Another look at the cost of pay TV



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Raheem Akingbolu writes about the debate that is dragging on the current price rises of the different pay-TV services in Nigeria, making a comparison between what is available on the market and the global terrain

The last one and a half weeks have seen a return of anger from subscribers against MultiChoice Nigeria, the pay television company, which has recently announced new prices for its services. MultiChoice has communicated to customers the price adjustment on its DStv platform directly via SMS, stating that they would come into effect from August 1st. The company has increased its prices in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

When prices come into effect, the DStv The Premium Package will attract N15,800 compared to the current N14, 700 rate. DStv Compact Plus customers, according to the company, will pay N10, 650 instead of N9, 900, while the subscribers of the Compact, which currently pay N6, 500, will start The price of its DStv family and access plans has been increased respectively to 4,000 and 2,000 NZ against 3 000, 800 and N1 900 currently being paid.

At home (DTH), the company announced a price cut, reducing the price paid for the GOtv MAX package from N3, 800 to N3, 200. This did not, however, calm the frantic nerves, as DStv is the focal point. Disillusioned, subscribers quickly exhumed the old allegation of monopoly against MultiChoice and hung there as a reason for rising prices

They urged the government to intervene to save them from the exploitation perceived by the Company

. MultiChoice had no reason to revisit its prices upward, a belief stemming from the badumption that Nigerians pay more for its services than the citizens of the other countries in which it operates. Others, particularly on social media platforms, have claimed that pay-TV tariffs in Nigeria are the highest in the world.

However, results have shown that MultiChoice has raised prices in all countries where it operates. According to the results, the recently announced price regime will see DStv Premium subscribers in Ghana pay Cedis 365 (27, 360.75) and those of Compact plus Cedis 245 (N18, 365.44). Compact subscribers in the country must start paying Cedis 149 (N11, 169.18), while those in the Family package (the lowest available in the country) will pay Cedis 85 (N6, 961.60).

In South Africa, whose subscribers We think the MultiChoice is very pampered, the new rate of DStv Premium is R809 (N21, 728.47.

Compact Plus will cost R509 (N13, 670), with Compact R385 ( N10, 340.49) The rates of access were set respectively at 249 (N6, 687.75) and 99 (N2, 656.98).

Rates in other countries, especially in Europe and in the United States. In the United States, Sky TV, the country's largest pay-TV operator, charges £ 79.95 (N38, 167.33) for its premium package. and £ 47.50 (N22, 572.97) for the one below it, which attracts monthly £ 40 (N19, 008.82) The other three Sky TV packages cost £ 30 (N 14, 256.61), £ 25 (N11, 731.54) and £ 20 (N9, 504.41) respectively.

Sky TV rates in Mexico, where it offers four packages, are in the same range. remium costs 1039 MXN (N19, 798.52). The package just below attracts MXN 829 (N15, 796. 52), while the last two packages cost respectively MXN 649 (N12, 366.93) and MXN 569 (N10, 842.50).

The Australian Foxtel also charges similar rates monthly.

The cost of its entry-level package is the Australian dollar or AUD 26 (N6, 961.60). The one above costs 46 AUD (N12, 316. 67). Just above is a package that costs 55 AUD (N14, 726. 45). The high-end bouquet of the supplier attracts AUD 75 Australian.

The American operator, Direct TV, charges $ 35 (N12, 635) for its lowest price, Select. His slightly higher package, Entertainment, costs $ 40 (N14, 440), while the one above, Choice, is worth $ 45 (N16, 245). His Xtra package attracts $ 55 (N19, 855). The largest packages of Direct TV cost $ 110 (N38, 710) and $ 60 (N21, 660) respectively.

Surveys show that overall, pay-TV price increases are attracting heated debate among subscribers, with the prevailing view being that operators operate ruthlessly. In most parts of the world, operators are raising prices every year, further worsening subscribers' anger.

According to its most recent report, the US Federal Communications Commission's Media Office adds that pay-TV providers the industry's ecosystem, according to the results, let operators to thanks to the content producers / television networks, the latter regularly charging more for the programming content, the first of which depends on viability. For years, pay-TV operators around the world have struggled, unsuccessfully, by increasing programming costs, which has eroded their margins. Content owners also continued to claim that the increase in fees paid by operators for broadcasting their content is largely the product of the leap in their own costs of producing such content.

In particular, the cost of sports content, TV Property, has continued to climb and very steep, too. Broadcasters have continued to shell out more money to retain rights to the content of sports leagues such as the English Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A and NBA), which fall into the unmissable programming category.

share out-of-the-world salaries paid to sports stars from television revenues, such as sports content owners, to cope with rising costs and to transfer them to pay television companies, which do not pay for television. have no choice but to transfer According to some badysts, these costs have risen by 8 to 10% in each of the last four years

. pay-TV subscription rates are also informed, to a lesser extent, by a better consumer experience, through frequent additions of new features and functions to services

According to consumerreports.org, most US pay TV operators have increased their prices. In 1965, the cable companies we contacted stated that the price increases are mainly due to the rising costs they face in transporting traditional broadcast networks, such as CBS and Fox, and regional sports channels. the site.


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