Denis Opudo
Africa’s biggest and most lucrative Free to Air Television platform will soon be in Nigeria. The building project which was launched by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture will house more than 24 million TV households.
The building was launched in Osogbo, Osun State over the weekend and it was facilitated by the fact that Nigeria is a film hub. Speaking during the launch, the minister said that soon Nigeria will become Africa’s capital for television. Currently, Nigeria remains to be Africa’s capital of music and film.
The transition that Nigeria takes will benefit different people and organizations. For the advertisers, the platform will bring 180 million eyeballs and advanced technology will enable them to reach the target audience. Besides, this technology will make every Naira channeled for advertisement will be worth its value.
Other people who will benefit from the platform include content producers, Nollywood producers, phone companies, electronic manufacturers and State Government.
Besides, the minister said that for 24 million households to access free television channels, plans are underway by mobile companies to leverage set-top boxes. Besides, the new box allows people to take in their home data for playing videos.
Moreover, he said that content producers will begin getting paid with the new system. Instead of paying for their content to be aired, they will be paid. He also asked electronic manufacturers to utilize the opportunity and sell their products to various households. The main products for sale include decoders and television sets.
The platform will also help Nollywood movies be sold even without internet in Nigerian homes. Additionally, Mohammed urged the state officials to utilize the opportunity to publicize Digital Switch Over (DSO).
In April 2016, DSO was launched in Plateau State and currently, these services are available in Enugu, Kwara, and Kaduma states also. The launch of DSO in Osogbo state makes it the fifth state to have these services.
