Pulse Opinion: Dear DSTV, be very afraid because TSTV is here

The cable TV war in Nigeria is only just beginning and subscribers may be the better for it.

I first learned of the imminent Cable Television war in Nigeria through Pulse’ Sports Editor, Steve Dede, as we drove home one night after a long day of staring at laptop screens in the office.

In Dede’s words, “Kwese TV will alter the cable TV dynamics in Nigeria”.

There were his last words before he characteristically dozed off and passed out as I navigated the car homewards.

Dede must have been right after all. This week, the social media space has been completely taken over by chit-chat revolving around TSTV—the new entrant into Nigeria’s ripe Satellite television space.

TSTV stands for TELCOMS Satellite Television and is reportedly Nigeria owned.

However, Zimbabwean billionaire businessman, Strive Masiyiwa who is just 56 years of age, allegedly retains a stake in TSTV affairs.

 

To put you out of your misery, Masiyiwa owns Kwese TV and Econet Wireless. Masiyiwa is based in London. He has spent a chunk of his $600M personal fortune on philanthropy.

His nose for smelling business opportunities and pouncing whilst the iron is hot, has become the stuff of folklore. That business acumen is bringing him to Nigeria (if the grapevine is to be believed) and he’s coming fully prepared--with plenty of market research in his kitty to boot.

Subscribers of Multichoice’s DSTV in Nigeria often complain that they pay for what they do not watch. All DSTV bouquets don’t offer you the option of paying as you watch. On DSTV, if you end up watching six channels a month, you still get to pay N14,700 if you signed up to the premium bouquet. The rates on DSTV range from N1,900 to N14,700 and they keep rising.

And when it rains in Nigeria like it often does, there goes your DSTV viewing experience.

 

TSTV says with just N3,000 or less, you can watch over 100 channels. The TSTV smart top boxes also come with video calls, 500GB hard drive, capacity to pause subscriptions for seven days, pay-as-you-consume TV service, 20GB of data, record and playback feature and much more.

In other words, TSTV is smart cable, Direct To Home (DTH) television, home theater, laptop and workstation all rolled into one. On the surface, it’s a mouthwatering prospect.

TSTV is strikingly set to launch on October 1—Nigeria’s Independence Day--as though to say it’s coming to liberate Nigerians from what has been a love-hate relationship with DSTV.

But hold on, TSTV doesn’t have the rights to air English Premier League (EPL) games or matches of some of the other top leagues in Europe. And that’s still a major draw if you want to win the cable TV war in Nigeria.

 

However, not everyone cares for football in Nigeria. Millions still want world class content and if N3,000 can get them that, by all means, bring it on!

You are allowed to be skeptical of TSTV’s entrance into Africa’s biggest market if you’re Nigerian. HITV arrived with this much buzz and fanfare as well. But as soon as it lost the EPL rights, it went down under as quickly as it had emerged. There have been other pretenders to DSTV's throne as well. But these days, they are content to cater to 'below the line' subscribers.

So, yes, maybe we’ve seen this before.

ALSO READ: Satellite TV set to rival DSTV

The difference between HITV and TSTV may lie in the fact that while the latter has a sustainable business model that isn’t hinged on football, the former hedged all of its bet on the round leather game. While HITV depended on bank loans to temporarily break even, TSTV is arriving Nigeria with deep pockets and with a team of world class engineers on the train.

And someday, who says TSTV can’t wrest EPL and football rights off DSTV’s grip? And if it ever does, that would be one helluva statement and a catalyst for better cable TV offerings for Nigerians.

The cable TV market in Nigeria has long yearned for the kind of competition that will crash down subscriptions while stimulating creativity and world class content.

This may just be it.

SOURCE - PULSE.NG posted by Campus94