Broadcasting
Collaboration and Productivity Trends to Adopt in 2024
By Kehinde Ogundare, Country Manager, Zoho Nigeria
Given the significant challenges both the Nigerian and global economies face, businesses have had to work harder than ever to survive, ensure business continuity, and stay competitive over the past few years. One of the key aspects that businesses had to focus on in this regard was improving employee collaboration and productivity to manage staff experiences in the workplace amid all the challenges across the tech landscape.
While some of the pressures may ease in 2024 with more awareness of technology, it’s unlikely that it will all be plain sailing for businesses. Naira to Dollar fluctuation remains an issue, and many of the geopolitical issues that characterised 2023 may also spill over into 2024. Apart from this, the world of work is rapidly evolving, as remote and hybrid models are as common as on-site models today. Keeping employees connected and engaged amid this sea of changes needs to be an employer priority. One way businesses can sustain collaboration, productivity, and engagement levels among employees is through the use of effective workplace technology.
Below are a few work trends and collaboration technologies that businesses should pay attention to if they want to make the most of 2024.
Automation is everywhere (including in employee expenses)
Over the years, we’ve seen the automation of many business processes. Those advances will continue at an even faster pace in 2024 and beyond. One area that’s particularly ripe for innovation around automation is employee expense reporting. For employees, remembering to log expenses and keep all of their receipts can be a painful experience. For the people charged with reconciling those expenses at the end of every month, doing so can likewise be incredibly time-consuming.
Automating expense reporting can help organisations manage employee travel, make payments faster, and provide comprehensive analytics for expense reports related to travel, spending, and reimbursements.
The rise of productivity tools and collaboration platforms
Tied to automation is the rise of productivity tools, which one can think of broadly as pieces of software that simplify tasks, streamline workflows, make team collaboration smoother, ease communication, and improve access to work info. In other words, they help employees do more in less time.
Most businesses today use productivity tools of some kind. Organisations looking to add to their arsenals of business tools should look for software which—aside from providing a unified platform that supports both synchronous and asynchronous communication—also integrates contextually with business applications like CRMs so that workers can initiate ad-hoc conversations easily right in the business apps’ interfaces.
Ticketing applications enhance customer satisfaction
Today’s customers expect to be able to contact an organisation on the channel of their choosing, and to get an immediate response when they do so. That’s not always easy for organisations to accomplish when they have to respond manually to inquiries through each of those channels. In fact, doing things that way makes it difficult to ensure that every ticket is answered accurately with the right context and on time.
Ticketing applications can save a lot of time on that front by automating the process of assigning customer inquiries to the right agent. They can also make replying to tickets intuitive, provide accurate sentiment analysis, and ensure that issues can be seamlessly resolved across departments, among other things.
Paring back the technologies that don’t make sense
As exciting as these technological advancements are, it’s possible to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of collaboration and productivity tools available. As a result, some tools that seemed essential at one stage can end up not being useful.
Organisations should therefore spend at least some time in 2024 auditing the tools they use. They should axe any that aren’t in use, and thereby save the company money and further streamline productivity and collaboration. Additionally, they should see if they can replace any of the tools they’re using with something in a productivity suite that they’ve adopted.
Even as businesses are well into the year, it’s never too late to capitalise on productivity tools and collaboration platforms. While organisations can’t fully control external forces shaping their operations, by embracing the right digital toolset and technology, they can enhance their competitive edge and navigate through changes effectively.
Federal government, yesterday, said that it will now launch the so-called FreeTV, with over 100 channels for news, sports, education, entertainment and children’s programming in multiple Nigerian languages on June 17.
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had initially scheduled for May 15 for the launch.
But the new date was announced by Mohammed Idris, minister of Information and National Orientation, on Wednesday during a facility tour of NIGCOMSAT, alongside Dr Charles Ebuebu, director general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and other stakeholders.
Idris said the long-awaited migration from analogue to digital broadcasting had finally become a reality after years of failed attempts and delays, describing the project as a major breakthrough for Nigeria’s broadcasting industry.
“I have been grappling with this idea of the DSO for many years. Moving our transmissions from analogue to digital has now happened and is ready to be commissioned by June 17,” the minister said.
He revealed that several channels had already been bundled onto the platform, adding that the digital transition would transform broadcasting, advertising and television consumption across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to him, the new platform introduces scientific audience measurement tools capable of tracking viewership patterns in real time, thereby giving advertisers reliable data for targeted campaigns.
“Now science is at play. If you are viewing a station, we know who is watching what and how many people are watching. Advertisers can now take informed decisions about the kind of programming Nigerians want to watch across all demographics,” Idris stated.
The minister said the collaboration between NIGCOMSAT, NBC, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Information had made the digital transition possible, while commending President Bola Tinubu for providing the necessary support and resources.
He described previous DSO efforts as limited and expensive due to encrypted set-top boxes but noted that the new system would be free and accessible to millions of Nigerians.
“In the past, the boxes were encrypted and costly. Now this is free. Government has taken off some of those costs on behalf of Nigerians,” he said.
Idris stressed that unlike earlier pilot phases restricted to a few cities, the new digital platform would have nationwide and regional reach through NIGCOMSAT’s satellite infrastructure.
“Everybody can now watch whatever he wants in real time and painlessly. Free TV everywhere for everybody”, he declared.
The minister also hinted that the platform would challenge the dominance of existing pay-TV operators by offering Nigerians wider viewing options at no cost.
“I don’t want to always use the word ‘substitute’, but this offers opportunities you didn’t get before. You no longer have that monopoly again. Competition is going to set in. Content will grow and viewership will grow,” he said.
He added that the platform would initially launch in standard definition, SD, before quickly transitioning to high definition, HD, bringing Nigerian broadcasting in line with global standards.
“Soon after the launch, we are moving to HD. Nigeria will now compete globally. What you watch here is what you get anywhere,” Idris said.
The minister further disclosed that the service was already available via mobile application and had successfully undergone testing ahead of the official unveiling.
Also speaking during the tour, managing director and chief executive officer of NIGCOMSAT, described the collaboration between NIGCOMSAT and NBC as a strategic partnership that has strengthened service delivery and raised operational standards within Nigeria’s digital broadcasting ecosystem.
According to her, ongoing investments and satellite expansion plans under the current administration will guarantee reliable and continuous service delivery.
“The work has only just started. The work has only just begun,” she said.
Among those who accompanied the Honourable Minister on the tour were Salihu Abdullahi Dembos, director-general, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA); Jibrin Baba Ndace, director-general, Voice of Nigeria (VON); Mohammed Bulama, director-general, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN); and Lanre Issa-Onilu, director-general, National Orientation Agency (NOA), alongside other senior government officials and dignitaries.
Metro Digital Limited, a licenced Indigenous broadcasting organisation, has accused Multichoice, pay television company, of refusing to obey judgements emanating from Courts in Nigeria.
It said the latest of such judgements is the one that was delivered by Justice Chinelo Odili of Rivers State High Court on May 4, 2026 in Suit No. PHC/3943/FHR/2025.
Dr. Paul Osuji, operations manager of Metro Digital, at a press conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,
said the suit was filed by the organisation and two others against Multichoice and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Osuji stated that Justice Odili has in the judgement described the arrest of a staff member of the company and the carting away of it’s properties and disruption of it’s broadcasting business by the EFCC over a civil dispute of copyrighy as unlawful and violations of the applicants’ rights.
The manager recalled that in October 2025, Multichoice instigated the EFCC to read their office in Port Harcourt, arrested a staff of the company and staff of another company, while the suit was still pending.
“On October 16, 2025, the premises of Metro Digital Limited, a licenced indigenous broadcasting organisation was raided by the Nigerian anti-graft agency, EFCC, instigated by Multichoice Nigeria, purportedly acting on a preservation order made by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt over the sub licensing of broadcasting content right.
“The preservation order came from a civil dispute already adjudicated by the Court of Appeal No. CA/CS/188/2021 – Multichoice Vs Metro Digital Limited and 20 others, which is a subject of a pending appeal -No. SC/CV/1248/2022 -Multichoice and 20 others before the Supreme Court.
“Instructively, while suit No. PHC/ 3943/ FHR/2025 was still pending, Metro Digital Limited filed an application to set aside the said preservation orders of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt and presided over by Hon. Justice A.T Mohammed.
“In his ruling delivered on December 10, 2025, set aside the preservation orders and it’s legal execution on Metro Digital Limited. The court also ordered EFCC to return unconditionally all the properties and records of Metro Digital Limited, illegally and unlawfully carted away during the raid but the agency has till today not obeyed those orders of the Court,” he said.
Metro Digital Limited is known for operating SLTV, a direct-to-home satellite television service launched to provide affordable, locally-owned alternatives to international pay TV
A Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from sanctioning or punishing broadcast stations and presenters over the expression of personal opinions, alleged bullying of guests, or failure to maintain neutrality on air.
NBC
Justice Daniel Osiagor granted the interim injunction following an ex parte application filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).
The court specifically restrained the NBC, its officers, agents and affiliated persons from enforcing its recently issued “Formal Notice” or imposing sanctions, fines or penalties on broadcasters based on provisions of the 6th Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
SERAP and NGE had approached the court to challenge what they described as an arbitrary and unlawful move by the commission to punish broadcasters for allegedly expressing personal opinions as facts, bullying or intimidating guests, or failing to maintain neutrality during programmes.
The groups also asked the court to determine whether the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code relied upon by NBC were inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
The suit followed an April statement by the NBC in which it raised concerns over what it described as increasing violations of the broadcasting code across news, current affairs and political programmes.
The commission had warned that presenters who expressed personal opinions as facts or bullied guests during live broadcasts would be sanctioned.
However, Justice Osiagor, in his ruling, held that pending the hearing of the substantive matter, the commission must refrain from using the formal notice to threaten, sanction or punish broadcast organisations and on-air personalities under the contested code provisions.
The matter was adjourned until June 1, 2026, for hearing of the motion on notice.
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