Young Lives: How Youth in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe Consume Media

The Discovery Learning Alliance "commissioned this study to deepen our understanding of the rapidly changing media consumption habits of young people in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe."

The knowledge of youth television and digital consumption patterns and preferences gained through this study is intended to help expand “production, distribution and engagement of educational, socially relevant and empowering media", focused for African youth 15-24 years of age. The following questions were explored:

1. "How, when and how often do young Africans consume content on broadcast and digital platforms?
2. Which channels and platforms do young people find most engaging and why?
3. What are the most important considerations in developing a media property for targeting the wellbeing of young Africans?"

Data were gathered from health and demographic surveys, United Nations agencies, the Pew Research Centre, BBC Media Monitoring and BBC Media Action, subscription and locally sourced data sets, and national governments. Twelve interviews were conducted with youth, media, and development experts. Quantitative analyses were done on secondary data, along with a review of pertinent reports, documents and published articles, websites, and blogs. The final study includes insights across the four locations and then detailed information on each country on: "Demographics and Development; Television; Digital and Cultural Observations."

Researchers found a fast-changing market as youth migrate to urban environments. Additionally, information on marketing is closely guarded as a competitive strategy. Further, most studies are interpretations for answering single questions or involve general, not youth, audiences.

Because African youth are internationalising their styles, habits, and preferences, multicounty reach is possible as seen in the growing use of digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp as mobile broadband and interconnectivity grow. However, in television, only Kenya has fully digitised. Terrestrial channels have the greatest reach and popularity in each country, while content portfolios differ for genres and international broadcast content, offering differing opportunities for those seeking a local distribution partner. Satellite channels tend, due to prohibitive costs, to reach wealthier, educated urban groups.

Overarching insights include the following:

• Youth - "share common consumption patterns of popular culture products and genres, and of global brands and celebrities...Common enjoyment of genres such as reality television and platforms dedicated to celebrity gossip, sports and entertainment news point to a shared set of preferences rooted in popular culture across the four countries...African youth are responsive to content and brands that reflect their reality." Shared challenges include unemployment, limited opportunities, lack of civic engagement platforms, health issues, and substance addiction vulnerability. Shared strategies include: solidarity, entrepreneurship, and creativity.

• Television - the divide of access and quality programming is rural/urban - radio still dominating rural areas. Regulations for broadcasting are uneven across the continent, and piracy disrupts incentive. Audience measurement is challenging and markets differ with language being an obstacle. successful obstacles include: telenovelas, music, and reality TV which is adding social media to garner followers.

• Digital - "Mobile broadband is the predominant form of internet access across Africa, with smartphones slowly increasing in usage. Bundled data consumption allows "cheap or even free access to popular social media  and instant messenger applications such as Facebook and WhatsApp. " Data costs are a disincentive to follow links in websites or away from social media. Degrees of access to free low cost websites and services, like Facebook's Free Basics, increase access for low-income users but limit its breadth. WhatsApp use, for example, is a leading and free source of contact and drives online communities. Influencers among young Africans can help market thinking and add credibility due to the attention they command. For example: "Lifestyle bloggers such as Jemila Wumpini Abdulai, who won the African Blogger Awards in 2016, engage with youth entrepreneurship and development priorities, advocating for women’s rights while writing blogs on improving social media marketing."

The report found lack of opportunity for youth to express opinions offline, to be creative, and to be reached at scale by youth-opportunity organisations. Three live entertainment brands have gained status and involve participants from multiple countries through: viewer-to-program interaction, program-to-viewer engagement and viewer-to-viewer conversation. Regional music, art and tech festivals are inspiring young people. There is a need to solve the audience measurement dilemma, possibly by a "pan-African digital youth panel... to gauge audience resonance and test new creative ideas going forward."