that the Federal Government must compel the firm to introduce a Pay As You Go service in the country.
In 2018, Naspers, a multinational Internet group, headquartered in South Africa, claimed that MultiChoice had a total subscriber base of 13.5 million viewers, with Nigeria accounting for 40 per cent of that figure. However, as at November 2019, during the presentation of its maiden financial results after listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the report showed that MultiChoice subscriber base across Africa was 15.1 million. South Africa accounted for 7.
Agom said the services are poor, “any slight thunderstorm, the signal will disappear. On GOtv, if an aeroplane is flying, the service will go off, and we are still paying for bad services. The Nigerian authorities should look into this.” “This is why ATCIS, as the only subscriber advocacy body in the country, has been canvassing that these PayTV operators should introduce another model known as, Pay-As-You-Go or Pay Per View,” he stated.“A similar analysis of this is the way we buy recharge cards or data from telcos. If you do not use the airtime on your phone, you have no reason to buy another. This is justice!”
Contrary to news making the round that MultiChoice offers Pay-As-You-Go services in other markets in the region, Checks by The Guardian showed that across countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is broadcast, the mode of subscription remains the same, even in South Africa. ‘‘Clearly ignored when making comparisons is the fact that television companies, more often than not, buy the content they redistribute. The programmes, on account of the fierce competition among pay TV companies, are bought at near-extortionate sums, and contracts for them are renewed at a king’s ransom.
The new code also compels content sub-licensing, as it aims to forcefully regulate the prices at which content is sub-licensed by Pay TV operators and rights owners, regardless of whether they have recouped their investment or not. In the same vein, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Dr. Olorunifesi Suraj, said government’s plan on the amended code was to maximise tax and have control of the sector.