DEREGULATION, DIGITIZATION, NEW MEDIA AND GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES IN THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA INDUSTRY: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES FOR

NIGERIAN MEDIA PRACTITIONERS

 

AUTHORED BY:

OMOLAYO O. JEGEDE & PATRICIA E. ERNEST-ONUIRI

Department of Mass Communication, Veronica Adeleke School of Social Sciences (VASS), Babcock University Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

In a cybernetic age where revolutionary innovations in Information Technology have become a part of mans’ daily existence, the media is not left out. Global media practices have steadily transformed from a traditional state to a convergence with new media and digitization creating platforms through which media organizations effectively harness the functionalities of both the traditional and new media, and in turn yielding a multimedia system by which media professionals produce better output such that their audiences have varied platforms from which they receive information at their convenience. This development of broadcasting in Nigeria is linked to the deregulation of the electronic industry in 1992; allowing private ownership and funding.

World over, the electronic media industry has come to recognize and accept the major shift in news consumption whereby media audience do not exclusively tune-in to events happening around the world on traditional channels of broadcasting.  Alejandro (2010), states that news consumption today is not the same as pre-internet news when viewers and listeners tune-in to get updated on events happening around the world through 24-hour television news channels. Today, a growing proportion of these audience go online for their news. The shift in media consumption necessitated a renovation in media practice. Therefore, the need to attain a level of IT proficiency in media operations such that drives the media with an ease for survival in the face of constant technological innovations through the digitization of the electronic media.

The deregulation of the Nigerian electronic media in 1992 paved way for the convergence of the traditional and new media in electronic media practice as is seen today. Media organizations such as: Channels Television, Silverbird Television, African Independent Television (AIT), Television Continental (TVC) and radio states of Cool 96.9 FM, The Beat 99.9FM, and Rhythm 93.7 FM hastened the process which served as motivation for government owned media to get on board the new media. Perhaps, the electronic media in Nigeria may have been steps behind from where it is today but for deregulation. Chioma (2014), opines that deregulation launched a new vista to broadcasting in Nigeria as there was an enormous improvement in the overall quality and delivery of broadcasting through: better picture quality, variety in programming, modernization of equipment, better skilled broadcast personnel, open door for partnership with foreign news media, attracted Nigerian broadcasters abroad, and more channels through which the audience could gratify their needs.

It is evident today that the deregulation was a step in the right direction; birthing the convergence of traditional and new media in Nigeria which began from the private sector of the industry. Electronic broadcasting in Nigeria have been launched by a couple of radio and television stations on the World Wide Wibe, through social media platforms such as: Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and live streaming of programs.  This reveals a deliberate step in the right direction towards the attainment of global best practices in broadcasting. Ajayi, Chioma, Evaboren, Folarin, and Lawal (2016) citing Kombol (2008), posit that the expanding capacity of communication channels enables the media provide better possibilities of interactive system through digitization. Since 2006 when the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) set a global mandate for the digitization of global electronic media, the Nigerian broadcast industry has aligned itself towards this goal, and has since been working towards the attainment of digitizing its entire electronic media. An objective discourse of the prospects, and challenges of deregulation, new media and digitization on media practitioners within the industry forms the core focus of this chapter.

 

ELECTRONIC MEDIA DEREGULATION IN NIGERIA

The debut of broadcasting in Nigeria can be traced to the introduction of the British Empire Service in Nigeria in 1932; which established its repeater station in Victoria Island Lagos where information was disseminated to major towns and cities in Nigeria through the wired wireless device called re-diffusion box (Raufu, 2011); Opubor, Akingbulu, and Ojebode (2010). Man’s constant need for information called for the extension of the relay stations to other major cities in

Nigeria like Ibadan, Kano, Enugu and Abeokuta. From here, broadcasting began to grow in leaps and bounds albeit with only radio being the source of broadcast information. It was not until twenty-seven years after, before Nigeria citizens were introduced to what is today known as television with the establishment of Western Nigerian Television in 1959 by the Obafemi Awolowo led Western Government.

Broadcasting in Nigeria was since monopolised by the government (at federal and state levels) until 1992 when the General Ibrahim Babangida military government signed the National Broadcasting Decree 38 into law – commercializing broadcasting in Nigeria, and establishing an organized regulatory system. According to the Open Society Foundation (2010 p.53), the functions of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as stipulated in Section 2(1) of the 1992 Act include: government advisory on broadcast policy/policy implementation, broadcast licensing, establishing industry code and ethics, determining and applying sanction for defaulting broadcast organizations, among other.

Deregulation was a welcome development to broadcasting in Nigeria which had been a propaganda tool in the hands of the government. By January 1998, the NBC had licensed three radio stations, and nine television stations. This marked the beginning of the dissemination of “unbiased information on matters pertaining to national development and government activities” and an assortment of stations to meet viewing needs (Media Rights Monitor, 1997).  Ariye (2010), posits that deregulation had positive socio-cultural, and economic impact on the industry and the country at large. At the socio-cultural impact level, broadcasting became a vehicle for social change, propagating the rich culture of the Nigerian people, as well as bridging communication gap between the country and the west. The Nigerian broadcast industry became a viable sector; providing meaningful contributions to the economy in areas of capital investments, and better employment opportunities for media practitioners.

Despite these gains, there were various concerns with deregulation.  For one, the call for deregulation was largely motivated by political rather economic interests. Prior to the deregulation, opposition parties were denied access to the electronic media which was monopolized by the ruling party. Hence deregulation was an opportunity for opposition parties to reply or refute allegations against them by the ruling party (National Open University of Nigeria, nd). This is still the case today. With private ownership that has allowed individuals and organizations with political interest become stakeholders in the broadcast industry, the electronic media in Nigeria today has become a major communication/campaign channel for political parties.   

 

DIGITIZING THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN NIGERIA

One of the most current and challenging issues in the media landscape especially broadcasting is digitisation; which established literature sees as a necessary development that would take broadcasting to the next level. Severin and Tankard (2001) in Okon and Ihcjirika (2014 p. 1), equating digitisation with internet noted that the "advent of the internet is arguably the biggest game changer in communication since the invention of broadcasting." Unarguably therefore, broadcasting industry in Nigeria and of course the world over is going through a period of transformation which would change the scope of radio and television broadcasting in this country and beyond.

A major milestone was achieved on June 16, 2006 at a historic international conference organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency of United Nations in Geneva Switzerland. The conference had representatives of 104 countries including Nigeria in attendance. As a symbol of commitment to the pact to replace the existing, old analogue television broadcasting, participants signed and adopted a treaty agreement at the end of the conference. Before the 2006 conference, there had been series of engagements among stakeholders in the broadcasting industry, prominent among which was a conference in May 2004, tagged RRC-04 which set the pace for the Geneva conference. The Geneva conference as noted in the Media Policy Briefing (nd:6), among other things

1. Laid down principles for modification of the plan and procedures for coordination of frequency assignments within ITU.

2. Set a start date for transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting for 17 June 2006 while the deadline was set for 17th June, 2015.

So many countries of the world including United States of America and many other European countries have since completed the migration process from analogue to digital television broadcasting. While some radio stations across the world do on-line streaming, the digital systems for sound broadcasting is still in the embryonic stage with no date yet set for the end of FM and AM radio. In order to meet up with ITU’s deadline, Nigeria set June 12, 2012 as deadline for the digital switchover but as in many other important projects in the country, the set date failed and June 17, 2015 was set as another date which also was not actualised. This is probably why some scholars have concluded that digital transmission in Nigeria is a mirage (Oshodin 2009 p.1). Nevertheless, digitisation cannot be a failed project in Nigeria, otherwise, as

scholars observed, Nigeria would be a “dumping ground” for other countries. (Ihechu & Uche 2012). Aside this, there are many advantages of digital migration which audience members in Nigeria and the content producers should benefit from. Ocholi (2009, p.2) quoted in Ihechu & Uche (2012 p.1) opined that:

Since technology has opened a world of possibilities for broadcasting, a huge spectrum will be available for radio and television broadcast in the country. As a result, more frequencies or wavelengths will be available for television stations in the country. It will also afford the industry opportunities for interactive broadcasting as the television sets would now do much more than receive signals.

 

Moreover, digitisation offers economic advantage in that conversion of programmes from analogue to digital forms of storage, retrieval and editing is easier and saves time; the audience members also enjoy improved programme quality in terms of clearer voice and video transmission Israel (2015). Also, Media Policy briefing (nd:7), identified more advantages of digitisation to audience members thus:

i. Efficient use of available spectrum which will allow more channels to be carried across fewer airwaves, thus bringing more choice to the viewer. Digitization permits the broadcasting of four to six more television channels from only one in the current analogue system. This means that a substantial part of the broadcast spectrum will be freed up for other uses.

ii. Higher quality audio (sound) and video (images), including the possible deployment of High Definition Television (HDTV).

iii. Digital television signals can carry extra information such as electronic programme guides that can provide additional programme and schedule information.

iv. Interactive programming (two-way data exchanges)v. Mobile reception of video, internet and multimedia data.

 

 

 

 

 

ELECTRONIC MEDIA CONVERGENCE

 Digital broadcasting is in fact taking over the traditional approach to broadcasting in Nigeria.  As the world becomes a global village in the words of Marshal McLuhan, “content is becoming increasingly digitalised: whatever the type of signal, it can all become undifferentiated bits of data converged onto the same platform.” (McPhillips, and Merlo, 2008). The term: media convergence became well known around late 1970s when Nicholas Negroponte, used the term to define the communication technology overlap of three separate industries – the broadcast industry, the print industry and the computer industry (Fidler, 1997). Since then, the term has been understood and used differently by many authors based on their areas of specialisation in the field of journalism.

In an attempt to define media convergence, Jenkins (2001), outlines five distinct processes of: technological, organic, economic, cultural and global (Jenkins, 2001).  McPhillips, and Merlo (2008), opine that media convergence is the ability to deliver different media channels via one digital platform. They state further that media convergence is creating a new media age. Convergence in its technological sense is the ability of different network platforms to carry essentially similar kind of services. It is a massive interconnection of digital technologies - wires or wireless (e.g. blue tooth), voice or data, terrestrial or space. Presently, radio and television broadcasts are now possible via the internet over telecommunication networks and internet services possible through satellite, cable and terrestrial television broadcast networks (Asthana, and Panda, 2002).

Ekwo U. (2011) citing Erdal (2009), describe convergence within and between media organizations as one of the newest catalysts for change experienced by media practitioners in the 21st century. Erdal further noted that the radio, television, mobile phones, and the internet have fused into a multiple media platform that offers integrated news delivery to media consumers. Put simply, converging technologies combine numerous technologies into one. As a result, convergence and new technologies are inseparable twins because without one, there cannot be another. The divergent views of various authors on convergence and modern technologies quoted above corroborate this idea.

There as many views about the economic benefits of convergent as there are of convergence itself. Garrison and Dupagne (pp. 8 &9), opine that at the institutional level, economic convergence has produced mixed, if not disappointing, results. They further quoted convergence advocate Robert Decherd, chairman and chief executive of Belo, a leading media group that

owns a newspaper-television combination in Dallas, as questioning the economic expectations of this type of integration. Although, it is an incontrovertible fact that “the new media age” is bringing with it “new sources of complexity and uncertainty”, yet, “evidence suggests that the media industry can also embrace this evolution, as there is a wealth of opportunities emerging from the evolving media business model.” (McPhillips, and Merlo, 2008). They further look at the media consumers and concluded that “large audience sizes are declining as more channels and vehicles emerge and audiences are spread more thinly across different media opportunities.”

The implication of this is that when media converge, it would become increasingly difficult for advertisers to reach specific target audience as they become widely dispersed over all the available media of communication. Another strong point against economic convergence of the media is the fact that media consumers are exposed to lots of advertisements on a daily basis, and seem to come across advertisements wherever they turn whether on the billboard, the cell phone, internet, television or even radio. This overwhelming exposure can easily make members of the audience choose which of the messages to hold on to, through the process of selective retention. This also has implications for the advertisers who struggle to catch up with the competitors who equally make use of these vast arrays of media outlets. The advertisers therefore tend to spend more on advertisements and the results more often than not are not commensurate with the efforts.

 

How Convergence and New Technologies Work

The practicality of the electronic media convergence is viewed from different perspectives by different authors. Ekwo (2011), quoting some authors (Huang et al. 2006; Lawson-Borders, 2006; Grant & Wilkinson, 2009; Quinn & Filak,2005; Brooks, Kennedy, Moen, & Ranly, 2004; Deuz, 2004; Gordon, 2002; Jenkins, 2006; Menon, 2006), expresses a view from the perspective of ownership convergence such as mergers and media conglomerates, technological convergence of media organizations, and as cross-media collaboration, partnership, and sharing of content. He further states that whether conceptualized as integration and digitization, content convergence, form convergence, technological convergence, or corporate convergence, media convergence represents the future of the media industry.

There has however been the question of whether or not convergence and new technologies have been a blessing or a curse both to the media owners as well as media consumers. Firstly, is the problem of owning several equipment that can perform similar functions. For instance, one can own a phone that has a radio, television as well as internet facility and at the same time own a

laptop which can be used for internet activity where one can access on-line radio and television stations. One may need the laptop for proper viewing of the downloaded materials from the internet. In addition, the necessity of the technological convergence has also been brought to the front burner for discussion. As an example, LG has made a microwave that has a television set, which allows the user to watch the TV through-out the cooking time. Such television set cannot possibly serve as the household television set.

In a study of media convergence at Media General’s Tampa News Center, Garrison and Dupagne (2003), agreed that technological convergence is not without its critics. Citing Noll (2003), who argued that just because television sets increasingly incorporate digital components does not mean that television and computers are merging into a single home appliance; they conclude that media digitization does not mean that the media have converged (Garrison and Dupagne (2003) p. 7). The question then is whether technological convergence is necessary or not.  

Characteristics of Converged Media

Lee (2003) citing Manovich (2001), identified the following characteristics of a converged media which he refers to as digital media:

1. New media is analogue media converted to a digital representation.  In contrast to analog media, which is continuous, digitally encoded media is discrete.

2. All   digital media (text, still images, visual or audio time data, shapes,3-d spaces)   share  digital  code.   This   allows different   media   types   to   be displayed using one machine – a   computer – which acts as a multimedia   device.

3. New media allows for random access. In contrast to a film or video tape, which store data sequentially, computer storage devices make it possible to access   any data element equally fast.

4. Digitization inevitably involves loss of information. In contrast to an analog   representation contains a fixed amount of information.

5. In contrast to analog media where each successive copy loses quality, digital   encoded   media can   be   copied   endlessly without degradation.

6. New media is interactive.  In contrast   to old media where the   order   of presentation   is fixed, the user can now interact with a media object. In the process of interaction, the user can choose which elements to display or which path to follow thus generating    a unique   work.  In this way the user becomes the co- author of the work.

 

Implications of Convergence and New Technologies on Electronic Media

Convergence which can also be called digitization has made possible merging of communication technologies. Omolade (2010 p. 10) citing DeFleur & Dennis (1998), observed that the digital world of computers has merged with virtually all communication technologies, creating a communication revolution. This “communication revolution has brought with it lots of changes to the electronic media:

i. The recorded audio and video programmes need to be copied severally for use and re-use. One of the strong points of converged technology is the ability to copy programmes without loss of quality. Put differently, the quality of reproduction of a well-recorded video is not dependent on the storage or transmission medium provided the quality of the conversion and compression processes is good.

ii. Also on the ability of digital video to retain quality, communication networks developed for carrying data can carry digital video and audio over unprecedented distance without quality loss. This has impacted digital television so much so that problems of interference, fading-in and out and multipath reception common with analogue broadcasting have been eliminated.

iii. New technologies have also impacted electronic media in the way the digital camera works. Today’s digital camera contains charged devices with an indefinite life and they also need not to warm up before they can begin to work. It is capable of producing very sharp objects. Its lightening capacity can be adjusted to accommodate bright light, dim light and studio situation.

iv. Heavy-weight U-matic tapes and Camera now belongs to the archives; today, news men working in a converged environment make use of light-weight cameras with an integrated, detachable videocassette recorder which has the capacity to capture both sound and pictures at the same time. Convergence and new technologies have brought about both reduction in equipment size as well as improved quality which is also accompanied by reliability and ease of use. The programme being recorded can also be checked for quality on the scene of the recording.

v. Still photography has also benefited from the largesse of convergence and new technology. The old photographic methods where a single picture shot goes through many stages from snapping to development of negative to printing have become obsolete. It is possible with the aid of new technology to store-up an entire television picture in a bank of computer memory known as Frame Store. With this convergence of

digital still camera with the computer and other electronic gadgets, pictures can be offered to the vision mixer in the studio control room, or direct to a videotape machine. With this, pictures can be cued up for use for transmission one after the other. This arrangement makes it possible to cut directly from one video clip to another.

vi. Yorke (2002 p.152) quoted in Omolade (2010) observed that digital technology has enabled equipment to become smaller, cheaper and more efficient. Communication problems have virtually been eliminated by these compact digital equipment of telephone, e-mail and computer network facility.

vii. News content on television has been made real immediate with the availability of long-distance relay techniques which also work with portable and very compact equipment. The traditional television medium was characterised by obsolete content where newsmen depended only on newsreel films containing content of events that happened weeks before it is brought to the homes of the viewing audience.

viii. The advent of Digital video broadcasting (DVB) “a worldwide initiative to replace the current analogue-based television systems with digital services” brought lots of advantages ranging from interactivity, more channels for viewing audience to choose from, competition and general better service to television service the world over (Omolade p. 21). 

ix. The internet is another technology that has brought unprecedented developmental changes to the broadcast industry. The internet has transformed and increased the sources of information available to both programme and news makers. The increased sources of information and the ease with which they can be found, made possible through the availability of the internet have given news on both radio and television a face lift. Today, it is possible to record a programme on the Sony Digital Voice Recorder or camera, connect same to the laptop without having to play the programme all through, the computer can then be connected to mobile phone and this can be downloaded in the newsroom instantly.

 

Implications of Electronic Media Convergence on the Regulatory Body:

Mass media especially the electronic media play vital roles in the development of every society, in line with this, “Broadcasting regulatory bodies play a vital role in making the existence of independent, professional, responsible and pluralistic broadcasting possible” (http://www.coe.int/justice/). To conform with the convergence in the media industry, the

broadcasting regulatory bodies also need to converge to ensure steady growth of the industry. This was the view of Lanre Ajayi, President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), who spoke with THISDAY, (2012) on the Federal Government of Nigeria’s approval of the merger of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and National Communications Commission (NCC). According to him, "it is just appropriate that NCC and NBC merged into a single large regulator in order to move the country forward,"(THISDAY, 2012). The merger of regulatory bodies in the broadcast industry is not peculiar to Nigeria, in fact, it should rather be said that Nigeria is borrowing a leaf from other developed nations of the world in this regard. Fell (2007), cited examples of United Kingdom where “five regulators were merged into one converged regulator, Ofcom, which unites spectrum and content regulation.” She also mentioned Bosnia and Herzegovina where the same has been done. In Italy, however, convergence brought about the establishment of a regulatory body as “no regulatory authority existed beforehand.” Fell (2007 p: 9). The regulatory body called AGCOM was established in 1997, in anticipation of media convergence. Lisa di Feliciantonio (2007). The country of Botswana presents another example of how unconverged regulatory bodies work in converged media environment. According to Jean-François Furnémont (2007 p. 56)

… in a country where convergence of the regulators was impossible, and not necessarily desired by the various actors, an agreement was reached (in 2006) regarding co-operation between the authorities, establishing a formal network where all would meet to consult on policy and exchange information. The Belgian case is therefore an example of where close co-operation offers an alternative to convergence.

 

National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) regulates to cover four main areas which need close attention in the digital era:

1. Technical Area: the purpose is to ensure that frequencies do not clash – that there is alignment or harmony in the spectrum assigned to stations. This means that as broadcast spectrum will be freed up for many users, NBC must ensure fair and equal distribution of the spectrum.

2. Social Regulation: NBC code looks at the fact that broadcasting stations do not broadcast harmful contents to vulnerable members of the society. As more contents are made available on the broadcast spectrum, it becomes imperative and challenging for the NBC to scrutinize the huge contents made available by various content providers 

3. Economic Regulation: NBC regulates the economic activities in the industry. It ensures that the economy of the broadcasting industry is sustainable. This becomes a uphill task for the NBC as many channels will be available for advertisers to market their products and have wider reach to consumers. This is in line with Ekeh (2009, p. 2) assertion that: “The migration of television from the traditional television set to the mobile device will portend a whole new world of opportunity to advertisers wishing to reach customers and prospects and to the entire advertising industry itself.”  NBC therefore needs to do more work to ensure that the end justifies the means for the broadcasters.

4. Consumer Regulation: consumer interacts with the broadcasting service provider. Is he or she getting value for his money? The regulation will be seriously applied in the digital landscape to ensure consumers get value for their money.

 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Converged Regulation

Fell (2007:10) identified some advantages and disadvantages of converged

Regulation:

1. streamlining tasks and staff, thereby cutting the cost of regulation;2. a clearer identification of the regulator by the general public; or3. the “one-stop shop” for the industry to name only some of the most

frequently quoted.

The disadvantages she identified include the following:

1.  the possible lack of transparency of a large regulator;

2. diminished accessibility for the consumer;

3. differing agendas of the various sections united in a converged regulator; or

         the potential risk of one section dominating the other.

 

PROSPECTS FOR NIGERIAN MEDIA PRACTITIONERS

The gains of digitization for media practitioners in Nigeria is enormous:

1. It reduces cost of production for media practitioners. The space used for digital recording is less compared with the extravagant tape usage of the professional analogue recorders. In a digital world, information recorded   is discrete and can be packaged densely on the medium without loss of quality; because digital recordings take up less space, storage cost is reduced. Electronic and digital tapes which come very and handy can also be cleaned up and be re-used.

2. Contents on radio and television have also been improved by new technology through digital audio processing and desktop workstations and servers. (Anderson 1999) quoted in Omolade (2010 p.21) while supporting this idea says for several years, electronic media depended on analogue processes, “the video signals from camera to television picture-tube changed brightness variation as the scene’s image was scanned.”  However, signals processed this way can easily lose their original quality as pass through different analogue machines before they reach their final destination. This explains various obstructions ranging from background noise to different video on another audio, unsolicited effects etc common with television viewing of yesteryears.

3. Editing with a reel-to-reel tape was very cumbersome not to mention the stress of transcribing recorded a reel-to-reel tape or an audio cassette. This has been taken care of with the emergence of mini-disk recorders and tapes which later metamorphosised into compact disks and now Digital Video Disks or Digital Versatile Disk (DVD). It can contain a minimum of 4.75 gigabytes of data which is the full length of a film. DVDs are useful as a means of digital representation of movies and for films where sound and graphics are combined.

4. Non-linear editing is another blessing of convergence to electronic media. With the advent of digital video and portable personal computers, non-linear editing has been made possible. This process enables the video editor go back to his work to edit a particular scene without having to work on the entire project. New technology has made this possible as the raw video footage is digitalized and also stored in a digital memory. With the digitalized equipment, and computers with special editing software like U-lead, the video editor can edit his work to fit-in a specific time and he can also decide the order in which he would like each scene to be played. The digital voice recorder works the same way for radio.

5. Another advantage of non-linear editing brought about by new technology is that the user can replay any part of the recorded video or audio clips in an instant without any

interruptions. When the video clips have edited and assembled, whatever is done to any of the assembled clips in terms of editing, adding and deleting does not affect the assemblage. The number of times a particular video clip is played or opened does not adversely affect its quality.

6. Non-linear editing also saves a lot of time. The time wasted during the time of cutting and tapping the two edges together in linear editing is eliminated with digital editing. Digitally edited materials are also compatible with transmission equipment.

7. It provides an avenue through which media practitioners in Nigeria can change the negative representation of Nigeria and Nigerians by the western media through new media technologies (NOUN, nd, p.101)

 

CHALLENGES FOR NIGERIAN MEDIA PRACTITIONERS

 

1. Using the entire spectrum space to the transmission of high definition image may result in loss of broadcasters’ audience share to cable service providers and the internet

2. Digitisation is also confronted with the technical challenge. This, according to Ihechu et al (2012) is twofold as the broadcaster would have to acquire new digital equipment for production and transmission while the broadcast audience would have to acquire digital compliant viewing sets since digital television broadcasts will only be received on integrated digital TV sets / receivers or set top boxes connected to the analogue TV set. Those who cannot afford digital television sets at the first instance will have to purchase set top boxes that would be connected to their analogue tv sets in order to keep watching television. This challenge is probably responsible for several postponements of the switch over dates in Nigeria.

3. Fallout of technical challenge of digitisation is financial challenge. Quality broadcast equipment are both expensive and scarce in Nigeria. As with technical challenge, financial challenge also affects both the broadcasters and the television audience. Both parties would require huge amount of money to purchase digital equipment for production/transmission and signal reception respectfully.

4. Illiteracy is another challenge confronting digitisation. A large section of Nigeria population has no formal education; those with formal education probably also have dearth of knowledge as far as digitisation is concerned. It therefore behoves the government, the regulatory body and other stakeholders in the broadcast industry to

embark on serious sensitisation programme that would bring awareness to the doorsteps of all and sundry starting with the media professionals themselves.

5. Need for training of broadcast specialists on the digitisation processes and operations of the digital equipment is also another challenge. Chioma (2014), posits that one of the core post-deregulation challenges of electronic broadcasting in Nigeria is the inadequate training for broadcast professionals to facilitate that swift switch from analogue to digital broadcasting. Huge investments would have to be made by the government and commercial broadcasters in this regard.

 

 

CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS:

Digitisation has a lot of advantages as it enables multiple channel reception with clearer sound and picture. Partnership and programme exchange is also possible in the digital landscape. It also offers more economic advantage to broadcasters, advertisers and content producers. However, digitization is also confronted with many challenges. It is against this backdrop that the following recommendations are made:

1. Government and regulatory body should make concerted and deliberate efforts to make information available in language that non-experts can understand.

2. Regulatory body and broadcasters should ensure good content production in the digital era

3. “There should be an upscale in capacity building as a form of training of the trainers with a view to ensuring a strong knowledge base among information workers so as to facilitate a seamless word of mouth acculturation.” Okon et al (2014)

 

 

Summary/Conclusion

Whether conceptualized as integration and digitization, content convergence, form convergence, technological convergence, or corporate convergence, media convergence represents the future of the media industry. (Ekwo 2011). Therefore, in the face of this convergence upheaval some

things remain constant, journalists must still adhere to the rules of good journalism – namely truthfulness, trustworthiness, accountability and credibility (Lasica, 1996). With these, all the developments in the media industry will be used to ensure that good quality programmes are delivered to members of the audience.

 

REFERENCES

Ajayi, O., Chioma, P.E., Evaboren, B., Folarin, O., and Lawal, A. (2016). Synergy between

Conventional Television Broadcasting in Nigeria and the New Media in the Era of Digitization. In SSRG International Journal of Communication and Media Science. Volume 3 Issue 1. 2016.

 

Alejandro, J. (2010). Journalism in the Age of Social Media. Reuters Institute for the Study of

Journalism. University of Oxford. P. 4, 5.

 

Asthana M.K. and Panda D.M.R. (2002). Technology Convergence: The Human Perspective.

Delhi Business Review Vol. 3, No. 1, January - June 2002. http://www.delhibusinessreview.org/v_3n1/dbrv3n1a.pdf (Accessed 28 December, 2012)

Ariye, E.C. (2010). The Impact of Private Broadcasting in Nigeria. In Pakistan Journal of

Social Sciences. Vol. 7 (6) 2010.

 

Chen,G. (2012). The Impact of New Media on Intercultural Communication in Global

Context. In China Media Research 8(2), 2012. P.1

 

Chioma, P.E. (2014). A Comparative Evaluation of the Pre and Post Deregulation Challenges

Broadcasting in Nigeria. In Journal of Research and Development. Vol.1, No.8, 2014.

 

Ekeh, D. (2009). Nigeria television at 50: Challenge of digitization. Retrieved from

http://www.tvnews.com/articles_comment/ekehdesmond.html

Ekwo U. (2011). The impact of media convergence on Africa's democracy: A Nigerian  

perspective. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses http://udini.proquest.com/view/the- impact-of-media-convergence-on-pqid:2267087211 (Accessed 28 December, 2012)

 

Fell J. E. (2007). Media convergence and the implications for media regulation; in

Converging media –convergent regulators? The future of broadcasting regulatory authorities in South-Eastern Europe Conference organised by the Council of Europe and the OSCE Mission to Skopje, 1-2 October 2007, Skopje. http://www.coe.int/justice/

 

 Fidler, R. (1997). Mediamorphosis: Understanding New Media. Thouthsand Oaks, CA: Pine

Forge Press.

Garcia-Murillo, M., & MacInnes, I. (2003). The impact of technological convergence on the

regulation of ICT industries. The International Journal on Media Management, 5, 57

67.http://edu.learnsoc.org/Chapters/3%20theories%20of%20sociology/3%20convergence%20theories. htm (Accessed 28 December, 2012)

 

http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/16984/53990219.pdf?seque. (Accessed 28

December, 2012)http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/40857_9.pdf

 

Ihechu I. P. & Uche U. (2012). The Challenges of Digitization of Broadcasting in Nigeria.

New Media and Mass Communication www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3267 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3275 (Online) Vol 5, 2012. Accessed on Sunday 24/07/2016

 

Israel O.O. (2015). Digital Broadcasting and Its Impact on Nigeria. International Journal of

Modern Sciences and Engineering Technology (IJMSET) ISSN 2349-3755; Available at https://www.ijmset.com Volume 2, Issue 3, 2015, pp.79-83

 

Jean-François Furnémont When and how? The process and timing of convergence of

regulators in Converging media –convergent regulators? The future of broadcasting regulatory authorities in South-Eastern Europe Conference organised by the Council of Europe and the OSCE Mission to Skopje, 1-2 October 2007, Skopje. http://www.coe.int/justice/

Jenkins, H. (2001). Convergence? I Diverge. Technology Review. v.104, 5, 93.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_convergence (Accessed 28 December, 2012)

 

Lasica, J.D. (1996). Net Gain: Journalism’s Challenges in an Interactive Age. American 

Journalism Review. 20-33.

Lisa di F. (2007). Structure and functioning of converged regulators – best practices. The

future of broadcasting regulatory authorities in South-Eastern Europe Conference organised by the Council of Europe and the OSCE Mission to Skopje, 1-2 October 2007, Skopje. http://www.coe.int/justice/

Lee, W.C. (2003). Clash of the Titans: Impact of the Convergence and

Divergence on the Digital Media. Master of Science Thesis in the Management of Technology.

McPhillips S. and Merlo O., (2008). The Marketing Review, 2008, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 237-253

doi: 10.1362/146934708X337663 ISSN1469-347X print / ISSN 1472-1384 online ©Westburn Publishers Ltd.

Media Policy Briefing No 2 (nd). Digitization of Broadcasting in Nigeria. Nigeria

Community Radio Coalition. www.nigeriacommunityradio.org. Accessed on Sunday 24/07/2016

National Open University of Nigeria (nd). Issues in Mass Media in Nigeria.

 

Okon G. B and Ihcjirika W. C (2014). The 2015 Deadline for Digitization of Broadcasting

and Awareness/Knowledge Ratio among Information Workers in Port Harcourt. Communication and Media Studies Vol I No I February, 2014, pp40-48

 

Okonji E. (2012) Nigeria: FG Okays NCC, NBC Merger in THISDAY NEWSPAPER

(24thAugust, 2012) http://allafrica.com/stories/201208240303.html (Accessed 28 December, 2012)

Omolade B. (2010). The Impact of Convergence of New Technologies on The Electronic

Media. Unpublished Master of Arts Thesis in Mass     Communication, University of Lagos, Nigeria

 

Opubor A., Akingbulu A., and Ojebode A. (2010) Broadcast media policy in Nigeria: Across

many dispensations. African Communication Research, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2010)

 

Oshodin, D. (2009). Nigeria’s digital migration a mirage?

http://www.bizcommunity.com/articles/157/66/39687.html

 

 

Raufu, G. (2011) Mass Media and the Society: Issues and Perspectives: Lagos: Kagor

International