Media advertising dollars under pressure: Communications Minister
Minister says media organisations need to explore diversified business models as advertising shifts to global digital platforms.
Friday 25 September 2026 | 11:00
Media professionals and participants at the welcoming cocktail and dinner during the PINA Summit in Savusavu on September 22, 2026.
Photo: Talei Roko
The financial sustainability of media organisations in Fiji is facing constant pressure from declining advertising revenue and evolving technology.
Speaking at Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Media Summit in Savusavu yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communications Manoa Kamikamica said advertising dollars were being stretched across an increasingly competitive digital landscape.
Mr Kamikamica said technological changes had placed media organisations in a tight financial position.
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“The dollars for advertising is no longer available, it is competitively available on other forms of media—‘Google’, ‘YouTube’ now has its own advertising platform,” he said.
“So, the dollar that used to remain in-country is starting to get stretched.”
He said developing diversified media business models remained a priority, not only for the survival of local media companies but for the sustainability of media outlets across the region.
PSB grant diversified
Mr Kamikamica said the Government's decision to diversify the public service broadcasting (PSB) grant was aimed at ensuring transparency in media coverage across platforms.
“The previous regime only provided grants to the public broadcaster and of course under their regime, it was done for obvious reasons,” he said.
“What we decided was to re-look and reconfigure the public service broadcasting grant and provide it across the whole industry.”
Mr Kamikamica said he remained committed to collaborating with media organisations on the issue.
“When I got in as Minister of Communications, there was a serious discussion around the viability of the media industry, I have not heard that discussion for the last six or 12 months,” he said.
Mr Kamikamica said the viability of media organisations receiving PSB support was assessed based on the volume of public-interest content they produced.
Fiji Village news director Vijay Narayan said that under the previous government, the organisation lost its frequencies to state-owned broadcasters.
He said this led to companies that had previously advertised on their platform threatening to shift their advertising to other platforms.
“We are the voice of the people and remain independent and we are still surviving,” he said.
Most media outlets have shifted to a digital-first approach.
