Lagos — Television has come a long way. By every standard, this contraption which can enable people view moving, talking images, represents a veritable milestone in the march of human civilization.

And it is a credit to the never-ending march of technological progress that from the single television set first invented in 1942 to the handful that adorned the homes of the noveau riche soon thereafter, today, television sets are to be found in the homes of millions of people across the world, rich and poor. Advances in technology have been such that key components of the television set are progressively cheaper and yet more effective.

But the advances have not just been about components but also about aesthetics and functionality. The earliest television sets were massive and indeed were only capable of black and white functionality. Today's television sets are exercises in imaginative ingenuity.

They come in a multiplicity of sizes, colour images are crystal clear and may even be hung on the wall in much the same way as a painting.

In the years since its invention, television has quickly come to occupy a slot as one of the defining forces of our age. The sheer capacity to inform, educate and in particular, entertain multitudes has spawned immense advantages for purveyors - including owners of broadcast studios, sponsors and television personages - of the television set.

Many would be able to recollect the pivotal role television played in bringing the Cold War to an end. What about its role in creating great brands? How iconic would such events as the World Cup, the Super Bowl or brands like MTN and McDonalds be today if they didn't have a promotional tool like television?

Any wonder why CNN and BBC are among some of the leading influencers of the day?

In Nigeria , television history began with the inauguration of the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation of the then Western Region of Nigeria in 1956. Headquartered in Ibadan , that television station is by some accounts the premier television station in Africa .

It is perhaps a symbolism of sorts of the fact that television may not have exactly delivered of its promise in Nigeria that there was no celebration in 2006 of 50 years of television in Nigeria . Nobody remembered. If they did, they hardly cared.

Though over 50 years old the progress of the television institution in Nigeria , certainly leaves much to be desired. There are hardly any iconic television stations to be looked upon as models of professional and entrepreneurial excellence as at yet.

The public television stations are just in the process of shaking off an image of unabashed government mouth pieces, after decades of an inevitable pandering to government whims in the years of Nigeria 's military dictatorship. They have hardly grown in size and influence. On the other hand the sprinkling of private television stations is in a perpetual struggle for survival. For many of them, regular payment of staff salaries is the exception. Staff are routinely owed salaries for months.

So what could be responsible for the situation in which local television stations find themselves? Why has it not been able to create icons the way the medium has done in the civilized world? Why for instance would a talented actor of the caliber of Joe Layode (Teacher Garuba in Village Headmaster), a man who spent the larger part of his life on television, live and die almost in penury?

In the area of pay television a combination of insufficient financing and unsustainable business models has combined to drive many to the edge. Many pay TV stations are today bankrupt or exist mainly in name.

But if the television industry is in dire straits in Nigeria , it is certainly not for want of creativity in the populace. It would appear rather that a key problem is a continuing constriction of sorts of the television space. It would also appear that fundamental to the problem is the poor management of creativity.

Nollywood has been a silver lining on the horizon for a number of years, a savior of sorts of Nigeria 's television industry. Rising gradually from initial spurts and starts, initial disdain and cynicism, Nollywood is gradually amassing respect for itself. Its practitioners, including its most prolific and visible actors do not yet command anything near the mega incomes of their counterparts in Hollywood . But their faces are slowly amassing for them brand_status and Nigeria 's actors and actresses have become the country's best known ambassadors.

Nollywood and television continue to benefit each other. Even though the Nollywood movies are scripted and recorded in sundry locations, far away from television or movie studios, it is on television sets that the majority of people in Nigeria and elsewhere on the continent have come to experience this unique Nigerian phenomenon.

Plenty of credit must go to local Nigerian stations for the support with which it has availed the Nollywood industry. With the evolution of many local TV stations to 24_hour daily broadcasts, Nollywood movies became a regular daily feature on these stations, helping the stations meet the need of filling valuable airtime with good content, and in so doing, further promoting the movies themselves. DSTV's Africa Magic took this even further by dedicating a channel almost exclusively to Nollywood. Though the channel is known as Africa Magic and features a sprinkling of movies from Ghana and other parts of Africa once in a while, there is no doubt that its defining face is Nollywood. The vast majority of movies shown therein are Nollywood movies.

A phenomenon that will have defining impact on the continuing evolution of television in Nigeria is mobile television. This development is being pioneered via a partnership between MTN and Multichoice Nigeria and the launch event took place very recently.

Multichoice Nigeria , the company which promotes the DSTV satellite offering across Nigeria , will in partnering with MTN Nigeria, the country's leading telecommunications provider, offer a bouquet of 10 television channels on the MTN network. MTN subscribers therefore, if they possess the appropriate mobile devices (handsets) will be able to watch television from the comfort and privacy of their mobile phones even while they are on the move, and far away from home. The service, both partners, say will initially be available in Lagos and Abuja , but availability will extend to more locations in due course.

This is yet another example of technology convergence. The mobile device has since evolved beyond a tool for making and receiving phone calls to one that is a personal computer, mobile phone, camera, radio, gaming machine, and in this case, television set, all at once. No wonder the world now chooses to refer to it as "mobile device" or "handheld" rather than "mobile phone".

In essence, MTN in conjunction with Multichoice, are opening up and deepening the television space in Nigeria . If people can access television on the move just as they access it at home or in their offices, then the television medium will gradually enjoy more popularity and viewership than it currently does. The corollary spin-off of this is that in some way, it sets a chain of development in motion that affects the entire television industry value chain.

Content providers will be challenged to create even more engaging content than is currently available. From reality shows to family game shows to soap operas, the challenge is for the creative community out there to step up the plate of creativity and innovativeness. More engaging television content will generate more revenue streams, better paid content developers, more quality television viewership, and of course more advertising revenues for the television stations.

Advertising is one key element that will be revolutionized by this new evolution to mobile TV which MTN alongside Multichoice are pioneering. To date, advertising despite the radical changes it has undergone in many other parts of the world, remains largely traditional in Nigeria .

The migration of television from the traditional television set to the mobile device will portend a whole new world of opportunity to advertisers wishing to reach customers and prospects and to the entire advertising industry itself. What with a vibrant telecommunications industry that is acknowledged as one of the world's fastest growing and in which mobile phones are in the hands of tens of millions of Nigerians. Mobile advertising is a most attractive prospect, no doubt.

In other parts of the world, a key complaint against advertising is that in bombarding targets with sundry sales pitches wherever they turn, advertising has become a nuisance of sorts, intruding into people's lives and generally creating an over-communicated world. With mobile television now making an incursion into Nigeria , the prospect of over communication is a potential threat.

Correspondingly, therefore, the challenge of advertising creativity has never been more pressing; The challenge of producing and unleashing advertising which is entertaining yet informative and engaging, such that consumers do not find them too intrusive.

This is particularly important, given that the mobile phone is a very personal device. Surely Nigeria 's advertising clan should be able to rise up to this challenge which will undoubtedly raise the bar of advertising creativity and effectiveness.

In making mobile television accessible to Nigerians, MTN and Multichoice have adopted the use of Digital Video Broadcast Handheld, DVBH technology. In this case, therefore, specialized handsets which are compatible with this technology are being deployed by both companies.

Charging is one critical component of mobile television service. As many telecom operators in the developing world have come to learn at great cost, perhaps the most fundamental determining factor of uptake of new services, is how strategically they have been priced.

New services may bundle as much value as possible, but if potential customers perceive them as being over-priced they will hardly bother to try them out. The mobile phone, it must be remembered, remains primarily a tool for voice communications and once it does this effectively, customers are generally happy with it.

MTN and Multichoice seem to have taken this into consideration in pegging the monthly subscription for the service at N1,500. At this subscription fee which is just equivalent to the cost of a regular MTN recharge card, there is good likelihood that prospective customers will find the tariff pocket-friendly.

It is no doubt, an exciting future which the march to mobile television promises. Now, with a mobile device, even while waiting to keep an appointment, for instance, one can keep up with the latest English premiership football match on say SuperSport 3 or his favourite Nollywood movies on AfricaMagic.

Even children may log on to their favourite Cartoon Network and young people, the favourite music channel, Channel O. Suddenly, one no longer needs to rush home to catch up with television. You can do your catching up wherever you are and in the comfort and convenience of a device that is personal to you, your mobile device.

Whichever way, we look at it, the television landscape in Nigeria is on the cusp of change. Much of that change will be defined by technology and the creativity which the entire television industry value chain brings to bear in adapting technology to suit the needs of today's consumer for more entertainment, fun and information in more engaging and sophisticated media.

It is exciting that such change is being driven by a partnership between a telecom company (MTN) on one hand and a broadcast company (Multichoice) on the other. *Mr. Harry Okoruwa, is public relations consultant with XLR8 agency in Lagos