Satellite Television Programme Preference Among Residents of Jos South
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are;
- To assess the influence of satellite television on the residents of Jos South.
- To find out the impact of satellite Television programs on the residents of Jos South
- To find out why residents of Jos South prefer Satellite Television programmes to local Television programmes.
- To determine whether viewers in Jos South tend to watch more satellite TV than local TV stations.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Satellite Television: An Overview
Television as an electronic medium has indubitably transformed the media and its main traditional functions of information, education, entertainment and correlation of the society. There is no gainsaying that today, television has become a part of everyday life which was not so between the 1920s when it was invented and the 1960s when it lost its novelty. As a result of commercialization, the number of television stations have greatly increased, so also the number of television sets available in homes. Television is an inescapable part of modern culture. One depends on television for entertainment, news, education, culture, weather sports and even music, since the advent of music videos. With the recent explosion in Satellite and digital specialty channels, there is now access to a plethora of both good quality and inappropriate television content. Television is an electronic device which transmits picture and sound. Television combines the appealing feature of the movies and radio and is one of the most popular amusements during the childhood’s years. It lures children away from other forms of play. Many babies are introduced to television while they are still in their cribs. For them, television is a built-in baby sitter because it keeps them amused when no one is available to act in this role. For the preschool child and even the older child, television watching is an added play activity, though, not a substitute for active play and other forms of passive play, but for many children it is more popular and more consuming of their play time than all other play activities. Television is still an important medium for children and they use it actively. However, while children regard it primarily as a source of entertainment (Livingstone, 2002), many parents often see it, particularly for young children, as an important educational tool that can assist children intellectual development (Rideout, 2003). Television can be of benefit to children. It can bring them into contact with aspects of life they would not otherwise become aware of. It can provide a valuable tool in the home and at school not simply to get children occupied but also as a constructive way to use their time. It is a channel through which a range of entertainment, drama and learning can be obtained and experienced and increasingly these days it is under the control of the viewer (Gunter and McAleer, 1997). According to Signorielli and Michael (2001), television is still the most popular medium, occupying a significant proportion of children’s time, up to 13.9 hours a week, with higher viewing for those from ethnic minority (15.2 hours) and low income groups (15.5 hours). The growth of television globally over the last two decades has been extraordinary. Statistics reveal that more than 95 per cent of households in America own at least one TELEVISION set and on an average, television occupies about seven hours a day in those households which translates into 2,400 hours per year – the most consuming activity besides sleep, (Wilson and Wilson, 2001; Dominick, 2005; Vivian, 2009). The medium has been of tremendous influence whether positive or negative as it has changed the way we socialize across all strata in the society. Novak (1998), in Vivian (2009), comments that television is “a molder of the soul’s geography. It builds up incrementally a psychic structure of expectations. It does so in much the same way that school lessons slowly, over the years, tutor the unformed mind and teach it how to think.” Corroborating, Comstock, also in Vivian submits that “television has become an unavoidable and unremitting factor in shaping what we are and what we will become (2009)”.
Satellite TV Broadcasting: The Nigerian Experience
Satellite television programme subscribers tend to be swelling in Nigeria. Prior to 1991, the satellite dish was the only means of receiving DBS channels in Nigeria. This came at a high cost and with stringent sale and acquisition procedures strictly implemented by the Federal Government. By 1991, the “wireless cable” had come into existence in the United States and that same year, the facility was made available in Lagos and some other African nations, making DBS channels more accessible and available to more people. As Okoye (2004, p. 80) observes: …Hero communications, through ABG, installed the first Multichannel, Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) in Lagos and other major cities in Africa. With the introduction of the “cableantenna” DBS became revolutionalised as the receiver which is much cheaper than satellite dish came within the reach of more people.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to examine Satellite television programme preference among residents of Jos south.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
- Primary source and
- Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in gathering information relevant to the Satellite television programme preference among residents of Jos South. Two hundred (200) residents of Jos South was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA
One hundred and sixty (160) questionnaires were distributed and one hundred and forty (133) were returned. This figure was the sample size. Out of the one hundred and thirty-three, only one hundred and twenty (120) were properly responded to. As a result, the researcher used one hundred and twenty for this study when more than 50% of the respondents agree to the questions, the answer is taken as valid for the purpose of this study. In analyzing the data, the approach that will be adopted is to find out the percentage and positive and negative answers to the question posed.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain Satellite television programme preference among residents of Jos south
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of Satellite television programme preference among residents of Jos south
Summary
This study was on Satellite television programme preference among residents of Jos south. Four objectives were raised which included: To assess the influence of satellite television on the residents of Jos South, to find out the impact of satellite Television programs on the residents of Jos South, to find out why residents of Jos South prefer Satellite Television programmes to local Television programmes and to determine whether viewers in Jos South tend to watch more satellite TV than local TV stations. In line with these objectives, four research question were formulated and answered. The total population for the study is 200 selected residents in Jos South. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up students, civil servants, business owners and youths were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The findings of this study showed that in Jos South, the number of viewers that watched satellite television was higher than the number that watched local television. The data further showed that more viewers watched satellite television everyday than those who watched local television. Furthermore, exposure rate in terms of hours was higher for satellite television than local television. It is clear from the data, that viewers in Jos South watched more satellite television than local television. The study also confirmed that the quest for high quality productions, high-quality programmes, and exciting programmes motivate respondents exposure to satellite television in Nigeria.
Recommendation
The study recommended that research interests in the future should investigate viewers’ exposure to Nigerian stations that operate satellite television services. Such studies should investigate the relationship between exposure to foreign satellite channels and local satellite channels (such as AIT, NTA International, Channels etc.). It would be interesting to find out whether such channels (local satellite channels) are gaining grounds among viewers in satellite TV households in Nigeria. It also recommended that future research interests should also include viewers who do not live in satellite TV households but have access to satellite TV (in viewing centers, friends’ houses, hostels, hotels etc.). It would be interesting to find out their level of exposure to satellite and local television, even though they do not have satellite TV services in their homes. Further studies could look into the impact of exposure to satellite and local television on viewers or on the society
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