CHAPTER 1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
On June 16, 2006, a resolution on digitalization
for broadcasters in Europe, Africa and Middle East as well as the
Islamic Republic of Iran was reached in Geneva, Switzerland at an
international conference organized by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). A deadline of 17th June,2015 was agreed
upon for the effective take off of digitalization of the broadcast
media.
As part of the resolution, the ITU deadline refers to the
digitalization of TV Broadcasting only, while that of Radio was not
determined yet. Furthermore, the ITU agreement allows for an additional
five years to 2020 for many African countries including Nigeria.
Accordingly, representatives of 120 countries including Nigeria adopted
and signed the digitalization treaty.
The document states, in part: “Digitalization of broadcasting by
2015represents a major landmark towards establishing a more equitable,
just and people-centered information society.
The digital switchovers will leap-frog existing technologies to
connect the unconnected in underserved and remote communities and close
the digital divide.”(Akin Akingbuluet al 2010&KabirGarba 2012) The
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) ,agreement further stated
the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting is based on the
following premise ,improving coverage of digital TV transmission,
ensuring that bandwidth are available for wireless broadband services,
enhancing sound and picture quality, in particular HDTV, enabling more
channels (additional content) and giving unfettered access to digital
radio transmission.
Global Update In full demonstration of the ITU mandate, the global
report of the implementation drive is quite encouraging, as stated in
the just concluded Digital Dialogue Dubai Conference, 2013. The United
Kingdom broadcast media has accomplished its switch over from analogue
to digital between 2005 and 2012. Mike Hughes Broadcast Director,
Digital UK said the implementation team comprised of BBC, ITV4,5,SA/C.
Teletext, SDNARQIVA, and two representatives of manufacturers and
retailers. The project cost about $700 million.
In Africa, Kenya has raised the bar for others. Daniel Obam ,
National Communications Secretariat report; “Kenya had adopted a phased
migration, which would see 10 cities switching over between January
this year and June 2014. As part of the plan, Nairobi and its environs
would migrate on December 13, 2013”.the best thing to happen in the
broadcast media market, since the Nigerian consumer has been taken for a
ride for too long.
“We had been subjected to poor quality services by operators. But
this development wouldenable us move ahead at a speed the world is
moving in broadcasting
The research therefore intends to provide a critical evaluation
of impact of digital broadcasting on electronic media with a case study
of AIT.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The challenge confronted with the
analogue transmission of broadcast media in terms of limitation of area
coverage, poor quality images and sound among others led to the
resolution to the transmission from analogue to digital transmission.
However the attainment of this objective is yet to be determined in
Nigeria. This therefore constitute the problem confronting this
research, to critically evaluate the impact of digital broadcasting on
electronic media, with a case study of AIT.
1 What is the nature of digital broadcasting on electronic media
2What is the impact of digital broadcasting on electronic media
3What are the challenges of digital broadcasting
4What is the impact of digital broadcasting in AIT.
- OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
- To appraise the nature of digital broadcasting in electronic media
- To determine the impact of digital broadcasting in electronic media
- To evaluate the challenges in digital broadcasting in electronic media
- To determine the impact of digital broadcasting in AIT.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
- The study shall provide a conceptual and theoretical framework of the nature of digital broadcasting in electronic media.
- The study shall be of immense value to professionals in the broadcast media
- The study shall serve a reference point of information on digital broadcasting
- STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESIS
1 H0 There is no digital broadcasting AIT
H1 There is digital broadcasting in AIT
- H0 The challenge of digital broadcasting in AIT is low
H1 The challenge of digital broadcasting in AIT is high
- H0 The impact of digital broadcasting in AIT is low
H1 The impact of digital broadcasting in AIT is high
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study centers on the critical evaluation of
the impact of digital broadcasting on electronic media .it evaluates
the nature , challenges and the impact of digital broadcasting, with a
case analysis of digital broadcasting in AIT.
Generally, Digitization is a broad term spanning
the media industry including the prints and the electronic media. It is
the representation of an object ,image, sound, document, or a signal
usually an analog signal by a discreet set of its points or sample the
result of these processes are digital representation, digital image for
an object and digital form for a signal.