Minister inaugurates audience measurement panel to boost broadcast, advert sector

In a bid to boost investments in Nigeria’s broadcast and advertising industries, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has inaugurated a 15-member audience measurement committee.

At the inauguration, which was held in Abuja, the minister said putting in place a scientific audience measurement system would help the growth of the sector in Nigeria.

According to him, “The absence of a scientific audience measurement system has resulted in under-development in the broadcast and advertising industries and stunted their growth.”

He said: “Nigeria’s broadcast advertising market is punching far below its weight, especially, when the country’s population is taken into account. Despite having a population more than three times that of South Africa, Nigeria’s television advertising market revenue in 2016 was $309 million, compared to that of South Africa, which was $1.3 billion. Nigeria’s broadcast advertising market is also third in Africa, behind that of South Africa and Kenya.

“The immediate challenge before us, therefore, is to bring the under-performing Nigerian TV and radio advertising market to what it should be, which is two or three times what it is now. If we do that, it could result in additional

$400 million revenue or more in the industry in the next three years.”

He noted that the country is committed to delivering an empirical audience measurement system that will catalyse investment in broadcast and advertising industries, ensure the success of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project, as well as fire the imagination and boost the morale of creatives.

He charged the task force to identify best practice audience measurement system that will support the sustainable growth of the Nigerian creative and entertainment industry; supervise an established framework for supporting the sustainability of the audience measurement system, independent of the Federal Government; and recommend a payment and disbursement framework among key stakeholders in the industry: Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) and Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN).

The minister said a scientific audience measurement system is also critical to the success of the DSO, noting: “The existing model will never allow Nigeria’s creative industry to reach its full potential. It stunts the quality of the content that can be created and also limits the capacity of television platforms to invest in dynamic content that consumers will be attracted to.”

He said the inauguration is the culmination of a series of events that included the setting up of the Task Team on Audience Measurement and the selection of First Media and Entertainment Integrated (Nigeria) audience measurement services in Nigeria.

The 15-member committee, which has Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya as Chairman, also has Mr. Femi Adelusi, Mr. Steve Babaeko, Mrs. Bunmi Adeniba, Mrs Jibe Ologe, Mr. Yinka Oduniyi, Mr Guy Murray Bruce, Ms Kadaria Ahmed, Mrs. Pauline Ehusani, Mrs.Ijedi Iyoha, Alhaji Garba Bello Kankarofi, Mrs. Sa’a Ibrahim, Mr. Mahmoud Ali-Balogun, Mr. Obi Asika and Mr. Joe Mutah (Secretary) as members.

Responding, the task force Chairman, Mr. Ogunkoya, promised that his panel would take the charge by the minister very seriously, adding: ‘’If we get this right, we would have done the industry and the nation proud.’’