SECTOR 2 Even though shifts in television broadcast technology mean that citizens must switch to more modern television sets or purchase analogue-to-digital converters, panellists said television audiences have remained high. ‘No matter what language you speak, no matter where you live, no matter how poor you are, there is an opportunity for you [to watch something you enjoy],’ said one panellist. However, broadcast services are unevenly distributed between urban and rural areas. Most city-dwellers get television through expensive satellite providers and have a wider range of choices than rural dwellers who rely on a shrinking number of free to air services. Other factors are cultural. ‘Because they spend more time in the fields, [the] rural community member[s] are less likely to find time to sit down to watch television than their urban relatives,’ said one panellist. The country’s broadcast licensing strategy has helped to enforce the disproportionate access to broadcast services between rural and urban populations. It emerged from discussions that most broadcast licences have been granted to media owners based in the major cities to the detriment of those in rural areas. Even though progress has been made, community broadcasting with about 30 stations nationwide has remained marginal to public and commercial broadcasting. Easily the most disruptive change to citizens’ access to information has come from the explosion of internet-based news sources such as news sites and social media. The NCC reported 119.5 million mobile telephone subscribers and 64 million broadband users (33.7% penetration) in April 2019. Most connect to the internet through mobile telephone data plans. Internet payment plans vary across mobile telephone operators but include offers for almost all categories of users. With a growing number of citizens getting their information from online sources, traditional print and audio-visual media are also migrating to digital platforms (mobile applications and websites), joining an increasing number of online content producers. Most newspapers now have online versions, some with separate newsrooms and dedicated staff. However, unresolved monetisation problems have forced media organisations to keep their digitisation strategies conservative and unambitious. Across all media types, access is constrained by multiple infrastructural problems. Despite the impressive number of broadcast and online content consumers, some of the most far-flung parts of Nigeria with unreliable power supply and telephone signals have remained cut-off from information channels. One panellist said, ‘as you move towards the border, there is less broadcast coverage, forcing residents to rely on foreign services’. Numbers do not also mean that citizens are getting quality information, panellists said. Online sources are notorious for propagating unverified information and fake news, while radio and television channels air more entertainment than informational and educational content. 24 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NIGERIA 2019