Broadcasting
Africast Tasks Nigeria on Digitisation
“For this historic change to be achieved on the African continent, all segments of the African society from Broadcasters, Political/Policy Leaders, Manufacturers, Program producers, and the Viewers must be actively involved.”
This statement was the pivot of a paper Prof. Gerard A. Igyor of Millersville University of Pennsylvania delivered at the 2008 Africast Conference and Exhibitions themed: Digitisation and the Challenges of Broadcasting.
“For political/Policy makers, they would have to back their legislation with budgetary allocations just as Great Britain is spending $400 million over a seven-year period to educate 60 million citizens about its digital transition,” he said. Adding: “African governments may consider borrowing a leaf from the United States of America where Congress set aside $1.5 billion for a massive coupon program to help analogue-dependent viewers buy converter boxes to equip their TVs to receive digital signals.”
He said to make this switchover journey smoothly to all segments of the society, African governments cannot abandon viewers to make it through when over 98% of African households rely solely on analogue TV and that as many as that 98% of the sets may require set-top boxes.
He said broadcasters will meet four major challenges in this journey to digitisation namely: promotion of digital television, upgrade, new licences and multi-channel availability; charging the broadcast industry and Governments to publicize, enlighten and create various ways to make the consumers know about the digital conversion, even as he attributed the slow diffusion of digital technology in some countries to lack of knowledge about the technology.
“Digital technology for the production, transmission and reception of television is clearly superior to analogue, and the eventual complete transition to digital throughout Europe and indeed the world, seems inevitable,” Igyor said.
He said an increase in the number of channels will boost demand for television programs and attractive content will become highly valued asset but that the African broadcaster faces another challenge that comes with an increase in the number of competing channels, which would bring about a reduction in the size of the average audience for each program broadcast.
“As average audience members decline, the programming cost per audience member will increase and without a corresponding increase in advertising revenues, the average profit of television channels will be greatly reduced – in other words, the licencing of channels to new broadcasters will introduce new rivals, increase competition for revenue and pose a greater financial threat to existing broadcasters,” he informed.
In his conclusions, Igyor enjoined African governments to subsidize the prices of the set-top boxes to make the transition to digital less difficult for their citizens, adding that part of the funds from the sale of the frequencies should be used for this purpose.
Similarly, he said that set-top boxes are not the ultimate answer. “Governments only recommend that option now because it is cheaper, but it would come to a time when set-top boxes would be totally fazed out – that is, when more people begin to acquire digital televisions.”
He said Consumers will experience full digital impact with only digital TVs and not with set-top box supported ones.
More importantly, he charged African governments to prohibit the importation of analogue television sets into their countries otherwise; their places would become dumping grounds for obsolete and useless electronic products.
Mrs. Clementine Wamba, head, Digital Switch Over (DSO) at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has stressed the need for broadcasting stations and practitioners nationwide to work towards meeting the 2028 global deadline for the switch over.
She made the call in her presentation titled, “DSO Big Picture: Free TV Audience Measurement and the Evolving Media Landscape”, at the 2026 NBC South West Summit held in Ibadan.
Wamba harped on the need for practitioners to adopt DSO in the transmission of news and other programmes in order to meet future challenges, stating that any country that fail to align with the DSO by 2028 will be shut out of practice.
This development, according to her, may result in job losses and other consequences that could hinder the growth of the industry in Nigeria, noting that Free TV is tailored towards the DSO, with provision for many channels in contrast to the age-long analogue system.
According to her, “The Digital Switch Over is a technological improvement on the age-long analogue style of broadcasting in the country. With the adoption of the DSO, practitioners will be in tune with global practice of broadcast journalism.
“Also, its benefits include efficient use of spectrum, changing of industry landscape, more access to national development programmes and better viewing experience.”
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has said that Nigerians will no longer pay annual Digital Access Fees under the renewed Digital Switch Over (DSO) project.
Charles Ebuebu, director-general, NBC, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja,
Ebuebu said viewers only need to purchase an approved decoder and satellite dish which cost below N20,000 to enjoy free television permanently.
“Previously, users paid an annual digital access fee of about N1,500, described as an administrative charge.
“The new system removes that annual fee. It provides free access to free-to-air television channels without any payment.
“Premium channels will be introduced later. Viewers who want those additional channels will be able to access them through paid services.
“Nigerian content on free-to-air channels remains free to watch. Unlike Pay TV, this platform does not require monthly subscriptions for its basic service,” he said
Ebuebu said approved decoders for the FreeTV will cost less than N20,000 and authorised sales outlets will soon be announced.
He urged Nigerians to wait for official information on approved dealers for the DSO decoders, warning that unauthorised sellers are exploiting growing public demand.
He reiterated that people only need a free-to-air decoder, along with a satellite dish instead of the old antenna system to receive the DSO signal.
“Once the equipment is installed, viewers can access all available channels across the country without paying any subscription fees,” he stressed
The DG dismissed claims by some retailers that there are different categories of decoders sold at varying prices, stressing that such sellers are not authorised by the commission.
According to him, the NBC will soon publish the list of approved dealers, official prices, and locations where genuine decoder boxes and accessories can be purchased.
The NBC boss said the DSO project is designed not only to improve television broadcasting but also to stimulate economic growth by creating jobs, attracting investment, and opening up opportunities for businesses that support the broadcasting industry.
Ebuebu noted that content producers and broadcasters stand to benefit significantly from the nationwide reach of the DSO platform.
Unlike the previous system, where many stations had limited regional audiences, he said the new platform will make their channels available to viewers across Nigeria.
He added that the introduction of audience measurement technology will provide scientific and reliable data on television viewership.
Ebuebu added that audience measurement technology will give advertisers greater confidence in placing adverts and enable broadcasters to demonstrate the true size and reach of their audiences nationwide.
Uchenna Mbunabo, Nigerian filmmaker, has raised concerns over the alleged unauthorised broadcast of Nollywood films by some Ghanaian television stations, calling on Ghana’s National Film Authority (NFA) to strengthen the enforcement of copyright laws.
Uchenna Mbunabo, Nigerian filmmaker
Mbunabo made the remarks during a conversation with James Gardiner, deputy CEO of the National Film Authority (NFA) of Ghana.
He questioned whether it was permissible for television stations in Ghana to download Nigerian movies from YouTube and air them without obtaining permission from the producers.
“I noticed that Ghanaian TV stations, the way they are stealing our films and showing them for free with impunity. Is it legalised in your country for TV stations to go on YouTube, download people’s sweat and show it for free?”
According to Mbunabo, some Ghanaian television stations have been downloading newly released Nollywood films from YouTube and broadcasting them without authorisation, depriving producers of revenue generated through the platform.
He also stated that he had not witnessed Nigerian television stations engaging in similar practices and questioned what measures Ghana was taking to protect filmmakers’ intellectual property.
Responding to the concerns, Gardiner acknowledged that the issue exists and said the National Film Authority had begun engaging relevant stakeholders to address it.
He disclosed that the NFA has held discussions with the Ministry of Communications, the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the National Media Commission (NMC) on improving copyright enforcement.
Gardiner explained that while Ghana has copyright laws, enforcement remains challenging because many television stations now operate digitally and may not have physical offices within the country.
“There are copyright laws, but they are not effective because a lot of the TV stations don’t have offices. Most of them are now digital, so they operate from anywhere. They can even have a Ghanaian TV station but be operating from Austria simply because it is digital.”
He added that authorities are considering a new licensing framework that would require broadcasters to undergo a fresh licensing process to improve monitoring and enforcement.
According to Gardiner, television stations found guilty of illegally broadcasting copyrighted content would be required to compensate affected producers through fines.
He added that repeat offenders could face suspension of their broadcasting licences, while a third violation could result in the revocation of their licences.
Although he did not provide a specific timeline, Gardiner said the reforms were already underway and expressed hope that significant progress would be seen next year.
Mbunabo welcomed the proposed measures but urged the National Film Authority to expedite the process, stating that unauthorised broadcasts continue to affect filmmakers’ ability to recover production costs through legitimate distribution channels such as YouTube.
He also stressed that his comments were not directed at Ghana’s film industry, noting that he has worked with several Ghanaian actors over the years and supports collaborations between Nollywood and Ghallywood.
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