The Federal Government says it is resuming the roll out of Digital Switch Over (DSO) to revolutionise the broadcast industry, create jobs and take millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the DSO, a transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, is critical to the efforts of government to reposition the creative industry and make it the alternative to oil.
“The DSO is key to us because it is capable of providing between one to two million jobs in the next couple of years.
“President Muhammadu Buhari equally appreciates the fact that it is the DSO that can help to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years.
“We are very optimistic that the roll out will resume very soon.”
Mohammed attributed the delay in the roll out of DSO, which has stalled since 2018, to constraints, mainly of funding.
“We have rejigged the DSO campaign and we are going back to the Federal Executive Council in the next couple of weeks to ask for certain impetus that will enable us to roll out more and this is largely about resources.”
The roll out of DSO commenced in Jos, Plateau in April 2016 and moved to Abuja, Ilorin, Kaduna, Enugu and Osogbo by February, 2018.
The minister also said that the Task Team, set up to make recommendations on how to get an objective and scientific audience measurement system in Broadcasting, would submit its report within the week.
“The audience measurement system is the missing link in the entire ecosystem in the sense that, as at today, people use very subjective methods to determine where they are going to place their adverts.
“Normally, in other climes where you have an audience measurement system, you are able to know how many people are watching a particular programme, at what time of the day, and through which medium.
“And that is going to determine when you are going to advertise your products and at what time belts.
“Different programmes attract different rates, just as different programmes attract more number of eyeballs.”
Mohammed said that the report would give parameters for assessing and measuring the number of eyeballs or ears that watch or listen to a programme and serve as a guide for advertisers.