NAME: JOANNE IDOWU

IBUKUNOLUWA
DEPARTMENT: MASS
COMMUNICATION
COLLEGE: COLLEGE OF
COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION
SCIENCES
MATRIC NO: BU23MAS1002
COURSE: MCM 101 (FOUNDATIONS
OF BROADCASTING AND FILM )
HISTORY OF BROADCASTING IN
NIGERIA
Broadcasting is divided into many categories but we will
be focusing on two types of broadcasting mediums
(Television & Radio) in relation to Nigeria’s history.

HISTORY OF BROADCASTING IN
NIGERIA
A man named Lord Austen Chamberlain , British
Foreign Secetary (1924- 1929) , believed that the
beginning of communication in African colonies was an
essential Imperial responsibility. The eagerness of Great
Britain to civilize and colonize Nigeria was so great that
the first telegraph lines were installed in 1895. The first
recorded use of wireless telegraphy occurred in 1913.
Building these telecommunication facilities provided by
Britain and the other broadcasting systems Britain later
helped to build, Nigeria owes its development to the
colonization of by British. Television broadcasting began in
the 1950’s when the British colonialists established the
NBS (Nigerian Broadcasting Service). T. W . Chalmers, a
British man and first Director General of the Nigerian
Broadcasting Service (NBS) wanted to fashion the NBS
after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) .
The NBS was set up to serve as single national service
but to Chalmers’ disappointment, after 8 years of
existence, it was partitioned into three additional regional
services, each catering to different tribal and ethnic
groups.

HISTORY OF television
BROADCASTING IN NIGeria
The first television station in Nigeria was WNTV which
was launched on October 31,1959 ( As of this time,
Nigeria was slowly moving towards her independence). It
was established to promote education and introduce
Nigerian citizens to the international community.
The presence of WNTV was contagious and
governments of the other parts of the country wanted to
broadcast their ideas , so the concept of regional
television was conceived in the 1960’s .Various television
stations like the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC),
Benue Plateau Television Corporation ( BPTV) and the
Mid - West Television were mostly used by the politicians
and government needs.
 The division of Nigeria into states in 1973 gave way to
forming a television station in each state . Later on the
regional stations were all brought together to form Nigeria
Television ( NTV) which was later changed to Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA) . It was created by the Nigerian
military regime and was meant to handle the coverage of
television news to handle the coverage of television news
in the country.

HISTORY OF RADIO BROADCASTING

IN NIGeria
The advent of radio broadcasting began in 1933 with
the establishment of empire service of the Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) in Lagos. It was known as the Radio
Diffusion Service (RDS). It was later renamed to the
Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) in 1951. The NBS
created autonomous radio stations in Enugu, Kaduna, Jos,
Illorin , Sokoto and Kano . However not all of the radio
stations were government owned.
HISTORY OF FILM IN NIGeria
Colonial film makers started producing films in local
audiences within Nigeria since the 1920’s. The earliest
feature of film made in Nigeria is in 1926, “PALAVER”
produced by Geoffery Barakas and “SANDERS OF THE
RIVER” in 1935. During this time ,religion played a huge
role in the expression of cinema as the Christian
missionaries used filmmaking for propaganda.
Overtime, the cinema became an avenue for
socialization, especially in Lagos. Between the 1930’s and
1940’s, cinema came in form of playing companies and
travelling theatre troups. They were funded by the court,
church or audiences were promoted via adverts and
posters disseminating information to potential audiences.
Following Nigeria’s independence in1960, new film
theatres began to emerge. This marked the golden age of
Nigerian cinema. In 1927, Yakubu Gowon concerned
about the influx of foreign culture in Nigeria issued the
Indigenization Degree. It mandated that 300 film theatres
be given back to Nigerians by their foreign owners . This
made Nigerians to be able to play in different roles and
turn books into motion pictures.
 As more households could afford televisions,
producers started broadcasting local theatre shows on
television. As at this time, legislation limited the show of
foreign content on television.