Nigeria pays the least DStv subscription rates of countries where the Pay Tv company, Multichoice, has its footprints, as deduced from a document seen by BusinessDay.
This is contrary to claims that Nigerian subscribers are among the most charged of its sub-Saharan peers where the firm operates.
Nigerian subscribers pay an average of N8,250 monthly across all four-subscription packages ranging from the higher priced premium plan to the more affordable family plan.
Using the Central Bank quoted exchange rate of N306 per dollar, this comes to $27, which is 58 percent less than the average rate of $42.88 paid by all 11 countries where Multichoice operates, according to BusinessDay’s calculations.
“For two years, prices were not increased in Nigeria until April 2015. Even when they were increased, they remained substantially lower than in other countries,” Caroline Oghuma, the company’s public relations manager told BusinessDay.
“MultiChoice made a decision to absorb costs on behalf of the Nigerian subscriber because the company recognizes that the country is passing through a difficult economic phase,” Oghuma said.
Nigeria’s 180 million people are scuffling with accelerating inflation, high unemployment rates and squeezed incomes and have been vocal about their struggles to afford DStv.
These are pass-through effects from the country’s worst economic slump dating back to 1991, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.
Unemployment is at 13.9 percent, the highest in six years, and although inflation cooled for the first time in 15 months to 17.8 percent in February 2017 – on the back of base effects, the food index quickened to 18.5 percent from 17.8 percent, driven by increases in the cost of bread, cereals, meat and fish.
To ease the pain on households, Multichoice recently launched a loyalty programme called “DStv Thanks” in Nigeria and select African countries,
Nigeria’s 180 million people are scuffling with accelerating inflation, high unemployment rates and squeezed incomes and have been vocal about their struggles to afford DStv.
These are pass-through effects from the country’s worst economic slump dating back to 1991, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.
Unemployment is at 13.9 percent, the highest in six years, and although inflation cooled for the first time in 15 months to 17.8 percent in February 2017 -on the back of base effects, the food index quickened to 18.5 percent from 17.8 percent, driven by increases in the cost of bread, cereals, meat and fish.
To ease the pain on households, Multichoice recently launched a loyalty programme called “DStv Thanks” in Nigeria and select African countries, where DStv subscribers will be getting access to additional TV channels for free, if they remain subscribed for at least three months.
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