We Are Back To Our Turf – DBN Chief, Adun
Degue Broadcasting Network (DBN) recently staged a comeback with a promise to deliver big on sportainment, its chosen turf. Here, Osa Sonny Adun, President/CEO DBN Ltd, speaks on the initial closure of the Lagos office and the station’s brand promise. He spoke with Buki Oyedemi
What motivated the establishment of DBN?
DBN was a content provider and it was the organization that introduced sports marketing into the country. When we started up, there was no private TV or private participation in the broadcast industry so what we had to do was to work in collaboration with NTA. When DBN first came up with the concept of sports and sport marketing of global status and international recognition, we came with a proposal which was more of a Pan African proposal and not a Nigerian proposal. We wanted a situation where we could relay sporting activities of international significance to the African public. We needed to have an outlet to relay, that was how we got involved with NTA and we are indeed very grateful for that association. That association metamorphosed into DBN being appointed Consultants to NTA for all sporting activities and we did that between ’85 and ’87.
When that consultancy elapsed, we continued to collaborate with NTA, buying airtime to relay our events until the Babangida administration. We began broadcast in 1992 and DBN became one of the first companies to be licensed to operate in the private broadcast industry. We pioneered private broadcasting in the country alongside a company called Clapperboard. That was our involvement and introduction into the broadcast industry. We started transmission in the mid 90′s. During this period, we were transmitting continuously for more than ten years.
Why was the station rested in Lagos?
We had some logistical challenges in Lagos. We felt that we needed to do more in order to deliver the desired service. By that I mean that our work was beginning to lose its substance and we needed to upgrade our facilities. When we realized that we were no longer delivering on equity, we had to suspend our operations in Lagos to enable us to re-package and re-launch. About a year ago, we moved to our own location and everything is under one roof and we can truly now deliver the brand and the kind of services that DBN was known for. We are also back to our turf which is sports; but this time, we are now sportainment, that is, sports and entertainment.
How are you marketing DBN as a brand?
We consider now that we are refocused, re-energized and re-branded. For instance we call this office the Dream Centre and that is because anyone who visits will have his or her dreams realized. Our logo has been repackaged and we are also more youthful and gender sensitive in our packaging. The signals are better and far reaching. Though we are primarily a Lagos channel, we are reaching out to neighboring states like Ogun, Oyo, Osun and sometimes Ekiti. Another way we will market the brand is through quality content. Our contents are more modern, interactive and energetic. We are focusing more on local content
We are global in outlook. We like to celebrate things that are Nigerian and African in nature so when the concept of Afrocentrism came up, we decided it is what we want our viewers to experience. To this end, we are bringing back some of the old reliable programmes, one of which is the Niteshift.
We just signed on with MTV network and by that, we are going to be relaying some of the world’s best globally acceptable musicals both of Nigerian and African origin. We are also going to be relaying very classic movies. For children programming, we will air Nickelodeon on a daily basis. We are also focusing on other local content providers that is, top talk shows such as Moments with Mo, Inside Out with Agatha and Adora Show.
Talk about Niteshift
Niteshift is going to be bam! We brought the issue of request into the entertainment world. Niteshift is truly a night-time entertainment programme aimed at keeping people glued to our channel from about 10pm to 3am. We are going to give the viewer the choice, which is where we got our slogan: Your Choice Station from. The viewers are going to determine what they want to see. Instead of sticking to only one night to select a movie of their choice, viewers will have a whole week to do so and lots of prizes will be won in the process.
Many private TV stations now have radio arms. Does DBN hope to go into radio?
Yes. We had a radio license before now but we suspended that. We also see ourselves going into the pay television platform sometime in the future.
What is DBN doing to balance the prevalence of foreign soaps on local TV?
NBC has taken care of that. BON, of which I am the Vice Chairman, has also acted on the issue. We all know that 60% of the content on free to air TV must be local and 40% foreign. For pay TV originally, it was 20% local and 80% foreign but that figure has gone to 30-70. In addition to that, primetime viewing is restricted to local content so I think that has been taken care of. What a TV station airs has to be good because if you air what is not good, the sponsors will not be forthcoming. So it is best for the station to package quality programmes.
How do you hope to curb substandard programming at DBN?
We invest a lot in human capital development. On Saturday’s we hold trainings. We want the viewers to remain with DBN and the only way we can ensure that is to present quality content to our viewers.
I must also commend the industry in general. The Nigerian artiste, actor, production manager and so on, have all stepped up to the pace and they are doing very well. That is why the best musicians now are of the Nigerian turf. So, we as a station cannot but project these talents. We have to step up the pace because we have different publics monitoring us. We have the viewing public which is king, as they are those who determine whether we succeed or not; we have the paying public, these are the sponsors, advertisers, as they only put their money where they know that the viewer is focused; we have the regulators, that is, the NBC etc; we also have the critical public which includes the social and civil rights.
Some of the major sporting events are already in our kitty. We have rights for some of the major sporting events, such as the English Premier League, all the FIFA events leading to the FIFA World Cup billed for South Africa, the Common Wealth Games coming up in New Delhi, India and so on. On our own, we have rights to a number of quality sporting events. We are also focusing on what is known as minority sports. We want to do a lot of golf, cricket, polo, basketball, tennis, hockey, American football, wrestling, boxing and other not so popular sports.
How do you hope to merge political events in your programming?
Let me remind you of our content niche: 40% of our programming is going to be devoted to sports, 40% will be devoted to entertainment and 20% will be devoted to news. By the way, the regulation states that we must broadcast news everyday. DBN has always been known for its news offering and we will give due attention to politics and news. We will like to be known for our sportainment but we will give news the pride of place.
Do you think we have enough broadcast stations?
I think there is room for more but first of all we need to consolidate. It is not the quantity but the quality. We need to make sure that the right people run things the right way. We also believe that it is really not enough starting-off; it’s about having something unique to contribute to the industry. I think sometimes some people who own some media houses would be damn good directors, producers or columnists and they will make more money doing those things. I am sure however that the market place will separate the men from the boys. When an outfit like DBN takes a break and comes back as if it never left then that tells you something.
Where do you see DBN in the next five years?
I see DBN as a global entity. We are forging various alliances and delving into different endeavours. We will become a multifaceted establishment. We will heavily invest in content development. That is the light in which we see DBN.
What do you do at your leisure?
I play tennis and golf. I like to read a lot because it helps to stimulate me mentally. Because of my travels, I go to different cities and I do a lot of walking; taking a walk instead of taking taxis. I am very religious, very happy and very close to my God and that has given me some spiritual satisfaction. I try as much as possible to be nice to people because I truly believe in the doctrine that you should do unto all people what you want them to do to you. I have a wife and two children and I like to spend time with them. I work a lot and I am also engaged by BON where I work as the Vice Chairman.
