There is a widespread belief that pay-television services are too expensive, particularly when operators increase prices for their services. And it is rightly so.Added to that, subscribers traditionally watch only 15% or so of the channels available to them so they are paying for a lot of channels they never turn on.
The persistent call for the pay-as-you-consume (PAYC) payment option as against the current monthly plans has not helped matters.To most subscribers, the current fixed plan payment is a rip-off
Pay tv platforms, particularly MultiChoice, owners of DStv and GOtv platforms and the biggest pay-television operator in the country have done little to control the narrative.
The operator is yet to convince Nigerians that Pay tv operation is not like the telecom version where you pay for the amount of airtime you want to use. Another salient proposition is that subscribers can suspend their subscriptions twice a year when they are out of town.It is importantly important that pay tv operators communicate to Nigerians that pay-as-you-consume which is often confused as “Pay-per-view” (PPV) is currently, is not obtainable in the pay TV business.
PPV is normally used when a special event is being broadcast. And in all intents and purposes, MultiChoice, is already providing PPV to its subscribers at no additional cost whenever there are special events.
In America where pay-per-view facility is being offered, people pay as much as $100 for a major boxing bout.Such tariff for PPV in Nigeria can cause a major riot because this market is not mature yet and cannot handle it.Pay tv operators have also failed to communicate the high cost of acquiring compelling contents; like live coverage of popular sports events.Content owners, knowing the value of what they have, ask for more money for rights to such any time they want to review the contracts.
And the purchase of the rights are most times in foreign currencies meaning that If any of these markets are affected by foreign exchange volatility, as most likely, it would affect pay tv business.Pay tv operators deserves the hues and cries for failing to control the narrative of expensive services provisioning.
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