Startimes threatens Dstv, Gotv market dominance

As paytv market competition continues to witness marketing strategies among its operators to attract more customers, one of them, Startimes, is driving hard through some exclusive rights acqusitions it has just got and others which are expected to be formalised in a few months from now.

The development which includes four sport channels billed to be launched very soon is said to be creating uneasiness for the dominant operators, Dstv and Gotv, which are service providers on MultiChoice Nigeria.

Startimes’ move is aimed at reducing the dominance of the market share of MultiChoice which it has been controlling over the years in the country.

The controversial subscription fees increase effected by Dstv on April 1, 2015, gave Startimes a momentary customer loyalty and increase of new customers to its service.

Speaking with Hallmark, the public relations manager of Startimes, Israel Bolaji, stated that the company has put things in place which will move Startimes from playing the second fiddle. He highlighted various strategies being put in place to further push the paytv to a leading position in the Nigerian market very soon.

According to Bolaji, “Since Startimes started operations about five years ago, our vision is to ensure that every Nigerian has access to digital television.

This can only be made real by making our services very affordable, and that is what we are doing. We have affordability heritage.

However, we are not just offering any type of service. Our service is of high quality. That is why more customers are always coming on board from all the country.”

Offering four bouquets which include the recently launched NOVA bouquet which is the cheapest, Startimes.

The new monthly subscription fees are Basic bouquet, N1200; Classic bouquet, N2400, and Unique bouquet N3,600.

Prior to the fees increase, Basic bouquet used to be N1,000, Classic bouquet N2,000 and Unique bouquet N3,000 respectively.

Its NOVA bouquet which used to be N500 per month subscription has since been increased to N600 with 30 channels as against the 15 channels it was launched with early this year.

Explaining the rationale behind Startimes subscription fees hike, the public relations manager of the company said each of the bouquet now has additional new thrilling channels.

“We want more people to feed. We don’t only few people to be up there. That is why we have brought some premium channels to our most affordable bouquet.

We may not have the English Premier League (EPL) which is seasonal.

But our National Basketball Association (NBA) sport is well and widely watched.

Only Startimes has the exclusive right of NBA. Also, we have the FIFA world cup games, including the women and under-20 games broadcast exclusive right.

In the vein, new special channels have been added on Unique bouquet.  I think our customers can attest to our commitment.

Currently with a customer base of about three million, Startimes has been a major competitor against the dominance of Dstv which has held sway to Nigerian paytv market for the past 22 years.

In defence of the subscription fees increase, the public relations of MultiChoice, Caro Ogwuma, also told Hallmark that the decision on the increase of the fees was not spurious but a calculated and well-thought-out resolution.

According to her, “We have reason why we increase the fees. And these reasons are very obvious. One of the reasons is the high cost of business operations in the country. Another one is the cost of programmes acquisition which is always going up. Our customers are very important to us. But we have to do what is needful to be able to offer them the best services they deserve.”

With over 6 million customers, DStv which began operations in 1995 has majority of its customers in South Africa and Nigeria, the two markets considered to be its most important markets.

But the rate at which Startimes is pushing in the market has been viewed by observers as a positive movement that could see the operator on the lead before long, if the steps being taken by it is steadily sustained.