By Iliya Kure
Nigeria has inaugurated a 15-member committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya, to oversee scientific audience measurement system. This is geared towards attracting increased investment and revenue in the broadcast and advert industries.
Inaugurating the Panel, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the absence of such a measurement system has resulted in under-development in the industries and stunted their growth.
”We are committed to delivering an empirical audience measure system that will catalyze investment in broadcast and advertising industries, ensure the success of the DSO project as well as fire the imagination and boost the morale of creatives.
”We are undaunted by the enormity of the challenges we face in this regard, because we have a bunch of committed, patriotic and hardworking men and women to tackle the challenges headlong,” the Minister said.
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) Limited, a marketing research company based in Lagos, to deliver audience measurement services in Nigeria.
”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 US$309 million, compared to that of South Africa, which was US$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 Nigeria 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 US$400 million revenue or more in the industry in the next three years,” he said
The Minister said a scientific audience measurement system is also critical to the success of the DSO, adding: ”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 contents that consumers will be attracted to.”
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 the established framework for supporting the sustainability of the audience measurement system, independent of the Federal Government; and recommend a payment and disbursement framework among the key stakeholders in the industry, that is; Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON), Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) and Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN).
Alhaji Mohammed also challenged the Task Force to urgently grow the Nigerian television advertisement market to two or three times its current size.
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.”
Other members of the Task Force are 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).