The new media as a viable alternative to traditional film marketing in Nigeria

Abstract

The changing technological landscape is affecting all dimensions of human endeavour. This paradigm shift is obviously also being experienced in the film industry where the mode of presentation of content has shifted from the mechanical analogue format to the computerized digital format. The effect of this shift is felt not only in the quality of content but also in its mode of access and distribution. Against this backdrop, this study focused on the new media (the Internet) as an alternative film distribution channel in the Nigerian film industry. The study sought to discover the extent online film distribution is becoming realized in the country through surveying undergraduate students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka with reference to their film accessing and purchasing culture. Situated within the framework of the technological determinism theory, the study was designed as a sample survey. One hundred respondents were randomly sampled from the population while a structured questionnaire was utilized as the data collection tool. Findings showed that the new media is emerging as an important source of accessing Nigerian films among the audience; but that only a small proportion of the viewers, however, pay to download Nigerian films online. It also found that online film distribution could endanger copyright of filmmakers given the audience’s seeming indifference to the authorization status of the sites they download films from. The study concluded that a film market built to suit the new media form will serve as a viable alternative to the traditional DVD/VCD film market in Nigeria as long as the challenges of copyright inherent in the Internet are adequately resolved. It was, among others, recommended that film policy in Nigeria should be broadened to capture the imperatives of online distribution of films. Such policy thrusts should be targeted at creating the institutional framework and removing all hiccups towards an efficient online distribution culture in the nation’s film industry.

Keywords: New media, Internet, film, distribution