Gov’t plans TV ad revenues boost

Nigeria’s federal government has unveiled plans to increase the country’s television advertising revenues by up to US$400m.

At the digital switchover (DSO) launch event in Enugu state, Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, said an audience-measurement system (AMS) would be put in place as part of the DSO to boost advertising revenues.

The team in charge of the AMS will comprise representatives from media organisations and authorities such as the National Broadcasting Commission, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria and the Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria, plus various signal distributors.

According to Mohammed, the current market evaluation system falls short and requires improvement. “As it is now, the value of Nigeria’s broadcasting advertising market is not proportionate with its population, when compared to the top three markets in the sub-Saharan Africa region,” he said.

“Despite having a population more than three times that of South Africa, Nigeria’s television advertising revenue in 2016, at US$309m, was 76% behind that of South Africa. In both territories, the value and growth rate of the broadcasting advertising revenue is largely influenced by the availability of a scientific AMS.”

Mohammed urged the cooperation of practitioners in the industry, calling on them to push for the progress of this framework by aiding the government.

tagged in: DSO, Lai Mohammed