The Nigerian media landscape
Last year, I wrote about “Public Relations practice in Nigeria. It’s a topic I am very passionate about but I did not expect it to resonate as much as it has — it’s currently my most read article on Medium.
In that article, I touched on media relations. But given the feedback I have received, I thought I might do a follow-up article with a focus on the media in Nigeria.
However, after writing this article about two weeks ago, I couldn’t share it because, in an attempt to make it impersonal and avoid mentioning names, it seemed incomplete. But with the saddening loss of Dan Foster to Covid-19, I became convinced that I had to tell the story, I wanted to tell against all odds. More so, after reading a tribute which referenced “Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them,” by American hip-hop duo Blu & Exile. I also did not just want to talk about media fragmentation, anyone can read up on that in the mediaReach OMD publication, mediafacts. I wanted to provide some context for my Generation Z readers who have expressed how enlightening Public Relations practice in Nigeria is, and hopefully for Generation Alpha and those to come.
The media pre-democracy
In the ’80s and early ’90s terrestrial television was big in Nigeria. Everyone watched programmes of the national broadcaster, The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Although pay-television (pay-TV) was launched in the mid-90s, acquisition costs just like mobile telephones were way above the reach of the average Nigerian family.
So, Christiane Amanpour or Richard Quest weren’t household names. Rather, Nigerians tuned to NTA News at 9, and our heroes were Cyril Stober, Eugenia Abu and Ruth Benamaisia Opia among others. On Sundays Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the incumbent chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, and Frank Olize anchored the magazine show, Newsline. Families also gathered to watch primetime TV shows including, “Behind the Clouds,” “Checkmate,” “Cockcrow at Dawn,” “Mirror in the Sun” and “New Masquerade.”
Magazines also thrived. Hard and soft sell. For soft sell, Hints with the famous “Fatherhood with Ibe” column by Ibe Kachikwu who later became Minister for State, Petroleum Resources, and Super Story by Wale Adenuga were widely read. The weekly Newswatch and TELL magazines were highly respected. And national dailies were trusted news sources.
In the south, the radio was the least popular medium. This changed, however, after Nigeria transitioned to democracy in 1999.
The media post-democracy
The liberalisation of the broadcast industry at the turn of democracy led to a proliferation of privately-owned radio and television stations. Furthermore, telecommunications evolution drove down telephone and pay-television costs. Two GSM operators — MTN and Econet Wireless — launched their services in Nigeria. And MultiChoice introduced its smaller and more affordable Ku-band satellite dishes.
Telecommunications drove two-way conversation and engagement. As mobile phones became widespread and more people got acquainted with international television, Nigerian media witnessed a downward spiral except for radio. But it was Cool FM 96.9 Lagos that changed the game.
In 2000, Cool FM brought African-American Dan Foster aka “The Big Dawg” on board. Foster stole the hearts of many with his stories about his son, prank calls and Sunday morning “Praise Jam” which featured gospel music and teachings from Bishop T.D Jakes, Joe Austin, Myles Munroe and other preachers. Praise Jam eventually morphed into a Christmas concert. In essence, The Big Dawg introduced world-class presenting on radio and the era of the on-air-personality (OAP) was born. Fans wanted to know this American voice on Nigeria radio. They finally got their wish in 2007 when Foster featured as a judge on West African Idol.
Foster left Cool FM and joined Inspiration FM in 2009. He positioned the station as “family radio.” Following his success, other radio stations began to find niches and that is how they operate till this day. It also marked the beginning of the audience following OAPs and not stations, as many of Cool FM’s audience followed Foster.
The current state of the media
Print media — High operational costs have caused a decline in circulation. And little or no upskilling of journalists has resulted in poor quality output leading to declining advertising revenue and poor remuneration of journalists. So, there is low trust in print media because of a perception that journalists serve their own and the government’s interests. Hence, the middle-class consumer has turned to online media.
Still, the print media remains relevant for breaking news; some top blogs even refer to their front-page stories.
This is because the print media are a major channel which the government uses for public information. As such they are still widely read by government officials, C-level executives, decision-makers and opinion leaders.
Like other media organisations globally, print media organisations are tackling the problem of circulation with their online versions. Nonetheless, the Nigerian print media are facing a challenge of poor integration between the journalist and the uploader of the story. A journalist whose story is published in print has no say as to whether it would appear online and if it does, in what form.
Last year, a print media organisation introduced rate cards. The idea is that a press release is now treated as a sponsored post. Photos also come at an extra cost. Understandably, this organisation is struggling in the face of increased competition from bloggers. However, the organisation does not seem to be getting the model right.
Here’s one scenario. Despite painstakingly including links in a press release, the online team copies and pastes the press release unto the news site without activating the links. Although the story reads click here; there is nothing to click.
Including hyperlinks to other related content or websites and using photos and videos to advance the story are the additional benefits which bloggers offer. Sadly, the print media journalist doesn’t understand this. Until traditional reporters decide to upskill, the advertising revenues of newspapers will continue to dwindle.
As for magazines, hard and soft sell have seen a steady decline in recent years. Trade publications are unpopular, and the few that exist run a subscription model.
Television — Online media might be on the rise, but for the elderly, poor and people living with disabilities, mainstream media especially local television and radio remain their go-to news sources.
Nigeria has tens of television stations including the NTA transmission centres, states run TV stations and some strong privately-owned TV stations which operate regionally on the terrestrial platform but have national coverage on pay-TV platforms.
In Lagos and other big cosmopolitan cities, the populace refers more to privately-owned TV stations for the news while pay-TV channels — and more recently streaming platforms, provide entertainment. In smaller towns and villages, the NTA network and state broadcasters are the main news sources for the locals.
Radio — This is currently the most vibrant medium in Nigeria. Radio listenership cuts across socio-economic strata. Nigerians tune-in at the rush hour to find cheer whilst in traffic. There are local language radio stations which broadcast in Pidgin English — Nigeria’s unofficial bridge language, Hausa and Yoruba. A few community radio stations exist, especially on university campuses, but they’re not among the most listened to.
OAPs have become strong opinion leaders who take their conversations from radio to social media real-time. Thanks to live streaming, the audience now feels more connected to OAPs. Consequently, some OAPs have grown into mega influencers on social media. Some have launched fashion and lifestyle brands and have become just as popular as celebrities in film or sport.
The online media — The internet has broken media barriers in the last decade. Radio stations can now be listened to online from anywhere in the globe through the station’s website or apps such as TuneIn. TV stations can be streamed via apps and most print media now have online versions.
Consumers’ media consumption habits have also changed as a result of higher internet penetration and more affordable smartphones. So, more young people refer to blogs, Twitter, online news sites and more recently, Instagram, for the news.
The widely read blogs are general interest but specialist blogs also exist. For years, the most popular special interest blogs were in tech. However, over the last five years, lifestyle and entertainment blogging has seen a rise. Nigeria has some online-only news sites such as Premium Times and The Cable. YouTubers are on the rise with more and more individuals taking to fashion, film and television, food, health and wellness vlogging.
It is noteworthy that before there was Bellanaija, there was Ovation Magazine. And before there was Linda Ikeji, there was City People. However, the aforementioned bloggers quickly saw an opportunity in digital which the magazine did not. As a result, they have become just as influential as newspaper editors
News agencies — The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is a government-owned service but it is not widely relied on by PR practitioners because of its government influencer. Foreigner news agencies namely; AFP and Reuters are favoured.
Implications for communications practitioners
The sheer number of broadcast media stations makes communications planning daunting. More so, paying for news mentions, radio and TV interviews puts a strain on the communications budget. So, a sizeable budget is required to create an impact.
Although there are some regional newspapers in the northern and southern states, a good number of Nigerians who still rely on print media for news read the mainstream well-known national publications. And except for Daily Trust which has a Hausa version, most newspapers — national and regional — are in English.
As such, press release translation is hardly necessary. However, localisation is key when using radio.
