Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) is Uganda's public broadcasting network. It was founded as a result of the "Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act 2004" which combined the activities of Uganda Television (UTV) and Radio Uganda. It began broadcasting on November 16, 2005.
The Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act states that UBC must be funded by charging a television license fee. The collection of a license fee of 20,000 US shillings (about €8.40 or US$10.80) began in 2005. However, the collection was subsequently stopped by President Yoweri Museveni. Since then there has been pressure to restore the license fee in order to maintain UBC's independence. UBC operates the UBC television channel and five radio stations.
Until May 2011, Edward Musingusi was the Managing Director. He was fired, along with the entire board, for "massive corruption" related to non-payment of wages, the sale of land owned by a corporation, and advertising sold during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
UBC's broadcast studios and main offices are located at 17–19 Nile Avenue, Nakasero Hill, in Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. The geographic coordinates of the headquarters of the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation are: 0°18'59.0"N, 32°35'21.0"E (Latitude: 0.316389; Longitude: 32.589167).
Since taking office in 2016, Frank Tumwebaze, Minister of Information and ICT, has set up a special committee to look into the affairs of the broadcaster. The interim committee found that UBC was in debt and had too many employees that it paid poorly and used them suboptimally, among other wrongdoings.
A corrective action team was formed. The staffing level was reduced from 525 to 349 people. To weed out the 176 people who need to be fired, all 525 employees have been ordered to reapply if they are interested. Those who choose to retire or take early retirement will be provided with appropriate pension packages.
The changes, which come into effect in July 2018, are expected to reduce the payroll from $4.5 billion (approximately $1.25 million) per year to $3.5 billion (approximately $955,000) .
In October 2018, the company hired Maurice Mugisha, a former "Head of News Production" for NTV in Uganda, as its new Deputy Managing Director.