magazine - Connect-World

Digital broadcasting
seen over much of 2012 shows the market
“appears saturated and tending towards
maturity.” That means nearly all adults in
Kenya, which has a population of about 42
million, has a mobile phone.
The story is the same across most of Africa.
Nigeria’s Communication Commission
reports that mobile-phone subscriptions
have risen to more than 100 million, the
highest on the continent.
Figures from Ghana’s National
Communications Authority show there
are nearly as many mobile phones as the
country’s population of nearly 25 million.
That presents a penetration of 100 per cent.
Research shows that short message service
(SMS) is still the most popular use of
mobile phones in Africa. It facilitates
interactivity, aids financial transactions and
enhances communication. While it provides
a platform for media content such as audio,
video and text, SMS can be a direct and
timely source of feedback and market
intelligence for broadcasters.
The high growth of mobile-phone use
across Africa is also driven by various
factors such as the low cost of handsets and
competition among mobile-phone service
providers, ensuring better price deals.
The introduction of fibre-optic connectivity
has enhanced mobile internet speed.
Competition in the sector is also helping to
keep connectivity costs relatively low.
Recent statistics by the Communication
Commission of Kenya, CCK, show
the number of internet users in Kenya
continues to grow, reaching 16.2 million by
end of 2012. This represents nearly 40 per
cent of the population. The growth trend
cuts across internet penetration and usage
of broadband.
This increase is attributed to growing
demand for internet and data services,
including use of social media especially
among the young. Competitive tariffs
by the mobile operators could also have
contributed to the growth in the number of
internet users.
A recent World Bank survey on mobile
usage in Kenya shows that the majority are
young people between the ages of 18 to
29. This shift creates new opportunities for
existing broadcasters to reach and engage
with audiences. For the BBC, which has
built a strong heritage in Africa thanks
to radio, this shift to digital platforms
poses both a number of opportunities and
challenges. The debate is no longer about
whether or not to tackle them, but how to
do it in a cost-effective way that delivers
reach and impact.
First, there are thousands of mobile
handsets in the market. Their screen sizes
and capabilities vary, from basic to feature
to smart phones. Through an approach
called Responsive Design, the BBC is
redesigning its websites so that web pages
can resize themselves depending on the
type of mobile phone or device with
which a user is accessing the content.
The challenge is how to fit content that is
designed on a desktop computer to various
screen sizes and retain as many elements of
the content as possible.
The African market is still dominated by basic
and feature phones. Less than ten per cent of
mobile phone owners have smartphones.
One of the BBC’s first language service
websites to move to Responsive Design is
BBC Hausa’s bbchausa.com. The service
which boasts a weekly radio audience of
more than 23 million, commands a huge
following on its Facebook site which has
more than 300,000 likes. The BBC Swahili
service, with a radio audience of nearly
20 million, is also performing well on
Facebook with nearly 90,000 likes. The
majority of BBC Hausa and BBC Swahili
digital audience access internet via their
mobile phones rather than the desktop.
The second challenge for broadcasters is
how to strike a balance between the needs
of traditional versus digital audiences.
Research suggests that mobile users
across Africa are rather different to BBC’s
existing radio audiences. Whilst existing
radio audiences tend to be rather older
and predominantly male, African mobile
users tend to be younger and more evenly
balanced between male and female.
Do we need a different editorial proposition
to capture the digital market What sort
of news is this audience looking for and
in what formats Journalists used to one
form of production for radio are having to
adapt their skills to new platforms. How
do broadcasters juggle limited resources to
serve new audiences as well as old ones
As highlighted above, there is a difference
between radio and mobile phone audiences.
Programming content for mobile telephone
is not the same as for radio and TV. They
differ in duration, tone and delivery.
Beyond SMS, the rapid growth of online
social networks such as Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter and blogs offer
broadcasters with potential to drive
digital audiences. It can help increase
reach, engagement and interactivity with
audiences. Social media are also helping
generate content for other platforms. On
several occasions, BBC Hausa service has
learned about events happening in northern
Nigeria through its Facebook page.
Take the case of Kenya’s elections last
March. The polls passed off peacefully,
a stark contrast to what happened
when a dispute over the outcome of the
December 2007 elections degenerated
into violent protests.
While there was calm on the streets,
Kenyans resorted what some in social
media described as digital violence.
BBC Monitoring observed how Kenyans
exchanged offensive ethnic slurs on
Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other
social networks.
BBC Monitoring reported that the state
National Cohesion and Integration
Commission (NCIC) highlighted the
use of ‘coded language’ and ethnic
stereotypes to engage in ‘hate speech’ and
stir ethnic intolerance.
Beyond politics, Kenyans and Nigerians
took to Twitter to taunt each other as
their national teams braced for a World
Cup qualifier match. With hashtag
#SomeoneTellNigeria, Kenyans complained
about how unfairly their team had been
treated by their hosts ahead of the match,
and began to mock Nigerians. The
latter responded in kind with hashtag
#SomeoneTellKenya.
Such trends on social media are a source
of content for other platforms such as
radio, TV and online. The challenge for
mass media broadcasters in particular is
how to develop capacity and technical
ability to drive digital audiences to
traditional platforms. •
10 • EMEA 2013