IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/spr/aaechp/978-3-031-21885-9_11.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

COVID-19 Television Audience Program Choices: Analysis of How Nigerians Consume Television During the Pandemic

In: Uncertainty Shocks in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Peter E. Egielewa

    (Edo State University Uzairue)

  • Blessed F. Ngonso

    (Edo State University Uzairue)

  • Andrew A. Ate

    (Edo State University Uzairue)

  • Giuseppe T. Cirella

    (University of Gdansk)

  • Felix O. Iyalomhe

    (Polo Centre of Sustainability)

  • Christian Orobello

    (University of Gdansk)

Abstract

This chapter is anchored on the uses and gratification theory and starts off with a background review on television viewers’ choices of media programs and the decision of audiences to select what they see or hear from available content. Key factors that influence viewers’ selection and consumption of TV programs are considered. Experimentation into how Nigerians consumed TV programs before and during Nigeria’s first phase of the COVID-19 lockdown measures is assessed. Using a semi-structured online questionnaire, data was obtained from 457 respondents, from 27 out of the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, between April 27, 2020, and May 21, 2020. The results showed that most respondents doubled their consumption of TV programs to combat boredom, get information on COVID-19, and get spiritual inspiration. They also indicated there is no significant relationship between gender and the amount of time spent viewing TV during the lockdown period. Possible reasons for this included (1) both male and female viewers were confined to their home and had equal time to spend viewing television, and (2) couples living together usually watch TV alongside each other. This second reason correlated with program choices, noting that movies, news, and religious programs were preferred over food networks, sports, and documentaries. Additional findings indicated a preference for local TV channels versus foreign ones and the need for the Federal government to improve the recurring problem of inconsistent power supply as many Nigerians reported this as a reason they did not watch TV. Moreover, traditional versus digital media consumption is considered as well as the Federal and state governments handling of COVID-19.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter E. Egielewa & Blessed F. Ngonso & Andrew A. Ate & Giuseppe T. Cirella & Felix O. Iyalomhe & Christian Orobello, 2023. "COVID-19 Television Audience Program Choices: Analysis of How Nigerians Consume Television During the Pandemic," Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development, in: Giuseppe T. Cirella (ed.), Uncertainty Shocks in Africa, pages 183-202, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:aaechp:978-3-031-21885-9_11
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-21885-9_11
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:aaechp:978-3-031-21885-9_11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.