Effects of Audience Feedback on Radio and Television Programmes in Lagos State, Nigeria

In the past, radio and television were regarded as unidirectional media in Nigeria. The facts apparent in history show that there were no direct channels of feedback from the audience. However, modern advances in information and communication technology have changed the old template. Radio and television stations can now know their audience spread while feeling their pulses at the same time. This study x-rayed such feedback channels, pattern of usage among radio and television stations in Lagos state Nigeria, and the extent to which such feedbacks are being incorporated in programmes and what effect. The study employed survey research approach. Broadcasters in all radio and television stations in Lagos state constituted the target population. There are twenty eight (28) radio stations (eight public and twenty private), twenty- one television stations (four public and seventeen private stations). Six radio stations (two public and four private stations) were selected while four television (two public and two private) stations were selected for participation in the study. Audience Feedback Survey Instrument (AFSI) was administered on all broadcasters in the selected stations. AFSI was developed and validated. Using Cronbach alpha, the instrument yielded r= 0.79 as reliability co-efficient. Data generated were analyzed with simple descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentage, cross tabulation, and; regression analysis. Findings show a range of feedback channels available to broadcast stations in Lagos with text message, phone-in-programmes, social media and; e-mail mostly used. Findings show that television stations, more than radio stations, public broadcast stations more than private stations use feedbacks from these channels to improve subsequent programmes. The study recommends that both private and public broadcast stations should pay more attention to feedback from audience and that private stations should do more in the area of incorporating audiences‟ feedbacks into their programmes in order to enhance efficiency and engender audiences‟ confidence.