By Ijeoma Wilfred
The Federal Government has launched a new satellite pay television, which aims to give a cheaper and more relatable content alternative to citizens.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Senator George Akume who spoke at the unveiling of the pay TV provider, known as Silver Lake Television (SLTV), at the Shehu Yar Adua Centre in Abuja on Thursday said the coming of the platform is an answer to the desire of Nigerians for an alternative satellite platform that will give them value for their money.
The SGF who was represented by his Special Adviser on Technical Matters, Professor Babatunde Bernard, commended the management of Metrodigital Limited, the operators of SLTV, for setting up the satellite television.
“It is becoming very clear that we are on the right path to our collective recovery and prosperity. This is our country; the only one we can truly call our own and we must fix it by ourselves.
“In recent times, Nigerians have been yearning for alternatives to Satellite Pay TV that can serve as an alternative to the existing ones. SLTV has responded very loud and clear and from the information made available to me, they are willing to give their fellow compatriots real value for their money in terms of service quality and affordability.
“It is gladdening that Metrodigital recognises the fact that the Federal Government has demonstrated an unwavering commitment through robust policies and legal frameworks to promote free competitive and responsible broadcasting service in Nigeria, devoid of any form of monopoly and unfair market practices in the broadcast industry in line with the determination of the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR to turn the Nigerian economy around.
“Since his ascendancy as the president of Africa’s most populous nation, the President has made enormous policy changes in his quest for economic recovery, one of the results being the reason that we have gathered here today.
“Nigeria is an opportunity that is impossible to replicate or find elsewhere in any part of the world. The federal government wishes to assure the Management of SLTV of her full backing as they continue to do legitimate business in the broadcast industry of Nigeria.” Akume said
Delivering his welcome address, the Managing Director of Metrodigital Limited, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwafor, cited challenges in policies and legal frameworks that hindered the growth of pay TV in Nigeria .
He said his firm decided to seize the initiative to invest because the government had taken steps to address the” underlying problems”
Nwafor said his indigenous Satellite TV platform has two packages for subscription “, We started with about 55 quality channels of sports, movies, news, cartoons and documentaries.. There are two packages.
“One goes for 2500 Naira per month while the second is priced at 5000 Naira per month. These are available in every village, every town, every local government and every state in Nigeria adding that the package uses a small dish of 60 cm in size.
According to him,“The Pay-TV industry in Nigeria has not actually witnessed a robust and accelerated growth since inception as witnessed in other places. The reason is a result of the policies and legal frameworks that shape the practice and attitude of the industry participants.
“This allowed the dominant players to introduce monopolistic practices that over the years prevented innovation, and growth and led to poor quality of service delivery.
“It is however gratifying that in the last few years, the Federal Government of Nigeria took the bull by the horns and addressed some of these underlying problems,” Nwafor said.
In his part,the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Charles Ebuebu, disclosed to journalists at the event that the commission would consider the call by Nigerian pay satellite television subscribers for the introduction of pay-per-view options
Although he said that, it would require renegotiation of the contract, adding that if it’s applicable,it will be considered.
“Definitely, if it’s applicable, it will be considered. The issue is this, sometimes those discussions also need to start from when the content is acquired, because usually the traditional method of acquisition of content is that you license per month or annually, based on a 30 window.
“So, if you’re going to have to do a pay-per-view, you have to go back and negotiate it. Definitely, we do acknowledge in some instances, in other jurisdictions, some of those models come under different names really applicable so we’re also looking into it as a regulator,” he said.
