ABUJA, NIGERIA – The Federal Government of Nigeria will launch a nationwide Digital Switch Over platform offering free access to more than 100 television channels on June 17, 2026.
Okay News reports that Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced the commissioning date on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, during a facility tour of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited in Abuja.
The new platform features scientific audience measurement tools to track viewership patterns in real time for advertisers. “I have been grappling with this idea of the DSO for many years. Moving our transmissions from analogue to digital has now happened and is ready to be commissioned by June 17,” Idris said.
“Now science is at play. If you are viewing a station, we know who is watching what and how many people are watching. Advertisers can now take informed decisions about the kind of programming Nigerians want to watch across all demographics,” Idris said.
The government has absorbed the costs of previously expensive encrypted set-top boxes to make the digital broadcasting system free for citizens. “In the past, the boxes were encrypted and costly. Now this is free. Government has taken off some of those costs on behalf of Nigerians,” Idris said.
Nigeria’s Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Dr. Charles Ebuebu, stated the initiative includes a mobile application to align with changing youth audience behavior. “It’s basically taking into cognisance emerging technologies, which is why we are going by way of the application,” Ebuebu said.
The commission is establishing six regional studios across the country to encourage local content development and reduce production concentration in Lagos and Kano. “We are updating the list of channels. We’re going to have 100 channels by the day of launch and even more because more content producers are talking to us,” Ebuebu said.
The system will initially launch in standard definition before transitioning to high definition formats. Certified installers and technical support personnel will be deployed to support a national call centre assisting users in English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Pidgin English.
