ROLE OF CONTINUITY ANNOUNCER ON SUCCESS OF BROADCASTING STATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

          The history of the media in Nigeria is a very unique one. Pioneered by the efforts of private individuals, it enjoyed patronage and acceptance by many Nigerians, especially the educated ones. Right from the advent of Iwe Irohin in 1859, the Nigerian media emerged as a viable source which has often times stood as the voice of the voiceless Nigerians. The importance of the Nigerian media in the development of the Nigerian state became more prominent in the struggle by the Founding Fathers of Nigerian nationalism against the continuous British colonial rule and imperialism, right from the emergence of political parties in Nigeria and up till about 1944. As the agitation gained momentum, the colonial government initiated a process of tactical pull over through negotiation with the emergent yet fragmented political class; the media took a front seat and status in the struggle as the mouthpiece of the anti-colonial struggle. In playing this role, the media and individual journalists were exposed to all forms of vicissitudes and punishment by the colonial authorities.

          The Nigerian press has indeed established itself as a strong force in the information sphere and this was maintained during the oppression days of the military juntas in the country, and was also instrumental in the enthronement of democratic governance in the country in 1999. Unlike the history of the press, the origin of the broadcast media in Nigeria took a different twist. According to Adeseye and Ibagere (1999:100) the establishment of a relay station in Nigeria by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1932 was meant to serve different interest. Chief of which was to mobilize Africans and Nigerians to fight a common enemy-Germany and also to serve the interest of the British minorities in the country. This testimony is in sharp contrast to that of the press which though started by a non-Nigerian, but was generally meant for the information, education and entertainment needs of Nigerians. Since the inception of the broadcast media in Nigeria, it remained exclusively with the government until the government of General Ibrahim Babangida deregulated the industry, thereby giving private individuals the opportunity to own and operate broadcast stations.

Broadcasting, is an electronic transmission of radio and television signals that are intended for general public reception, as distinguished from private signals that are directed to specific receivers. Research has proven that no broadcasting stations can strive without continuity announcers whose roles are very paramount to the growth and day-to-day running of the firm.

          A continuity announcer is a broadcaster whose voice (and, in some cases, face) appears between radio or television programmes to give programme information. Continuity announcers tell viewers and listeners which channel they are watching or listening to at the moment (or which station they are tuned to), what they are about to see (or hear), and what they could be watching (or listening to) if they changed to a different channel operated by the broadcaster. At the end of programmes, they may read out information about the previous programme, for example who presented and produced it, relay information or merchandise relating to the show, or to provide details of organisations who may offer support in relation to a storyline or issue raised in the programme. Continuity announcers may also play music during intervals and give details of programmes later in the day. If there is a breakdown, they make any necessary announcements and often play music for its duration.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.

The main purpose of a continuity announcer is to keep the ‘smooth running’ of a television channel with simple announcements that encourage the viewers to continue watching. The sort of announcements they make for example may be a short interlude of a programme that informs the audience of another programme and the time that it will be broadcast. This keeps the attention of the channel they are on and therefore keeping a loyal audience. The announcer will take advantage of the opportunity to add humour when appropriate and possibly intellect depending on the feature being announced.

          Modern day we see announcer using trending social networks to get on a more personal level with the audience and suggest to follow the channels twitter for example to follow more ‘announcements’ on the social media platform.

          It is known that these announcer are usually only heard, not seen. This is definitely the case with modern day continuity announcers but that wasn’t always the case. Without doubt continuity announcer has been seen as the backbone and live wire in the day to day of keeping the broadcast station on air with meaningful programme that will prevent audience from flow-out of station while it design programme scheduling strategies that will facilitate flow-in of the audience other rival stations. This study therefore, seeks to investigate the roles these continuity announcers play to facilitate the success of a broadcasting station.

1.3     OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Research objectives are just as useful as they are in most other aspects of life. “Research objectives provide the researcher a wonderful feeling of aim and direction,” according to Torty (2021). The study's overall purpose is to investigate the role of continuity announcer on success of broadcasting station.

          The study, on the other hand, was focused on achieving these precise goals:

1.     Examine the functions of continuity announcer.

2.     Investigate the challenges of continuity announcer in a broadcasting station.

3.     Examine the extent the role of continuity announcer affects the success of broadcasting station.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Research questions provide structure and direction to a study in scientific inquiry. As a result, according to Torty (2021), "research questions should truly constitute an enlargement of the research problem."

          The following research questions were posed in accordance with the study's objectives:

1.     What is the function of continuity announcer?

2.     What are the challenges of continuity announcer in a broadcasting station?

3.     To what extent does the role of continuity announcer affects the success of broadcasting station?

1.5     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be of immense benefit to broadcasting stations by bringing to their notice the strategic roles a continuity announcer plays in any broadcasting stations. This study will also benefit announcers in a broadcasting firms by letting them know that competency in their field and roles makes the success of any broadcasting stations, and that their incompetency, undermines the success of the broadcasting station. This study will also, add to existing literature on this topic and serve as a reference material to scholars, students and researchers for further studies on this topic or related domain in the future.

1.6     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study focuses on examining the various functions of continuity announcer in  a broadcasting stations. This study will also investigate the challenges these continuity announcers face in a broadcasting station. This study will further look into the extent the role of continuity announcer affects the success of broadcasting station. This study is therefore delimited to Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), Osogbo, Osun state.

1.7     LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The major challenges  the researcher encountered while carrying out this study were time constraint, insufficient fund, and inadequate literatures on this study domain.

1.8     DEFINITION OF TERMS

Announcer: a person who announces something, in particular someone who introduces or gives information about programmes on radio or television.

Continuity Announcer: A continuity announcer is a broadcaster whose voice (and, in some cases, face) appears between radio or television programmes to give programme information. Continuity announcers may also play music during intervals and give details of programmes later in the day.

Broadcasting: Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium.

Broadcasting Station: broadcasting station - a station equipped to broadcast radio or television programs