IOSR Journal of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 25, Issue 8, Series 12 (August. 2020) 39-46 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0837-2508123946 www.iosrjournals.org 39 |Page Illuminating the Invaluable Contributions of Content Providers to Digital Broadcasting in Nigeria Tonnie O. Iredia PhD 1 and Margaret O. Agada-Mba 2 1 Professor, Department of Mass Communication Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria 2 Adjunct Faculty: Department of Mass Communication School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria) Abstract Background: The involvement of complex technologies in the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting appears to have propelled the technical dimension of the subject to overshadow the overriding status of „content‟ in broadcasting. It should not be so. To reverse the trend, this study sought to throw light on the invaluable role of content providers in digital television broadcasting in Nigeria. Materials and Methods:With reliance on content analysis of Programme Schedules of three major television channels in the country as well as interviews with a cross section of experienced industry players and some communication scholars, the study gathered, retrieved and analyzed ample data. Roger Fidler‟s Theory of Mediamorphosis, upon which the study was anchored, helped to place the analysis and responses in perspective. Results: Findings revealed that there has been no substantial departure from the nature, quantum and quality of television content in place since the days of the analogue regime. Conclusion: The paper therefore called on relevant opinion moulders, policy makers and particularly the nation‟s broadcast regulator to urgently sensitize content providers on the cr itical contributions which they are obliged to make to ensure the success of digital broadcasting in Nigeria. Keywords: Content Providers, Contributions, Digital, Nigeria, Television Broadcasting --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 11-08-2020 Date of Acceptance: 27-08-2020 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. INTRODUCTION In search of how best to meet the millennium development goal of making internet access available to majority of the world‟s population, the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, set out to evolve an all - digital plan for a greater and more competent use of frequencies including those for broadcasting. To this end, a number of countries in Europe, Africa and parts of Asia which met in Geneva in 2006, ratified the resolution in support of the digitization of the broadcast media landscape to replace traditional analogue terrestrial system with digital terrestrial broadcasting. The primary goal of the digitization plan, was to ensure resource saving in the usage of broadcast frequencies, high transmission quality, and a large enough data capacity to allow for a sufficient number of attractive programmes. Beutler (2012), attributes the attraction of such technological advancement, to the advent of digital media such as Compact Disc (CD) through which customers had become familiar with the value of high audio and video quality amidst scarce spectrum space. A major benefit of the new plan can be located in its capacity to accommodate more broadcast content than was hitherto possible with the same amount of spectrum under the analogue transmission system. The way the system functions is that through multiplexes transmitters, signals are received by television viewers via digital set-top-boxes or some other integrated reception devices which can be decoded by a standard terrestrial antenna.This opportunity which the design offers for transmission of multiple forms of content on the same spectrum, is no doubt, a welcome development to television broadcasters and their disparate viewers. Put differently, it was gratifying to stakeholders across the board, that the design facilitated spectrum efficiency. In Nigeria, which is the geographical location of relevance to this study, the flag off in 2016, of fifteen digital channels in Jos, North Central Nigeria, positioned the country among the league of countries that had progressed to a phase in the digitization process, known as digital switch over (DSO). Against the backdrop of challenges which had impeded earlier efforts at moving forward in the process, the switch over plan served as a bench mark to guide Nigeria on the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting. Perhaps, the most touted challenge was the capital-intensive nature of rolling out one network and switching off another. The challenge which though tedious, was one, Nigeria or any other nation urgently needed to surmount because digitization had become a settled matter in view of the world-wide course of direction that had been charted for the