The Challenges Facing Nigeria Television In Switching To Digital Broadcasting In Nigeria

The Challenges Facing Nigeria Television In Switching To Digital Broadcasting In Nigeria

Chapiter 1

Introduction

Background of the Study, paragraph 1.1

All broadcasting media have utilized an analog system up until recently. Complete waves are used in analog television to broadcast both the sound and images. The main disadvantage of this is that location plays a significant role in limiting, distorting, and impairing television visuals and sounds in rural locations. Digital televisions are becoming more and more popular, and many cable companies encourage their consumers to make the move so they can use their new services. Information on digital television is divided into binary chunks, just like on a compact disc. Digital TV signals are virtually free of visual snow and interference and immune to distance and interference.

The term “digital communication” is defined by Kombol (2008, p. 67) as “an advanced form of information transfer in which messages are converted into a series of 1s and 0s (binary digits) and sent over a channel to the receiver.” Television transmission has been increasingly reliable over time. It switched from transmission in black and white to transmission in color.

Television is an electronic signal transmission method that uses wires, optical fibers, or electromagnetic radiation to transmit and receive images and audio. To reach reception equipment like television sets in households or relay stations used by cable television service providers, these signals are typically broadcast from a central source, such as a television station. 2009 Microsoft Encarta

A new technique for sending and receiving broadcast television signals is digital television. Broadcasters will be able to create a wide range of new digital television programming and services while continuing to transmit traditional analog television programming on their current spectrum allotments, as required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Telecommunications Act of 1996), using an additional 6 Megahertz (MHz) of broadcast spectrum temporarily granted by Congress and the FCC for a period of no less than 9 years.

Because of its better accuracy, adaptability, efficiency, and compatibility with other electronic media, a digital standard is preferable over an analog one. Additionally, digital transmissions have the benefit of producing no “ghosting” or noise and being more immune to signal interference. This produces a flawless signal within the signal’s range. An innovative broadcasting technology called digital television (DTV) has completely changed how you watch television. Better picture and sound quality on television is now possible thanks to DTV. Additionally, it provides multicasting, interactive capabilities, and a variety of programming options. p. 23 of Asemah (2009).

In order to capture, transmit, and decode a signal, digital television requires technology that converts the signal into a series of ones and zeros. Compared to analog systems, this method provides far crisper pictures and sound. Additionally, it enables interactivities, program information, and consumer information to be encoded in signals. Digital television receivers, which transformed analog signals into digital code, were among the earliest pieces of digital technology. An initial digital code was created from the analog stream, which was then processed before being recovered. New televisions now come preinstalled with ATSC digital tuners, which are intended to decode only digital broadcasts. 45 Daramola, 2003 Moving objects in the area, such as neighboring cars, trucks, trains, and planes, can interfere with digital TV reception. In certain cases, the shadowing or reflections cast by these vehicles can cause digital images to briefly disintegrate or even vanish entirely. In this case, you should try repositioning your antenna to discover the one that offers the most dependable reception. Switching from an interior antenna to an outdoor antenna system, which may include a rotor or directional antenna, may enhance reception if you are currently utilizing an indoor antenna. It might not be able to totally eradicate the impact of neighboring traffic in extreme circumstances. If response is still poor, blame

The shift to digital television is the technological development and improvement over analogue terrestrial television, which broadcasts signals from the ground (terrestrial). Similar to digital versus analogue in other platforms like cable, satellite, and telecoms, the goal of digital terrestrial television is to use less spectrum, have more capacity than analogue, have better picture quality, and have lower operating costs for broadcast and transmission after the initial upgrade costs. Instead of using a satellite dish or cable connection, terrestrial digital television employs aerial broadcasts to a regular antenna (or aerial) (Liwhu, 2008).

There are several competing versions of digital terrestrial television technology in use today. The National Television Standards Committee’s analogue NTSC standard was replaced by the Advanced Television Standards Committee ATSC, which is the one used in North America and South Korea. In contrast to DVB-T, which is more widely used in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Uruguay, and several African nations, ISDB-T is used in Japan. A variation of it is also used in Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, and most recently Costa Rica and Paraguay. Although Hong Kong’s cable companies utilize DVB, DMB-T/H is China’s own standard. The rest of the globe is mostly uncertain, with many countries investigating multiple standards. ISDB-T and DVB-T can share front-end receiver and demodulator components, making them highly similar standards.

In Nigeria, the transition from analog to digital is scheduled for 2012. With the main difference being the use of multiplex transmitters to allow reception of many channels on a single frequency range (such as a UHF or VHF channel), DTV is transmitted on radio frequencies across the airwaves that are identical to normal analogue television (Wikipedia, 2010).

The move from analog to digital broadcasting is referred to as the digital television transition. Many nations throughout the world are working extremely hard to transition from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting as a result of their recognition of the enormous benefits that digital broadcasting offers (Liwhu, 2008). In order to make the switch from analog to digital broadcasting, it is necessary to modify the transmission signals and ensure that the general public replaces their standard definition television sets with high definition models.

On February 17, 2009, the United States officially declared an end to analog broadcasting and the beginning of the commercialization of digital broadcasting nationwide. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 was enacted by the US Congress in this direction. All local stations in the US must stop transmitting on their analog channels and switch to digital as of this Act.

Free television programs will no longer be available after the switch to digital transmission. This is not the case, though. Others television sets won’t be impacted by the move, such as those that get cable and satellite feeds, which will continue to receive signals from digital transmission. However, in the digital era, television sets that need antennas to receive analog transmissions (and therefore use analog tuners) will be obsolete.

In this situation, outdated antennas must be replaced to keep pace with technology. All analog television sets will become obsolete in nations like the United States of America, where the digital transition is anticipated to begin, and will need to be disposed of or moved to other nations where analog broadcasting is still practiced. A converter must be installed if a person wants to keep utilizing analog television in the United States. This converter converts broadcast digital transmissions to analog signals that the television set can pick up. Historically, underdeveloped technologies are frequently dumped in South East Asia, Latin America, and Africa. One element that makes emerging nations the recipients of technology that developed countries no longer require is the digital transformation.

Nigeria’s digitization program got underway in Abuja on June 3, 2008, after stakeholders in the broadcast industry met to discuss the need for Nigeria to adopt new technology so that the nation wouldn’t become a landfill for out-of-date analog equipment. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) set a deadline of June 17, 2015 for the entire world following its congress in Geneva, Switzerland in 2006. However, reports indicate that Nigeria has set June 17, 2010 as the transition date from the current mode of broadcasting to the Netra modern digital terrestrial broadcasting.

However, the nation formally announced the digitization of its broadcast sector in December 2007 after late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua gave his approval, instructing the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the sector’s regulator, to launch and pilot the program in the lead-up to the target date (Adeniyi 2009).

1.2 Description of the Issue

Despite the enormous advantages of digital broadcasting, Nigeria will inevitably run into the following issues because of our nation’s lagging technological development and low economic levels. There are many challenges as a result.

1. Viewers are only able to access the channels the antenna picks up and the signal quality will vary with the present method of picking up digital signals, which uses an antenna.

2. Digital television transmissions must coexist with analogue television until it is phased out and must not interfere with one another.

3. A non-digital television would become obsolete if analog was turned off unless it was attached to an external digital tuner or an external converter box for digital transmission.

4. In the US, where an estimated 99 million unused analogue TV receivers are now in storage, the adoption of a broadcast standard incompatible with existing analog receivers has caused the issue of a large number of analogue receivers being discarded during the digital changeover. Nigeria will undoubtedly experience the same scenario.

5. A major danger is posed by the economic ability of every broadcast station to transition to digital. recognizing that this transition involves millions of naira.

Study Objectives, Section 1.3

i. To determine whether the switch from analog to digital broadcasting has affected the Nigerian broadcast business.

ii. To be aware of the difficulties Nigeria’s broadcast station faces as a result of the switch from analog to digital.

iii. To determine whether the country’s transition to digital broadcasting has improved broadcast quality.

iv. To research the significance that broadcast audiences will receive from digitalization.

1.4 Questions for Research

i. What changes will the switch from analog to digital media have on Nigeria’s broadcasting sector?

ii. What difficulties would the Nigerian broadcast station face as a result of the switch from analog to digital?

iii. How has the nation’s use of digital broadcasting services improved the quality of broadcasting?

What significance will digitization have for the broadcast audience?

1.5 Study’s Purpose and Range

In this study, ITV Benin City will be used as a case study to analyze the difficulties Nigerian television will face as it transitions to digital transmission.

1.6 Importance of the Research

The effort will help media organizations and media managers understand why switching from analog to digital is necessary.

Students studying journalism, mass communication, and media will perceive a need to advance their knowledge and expertise.

This information would be useful to national government in understanding why Nigeria must not be left behind.