The era of European football, particularly the English Premier League (EPL), as the cash cow for payTV in Nigeria is over, according to African Cable Television (actv) Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Godfrey Orkeh.
The business will now be driven by local content, he enthused at the media launch of actv in Lagos.
PayTV in Nigeria has seen almost all the local players struggling. DaarSat, ConSat, NTA StarTimes, My TV and defunct HiTV have all tried to challenge DStv to no avail.
To fend off competition, DStv has introduced a low end brand, GOtv, so that the top end can be fully protected. But Orkeh maintained that actv, another local player, is determined to change the status quo.
Nigeria is a big market for multiple payTV operators but this space has not been well utilised by them, apart from DStv. And PayTV is largely driven by football.
Sam Adenekan, an advertising practitioner in Lagos, recalled that “When HiTV got the right to air EPL in Nigeria, DStv suffered. Also the departure of that content from HiTV spelt its end. It shows how strong the football content is in this part of world,” Adenekan stressed.
A communication expert, Charles Igbinidu, reiterated that “there is intense competition at the lower end of the market; We have StarTimes, Gotv and many others. The top end of the market is monopolised by DSTV.
“The payTV segment is dominated by foreign owned organisations. Indigeneous organisations have not been able to make any visible impart in the market largely because the business is capital intensive.
“Financial organisations are unwilling to channel support into this sector because it is not like buying and selling where you easily recoup investment. The gestation period is long. Most financial organisations in this country do not have that kind of patience.”
However, Orkeh said actv’s direct to home platform will offer multi-media entertainment to customers who want quality content at an affordable price.
Pricing, which ranges from decoder purchase and subscription, is a major impediment to acquiring payTV.
But Orkeh pledged active subscribers will have the opportunity to access all its channels as it brings them to life from December 1 till December 31, 2014 to enable them choose the package that best suits their entertainment needs.
Actv offers four packages – actv prime, actv family, actv family max, and actv premium.
“We believe that our customers will spend this end of the year season with a choice of TV channels that address the needs of every member of their families and friends.”
Unlike others at the lower end of the market, actv aims for the top with a slim fit HD PVR.
Its Chief Operating Officer, Joseph Chitanta, expressed excitement to be “the first payTV DTH operator in Nigeria” that will allow 100 per cent of customers base to benefit from High Definition TV, PVR and pause-TV functionality and many other features integrated into the ACTV-6000 HD PVR decoder.
Orkeh said actv will own its channels such as Rana for Hausa programmes, Ibile for Yoruba, Oji for Igbo, GAT TV for Gospel music, and a Pidgin English channel called Area TV.