We’ll Not Operate Pay-As-You-View System  – MultiChoice

Mobolaji Michael 

MULTICHOICE Nigeria, the digital satellite television operator announced on Friday that the company would not operate the “pay-as-you-view’’ tariff system in Nigeria, in spite of demands for such. 

The Chief Customer Officer of MultiChoice, Martin Mabutho, made this known during an interview with the news hounds in Lagos.

Mr. Mabutho’s stance comes against the backdrop of persistent clamour by the company’s teeming subscribers for the introduction of a pay-as-you-view tariff structure in Africa’s most populous nation. 

“We are not going to introduce a pay-as-you-view system. Our contract with our suppliers is on a month-to-month basis,’’ he stated.

South Africa’s Multichoice has dominated the satellite broadcast space in Nigeria for the past 25 years and has remained adamant about not introducing the pay-as-you-view system.

Eighteen-Eleven Media reports that Multichoice Nigeria, on Tuesday, announced an upward review of prices on its DStv and GOtv packages by 17 per cent.

The pay-tv firm said in an internal memo that the price adjustment was due to the rising costs of business operations. 

The unsigned memo read, “Please note that from 1 May, your monthly subscription (premium) will be N24,500. To retain your old price of N21,000 for up to 12 months ensure you are active by 30 April”, the text message reads.

With the hike, the price of the Compact+ bouquet would move to N16,600 from N14,250 monthly.

Subscribers on the Compact bouquet will now pay N10,500 as against N9,000; while those on the Confam package are set to pay N6,200 compared to the previous N5,300.

Also, viewers on DStv Yanga and Padi bouquets will pay N3,500 and N2,500 respectively, as against N2,950 and N2,150.

Meanwhile, subscribers on the GOtv Supa package will now pay N6,400 as against N5,500; with those on GOtv Max expected to pay N4,850 as against N4,150.

More so, the GOtv Jolli package price will increase to N3,300 from N2,800; while that of the GOtv Jinja and GOtv Lite will rise from N1,900 to N2,250; and from N900 to N1,100, respectively.

But despite the rate increases, MultiChoice Nigeria also made a price lock offer to subscribers who may renew their subscriptions before their due dates.

The offer, which is meant to cushion the effect of the price review, allows customers to pay the old rates for 12 months if they pay monthly before the expiration of their subscriptions.

Eighteen-Eleven Media