Redmond wants media regulators to keep abreast of sector’s realities
By Felicia Nwosu
Following the far-reaching changes in Nigeria’s media space in terms of regulation, Ronan Redmond, the outgoing Commercial Director at TVC Communications, has emphasized the need for the sector’s regulators to gain a comprehensive understanding of the happenings around the industry.
He added that the media regulators could achieve such in-depth knowledge by adapting to various emerging technological and market-related changes in order to keep abreast of the developments in the commercial media space. He noted that this will enable such regulators to develop new approaches to rules that are in tandem with today’s emerging media experience.
The media expert stated this in an interview with MARKETING EDGE, when he shared some of the invaluable lessons that ran through his exhilarating career path and how his leadership quality propelled the next phase of growth for TVC Communications Group during his tenure.
Redmond affirmed the existence of an emerging market with new tasks and responsibilities. He further urged industry regulators to work in line with the evolving realities to boost regulatory relevance and also promote business growth in the ecosystem.
“I think regulation is incredibly important. Regulation is even more important now as digital becomes such a player in the space, but it’s difference in my job which is commercial. I differentiate between editorial regulation and commercial regulation. I am all for editorial regulation when it comes to the likes of online and what people can say and get away with etc., and the whole area of fake news.
“My real concern when it comes to regulation in this market is, am I sure that the regulators are keeping abreast of the developments in the commercial media landscape? So many media companies now rely on advertising to simply keep their businesses going. It is not good enough to regulate me the way you regulated me seven to ten years ago.”
He called on key players in the regulatory space to acknowledge the various technological transitions and disruptions across various media channels which have changed the media scenario across the globe.
“If I can’t offer some of the initiatives that we spoke about earlier whether a sponsorship product placement, guest appearances etc, well then those advertisers will move to DSTV because they are not in the same regulation space as I am when it comes to what’s appearing on air. The regulators, I am not sure that they are, need to keep a pace with what’s happening commercially.
“I see it particularly in the whole streaming space and we are going to see it here pretty quickly. The streaming model where you pay a subscription doesn’t work commercially because people can’t afford to have four or five different streaming platforms. I will pick and choose. We have got to give a cheaper model and the way we’ll fund that is through advertising. So streaming funded by advertising is going to become the next big deal, and how is the regulator going to even address that?”
“So my fear is they are not keeping abreast with the huge changes that are happening, and that they are going back to former templates. That doesn’t serve those of us who are trying to make an honest living in the media space well,” he added.
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