The future of TV is here

John Momah

Channels Television is a free to air, national, privately owned television network serving news and current affairs and entertainment programming to 20 million Nigerians. They currently have 12% of the TV market in Nigeria. A pay-TV offering with movies and shows aimed at those who can’t afford DStv, will be launched later this year. Their payoff line is ‘A network you can trust’ and Channels Television has been voted best television station several years in a row.

Q:  What value did you get from attending the Summit?

A:  Television is no longer linear - it is a device. You carry your TV on the go. Content is king, as we know, but because of the fragmented nature of the industry and how people receive TV content, there is a need for good ratings.

This will affect us. We don’t have a good ratings system in Nigeria. There are questions of integrity. But I think we need a ratings agency like Kantar in Nigeria to give us the confidence in our TV ratings. That is why I am here. I buy into this vision. I buy into this whole set up. It will allow me to have one foot in the door, so that when a measurement system is introduced in Nigeria, we will be a step ahead.

And I hope I will be able to convince my colleagues, who are suspicious.

Q:  Why is standardised media measurement important for Nigeria/Africa?

A:  Everyone will be happy and believe in it. It will help the advertisers to know where to place their adverts. And we all know where we belong and where we can improve. Ultimately the advertiser gets his own benefits… and we will have a global system that is agreeable to all and that all believe in and have confidence in it.

Q:  How would you describe the television market in Nigeria?

A:  Full of potential. We are lead adopters, there is huge opportunity there. We have a huge content industry: movies, music, news and current affairs, news about Nigeria is something people want to know, including people overseas. There are about 24 million televisions in homes, conservatively; I think it is double that, 40-50 million.

And that figure will rise, Nigeria is an aspirant market. There are 180m Nigerians in Nigeria with millions more scattered overseas. Our TV app has been downloaded onto the Android platform 127 million times; and on IOS, 265 million times. The app allows people to watch our content on their phones.

We are hoping to grow our 12% marketing share. There are over 150 TV stations in Nigeria and that number is growing. Revenue comes from advertising and sponsorship.

Q:  What does the future hold for television in Africa?

A:  I would go for content first. Content is the king and the platform is the queen. Content will throw up Africa as a force to be reckoned with. Local content is key for the African continent. We will get to understand ourselves better and better and forge a close knit relationship with ourselves in Africa. Our children will be more educated about the different countries and the rest of the world.

The future of television is here now; all we have to do is embrace it. We take TV everywhere we go now… it is ‘TeleVideo’ not Television and the “truest version” of television.

For every development during our own time, that is the latest development. In 10 years’ time we will snap our fingers and a screen will appear. I don’t know if we are prepared for what is coming.

Q:  What content needs to be produced in Africa?

A:  We want content that will always appeal to our everyday life, that appeals to us and our personal nature, something that we can use to impact on ourselves and our lives, something that will make us happy, provide knowledge, education, health, that is broken down in bits and pieces that require us to assimilate.

That is why the short form works so well on mobile... content we can use on the go. We snap our fingers, and it is there… all the details we need. It will be better for us, the content producers. We already produce 95% of our own content, if not more.