The topic does admit that there’s a correlation between content and values. Put another way, albeit in a question form – and with apologies to the organisers of this lecture – can we say, how do our content reflect our values? Yet, another way: what values do we derive from listening to, or watching, our programmes, or a particular station? That goes for both radio and television. Yet another one: what does our content teach us about our values – at home and outside the home? More questions, you may say, than answers.
What are the elements inherent in broadcast content? I haven’t thrown away the “local” attached to content in our title. I believe everything will fall into place as we go along. But first, let’s take a look at content in its entirety.
Content come in different genres: talk, drama, comedy, documentary, docu-drama, quiz, interview, demonstration, feature, etc. We are talking about the different programme classifications that we listen to and watch on radio and television that our stations serve.
And then values? These are embedded in our culture, in our society. They are reflected in the socialisation process. In the way we relate to each other. In the way we bring up our young ones in order that they become acceptable and responsible members of the society. It is the totality of our values that coalesce into our culture, our tradition, our heritage. The way we dress, the foods we eat, the houses we build and live in, our occupations, etc. All these are part of our culture. It also includes the way we relate to one another and our society. Many of the things I’ve mentioned may not be traditional in the true sense as modernity has tempered them, but they still remain indigenous to society. And, I dare say, they present a rich quarry of broadcast content available to every content maker that will render qualifying them as ‘local’ arguably superfluous, or won’t they? I’m sure we use local in contradistiction to foreign when we talk of broadcast content. Local shouldn’t be confused with primitive or ancient. I see “Local” within this context as indigenous, which the generality of our audiences can relate to; which resonates with them and move them to say, “emi lẹmbaawi – tiwa ntiwa leyi.” – “this is directed at me/this is for us.”
This brings us to the main, some would say, the traditional objectives of broadcasting – to educate, inform, and entertain. But who are we doing this for? Our AUDIENCE, of course! They are the consumers of the content that we produce. We keep them happy only when they can relate positively to the overall output of our broadcasts. It is when they are happy that our objectives of educating, informing, and entertaining them will be achieved. However, there is one important addition to these objectives: REVENUE GENERATION! Broadcast industry today is competitive and commercially driven. Survival has become the name of the game in the industry. That is why I always tell people that as far as I’m concerned, broadcasting is for EDUCATION, INFORMATION, ENTERTAINMENT; AND REVENUE GENERATION, aka, PROFIT! That is my personal viewpoint. People invest so much to set up broadcast stations. There are no freebies. Owners want returns on their investment. However, to make revenue, we must connect symbiotically with our audiences. The more they listen or watch our broadcasts, the more popular our channels become, and the more we attract sponsorships and advertising revenue. And let me again quickly add that we’ll achieve all that if our content set a positive agenda for our audiences. Gone are the days when we held mulishly to the view that broadcasting should mirror society. Today, it must set agenda for it and reflect our values and culture through the content we produce. That is what restoring our values is all about.
I talked about the symbiotic relationship between the stations and its audience. They are what broadcast stations exist for. It is also the reason we say, “THE AUDIENCE IS KING.” The expression has been so overused that it has become almost a cliché in broadcast media parlance. Yet there’s no running away from this important raison d’être of broadcasting. If our stations don’t boast a groundswell of audiences, we will as likely as not be out of business.
We exist as broadcast entities because our audiences accept us; they keep watching our broadcasts, and connect with what we serve them. The moment there’s a disconnect, we’ve lost our audience, and out the window goes our best effort, and all of our exertions would come to nought.
It’s like running a restaurant or in popular parlance, a food joint, a bukateria in Ibadan. And then you serve exotic, expensive menu with some of your fares having unpronounceable names. In Ibadan? You don’t offer AMALA, FUFU, EBA, IYAN, ẸBẸ, ASARO, EWEDU, ILA, GBEGIRI, ẸFỌ-RIRO, BOKOTỌ, SHAKI, PONMO, ẸJA GBIGBẸ, ROUNDABOUT, etc. And you are in Ibadan! Please examine yourself. Even if you are located within UI, my dear brothers and sisters, you’ve lost it. Why? Your menu lacks LOCAL CONTENT! Bring that into broadcast business, and you have an understanding of what local content is all about. This applies to every content we develop and broadcast. It doesn’t matter the genre – be it talk, drama, music, or games. There must always be something indigenous about your content.
I am not saying your content ceases to be local if you don’t run them in your local dialect or in Yoruba, although, I’m an implacable supporter of broadcasting content in Yoruba. Whether we accept the reality or not, our Yoruba language is seriously being threatened with extinction. How many homes today can we find children up to the age of 12 speaking fluent Yoruba? Even the market woman try to speak English – bad as it is – to her children! In the process, local content at home and in the marketplace has come under serious threat. What values can we instil in our young ones whose medium of communication is not their mother tongue? Why not allow the schools that fleece us so badly teach them to speak English? I invite you to ponder this.
When we say our Audience IS KING, we are not seeing them as an amorphous mass. As broadcasters, we must be able to determine our audiences demographics and psychographics and segment them. Who are our primary and secondary audiences? It is when we know our audience that we can target our content to reflect their current behaviours, their needs, their interests, their fears, and aspirations. You’ll be surprised that even music is losing its “local content.” Do we have authentic local music – Apala, Sakara and the like – on radio or TV today? Pardon me, I know I’m old school; but the music I hear on radio today is anything goes! It isn’t enough to say that is what our audience listen to. Are we just to mirror our audiences? Where do we draw the line between our audience preferences and our agenda-setting responsibilities, responsibilities borne out of our research efforts and planning? I haven’t mentioned ‘Research’ in passing. Research is serious business in broadcasting. It is the fulcrum of broadcast business. Its outcomes place us head and shoulder above the people we serve – our audiences.
Once we have a clear understanding of who our audiences are, we can begin to plan the PRODUCTION of our content to reflect the values that we believe and know will resonate with them in line with our own research outcomes. What we need to bear in mind, as broadcasters, is that we are also products of the environment in which we are located. We are there to provide enlightenment and illumine their paths through our programming. If we understand their needs, aspirations and fears, we will be well primed to DEVELOP and PRODUCE content that will address their health and nutrition needs, and provide and promote enlightenment on the benefits of new developments in agriculture, on education, on government policies, etc., as they affect their lives. If we get all this right, I can assure you that you would have made significant inroads into restoration of the people’s values and culture. This will almost irrevocably align your station with your audiences, and you will become a must listen-to, or a must-watch channel at public places – filling stations, restaurants and ‘bukaterias’, in motor vehicles, etc,. You consequently become the rave of the moment.
PRIORITISING LOCAL CONTENT FOR VALUE RESTORATION
BY ENGR YOMI BOLARINWA
