MultiChoice Nigeria and other pay-TV operators in Nigeria won't be shutting down in 2019 and won't be closing or forced to end their services like DStv and GOtv in the West African country next year, despite hugely erroneous and factually wrong trash reports by Nigeria's pathetic press.
Last week one once again one idiot in Nigeria ran a factually wrong story that was quickly copy-and-pasted by the lame duck Nigerian press, clueless about proper background regarding their own country's TV and pay-TV industry, and breathlessly reporting that the Nigerian government is going to force MultiChoice Nigeria, StarTimes Nigeria and others to close down since their pay-TV licences won't be renewed.
Utter sh*t.
But is no longer unexpected from MultiChoice's second largest pay-TV market in Africa where irrational Nigerian resentment and hate against MultiChoice has been steadily building the past 3 years along with a litany of fake news reporting.
Firstly, the Nigerian government needs all the local and foreign investment it can get and hold on to with the tanking Nigerian economy. It's not going to shut out companies and ironically will have to come up with a plan to keep multi-national companies who have been leaving Nigeria one after the other.
Secondly, MultiChoice Nigeria is one of the biggest corporate tax payers and corporate investors in Nigeria. The Nigerian government isn't going to close off this income tap.
Thirdly, MultiChoice Nigeria is a massive source of employment for local Nigerians through the entire pay-TV value chain - think direct employees to installer agents. Take away MultiChoice and you increase joblessness directly.
Fourthly, while Nigerians have made trashing MultiChoice and DStv a national pass time, DStv is the best of the available pay-TV providers since it launched DStv there in 1995 and GOtv in 2011.
On a mere consumer leve, imagine the massive outcry when millions of ordinary Nigerian pay-TV viewers and even government fat cats lose their DStv and GOtv and EPL and other international soccer and telenovelas - there is no way the Nigerian government would risk that.
Trash reporting had it that MultiChoice Nigeria will be forced to shut down DStv and GOtv since the pay-TV provider was notified by Nigeria's federal government that its operation in Nigeria will end in 2019 because its licence is expiring.
Apparently its licence issued in 2014 won't be renewed because it was not in line with Nigeria's Digital Switch Over (DSO) White Paper.
The so-called "DSO White Paper" is a policy. It's a regulatory framework and a broadcasting model for Nigeria'a migration process from analogue TV broadcasting to digital terrestrial television (DTT) - a mess that's only slightly better managed than South Africa's DTT disaster.
MultiChoice Nigeria in a statement says "GOtv is provided under a fully licensed and registered entity in Nigeria, and this license comes up for renewal in March 2019".
"As a law-abiding and committed Nigerian operator which has fulfilled and continues to comply with all regulatory requirements and applicable laws, it is not clear how or why this license would not be renewed, and as such the company will investigate further in the best interests of the many customers it serves in the market."
"MultiChoice remains committed to providing its customers with a wide variety of quality entertainment through the usual best standards".
