Beyond being the third biggest movie industry globally in terms of the number of movies released yearly, Nollywood has also been a leading window through which the world saw Nigeria, its people and culture over the last three decades.
DStv’s introduction of Africa Magic in 2003 has further amplified Nollywood’s growth and reach through the production and international distribution of high quality original local content – films and TV shows, as well as other activities that have developed the ecosystem.
With respect to content creation, a measure of the socio-economic impact of DStv business in Nigeria between 2015 and 2019 done by a top accounting and consulting firm in Nigeria, Accenture, revealed that the entertainment giant contributed an estimated $2.1 billion (about ₦800 billion according to 2019’s exchange rate) to the Nigerian economy in five years.
The satellite-TV platform is not only playing an important role in developing and pushing Nigerian content to the world, DStv is also serving as a window to the world for Nigerians through the international media platforms on its platform.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in 2020, MultiChoice Group entered into a partnership with Euronews Group to have Africanews, a pan-African multilingual news channel on its platforms: DStv and GOtv.
Africanews is joining other major news channels like CNN, Sky News, BBC and Euronews that were already on DStv, making it the go-to platform for accessing quality reportage from global news channels.
This is in addition to major Nigerian news channels on the platform, ensuring that subscribers have access to up-to-date news reportage from local, regional, and international media houses.
With regards to news channels on cable-TV platforms, none come close to DStv Nigeria’s news channel catalogue in the Nigerian market. Beyond news channels, DStv Nigeria is also playing an important role in promoting and showcasing local sporting activities.
Within a space of about seven years, the company committed $70 million towards the developing and building capacity within the Nigerian Football League. ,
“We also made it possible for our local leagues to be watched on SuperSport across the country, growing audiences and love for the sport in Nigeria,” John Ugbe, DStv Nigeria CEO said in a 2020 interview with BusinessDay.
Aside football, which is the biggest sport in the country and the world at large, DStv Nigeria’s commitment in sport in the country also includes developments of the likes of local basketball, boxing, among others. “We will continue to make great entertainment more accessible to Nigerians by delivering quality sports and local content to our customers,” Ugbe affirmed while commenting on the past commitments of the company.
Away from news and sporting activities, DStv is also a key part of the video-on-demand market in spite of the influx of other players which hasn’t affected the entertainment giant's role in the market.
The move by Netflix to start acquiring Nollywood movies as well as creating original Nollywood content is worthy of note. Still, the American media company’s investment in content acquisition and creation in Nigeria cannot rival that of DStv, which has produced hundreds of original titles – film and TV series in Nigeria since 2003. .
Accenture’s report that measured the contribution of DStv Nigeria to the nation’s economy between 2015 and 2019 alone is proof that the West African nation is one of the markets that get a substantial share of the annual expenditure on local content creation by the company.
In May 2021, MultiChoice launched the Afro-Cinema Channel on DStv to celebrate the continent’s diversity while also showcasing and celebrating contemporary African films in commemoration of Africa’s Day. According to Ugbe, the entertainment giant wanted to celebrate the talents and resilience of the continent’s film industry with the launch of the channel.
Ugbe affirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic hit the film industry quite hard, which the African filmmakers are part of, hence the need to appreciate and celebrate players in the industry as well as their work.