Digital Switch Over, a massive pivotal shift for the television audience in Nigeria— Odion Aleobua
By Zion Rufus
The National Broadcasting Commission reiterated its commitment to put an end to the monopolies in the broadcast space by bigger players in the industry at the expense of the growth and development of the local industry. The commitment is coming on the heels of a nationwide Digital Switch Over, a new Amendment to Nigeria’s Broadcasting Code, a FreeTv box, and a directive for PayTvs like GoTV and StarTimes to stop self carriage by the end of June 2021. This much has stirred controversies in diverse sectors.
On the other hand, looking on the brighter side, PR and Communications expert, Odion Aleobua has described the transition as an exciting prospect and a massive pivotal shift for the television audience in Nigeria as it will boost the provision of content and increase channel choices for viewers.
Aleobua who is also the CEO of Modion Communications, one of Nigeria’s leading Public Relations and Communications solutions agencies said: “For us, the players in the creative and PR space, we would accurately plan with actual viewership data and determine which platform offers our clients the best brand exposure opportunity.”
According to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the amendments were necessitated by the need to boost local content in Nigeria, curb anti-competitive and monopolistic tendencies, boost advertising revenues, and to curb monopoly and exclusivity of programme content in order to create room for the local industry to grow. The monopolies exclude many Nigerians from enjoying or having access to premium content, especially in the area of sports and movies.
With the new amendment to the Code, anyone owning any sports rights must make such available to other parties in Nigeria, who may be interested in acquiring these rights. This obviously extends the opportunity for TV sports content to indigenous players.
“The distinction will ultimately be the platform that offers the most compelling and relatable content. Nigerians are ready, for instance, to pay to have the Premier League football live in the homes. We have also witnessed free access TV whose programmes did not hit mainstream status due to poor viewership. The competition is good, and the capability to accurately measure ratings would drive the appropriate allocation of the advertising Naira to either the FreeTv or PayTV platforms,” the CEO continued.
Under the new amendment, for a programme to qualify as local content, it must be authored, directed and produced by a Nigerian. As stated, at least 75 per cent of the leading actors and major supporting cast must be Nigerians, a minimum of 75% of its program expenses and 75% of post-production expenses paid for services provided by Nigerians or Nigerian companies.
The Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed disclosed that steps had been taken to create the enabling environment for the DSO to succeed, for local content to thrive, for indigenous producers to be more engaged and for the local advertising market to grow.
“Some of these measures have generated a lot of controversies and triggered pushback from some quarters, but we remain undaunted in implementing them for the benefit of our people,” the Minister said.
In addition, the amended Code will stimulate growth in the Advertising Industry, introducing regulations mandating Media Agencies and Advertisers to offset all outstanding invoices within 60 days related to adverts placement and the barring of carriage of adverts of defaulters.
About Odion Aleobua
Odion Aleobua is an award-winning communications expert with over 15 years of experience, spanning the oil and gas, financial services, public sector, and the media.
Aleobua joined Oando PLC in 2007, where he spearheaded PR and media management for the group. He left to head the Brands & Corporate Communications unit at Forte Oil PLC and was responsible for executing the re-branding of the company from African Petroleum PLC.
He currently manages a full spectrum PR Agency, Modion Communications, which he founded in 2015. The agency provides consultancy for leading local and international brands like Old Mutual, Oando, Leadway Assurance, Lumos Nigeria, LSETF, Rainoil, Nahco Free Trade, Gokada, and Axxela amongst others.
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