Emerging technologies are not only revolutionizing how people and businesses interact, but they are also continuing to determine how to produce and disseminate information needed by people and businesses worldwide. Our analyst previously looked at the technological fusion of 63 African media outlets, with a focus on Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
According to a variety of sources, these countries have long been Africa’s largest media markets. In these countries, the media ecosystem is complex and relatively advanced in terms of content production and distribution to the public. As previously stated, new technologies are influencing how media organizations and professionals produce and disseminate what the public wants. This has been specifically driven by the Internet, smart devices, and the constant innovation of social media owners.
To keep up with the constant innovation of new media and other emerging technologies producers, news media and their professionals are being pushed to either converge or lose the game of creating and capturing value from the emerging dynamic audience. This insight is one of the key findings of analysis of the African media convergence ecosystem.
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The degree to which 63 African media outlets have converged with new media, particularly social networking sites, podcasts, live FM TV, and mobile apps, clearly demonstrates that new technology developers and social networking site owners are forcing media outlets into spaces where they are not typically expected to be. In this regard, our analyst observes that the concept of industrial structure convergence and divergence is consistently being brought into reality by media owners and professionals.
Our research reveals that the majority of media outlets (Exhibits 1 to 4) are under pressure to combine content that was originally intended for distribution through traditional radio and television with Internet-enabled versions of the same mass communication channels. Our data show that, in addition to content integration, one of the media companies also engages in content syndication. A situation known as content syndication occurs when one medium and another agree to share media content created on their respective platforms.
Looking at the data, our analyst discovered that some broadcast organizations are clearly using the Internet to make their presenters and management team visible to the public. According to our analyst, they are breaking down the anonymous barrier associated with traditional radio and television as mass communication channels.
Our data also show that some media outlets have dedicated sessions for promoting upcoming programs and news belts, in addition to letting audience know the people who are behind programme and news presentation. Our analysis shows that when posting these, a brief description of the news or program’s focus and any potential advantages viewers or listeners might experience are typically provided.
Exhibit 1: Radio Stations Convergence with New Media by Content Distribution Patterns
We discovered that some media organizations are interlinking their branches with the main website in what appears to be an effort to reduce Internet usage (as a platform for reaching audience). This primarily allows the audience to visit other establishments owned by the same individuals and/or organizations. As technologies continue to force constant convergence on media owners and practitioners, our analyst observes that a critical balance must be found between which new technologies to converge with and diverge from. One method is to assess which emerging technologies work and which do not work for the targeted audience of each content (especially programme).
Exhibit 2: Radio Stations Core Content Distribution Strategies in the Face of Media Convergence by Operation Patterns
Exhibit 3: Television Stations Core Content Distribution Strategies in the Face of Media Convergence
Exhibit 4: Newspapers Core Content Distribution Strategies in the Face of Media Convergence
