The Book

Preface:

With revolutionary trends witnessed in media technologies since the twilight of the 20th century, it is necessary to record for posterity, some of those features of living which are subject to change. They marked an era that may soon be forgotten. Today many, especially the youth, are armed with an array of media and communication technologies—terrestrial and satellite television, SMS, twitter, email, even social networking and it may be difficult to imagine a life without these Yet the earlier technologies were forerunners of those which currently mesmerize the world; for that reason the study of television is still relevant in this time. If the curriculum in media or mass communication studies is overly concerned with new media with a diminishing interest in the predecessors of these, society is likely to lose sight of the critical paths through which the media have passed and the vital lessons that such experiences bestow. That would be a great disservice especially for those who have to manage the media today and those who rely on it for their work in society. They should not have to reinvent the wheel, rather they can learn from the experiences of others.

My fascination with television began as a child in Nigeria. I was privileged to be a part of the television generation and was so impressed by the medium that it provoked me to pursue an academic career in Mass Communication. The decision to study such a subject as the media may appear ridiculous in certain quarters, as some wonder what there is to study, and consider there to be more serious subjects to explore. The media, particularly television, appears to be primarily for entertainment. How could investment in studying the media compare with education, the economy and law, ventures seemingly much more profitable for society? What do the media have to contribute? Embedded in these queries is a basic misunderstanding of the far reaching scope and influence of the media. A critical section of society, that is, those in government, appear to have recognised this potential as shall be revealed in this book. By documenting the story of television we present here a basis to examine just what television is, with ample evidence of how ubiquitous the medium is.

Collating an account of fifty years is no mean claim, neither was the research effort. The formal research was conducted in two main phases. The first phase was conducted between January and March 1991. This was part of a larger study about audiences in a Nigerian context. The main concern then was to identify what women were watching and how they make meaning of the messages from television. Titled Receiving Television Messages the complete study is a University of Glasgow doctoral thesis. Due to the desire to generate rich qualitative information about the processes, experiences and explanations for the structures that evolved, ethnographic research techniques were employed in the study. That study was limited to what has been described here as the first and second waves of television in Nigeria, and it focussed primarily on the stations serving a particular area of the country. Because of its peculiar location, Sagamu was in the close proximity of several television stations in the South West of Nigeria—Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta. This (the South West) incidentally is the hub of television industry and it helped to establish the trends in the industry. Existing documentation about television in Nigeria tend to be restricted to the discussion in this area, especially the premier station (Western Nigeria Television-WNTV) and also the National Television Authority-NTA. Information from such publications was augmented by the interviews and observations conducted at the time. In that phase of the study a total of 52 scheduled interviews was conducted with a range of personnel in seven television stations and officials from allied institutions— advertising agencies and the Ministry of Information for example. There were scheduled observations of some of the key processes, for example the NTA’s Network News editorial meeting, as well as the Programmes Department meeting in certain NTA stations. There were also observations and focus group discussions with core personnel in state government owned stations. In other cases, observation was incidental, occurring merely in the process of interacting with individuals within the stations. A lot was gleaned from the comments made by current and ex-staff at the selected organisations. This sort of information had to be used with caution, although such comments sometimes helped to clarify the meaning behind certain observations and more guarded official comments. At other times they were useful leads that informed probing questions during the scheduled interviews.

The second phase of the research conducted in July 2008, was designed to cover the inquiry into the experiences of television in other parts of the nation from the inception of the service. In addition the inquiry was to examine the developments in all parts of the nation since the deregulation of broadcasting in 1992, thus bringing the available record of television in Nigeria up-to-date. This period has been described as the third phase of Nigerian television. As with the earlier study, this was also an ethnographic study, relying largely on interviews, discussions and observations of practices. The design was intended to cover all six geo-political zones, however due to logistics constraints the study visits had to be restricted to a sample of stations in four of these. In all, nine cities, namely Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Enugu, Abuja, Kaduna, Zaria, Kano and Jos were visited. The South-South and North-East zones had to be excluded. However, since some of the interviewees had worked in those areas, there was adequate assurance that the general trends which evolved from the interviews reflected the experiences from those areas as well.

Fifty four formal interviews and discussions were conducted with personnel from fifteen television stations, veteran broadcasters, regulators and audience research bureau. This is not counting the casual discussions which as mentioned earlier prove to be most beneficial in ethnographic studies such as this. In addition the analysis of station documents, in-house publications and others, like press reports gave further insight into the practices and experiences of organisations and the broader trends in the industry. In one instance there was an observation of a press briefing by a CEO of one of the private television stations. Crucial at this stage of inquiry, was the examination of documents and data from the National Broadcasting Commission which was established by decree in 1992. This, as well as the commercial media planning data was important in appreciating the audience’s perspective, as the focus of the study to this point had been limited to encoding and not reception practices. All the above research methods were supplemented with the personal experiences of interacting with the various stations as a teacher of Mass Communication in a Nigerian university and a consultant for nongovernmental organisations in Nigeria especially between 1993 and 2000.

With this design, the book is poised to be a most comprehensive account of television practice in an African context, but there are two clear limitations. The first is the fact that this is essentially a Nigerian story. By delving into the minutiae of the Nigerian experience, there was no scope for comparison with other African television broadcasters. Yet the effort should be regarded as a roadmap for future inquiry into the accomplishments and challenges that confront television broadcasters on the (almost) forgotten continent. The other limitation is also as regards the scope of discussions. This inquiry has not touched on the area of Sports though it is a central service for the viewing pleasure of a section of the audience and also to the financial health of stations. This omission may be regarded as grave but it is a story rich enough to command exclusive attention that future efforts may give.

The above observations reveal the perspective, from which the account is presented, the lenses through which the story of television is refracted. This should be expected in any historical account. The accounts presented here have tried to focus on the institutions and structures as the culmination of the story in Chapter 6 reveals. Though much attention had been given to personal accounts and experiences, this was not with the view to exalt particular individuals above others who were not mentioned. Names had been mentioned to lend credence to the information. At other times, names were withheld to protect the identity of those who had spoken out with candour, to avert any possible reprisals, reduce the controversy that such identities may generate and keep the focus on scholarship. That after all is the aim of the book. A book of this nature should not seek to identify heroes or villains of history, but to tell it as it is in the knowledge that television is nothing without team work. In like manner, the book has aimed to be more than a highlight of great moments, in recognition of the importance of process in production. These considerations had shaped the structuring of the book.

A final point worth mentioning in this preface is the dilemma posed by the intended audience of this book. Because it seeks to appeal to an international market which includes those unfamiliar with the Nigerian terrain and the local politics, a deliberate attempt was made to provide the backdrop to the issues. Some readers may thus find themselves confronted with details that they may regard as obvious, however this need not be so. Such details should help informed (and not so informed) readers to see the intricate relationship between the media, politics and every day life. And when the more informed are tempted to complain that the book is stating the obvious, they should remember that some of the other readers (including a new generation of Nigerians) were not privileged to be living witnesses of much of the fifty years of television in Nigeria.

Oluyinka Esan

• Chapter 1
  Social Context of Television in Nigeria


• Chapter 2
  The Early Days


• Chapter 3
  The Proliferation of Television Service - The Second Wave


• Chapter 4
  Case Studies


• Chapter 5
  The Third Wave Post Deregulation


• Chapter 6
  Organisational Structures in Nigerian Television Houses


• Chapter 7
  Post Script - Conclusions & Visions for the Future