IBADAN TELEVISION STATIONS’ READINESS FOR DIGITAL TRANSITION

Abstract

The National Broadcasting Commission’s (NBC) deadline for broadcast stations in Nigeria to switch from analogue to digital broadcasting has spurred the Ministries of Information and Communications, other regulating agencies and the broadcasting industry to be working round the clock to actualize the objective. This development has come after many failed deadlines for achieving the global mandate set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the June 17, 2017 deadline of the regional Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS). This study assessed the readiness of selected television stations for this digital transmission. 108 staff of the African Independent Television (AIT), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Ibadan Network Centre, MITV, Broadcasting Television of Oyo State (BCOS), Galaxy Television and New Frontiers Television, in Ibadan filled questionnaire copies on staff training, content production, and provision of equipment for digital broadcasting. Findings show that though the stations face some challenges on these critical areas, they are already taking some bold steps in delivering the promised digital broadcasting experience. All regulators and staff and management of television stations need to set achievable timelines capable of bringing this dream to reality in many of the remaining stations lagging behind.

Key words: broadcast, Ibadan, digitization, television