Nigeria launches first phase of new TV audience measurement system in Lagos
By Aboki Forex —
Nigeria has kicked off the first phase of its national Audience Measurement System in Lagos. Selected households will receive 36GB of free mobile data every month, valued at about N11,000, for taking part.
The National Broadcasting Commission announced the initiative under its FreeTV brand at a press briefing in Lagos on Tuesday, September 1. The rollout replaces the old diary-based system with Peoplemeter devices that automatically track viewing habits.
How the system works
Peoplemeter devices and data-enabled routers will be installed in participating homes to capture viewing information and transmit it daily to a central data centre. Homes are being selected from Nigeria's first nationwide Establishment Survey, completed in the first half of 2023. That survey covered 60,000 households across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, including 7,000 in Lagos.
Patrick Gomes, Chief Operating Officer of First Media and Entertainment Integrated Limited, the technical partner behind the system, said the monthly data incentive supports participating households' internet needs. He added that a quarterly incentive tied to compliance levels will also be introduced.
"So we do not just look at monthly data, but we also want to add a quarterly incentive for the level of compliance they deliver," Gomes said.
Officials back the rollout
The Lagos deployment follows a technical testing phase and a proof-of-concept pilot whose results were presented to stakeholders in Abuja in the second quarter of 2024. NBC Director-General Charles Ebuebu called the rollout a turning point for Nigeria's broadcasting sector, saying it would deliver accurate, passive tracking of audience behaviour while tackling transparency problems in the advertising and broadcasting markets.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, was represented at the briefing by Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Director-General Olalekan Fadolapo. The Minister said a reliable audience measurement system can strengthen investor confidence, support the production of quality Nigerian content and create opportunities across the media and creative industries.
"At its core, AMS helps us better understand our audiences: who is watching, what they are watching, and when they are watching. This information is vital to broadcasters, advertisers, content producers, investors and regulators," he said.
Next phases and FreeTV
The Lagos deployment is the first of three planned phases. The second will extend coverage to Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. The third will reach other major media markets across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones.
The AMS rollout comes on the heels of the FreeTV platform launch in June 2026, which gave households access to over 100 television channels at no monthly cost. The government has also announced December 2028 as the target for completing Nigeria's transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.
For the Nigerian market, accurate viewership data means advertisers can better measure return on spend, and broadcasters can price ads based on real audience numbers. That is a clear step up from the old manual diary system.