PROTOCOL
Good morning gentlemen, and welcome to the 2018 Creative Industry Summit, with the theme: ”Content – The Future of Nigerian Film and Television in a Digital Era.”
2 This is the second edition of the summit that started last year. The summit has thus become an annual event designed to bring together international and indigenous experts, thought leaders, key players and renowned professionals from the entertainment and media industry, to examine and exchange ideas and innovations, to create sustainable solutions to challenges and harness the full potential of the Nigerian film and television industry.
3. The two-day summit, put together by Think Tank Media and Advertising Limited, in conjunction with The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, was borne and executed out of a desire to urgently transform the Film, Television and Music sectors into a well-structured industry.
4. The first edition that was held last year achieved several milestones;
i) Following the summit, a delegation of the Nigerian Film and Music Industry, led by my humble self, held a piracy stakeholders’ meeting with the Inspector-General of Police, and resulting in the establishment of police anti-piracy units in all the 36 states. The subsequent extensive piracy raids have led to the confiscation of pirated products worth hundreds of millions of Naira.
ii) Granting of Pioneer Status for the Creative industry by the Federal Government to reduce financial burdens on new investments and encourage both foreign and local investments within the industry.
iii) A meeting with the Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) requesting for the provision of stimulus capital for the Creative Industry to be invested through long-tenured single digit debt to private investors to build 100 community cinemas, 6 music Arenas across the geopolitical zones and state-of-the-art Pre and Post production facilities across the country.
iv) Granting of special priority status to international & national investors to access foreign exchange
v) Sovereign guarantee to back up international loans to achieve any of the stated infrastructure projects.
vi) Coordination of an arrangement to establish a world class media services production company that will produce the Premier League, Music Video’s for Artistes, Films for Nollywood and TV shows and soaps for Television.
vii) Setting up of an audience rating and measurement body for Television and Radio, on the back of the ongoing rollout of the Digital Switch Over (DSO).
5. During the intervening period between the inaugural edition and the year’s summit, our personal research has been focused on an understanding of what in particular the customers in the 24 million TV households in Nigeria really want. We have arrived at the findings that the Digitisation of Television required a much deeper understanding of Customers, Content and the quality of delivery of “Video”. Yes, I did not use Television and that is because that is not what people all want to watch. They want to watch videos, however they are delivered, including but definitely not limited to Television.
6. The landscape has changed. The accelerating shift towards mobile delivery continues unabated and a content rekindling has left consumers feeling lost in a sea of available programming. I believe the time to act is now. Media and entertainment companies that want to stay in the game may need to embark upon a holistic, coordinated and integrated programme of digital innovation to focus their resources, investments and capabilities on the things that truly matter.
7. With respect to content consumers in Nigeria, a well-researched survey of what the customers want, where they are, what they watch, want to watch, when and how they want it delivered, does not exist. The stakeholders within the ecosystem of the Digital Switch Over project are unfortunately focused on their immediate economic returns and convenient modules of implementation. But technological growth does not flow along those lines and, in the near future, smart media entities will outstrip all plans, institutions and government power and reach the customer, leaving non-informed players with empty castles.
8. On the issue of content, Nigeria is the clear leader in raw content in Africa. Nollywood, Hip Hop, Afrobeat and our Comedians testify to this. But we are hardly monetizing them either through production, distribution or royalty collection. In fact, with about 20 billion Naira currently expended on the DSO, less than 500 Million Naira has gone into content! It is apparent Nigeria has forgotten that Video, not Television, is about content.
9. And everywhere in the world, Video has exploded via on Demand and Live streaming. Online TV or subscription services are now the norm – YouTube, Netflix, Iroko etc. Video is now delivered via social feeds like Facebook, Wechat, LINE etc. Indeed, Video is the future of media on the web and is competing with scheduled linear TV content for consumer attention. I implore the key players in the DSO project to focus on any of the above.
10. A recent survey done in over 42 countries revealed that expected video consumption on devices over the next 3 years will grow 45% on Mobile, 45% on Internet-enabled TV, 40% on Tablet and 36% on Laptop computers. Traditional TV grew by 0%! This led the researchers to come to the conclusion that Video is not only increasingly consumed from the internet, it is clearly going mobile.
11 TV companies have used their advantage of being first in the homes to introduce data to the homes, thereby not only improving their revenues significantly but securing their roles in the future of Video watching. Some 70% of homes in the U.K get their data from Sky, Virgin or You View. In fact BT, the main telecom operator, rushed to set up their own TV entity acquiring Champions League rights and offering it for free, if you buy data from them. Who is doing this in Nigeria? This is where we have to Play.
12. Very soon the race for content will begin. With a significant increase in the number of distribution channels and a variety of content to choose from, the clear winner will be the media company that invests in high quality original content that has taken into consideration the preferences of the customer. Ultimately, the goal will be to match content with audience expectation and enjoy maximum compensation.
13 Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to use this opportunity to salute all the players in our Creative Industry. They have all made Nigeria proud. Between the 2017 summit and this year’s edition, we have seen a harvest of global recognitions for our Creative Industry players. Mo Abudu and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde were named among the top 50 women doing extraordinary things on the worldwide stage by the Variety Magazine; and prolific author Chimamanda Adichie’s novel, Americanah, was listed in the New York Times’ list of 15 remarkable books by women that are ”shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century”.
14. Also, Wizkid has made history by becoming the first African artiste to sell out the Royal Albert Hall in London, while Davido emerged winner of the 2018 BET Award International Act. Congratulations to all these stars who are making our country proud, and indeed to all of you in the rapidly flourishing Creative Industry
15. Finally, let me assure you that this Administration remains dogged in its determination to grow the Creative Industry and turn it into a Creative Economy. I wish you all fruitful deliberations and I thank you for your kind attention.
