Standards were under review,” NBS said, adding that broadcasters made long-term investments and entered binding advertising contracts on that basis.
NBS also disputes UCC’s interpretation that squeeze-back advertising violates the Minimum Broadcasting Standards under the Uganda Communications Act, arguing that the standards regulate editorial content rather than advertising formats.
“The temporary graphic overlay does not alter the news content,” NBS said, insisting that the practice does not distort editorial material or compromise journalistic integrity.
The dispute was triggered by a complaint from AdLegal International Limited, which accused NBS of repeatedly breaching the Advertising Standards by airing split-screen advertisements during news and current affairs programmes.
AdLegal argued that the practice distracts viewers, undermines editorial integrity and violates minimum broadcasting standards.
In siding with the complainant, UCC said the prohibition applies across the industry, effectively extending a ruling against a single broadcaster to all television stations.
NBS contends that this amounted to regulatory overreach and was undertaken without sufficient consultation or notice.
“The Commission is estopped from now enforcing a strict interpretation of the 2019 Standards after years of engagement and non-enforcement,” NBS said, invoking the legal doctrine of estoppel.
The broadcaster further warned of serious economic consequences should the directive be enforced immediately, citing the risk of breached advertising contracts, loss of revenue and possible job cuts in a sector already under pressure from unregulated digital platforms.
“The station further warned of serious economic consequences, saying an immediate ban would lead to breached contracts, loss of revenue and possible job losses in an industry already struggling with competition from unregulated digital platforms,” the appeal states.
NBS also pointed to the absence of an operational Communications Tribunal, arguing that ministerial intervention is necessary to resolve the dispute.
“In this vacuum, the industry has consistently looked to the Minister’s supervisory role under Section 7 for guidance and resolution of such policy-level impasses,” the appeal said.
As interim relief, NBS asked the minister to direct UCC to convene an urgent multi-stakeholder review of the Advertising Standards and to allow continued use of squeeze-back advertising during current affairs programmes pending the outcome of that review, while maintaining a ban during hard news bulletins.
The appeal was copied to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT, the Executive Director of UCC and the Chairperson of the National Association of Broadcasters.
The matter has since escalated, with the National Association of Broadcasters formally backing NBS and urging ministerial intervention.
In a letter dated January 29, 2026, NAB asked the ICT minister to suspend enforcement of the directive, warning that it represents a “severe and sudden regulatory shift” threatening broadcasters’ economic sustainability.
“The Commission’s consistent non-enforcement over five years led the industry to reasonably believe that a consensus had been reached,” NAB said.
The association accused UCC of conflating content regulation with advertising presentation standards and of extending a single-broadcaster complaint to the entire industry, warning that enforcement would undermine revenue that supports news production and employment.
The dispute has also revived attention on a June 2025 request by NAB asking UCC to review restrictions on split-screen advertising.
In a letter dated June 20, 2025, NAB proposed limiting the ban to news bulletins only.
“Political talk shows should be treated separately, with the ban on split-screen reserved only for actual news bulletins,” NAB said.
In an accompanying concept note, the association argued that opinion-driven political programmes differ fundamentally from factual news content.
“News content should be the only category limited from split-screen-related advertisement restrictions,” NAB said.
The proposal, signed by NAB Chairperson Dr. Innocent Nahabwe, urged stakeholder consultations to revise standards developed before rapid technological changes in broadcasting.
