Pay-As-You-Watch, most pay-TV subscribers are convinced, will free them from monthly contracts and introduce greater flexibility in how they watch television. More than that, many are convinced that the model is already in operation in South Africa and want its adoption in Nigeria.
There is no such thing as pay-as-you-watch TV in South Africa. What exists is the monthly contract model like we have in Nigeria and other countries of the world.
Pay-as-you-watch is often confused with pay-per-view (PPV). Are they the same? No. The PPV model allows a subscriber to watch some special events, usually of the high-ticket variety in sports and entertainment, by paying for such events in addition to having an active subscription.
This means that if pay-per-view was available in Nigeria, a subscriber would need to pay his/her monthly subscription to a pay-TV provider and then pay an additional sum-usually very expensive-to watch a high-ticket event like the Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquaio fight for which boxing fans in the US paid $100 on top of their regular subscription. That is $100 for a two-hour fight.
In Nigeria, those who watched the fight on DStv's SuperSport channel did so at no extra cost. Pay-per-view also does not exist in South Africa.
A question often asked is: Why can we not have a pay-as-you-go model for pay-TV as we have in telecommunications, where subscribers pay for what they use?
The answer is that both industries operate differently. Very differently. How? Telecoms service providers do not buy content like pay-TV providers do because they are not in the business of providing entertainment content. What they buy is spectrum, for which they make a one-off payment.
Entertainment content is not bought on one-off basis. Pay-TV providers continually pay for content, with an upward review in cost when contracts for such expire. Going by this, the pay-as-you-go model in telecommunications does not fit the pay-TV industry. Pay-TV companies are, by and large, agents or vendors. They do not always own the content they broadcast. Content owners do not sell to vendors on pay-as-you-watch basis, an arrangement that does not accommodate the vending of such content on a pay-as-you-watch basis.
Pay-as-you-watch model, if ever adopted, will hinder rather than help the subscriber because of its prohibitive cost. It costs about N2,000 to watch a movie at a cinema. One movie. If a pay-TV provider charges the same sum for a movie, subscribers are cooked! Now, if you find the movie you have gone to watch at the cinema unexciting after 40 minutes, do you get a refund? Of course, not. It is the same with a football match you have paid to watch at a stadium.
Pay-TV companies are also unable to go back to those who sell them content to demand a refund with a complaint that subscribers find their content tedious. Content contracts leave no room for such. Subscribers often hinge their demand for a pay-as-you-watch model on the fact they are billed while not watching, probably when at work or out of town. The truth is that it cannot be otherwise.
The technology used in pay-TV broadcast transmits signals in just one direction: to the decoder. It is called downlink. It does not send back to the pay-TV provider. That way, the provider has no way of knowing whether or not a subscriber is watching or what he/she is watching. The only thing a provider can do is to block the smart card from accessing signal when subscription has expired.
Pay-as-you-watch is assumed to be a pocket-friendly usage billing model, but it is not. A semblance of that exists in the United Kingdom, where TV and broadband packages are tied together.
For example, BSkyB's Now TV offers access to Sky's seven sports channels as well as some entertainment and movie channels on smartphones, games consoles, tablets and similar devices. A subscriber need not have an active Sky subscription to enjoy the service because it is exclusively internet-based.
Payment, which is daily or weekly, depends on the package. For the entertainment package, the sum is £6.99 (N2,380) daily. The movie package costs £9.99 (N3,400) daily. The sports package costs £6.99 (N2,380) daily and £10.99 (N3,740) weekly. The model does not allow a subscriber to pay for only channel on any of the packages, as the content is sold in bundles. Now, add the cost to that of the data you need to view your favourite content and work out the cost. And in a country where internet connection can be relied upon to be unreliable, pay-as-you-watch is not as appealing as you assume. Remember, you cannot demand a refund from the subscriber in the event of patchy internet service.
33 comments:
Noted
Hmmmmmmm
Thannk u for tellin us
Ok.....
just some couple of days if am right Linda posted stuffs about ghost and at a point I felt she was making most of them or better still copy and paste news as most other blogger do.
not on till about 1:08 am this morning when a neighbor stated scream I checked through ma window but before that raised ma cotton down , in mind I felt someone was sick/something of that nature being among the few students that own a car in ma lounge (poly nekedi(south africa) I got ready think I would be the one would call out . then things changed (screaming) from the help me ! chai! cheneke n stuffs d guy started screaming my thing is gone b4 I could step out odas wia already dia watching when I asked one of the guys , he replied me "ma guy d..k done miss e say girl wey e carry do am" then me maself n few odas took the guy to clinic (b4 den we checked the guys d..k to confirm but it happen dat his thing was shrieking n bleeding) finally when we got 2 d clinic d guy said "e get anoda guy wey miss enta d room" not believing we made calls and just to see with ma own eye I rushed back with one of d guys on getting dia we saw d girl crying n saying she z innocent .
then again I asked the said the saw this huge black guy without a face n de rily can't say how he managed to escape .... to cut d long story short d girl was saved from being burnt n a pastor said dat d guy was actually a spirit husband to d girl n according to d girl she said she was a virgin .... would so love to share pictures I captured with ma phone with u guys (don't mean d ghost but dat of d guy , girl n students)
In one sentence someone should pls explain what this all all about...lol
Now we'll take note.
"Slow and steady wins the race"
I no even get TV talk of DSTV
a.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said..
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Who dey use this stuff again self...
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***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***
MCHEEW
Okay
Let's pilot pay as you watch in Nigeria please. Enough of reasons while it wouldn't work.
And wot dey woun't tell u about guinness malt and peak milk is dat it is blood tonic! Bt I hv just told u dat, tank me later. Lolo1
Multichoice, can you tell me why I have to plan for a 20% increase in your subscription every single year when my salary doesn't get such increase and neither does the national bureau of statistics nor the central bank confirm that inflation rate is pegged at a flat rate of 20% every single year. Its just unthinkable what you guys do.
As I speak to you, I already know what the subscription rate would be by this time next year, and by this time in 2017 and trust me, I am no genius but I can be sure it increases by 20%.
Una welldone.
Damn I cldnt read all that gibrish
Linda this is sponsored and very unfair of you to have post this, you simply reminded me of the stupid reasons and rocket science reasons MTN and Econet Wireless gave for why per second billing was not possible. It is not Dstv fault I don't know why we can't bring in other Major service providers from UK and USA to Nigeria, I guess bribery and corruption won't allow NBC. It is well. DSTV get this right we won't accept your shit no more.
Linda welldone!......how much them pay u for this?
Okay
I am fully in support of Pay As You Go/Watch. Making the Pay As You go/Watch option available is what I support as sometimes you might actually want to pay for a month. You must not pay for a month if you don't need it for a month. As in mobile communication, no plan is entirely everything you need but you get options that meet your immediate need either postpaid or prepaid. I support it all the way forget the stories. Why the reluctance in creating the option of Pay As You Go? That is because they are used to getting easy money although I don't foresee a decline in their patronage even after its implementation but instead subscribers would have a variety of options to choose from.
From the campaign page:
Check out online current publications sponsored by these PayTV providers, they explain reasons why they feel Pay As You Go Tv is not economical and more expensive. My question is since when did they now have concern about how the cost affects their clients even as people are been billed whether the service is used or not provided the subscription is paid? Our voice speaks for flexibility in options available for us to choose from. We are not against monthly subscription as it is currently, we only want options for Pay As You Go billing for those that need flexibility. We should be able to manage our consumption and our bill. Pay As You Go can be implemented in Nigeria.
If they need to make consultations on how it can be implemented, let them do so. We have capable hands with the solution or workable model in Nigeria and even within their organisation. All they need to do is to engage them. Nigeria provides a lucrative and triving market for their services so why can't they reciprocate by been pathetic to the request/plea of Nigerians. Pay As You Go TV is workable in Nigeria.
Spread the campaign, share and encourage friends to sign. #nigerianeedspayasyougotvbillingsystem
https://www.causes.com/campaigns/92840-plead-with-nigerian-pay-tv-coys-to-use-pay-as-you-go-billing
Scary gist tho the English would have made it clearer
I smell dstv all over this write up. Keep defending yourself oh
Make sure you collect your school fees back and next time please write in a language you understand better
This is the the handiwork of DSTV. Well done sho gbo. You can't have your way for ever.
Linda come on! Did u have to feed us this crap campaign obviously from DSTV,,their days are numbered..Stichy thieves.
DSTV, thief people. Dis grammar too much, the long & short of it all be say una subscription is too expensive biko. Linda take note!
Okiie, notice to all LIBERs. Didn't want to do dis before but I gex I just have to do it as a disclaimer. One idiot on dis blog stole my identity, my name & signage. So please any negative comments on dis blog is not coming from me but from the thief cos I would neva say anything bad about someone or wish anyone evil. So I have gone back to using my old pix & my email address is (julie3er@gmail.com). Linda take note!
Fair enough, Multichoice. But the the reason why people complain is beacuse of the high subscription rates. I already know your answer, so don't bore me with that.
But there are more and more satellite TV companies coming out now, which is good because competition is all we need to drive down the prices.
How stupid for them to highlight all their rivals problems.
DSTV!
Enough excuses jare.
Can you compare the number of subscribers you have to the one Sky has in the UK?
Can you even compare the services?
So if almost every family in Nigeria has DSTV then costs should be less because you make more in view of Nigeria's population.
Imagine me paying 16k plus for extra view and premium.
Rubbish. I just do it for my dat who watches ball.
Lots of my colleagues have switched to family view from d previous 7,5k.
Una continue.
DSTV sponsored post, well done Linda
This is clearly some sponsored stuff. Multichoice is clearly campaigning for this. This article has been posted online now for the past few days, and even published in some local papers. Perhaps if there were more players in this market, the rhetoric would be different.
Sooo, dstv made u post al dis grammar?? Nway, pls help us beg them to reduce their subscription packages. They shld put us (average Nigerians ) in to consideration. Not every one is rich enough to pay the full package. I for a person pay more interest to foreign movies which I can only watch on d full package. E joor ooo, plsss Linda, help us beg dem
Lie
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