Broadcast advertising could generate an additional $400 million for Nigeria within the next three years if the new Audience Measurement Report is implemented, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said.
The minister spoke, on Thursday, when he received the report of the Audience Measurement Task Team virtually.
According to a statement by his Special Assistant, Segun Adeyemi, the minister pledged to implement the report in order to reverse the declining fortunes of the sector.
“As I have said on many occasions, the value of Nigeria’s Broadcast Advertising Market is not proportional to the country’s population, when compared to the top three markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Despite having a population more than three times that of South Africa, Nigeria’s Television Advertising Revenue in 2016 was US$309 million, compared to that of South Africa, which was US$1.3 billion,” Mr Mohammed said.
He said the absence of a world-class Audience Measurement System has resulted in under-investment in the broadcast advertising sector and stunted its growth, unlike the Nigerian film, music, and fashion industries which have grown significantly over the past decade.
He said the report will help the country achieve its objective, which is to totally solve the Audience Measurement issue in Nigeria.
Upon the submission of the report, Mr. Mohammed said the immediate task before the government is to bring the underperforming Nigerian Broadcast Advertising Market to what it should be, which is two to three times its current size.
“The key to achieving that objective is the faithful implementation of the report you are submitting today.”
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”Let me assure you that we will study the report and implement the recommendations, especially the 5-Step Agenda, with the same vigour and commitment that you have employed in putting it together,” he said.
In his remarks during the submission of the report, the former Registrar of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Garba Bello-Kankarofi, said the current Audience Measurement System (AMS) is two decades old, which still uses the old diary method (pen & paper) of collecting data on TV views and radio listeners across key locations in Nigeria.
Mr Bello-Kankarofi said the current practice is challenged by the growing number of television and radio stations, which the Digital Switch Over mandate will further exacerbate hence the need to replace it with a scientific-based Audience Measurement System.
Other members of the Task Team, which was inaugurated by the minister on June 2, are Obi Asika; Sa’a Ibrahim; Mahmoud Alli-Balogun; Pauline Ehusani; Tolu Ogunkoya and Joe Mutah .
The event was attended by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Grace Isu-Gekpe, and the Acting Registrar of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Ijedi Iyoha.
