The federal government has challenged African broadcasters to scale up the quality of their content to sustain viewership in the continent.
Addressing participants at the African Union Broadcasting 9th general assembly in Abuja, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, observed that content is the media’s biggest challenge in Africa.
The focus of the conference was on the need for broadcasters to leverage on content to dominate the media space and become catalysts for growth and the Minister challenged the audience to “be the stimulants for growth” and “serve the promotion of culture”.
He warned, “If the issue of content is not addressed urgently, public broadcasters in Africa that once dominated the broadcasting landscape will have no viewers in the next ten years.”
The Director General and officials of the Nigerian Television Authority, National Broadcasting Commission, FRCN, NIGCOMSAT as well as Channels Television were at the conference.
Broadcasters and officials from Nigeria including the Chief Executive Officer of the African Union of Broadcasters identified digitization as a vehicle to enhance services, interactive content and a vibrant media industry that will help grow the economy; a view shared also by the Minister, “This (digital switch) must not be seen as a simple switch from analogue to digital but an opportunity to provide enhanced services.”
After it became apparent that Nigeria would not meet the June 17, 2015 deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union to transit from analogue to digital, the summit rekindled hope for African countries looking towards a greater future for the African media.
