Pay TV: The business of strategy
Nigeria is a big market in terms of population and GDP. At the just concluded World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, Nigeria was on the lips of almost all the participants because they know the potentials which the country possesses and with little push, the country will leapfrog. The market is hard to ignore by serious foreign and local investors in spite of infrastructural deficiencies. It is obviously the market size that is luring more players in the Pay Tv service, among other sectors in to country.
Though, sports content has remained a dominant factor in pay TV especially for viewers who are passionate about football. Earlier, this assisted to drive more people in to pay TV as local channels were not satisfactorily providing the content. Presently, pay-Tv has not only become a status symbol phenomenon, but the interest for acquisition of pay Tv by other consumers has varied.
Analysts believe that the percentage of viewers and lovers of football on pay TV may be small when compared to other contents as other customers, largely women, calculated to be in the majority have developed interest in cable TV due to movies and news.
It was this growing market that also attracted an indigenous Direct To Home (DTH) cable television service provider, African Cable Television (ACTV), the latest entrant on the Nigerian pay Tv market, which has not only found a space in the deep investment market to offer entertainment but with determination to satisfy every customer.
The pay Tv said it entered the market with moderate subscription cost and it is poised to offer to subscribers an enhanced consumer TV experience, providing them easy access to high definition channels, featuring music, movies, sports, lifestyle, fashion, kids entertainment, religion and a whole lot more.
Launched last year, the station is carving a rapidly growing share of the Nigerian cable television market with its affordable world-class TV bouquets that address the needs and expectations of many customers in Nigeria.
The company is concerned about what it considered the high fee charge rate in the industry and is already offering Nigerians some contents in low prices compared to competition.
The vision of the pay-TV is to be a Direct-to-Home TV operator that is renowned for offering quality entertainment content and a broad spectrum of choice offerings to customers.
“With the launch of ACTV , we are saying to Nigeria that we are committed to ensuring that we provide value to everyone and we keep delivering value now and in the future,” Godfrey Orkeh Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ACTV said during the launching of the pay Tv in Lagos recently.
“The ACTV-6000 HD decoder is undoubtedly the customers delight with its exceptional video clarity, enhanced sound quality, TV program guide, recording, picture browsing and pause-TV features. ACTV is primed to give Nigerians the opportunity to choose their television experience with its unique offerings. Their advanced HD decoder that easily fits into one’s pocket and is highly portable is one of the decoder features many customers have been going out for”.
ACTV offers four bouquets with over 56 local and international channels. For just N1,999 subscription fee, customers enjoy its world-class content available through the ACTV Prime bouquet with 18+ channels, ACTV Family bouquet with 24+ channels for N2,499, ACTV Family Max bouquet with 36+ channels for N3,299 and ACTV Premium bouquet with over 56+ channels for N4,999 monthly. The company is currently running a promo that gives customers free subscription for three months when they buy its decoder and dish for just N10,000.
Among other international channels, the company is offering unique indigenous content. It delivers OJI, the first ever Igbo channel, ‘”AREA!” the first ever Pidgin English Channel and “GATTV” the first ever Nigerian gospel music programme. It also offers “IBILE” the Yoruba movie and entertainment channel, “RANA” the Hausa channel showcasing the best of kannywood and “e nolly” representing Nollywood movies, series and entertainment with lots of Nigerian content already being produced for the delight of its customers.
Considering Nigeria’s growing population and the emergence of the middle class, the growth potential for pay-TV services in Nigeria is huge. This is good for the consumers who desire something good at competitive cost. Nigeria as dynamic market with growing middle class with divers viewing interests, the business of television is becoming more strategic with price and audience segmentation as factors.
Daniel Obi