New Telegraph

Multichoice adamant as Nigerians insist on pay-per-view

T

he dominant pay-tv operator in Nigeria, Multichoice, has remained unwavering in its stance on pay-per-view as opposed to monthly subscriptions as being  demanded by Nigerians. The owner of DStv and Gotv is insisting that their business model is not in sync with the demands of Nigerian subscribers, even as the National Assembly wades in.

 

 

Following the implementation of the new additional 2.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT), which led to an increase subscription fee across its bouquets, Nigerians had recently taken to the social media to re-echo their perennial demand for pay-per-view.

 

 

According to them, paying the high monthly subscription in a country where power is unstable or in situations where they only watch for a few hours at night is a waste of money; hence, they would want an arrangement where they only pay for what they watch.

 

 

Although many Nigerians had argued that the South African company was offering pay-per-view in its home country, checks by Sunday Telegraph confirmed that this was not true.

 

 

Reacting to the latest demand, MultiChoice’s Spokesperson, Caroline Oghuma, said there have been some misconceptions about what pay-per-view means. According to her, pay-per-view is not a service that enables one to match consumption to subscription as was the case with a meter for electricity or mobile phone.

 

 

She said: “It is a type of pay television service by which a subscriber of a television service provider can purchase events to view via private broadcast. It usually applies to a one-off broadcast of high stakes games such as football, boxing, and even wrestling matches.

 

 

“Pay-per-view service can be purchased via a cable or satellite TV provider as a non-refundable separate package in addition to a pre-existing subscription. An example of pay-per-view in action was the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight, aptly dubbed ‘The Money Fight’. In this case, subscribers had to each pay up to $100 for the bout in the US, and watch or not, the subscription ended with the 10 round fight.

 

 

“We broadcast the same boxing match to our Premium subscribers at no extra cost, and those who have Exploras were able to record the match and re-watch at another time. It is important to state that it is an expensive service to subscribe to. To date, no pay-tv operation globally has a model based solely on a pay as you view, as it is not a viable business model.”

 

 

In response to the same demand in January 2019, the company had said point blank that it would not operate the pay as you view tariff system in Nigeria, despite demands for such.

 

 

The Chief Customer Officer of Multichoice, Martin Mabutho, who made the statement in a media interview, had said: “We are not going to introduce pay as you view system. Our contract with our suppliers is on a month to month basis.

 

 

“The issue of not introducing pay as you view remains. Nothing will change me; the channels do not belong to Multichoice. What we do is to slash our prices in half to make our customers enjoy our services,” he said.

 

 

Meanwhile, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, House of Representatives, has waded into the tussle between Multichoice and its customers here in Nigerians.

The House, which has begun an investigation of cable and satellite television service providers in Nigeria over their high tariffs and monopolised bouquets, said it would soon summon Multichoice to answer questions over the much-talked-about pay-per-view option.

 

 

Chairman, House Committee on Broadcasting, Unyime Idem, at a recent investigative hearing in Abuja said that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had been summoned to explain why DStv and other service providers refused to introduce pay-per-view.

 

 

Idem said: “Today, we want to hear from you and your team, how the industry can be properly managed so that beneficiaries who are Nigerians can smile at the end of the day. I am sure you must have been hearing of the yearnings of Nigerians for years now, who are the subscribers to these services that they are not happy with the current services they are getting from the providers.

 

 

“They have been crying on a daily basis that they are not satisfied with the services they are getting from the providers in terms of high charges, price hike and, most importantly, considering what is obtainable in other countries of the world that is pay-per-view offer that other countries are giving to their subscribers.

 

 

“Why is it not implemented in Nigeria? We want to know your position as the regulator of these service providers. What are the bottlenecks? What are the constraints? What are the implications? Why are we not enjoying ‘pay as you go’ as subscribers to these service providers?”

 

 

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