AUDIENCE PROGRAMME PREFERENCE, A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ORIENT TV AND NTA OWERRI

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

Owing to the abundance of several stations and channels in Nigeria brought about the dynamism modern technology and complexity, the electronic media is experiencing strong competition between and among these stations attempts to be regarded as the number one choice in the role of audience satisfaction and thus gaining a higher audience rating.

The audience of the electronic media is the recipients (real or potential) whom the media intends to reach with their messages. Audiences are made up of different categories of individuals who expose themselves (often deliberately, and with certain expectations from the messages of the mass media.

These audiences therefore come from diverse background and several factors tend to affect their selections, these include demographic factors as age, sex, educational qualification, marital status etc. also psychographic factors as tastes, moods, motivations, belief, preferences, norms etc. Stations thus fight profusely to improve upon their various programmes so as to be better preferred by the audiences and in turn better patronized by advertisers, sponsors and investors. If any station don't present interesting and appearing programmes to its audience, it is sure likely to lose all it's viewers/advertisers, patronizes and/or fold into extinction. Stations therefore opt for better and more acceptable programmes.

The key factor in public acceptance or radio and television is programming i.e. The determination of what point in the programme schedule (Chester Garrison and G. Willes 1971) only through programming win large audience, television and radio become attractive and such successful stations are rated higher and thus are better patronized.

Advertisers are one of the major live wines of any given mass media, through such media they communicate messages concerning their products and services at a fee.

The aim of any advertiser is not only to communicate messages about his product/services to the target audience, but also to receive favourable response. The realization of this objective will depend primarily on the preference of the communication media, their type of programmes and the viewership patronage level. Advertisers are ready to invest on any medium that reaches and receive wider audience and higher rating viewers of television constitute a major asset to the media.

Media houses recognize this fact, and therefore try to design programmes that will appeal to their audience it is true that the programme they watch do not attract any direct payment, it is also true to say that they are expected to pay for the programmes eventually by purchasing the goods and services advertised in commercial messages.

The advertisers are aware of this fact and are only willing to buy airtime. Television station that offer popular programmes which will guarantee wider exposure of this commercial messages. This expectation demands that television programme makers should sit up and produce programmes that will attract viewers and transmit same through technically efficient and effective stations. The higher the viewer radio, the more prepared advertisers will be to sponsor television programmes.

Television as a medium of communication has gained reasonable acceptance among the Nigerian public but there is much generalization about the viewers that patronize television stations and accept their programmes that is not based on any empirical data.

There is need therefore to design ways and ascertain through scientific methods, the level and extent by which television stations and their programmes are viewed, accepted and rated by its audience.

Most television director in Nigeria are yet unable to determine the rate of viewers preference to their stations programmes in their stations, they are yet even to determine the rate of viewers/audience patronage to their respective stations is generated through improved programmes and transmissions, effort is not even made to sustain the interest arising from this therefore is the inability of such television stations to adequately satisfy the audience advertiser in respect or preference for their programmes.

In Owerri, Imo state, there are two television stations viz: Orient TV and NTA National Television Authority Owerri. Hypothetically, all individuals, groups and corporate bodies who reside and operate within ad around the coverage areas of these stations are the audiences. They are exposed to the programmes of these stations and their activities. Admittedly also, competition will inevitably arise from the two stations. Each of these strives to outshine the other and thus gain higher viewership, higher rating and patronizers.

These stations present and broadcast lots of programmes to their various audience, ranging from informative programme, educative programmes, entertainment programme and other various programmes. However the level of acceptance of preference of these stations programme in favour of the other has not been empirically determined.

We shall therefore in this study examine and attempt to empirically determine the audience programmes preference of these two television stations, we shall in this study compare the informative, educative and entertainment programmes of these station to determine which of these stations programme is most preferred by the audience and why.

---

1.2 Statement of the Problem

As society grows and modernizes, it becomes more dynamics, complex and sophisticated (such complexities of the individuals are illuminated by the mass media so that the audience would be better informed about the society.

The change that follows the dynamics of society produces in its make, situations of differing values, backgrounds, expecting and needs among the population! People need become harder to satisfy and it becomes therefore more challenging and necessary for producers of goods or services satisfying their needs either in the form of product or services to reproduce in accordance with the identified needs of the population.

For producers in the mass communication industry, a clear understanding of what the audience is made up of as it manifest or latent needs in terms of programmes becomes urgent. The audience will no longer be understood in its traditionally holistic nature or structure (i.e. in its sheer totality) as a “mass audience” whose behaviour or reaction to mass message can be taken for granted or naively predicted.

Because of the constant modernizing process of the society, the audience now makes choices and preferences, the audiences now demand to be looked at from the point of view of their new status as a specialized socio-political and economic force, served by a specialized mass media which modernity has necessitated.

In Owerri, Imo state are two functional Television station Orient TV and NTA these stations acknowledging the heterogeneous nature of their audiences, seek to better satisfy their tasted needs and aspirations through the programmes they present. This is the major problem of my study.

---

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The aims of this study include the following:

1. To compare the audience preference to programmes broadcast on NTA Owerri and Orient TV Owerri in their categories informative, entertainment and education programmes of the station.
2. To examine the motivating factor(s) and reason(s) behind the audience section and preference of programmes of one station over the other.
3. To find out which stations programme is rated higher than the other.
4. To determine the relationship between viewer preference for a particular television station and the quality of programmes of that station.

---

1.4 Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be useful to the following category of persons in the following ways:

Researchers on related topic would benefit from this work, as it would serve as an addition to literature on the topic.

Advertisers would through this study know which station the audience prefer and thus advertise their products and services to a larger audience through stations programme.

The station owners would through this research understand the need to improve upon their programmes so as to fetch more favourable audience ratings.

The audience themselves and the society at large would through this research ascertain the views of this numbers of the society or selected programmes and have a knowledge of general rating of the stations ratings.

---

1.5 Research Questions

To achieve the above research objectives, the following research questions shall guide the researcher:

• RQ 1. Which of these stations (NTA or Orient) broadcast a more preferred programme in the selected categories of programmes?
• RQ 2. What motivates the audience to prefer the station's programmes?
• RQ 3. Which of these stations generally do the audience rate higher than the other?
• RQ 4. Aside programmes what other factor(s) can note the audience prefers one station to another?

---

1.6 Hypothesis

• Hoi: There is no relationship between viewer preferences for a particular television station and the quality of programmes by the station.
• Hoii: There is no relationship between the programmes of NTA Owerri and orient television.

---

1.7 Scope of the Study

This is a study of the audience programme preference; the researcher shall however delimit the programmes to only three categories viz: Informative programmes, educative programmes and entertainment programmes of NTA Owerri and Orient Television Owerri, and compare individually the most preferred in each category.

---

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The following are possible constraints to this research but they shall be well care of to avoid hindering the proper execution of the study.

Financial constraint in the production of the questionnaire, retrieval of materials from their sources is largely expected.

Lack of access to crucial respondents who are essential to illuminate the research interest or help the researcher to attain his study's goal.

---

1.9 Definition of Terms

The various major terms used in this study shall be defined both conceptually and operationally below:

Audience:

This term according to Oxford advanced Learners Dictionary 6th Edition means the group of people who have gathered to watch or listen to something (a play concert etc.).

Operationally:

The term audience simply means the group of persons who watch the programme broadcast by NTA Owerri and Orient Television Owerri.

Preference:

This term conceptually mean a greater interest in or desire for something or somebody than something or somebody else. According to Oxford advanced Learners Dictionary (6th Edition).

Operationally, the term preference is used to mean the selection and choice of one television station programme over another.

Programme:

Conceptually, this term means according to Oxford Advanced learners Dictionary 6th Edition is something people watch on television or listen to on radio.

Operationally:

This term is used to mean the information and entertainment events broadcast by NTA Owerri and Orient TV Owerri.