‘In the business of digital TV, content is king’

ISRAEL BOLAJI, head Public Relations and Communication, StarTimes Nigeria, an indigenous digital pay TV provider, in this exclusive interview with BusinessDay’s ANTHONY NLEBEM, spoke on the exciting packages available for sports fans and the heavy investment made to grow the business of digital TV in Nigeria. Excerpt:

As a known digital pay TV provider, what are your packages for sport lovers this season?

We have a very robust package for sport fans in Nigeria; just the same way we have for entertainment lovers, for movies, news, music, documentary and all of that. But let me get to some specific, if you are very conversant with our development, as a business. In the last three years, we have invested heavily in sport acquisitions; we have gone for very competitive sport contents, because in business of digital television, content is king. So we go all out to ensure that we get the right mix of contents that excite our people, sport inclusive. Just last year (2015), we signed a deal with the Bundesliga to broadcast exclusively across Africa the German Bundesliga league. Again, for the Serie A, we have a three year deal to broadcast exclusively the Italian Serie A to our esteemed African viewers. We also have the French Ligue 1 which we are currently broadcasting, on the English Premier League, we announced that recently through our partner NTA Sports 24, we show one life EPL game every Saturday by 3pm and it is the biggest game of the weekends we always go for. So we have the fine ride of mix.

Tell us more about the EPL package on NTA Sports 24

I will not want to emphasise the EPL over other leagues. Who says one is better than the other? It is a question of followership which has grown over time. Twelve years ago in Nigeria, people were watching Serie A. Fifteen years ago, they were watching the local league. So it’s a trend that has to do with people’s culture and it grows over time. We are hoping that we will be able to grow the German Bundesliga culture in Nigeria. Let me speak about the Premier League, for the EPL, through our partnership with NTA Sports 24, we are broadcasting one live EPL game every Saturday by 3pm, usually the biggest game of the weekend.
How long will the EPL package run on NTA Sports 24 ?

It’s running throughout the entire season, we will be showing thirty three live games for this season. We have the rights for one season, and we will be showing thirty three live games, and we will be showing replays on Tuesday.

How was the COPA America Centenario 2016 experience?

COPA America Centenario 2016 was a huge success for us at StarTimes. We are so excited that we were able to connect very well with our Nigerian sport fans. For us, we go all out to get the best of sporting contents and packages for our people, but COPA America was special because of the Centenario edition. It used to be just for one continent but this time around and for the first time, we have the South and North America play together in thirty two team competition as against a lower number so it was a big one and we felt it was a good opportunity and we did not just offer the game, we offered the game which provided life sporting action at an affordable bouquet. Subscribers don’t have to pay more N1200 for our basic bouquet; Nigerians are able to enjoy all these games that I mentioned earlier.

Any plan to broadcast FIFA tournaments on StarTimes?

These things take time, if you look at the COPA America; it took a lot of investments making the heavy publicity. Also, we do not go into things that will inconvenience our subscribers by increasing the price of our bouquet. We try to offer them very exciting packages at an affordable price. Football culture grows over time, with time, Nigerians will begin to realise that football has moved on to StarTimes. All the FIFA age grade tournaments are on StarTimes including the Bundesliga, Serie A, Lique 1, MLS and the Chinese Super League. Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, European qualifiers will be showing on StarTimes live to our esteemed subscribers.

Are you broadcasting the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) on StarTimes?

For us, our business is about exciting sport fans and all our other subscribers. For everything that we know our subscribers enjoy, everything they want, we go all out to get it. We rely on a lot of statistics and data for everything. So definitely, for the Local League, we are already exploring options and having discussions which I will not be able to talk on right now.

What chances do Nigeria have at 2018 FIFA World Cup?

My desire is that those responsible for their upkeep will take charge and do all the necessary things to ensure a smooth process because if there is one thing I am certain of, it is the fact that Nigerians want to see her team play at 2018 FIFA World Cup.

When Nigeria doesn’t participate at major tournaments, does it affect your revenue?

Yes, it affects business, for example the FIFA World Cup that we broadcasted, the fact that Nigeria got to the final, helped us with the momentum because people kept watching, so they kept subscribing too. In the business of pay TV like I mentioned earlier, it’s about subscribers and what they love to watch, if their team is not participating at a competition they love to watch, it reduces the volume of followership. But if our team is participating, it attracts more subscribers because the fans want to watch their team play.