.as Nigerians demand pay-per-view
From about 6.5 million in 2019, the number of pay-TV subscribers in Nigeria has been projected to reach 10 million by 2025. According to a report by Digital TV Research, the country would this year overtake South Africa as the largest pay-TV market in Africa.
This came as it projected that the African continent will have 47.26 million pay-TV subscribers by 2025, up from 30.7 million at the end of 2019. According to the report, African subscriber numbers will climb by 54 percent between 2019 and 2025, but pay-TV revenues will rise by only 31 percent, indicating that subscribers will pay less. “Pay-TV revenues will reach an estimated USD 7.2 billion by 2025, up by USD 1.72 billion in 2019,” the report projected.
The report noted that three groups accounted for 93 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's pay-TV subscribers in 2019, although this proportion will fall to 88 percent by 2025. Each of the three main groups provides a satellite TV platform and a pay DTT platform.
“Multichoice had 14.56 million subscribers across satellite TV platform DStv and DTT platform GOtv by end of 2019. This total will grow to an estimated 18.05 million by 2025, with a marked slowdown in satellite TV growth.
“France's Vivendi had 4.73 million subscribers at its Canal Plus satellite TV platform and Easy TV DTT platforms by end-2019. Its total is predicted to climb to 7.35 million by 2025. StarTimes/StarSat will enjoy the most impressive growth: from 9.1 million subscribers at end-2019 to 16.39 million by 2025, the market researcher expects,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have accused the country’s major pay-TV operator, Multichoice, of ripping them off with its current subscription plans. The subscribers, who took to the social media to express their displeasure, demanded that Multichoice introduce pay-per-view as it obtains in other climes.
The demand came barely a few days after Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the government’s new broadcast regulation. The new regulation is expected to put an end to DStv’s alleged monopoly and anti-competitive practices, especially as it relates to sports broadcasting in the country.
Already, speculations abound that the government’s decision does not sit well with DStv’s shareholders, many of whom are worried that the Nigerian cable TV market will soon become too competitive.
In the meantime, DStv customers really want the company to consider making their service pay per view in Nigeria. This is because many customers complain that their subscriptions typically go to waste because they do not get to watch anything before expiration.
A Twitter user identified as Geezy said DStv’s current pricing system can best be described as extortion. He is, therefore, calling for an immediate change. Perhaps this is something the Nigerian authority may want to do something about.
While power instability could also be attributed to one of the reasons for the demand for pay per view, subscribers said a plan they can pay for only when they watch is the ideal thing in a country like Nigeria. Another Twitter user named Rusty complained that he had not been able to watch his DStv for nearly a week because he hadn’t had electricity in his house.
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