MultiChoice looks at PAYC model


By Content Nigeria reporter
May 17, 2018

News

MultiChoice Nigeria could consider activating the pay-as-you-consume (PAYC) pricing scheme.

John Ugbe

After much persuasion from viewers to create a PAYC subscription option, MultiChoice Nigeria has announced that it may consider this if it looks to be viable for the company.

John Ugbe, MD of MultiChoice Nigeria, said that after much deliberation, the company is ready to look into the idea. “Pay-as-you-consume is something we may consider, if it is technologically possible and the business model supports it, we will,” he said.

The announcement comes after many customers declared their preference for PAYC, saying it would help cut the cost of monthly subscriptions they hardly use.

However, MultiChoice had previously informed subscribers it was technically impossible to have a PAYC system in Nigeria because they buy content has a whole rather than in pieces.

Martin Mabutho

In March, Martin Mabutho, general manager, marketing and sales, at MultiChoice Nigeria, said: “Pay-per-view can’t work because we buy rights and it will affect us if we offer a service whereby you switch on to channels like you are turning on a tap and, when you have no need for it, you switch it off. It can’t work like that.

“Pay-per-view is normally used when a special event is being broadcast, for example, the boxing match of Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. We offered that to our subscribers at no additional cost. In America, where a pay-per-view facility is offered, people paid US$100 just for the fight. The next day, if you don’t have subscription, you don’t see anything. For that reason, we don’t think it is a viable thing for us to do. We don’t believe that our market and can handle that.”

Addressing the issue in 2017, Caroline Oghuma, MultiChoice’s head of public relations, said: “Pay TV operation is not like the telecoms version, where you pay for the amount of airtime you want to use. Pay-as-you-go, as believed by some customers, is not obtainable in the pay TV business.”

If MultiChoice activates PAYC, it will be the first broadcasting company to launch a pay-per-view system on the continent.

MultiChoice is one of the leading broadcasting companies in Africa. It is the parent company of pay TV, DSTV and GoTV. It provides premium video entertainment for subscribers in 49 Sub-Saharan African countries. It began operations in Nigeria in 1993.

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