DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition - (Page 108)

Disbook AfricA 2012 - Trends and bus i n e ss How many people (really) watch TV in Africa? The lack of regular and reliable audience measurement in subsaharan Africa is a serious drawback to advertising revenue growth for regional broadcasters. However, no one can agree on the best way forward, or how to pay for a new system. Bob Jenkins crunches the numbers. It is difficult to understand the scale of the challenge facing Africa’s advertising industry over the accurate, reliable and regular measurement of television. Celia Johnson, Deputy Managing Director of South Africa audience research company SMV Group, estimates that “currently only 18 to 20 African countries do any kind of audience research, and in the majority of cases it is done very haphazardly and irregularly, with studies being carried out every two to three years, which is not sufficiently frequent to impact the market”. The website for trade organization PanAfrican Media Research Organization (www.pamro.org), only mentions South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Ghana as conducting a regular annual survey, while, at the time of writing, (a new PAMRO report was due shortly), Zambia, for example, had not published research since 2004, and Tanzania and Mozambique since 2009. These bare facts can be seen as a powerful illustration of the significant potential of the African broadcast market given that, despite this lack of audience measurement, PAMRO estimates that total advertising spending in Africa grew 45% year on year between 2006 and 2010, with television, at taking a whopping 85% of the 2010 total. It is also worth noting that while French audience research house TNS SOFRES is a member of PAMRO, their West African subsidiary Omedia (based in the Cote d’Ivoire) is not a member, despite conducting annual audience surveys since 2008 in eight countries of West and Central Africa, including, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Gabon, Niger and Madagascar; the results of which are published annually every August in the Africascope report. But the frequency of the reports is not the only issue at hand; Africa’s advertising industry also faces a major challenge over the means of collecting information, and this is where opinions diverge. Keld Nielsen, Global Business Development Director at Kantar Media Audiences, a subsidiary of global giant WPP, acknowledges that, “in terms of audience measurement, the common denominator for sub-Saharan countries is the diary”, and while Nielsen accepts that, “as all the countries within the region that are currently undertaking audience measurement are using diaries, what matters is the size of the sample they use and the frequency with which the research is carried out – provided, of course, that the diary duties are carried out in a good research fashion”. Craig Johnson, Managing Director, Media at Nielsen South Africa is keen to see the region’s broadcasters move on from the diary system to a system based on the deployment of electronic measurement, even if this is initially, “only a small-scale people meter service”, as he believes this would, “give a much better read of what people are watching”. Despite this enthusiasm Johnson acknowledges that there are problems in the way of such a deployment. “Ideally”, he suggests, “you would want the situation that exists in Europe, the US and Asia where all stakeholders, the brand owners, the advertisers and the broadcasters all get involved”. But even then he sees a significant obstacle to the deployment of people meters, as the globally accepted practice is that these systems should be paid for by the broadcasters. ”After all”, Johnson reasons, “it is the broadcasters that really benefit from the introduction. Additionally, the agencies get their money from the advertisers, and, understandably, advertisers don’t see why they should pay for such a system”. Monica Mollon, head of Omedia (TNS SOFRES West African subsidiary), doubts that the enthusiasm exists for such a move: “certainly in West and Central Africa agencies and advertisers will be reluctant to pay for this information, partly because they have 10 8  http://www.pamro.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition

Cover
Foreword - Welcome to Johannesburg!
Content
Conference Program
- English Version
- Version Française
Joburg Vibes
- Street Talks
- Drum Archive
- Made in Maboneng
- The Bioscope
- Faces
First Look
- Watercolors of love - Siri
- Mooz-Lum - Meet the Adebanjo’s
- Irrational Heart - Destiny River
- City of Men - Black hands
Trends & Business
- Made in Africa / Made for Africa
- The titans of laamb
- Inside «Inside Story»
- Ecology of african audiovisual content industry
- Gems from the namibian film collection
- The century of formats
- Great formats will come from Africa
- Partners wanted
- How many people (really) watch TV in Africa?
- Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ?
- Africa’s digital switchover is coming - The question is when ?
- Intelsat’s epic
- China in Africa
- Zee : from a to z
- The Brazilians are coming !
- Against all odds
- Discover Discovery in Africa at Discop Africa
- Television with a purpose - A detailed look at educational television
- Branded Entertainment
- Hot docs-Blue ice, a unique opportunity for African documentary makers
- A solution to Africa’s thorny problem of dubbing costs
- Mission statement
Country report
- ALGERIA
- ANGOLA
- BENIN
- BOSTWANA
- BURKINA FASO
- BURUNDI
- CABO VERDE
- CAMEROON
- CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
- CHAD
- COMOROS
- DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- DJIBOUTI
- EGYPT
- EQUATORIAL GUINEA
- ERITREA
- ETHIOPIA
- GABON
- GAMBIA
- GHANA
- GUINEA BISSAU
- GUINEA CONAKRY
- IVORY COAST / CÔTE D'IVOIRE
- KENYA
- LESOTHO
- LIBERIA
- LYBIA
- MADAGASCAR
- MALAWI
- MALI
- MAURITANIA
- MAURITIUS
- MOROCCO
- MOZAMBIQUE
- NAMIBIA
- NIGER
- NIGERIA
- REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
- RWANDA
- SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
- SIERRA LEONE
- SENEGAL
- SEYCHELLES
- SOMALIA
- SOUTH AFRICA
- SOUTH SUDAN
- SUDAN
- SWAZILAND
- TANZANIA
- TOGO
- TUNISIA
- UGANDA
- ZAMBIA
- ZIMBABWE
Speakers
Participants
Index Advertisers

DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition

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