OYOGist.com has learned that the federal government of Nigeria has vowed to end the monopoly of multichoice in the T.v market and according to them, the South African multi choice company is cheating Nigerians. The move is set to start by ending monopoly to viewing rights for sporting events which initially made them untouchable.
Currently, only DSTV broadcasts major football competitions in Nigeria, especially the English premier league. However, the government has said it has made a move to end the rights of DSTV for monopolizing their channels and contents.
Due to the fact that the house believes DStv has been cheating Nigerian subscribers, they have been probing the cable tv company. Dstv increased its subscription rate despite the impact of Covid-19 on Nigerians.
During the continuation of the investigative hearing in Abuja, on Tuesday, the Minister for Information and culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammad, dismissed the claims that DStv pay per view is not proper for the Nigerian market. The minister mentioned that an arm of the Nigeria Television Authority, StarTimes, has been operating for quite some time.
The minister noted that they at the NBC (National Broadcasting Commission) suspended payment for the initial two months of the Covid-19 impact on Nigeria for all broadcasters. So, it will be unfair for those whom they suspended payments to then increase their own fees. He made it known that DG of NBC will take up the matter.
The minister also noted that the president of the country, Major General Muhammad Buhari (read.), had in 2019 set up a board of inquiry to look into the activities of broadcasting stations. This was to ascertain the potency of the broadcasting code and broadcasting act to curtail and regulate the industry against excesses.
Although earlier the Chairman of the committee in the person of Mr. Unyi.e Idea., asked the acting DG of the National Broadcasting Commission to order DStv to suspend its recent rates’ increment.
