I just connected to HiTV (mainly because of premiership matches), little did i know "mistake" i made.

I even went ahead to pay for one year subscription.

However, after one week of watching i realise that at the rate at which they (HiTV) are going they might pack up soon (i'm not being pessimistic or a prophet of doom). there pitfall will be because of the "Nigerian" factor they follow, lack of proper planning.

Yes they have the right to show premiership, good

They want to show local content programming, good

BUT, there are so many issues that they have to resolve (and to be frank, time is not on their side) "don't test people's patience.
Some of the issues are:

1. For satellite subscribers there are only 11 stations (against 17 for cable subscribers)
2. Most of the stations are not 24 hours (Hi Life,Nolly, kids and even Sports)
3. Transmission breaks incessantly.
4. The customer care number are sometimes switched off (can u imagine). Its bad enough that its not 24 hours.

Some of my suggestions:

1. Resolve the issue on the number of stations for satellite subscribers as this is not what is promised in the package. Also HiTV should get the right to show the other foreign stations they've promised (all this should have been finalized). It is also obvious that the satellite deployment was a botched job as it was the cable that was being sold initially, it was due to the pressure to transmit outside Lagos that resulted in the dish deployment. I suspect that the technical capability is still lacking.

2. It might be expensive to run stations 24 hours but this should be looked into, especially if HiTV has planes to move outside Nigeria (which is a good business prospect but can't be ventured into at the moment)

3. The break in transmission might not be HiTV's fault entirely but efforts should be made to reduce the frequency.

4. PLEASE! PLEASE!! PLEASE!!! Switch ON YOU CUSTOMER CARE NUMBERS. this is very wrong and its only in Nigeria things like this can happen. I'm sure there are legal implications to doing this.

People have had experience with other satellite and cable services, they know what QUALITY is. HiTV should not take Nigerians for a ride, we know whats good. Swinging a carrot (Premiership) to entice people can only last for a short period.
Remember the CUSTOMER is king and they make the business EXIST (no customer no business).

PLEASE IMPROVE (we still have faith that it will get better).

After all the criticism, issues and suggestions, lets look at some good sides (after all when a mother disciplines a child with the right hand, she draws the child close with the left hand)

Well done on the progress made so far (within the short period of time), I know it can be better.

Previously discussed here:
- www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-38479.0.html
- www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-72928.0.html

hitv services (or lack of it) are also been discussed here:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-48118.64.html

I hope they get their acts together ASAP, before ,

Hitv has been doing badly.They have not lived up to standard-the standard we are used to.Dstv has provided us with quality services that looks like like a tall order for a nascent company like Hitv.But Hitv is Nigerian.I know some will say they don't mind who provides a service as long as it satisfies them.For me,thats totally unpatriotic and unreasonable.Countries all over the world care about who provides services for them.The United States would never have allowed CNOOC to buy UNOCAL even if they came with all the money in the world.There is pride in your having your own national providing some services even in this globalisation age.

Nigerians are quick to complain about the state of the nation but are most unlikely to make any sacrifice.I need to let you know that there are few people who love Arsenal more than i do but i have not seen any our premiership games this season because of my location.Its painful,very painful but i believe thats the sacrifice i have to make for the good of my country.The question i ask when it comes to Hitv is this.Are they ready to make changes?Are they ready to face the challenge?As long as i have a positive assurance from them,i don't think i would mind making the necessary sacrifice for some time,i mean for some time.

However,i wont jump at the opportunity to criticize any company owned by Nigerians trying to compete with a foreign one at the slightest opportunity

damoche07:


Agreed,Hitv has been doing badly.They have not lived up to standard-the standard we are used to.Dstv has provided us with quality services that looks like like a tall order for a nascent company like Hitv.But Hitv is Nigerian.I know some will say they don't mind who provides a service as long as it satisfies them.For me,thats totally unpatriotic and unreasonable.Countries all over the world care about who provides services for them.The United States would never have allowed CNOOC to buy UNOCAL even if they came with all the money in the world.There is pride in your having your own national providing some services even in this globalisation age.

Nigerians are quick to complain about the state of the nation but are most unlikely to make any sacrifice.I need to let you know that there are few people who love Arsenal more than i do but i have not seen any our premiership games this season because of my location.Its painful,very painful but i believe thats the sacrifice i have to make for the good of my country.The question i ask when it comes to Hitv is this.Are they ready to make changes?Are they ready to face the challenge?As long as i have a positve assurance from them,i don't think i would mind making the neccesary sacrifice  for some time,i mean for some time.

However,i wont jump at the opportunity to criticise any company owned by Nigerians trying to compete with a foreign one at the slightest opportunity

Hi! Mr Patriotic Arsenal London Supporter.  Please If you want to be a  Patriotic Nigerian, the Benin Arsenal is waiting for your Support. Please Support Insurance FC or any other Nigerian Club and stop this "mental slavery".

My beef with HiTV:

1) Even though they claim to be Nigerians, they invested much of their money in the economy of the United Kingdom by spending so much to re-acquire Premier League rights that another company had already acquired. If they love Nigeria so much, why not invest in our local league first?

2) My second beef with them is that the rights they obtained were exclusive, and so their actions have been harmful to the thousands of sports-loving Nigerian DSTV subscribers in the country.

3) My third beef with them is that if you look into their records, you will probably discover that they are not any more "Nigerian" than DSTV because of their heavy dependence on foreign investors. If a company is owned largely by foreign investors, then their profits are going to flow back to the investors' country. The same is true of companies like Globacom. So why grant them special favors?

If you work for HiTV and feel offended, please remember that some Nigerians also work for DSTV!

@tji. For your information, i also support Ashanki KotokoFc of Ghana when i have to.I dont think u will tell me am enslaved by the Ghananians.

I have the God given ability to choose.it might turn out to be a club in former colonialist's country or not.

i think seun is right, most pple acquire hitv basically to view the premiership, dstv atimes show our own dry league. if u r so patrotic, u wld clamour for them to support our own local league (hypocrites), they (hitv) are a mess and they would sure run down like so many naija coy, too much mouth but very little action,

However, I wish them well and hope all their problems are sorted out speedily. Cheers!

@ Ayusman, I pray they dont run down as you say. It will serve no one any good.

Secondly @ Seun , DSTV started the exclusive rights to premiership thing. They sold the idea of exclusivity to the EPL. So I dont think Hitv would have gotten it any other way.

Thirdly @Hitv guys, At 4 thousand naira subscription per month, I dont think the idea of hitv being cheap is true anymore. Comaparatively, its in fact expensive cause am paying 4k per month just to watch football and news.

I am paying this amount now even their adverts still say 3k. This must stop. A lot of people I met at their office, had to go back cause they came with 3k to pay. I was lucky cause I knew that they were going to increase the subscription.
If this is happening now, how much will they increase it to when they add more channels?

I will advice everyone to hold on to their Dstvs for now and not throw or give it away yet. Cause if they continue increasing subscription this way as they add more channels, it would be useless and unwise to keep staying with them premiership or no premiership.

any coy dat is built on misrepresentation, lies and deception is bound to run down speedily, Hitv is not far from one

HiTV is messed up. The Nigerian factor don show face!! MEDIOCRITY!!!

Their Channels are wacked!! They have about 4 to 5 tapes of programs in each channel which they show everyday xcept cnn, mtv and bbc.

CAN U TRY THE NUMBER OF TIMES THEY HAVE SHOWN "MANCHESTER UNITED vs URAWA (japan tour) LIKE 200 times and they are still repeating it.

I WONDER WHY THEY BOUGHT ALL THE "RIGHTS" WHEN THEY DONT HAVE THE RIGHT PERSSONEL AND EQUITMENT TO HANDLE IT!!!

@Seun 'n' Ayusman.

Sometimes in August 2006,a frustrated jobseeker visited Nairaland as he always did.Someone posted a link to a job vacancy and he applied.That guy got the job after 10 agonising months of joblessness.His life was turned around because he came to nairaland.that guy is my humble self.

I have always loved Nairaland.I preach Nairaland.I can't imagine not visiting Nairaland anytime i am online.I love Nairaland because its a melting point for Nigerians all over the world.Nairaland is purely Nigeria.It 'smells','tastes', and reflects Nigeria.I have thought of recommending Seun Osewa for an award.(God is my witness).Nairaland will outlive Seun.Seun will never know the influence Nairaland has.You think you know but you will never.Nairaland has grown beyond you even if you still own it.

Hitv is also Nigerian.I don't work for them,neither do i own any stake in the company.Infact,i have never seen it anywhere because i have left Lagos for some time.But i do read about the complaints fron Nairaland and other places.The complaints are many and are increasing everyday.I have started getting worried,but the 'Nigerianess' in me still tells me to give them a chance.I believe every company has its teething problems,just like u must have had when setting up our,oh your Nairaland.Our GSM providers(most are foreigners) are a typical example.They promised us qualitative services but u know what we go through after years of operation.we even pay for services they don't render yet we dont call for their heads every time.I am not here to support the seeming failure of Hitv to act as expected.

Seun talked about foreign content and i wonder if  The premiership(which is the priced content in sattelite tv in Nigeria) was local all the while Dstv was showing it.They just started beaming our own league here two seasons ago.They spoilt us with the premiership and i don't think Nigeria will ever recover from this.imagine NTA postponing the network news because of the Newcastle vs derby match.

He also talked about exclusitivity.I don't think i need to expantiate on that because everybody knows about the TOTAL exclusitivity Dstv had all over the years.

On the issue of foreign investors owning the company.i have to confess that i was surprised to hear you say that.how many companies in Nigeria today are not looking for  foreign investors?Even Union Bank,yes our own ultra conservative Union Bank is trying to get Foreign Investors.The inflow of FDI is a good sign of confidence in any company.Few companies in the world can boast of having their Nationals as investors.Diamond,Intercontinental,First,Access,Zenith Banks all have foreign investors.Not to talk of Dangote(yes he borrows money from foreign banks),Zenon,Nigerian Breweries(Heineken) etc.Does that make them less Nigerian.Its a give and take situation.Get foreign investors to make your business grow and everybody goes home happy.its a win win situation.Apart from foreign investors,i think i read in the papers some months ago that GTBank borrowed Hitv  2Billion Naira.At an interest rate of 10%,thats 200million for them on one deal.GTBank shareholders,hold on to your shares please.
This is apart from the gains from employment,exposure of Nigerians to technology in that sector.The human resorce development is unquantifiable.Above all other gains is the fact that whereever tha name HITV is mentioned in the world,Nigeria will come to mind.Anywhere Al jazeera is mentioned today,everyones mind switches to The Middle East.Anytime Fox Tv and other Mordoch owned media giant is mentioned people see it as American,but Murdoch is of Australian descent.The gains are endless.

With the discourse above few people will believe i don't work for Hitv.I still maintain that i don't work for them or own a stake in them.Just like i love Nairaland because its Nigerian,i also love hITV because its Nigerian.I can never love Nigeria more than Seun Osewa does because i have not done anything that has affected Nigerians like he has done.He is a great Nigerian.i mean it.He shouldnt just use Nairaland whom we all love to kill another company we all have hope for.


However if HITV continues with their embarrasing services and shows no sign of seriousness,we can give someone else the opportunity.If Nigerians over some reasonable time prove to be incompetent,i will gladly have any company from even Cameroon to  provide the services.

I'm not trying to kill HiTV. I'm sorry if it appears that way. Even if I wanted to kill them, the fact is that they have exclusive broadcast licenses to certain football events that people are crazy about. They can't die!

SEUN - u are rite HiTV Die (well till after their Premiership Rights Expires in 2yrs tiime) becos Nigerians are hooked on this foreign Leagues.

I tell U ds past last Week and weekend was a Torture for me Cos they didnt transmit (HiTV) and i missed all d Euro Qualifiers and Premiership Matches!!!

We have to put up with them (difficult task) for the next 3 years

I think all this support for HITV in spite of obvious lapses demonstrates the fact that Nigerians are used to mediocre services.
Lets call a spade a spade. a crappy service is what it is irrespective of the nationality of the company providing it.

@ demonche07

enuf respect

I love your analysis of the whole situation and like you, i believe they would get better.

I believe everybody knows that DSTV has been in this business 4 a very long time, now that does not give hitv the right  to give us shabby services and expect us to bear with them forever because they are new, the truth is as a nigerian thing we should be willing to give them time, and a lot for that matter, for them to succeed, which would be better off for us all in the long run.

Seun, Pay tv thrives on exclusivity and that my brother is a fact you will need to understand. why did DSTv not give some premiership matches to FSTV when the MD was crying over the fact that DSTV had it exclusively.

Demonche07, thank you about the part of GTB giving hitv money to do business, this point killed all there points about foreign investment . In any case which company no go want make people invest dollars for them head.

This DSTV that you guys are so particular about, what have they done to improve broadcasting in Nigeria, please someone tell me, what significant contributions have they contributed to the Nigerian economy, apart from the fact that they have been showing premiership exclusively, which can be now likened to a drug. Most people will not go near your company if you say that you have exclusive rights to the Nigerian league.  that is why the hitv people went ahead to get something that would attract nigerians to them first, wether you guys like it or not hitv has the exclusive rights to show 8 premiership matches every week for the next 3years, so, if you wan watch ball, stop whinning and get hitv.

Let it be reiterated here that nobody likes shabby services, wether its from a nigerian coy or from timbuktu.

If they would fail, let them fail first before you you kill them.

my 2cents

People, we have all said alot. But i can still remember when DSTV started, they didnt start with upto 10 channels, Till tomorrow DSTV repeats programs.

Talking about showing our local league, when did DSTV start it? how long have they been in this country and apart from sending crazy money back to South Africa what have they done for sports and youths in this country.

Seun seems to be the champion going on and on about his disatisfaction. I implore you to give Hitv thesame patience Dstv has enjoyed for years. Dstv is where they are today because the policies in this country allowed them to frustrate other indegenous cable companies and Nigerians gave them everything from patronage to patience.

Why cant we do thesame here?

I believe so much that Hitv will soon get it right.

Please lets not kill our own.

DSTV DSTV DSTV DSTV DSTV Every time 'why cant they be like DSTV'

This people are south Africans who have exploited our economy to the fullest, am not saying its there fault, they saw an opportunity and they have exploited it to the fullest, byt i still ask what have they done to improve our economy, apart from the misely salaries they pay nigerians working for them.

Have they sponsored any of our youths for scholarships
have they reconstructed any road like zenith(eventhough its not a companys' duty, but zenith does it anyway)
Have they given money to any motheless babies home or done any charitable gesture, please someone should correct me by giving me instances cos i have not seen or heard any.
What infrastructure does DSTV have in this country.

DSTV has about 150,000 subsribers in nigeria ( it could be more) imagine 100,000 of those subscribers being active and paying 9,000 naira every month and the money is shipped to south africa after the misely payment made to nigerians working for them.imagine what that translates to over the years of there operations in nigeria.

Let us support and give our own a chance, even if they seem confused at this initial stage.

Seun,thanks for the clarification and lest i forget the editing of my first reaction.Thats quite clever.

Long Live Nairaland!!
Long Live HITV!!
Long Live Nigeria!!!

Pardon My french, but Majority Nigerians are Hypocrites.

How can we all tolerate rubbish just because it is owned by Nigerians. Na wa ooo.

if they are true NIgerians why did they no leave their service open to a "testing Period" for their Nigerian brothers and sisters to kow that stuff they have for us instead of hoodwinking us all into this nonsense. Premiership or no premiership, it is not ust worth it. it is a BIG FRAUD!!!

they are smiling to the bank while we are all debating wheter or not we should support them. if they want my support
let them come and remove my their Equipment for half the price. I have had enough!!

LIke i said before https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-76309.0.html

let them Stop abusing the PROUDLY NIGERIAN CLICHE!

Paying 4k monthly just to view the premiership only is too much ooo. no movie channels at all, and una say make we support our own when our own they exploit us heh? If not for premiership, una for subscribe? Abegee, quit the hypocrisy and lets face reality, hitv is out just to exploit and provide less quality service,

@olofofo. u made a valid point. They should behave more responsibly considering the hitches they are having.Its criminal to be smiling to the banks when u are not offering services u promised to provide.I hope one of those directly linked to Hitv reads ur point. Ur point doesn't smell of beef or hurt.

However i wont blame them alone.They must have learnt the trick from some companies,foreign and local in the communications industry who have been ripping us of our money for years and yet are not giving us the best of services.No one has taken measures to punish them.


We need to set a standard in this country for both local and foreign companies.

Hi pple,
Dunno if its just me or its the usual hitv fcukup we've come 2 expect, but hisports and E! have not been showing for some days now.
Hisports is 'scrambled' and E! has audio but is still a 'scrambled channel'.
Anyone else with similar problems?

Why are u guys worrying yourself over HITV.

If you need to watch premiership un interrupted,just get that 2.4m dish and subscribe to showtime in Dubai.You are guaranteed watching all the matches live and some good foreign contents.

No one should start me on that proudly Nigerian cliche or patriotism,I have no patience for mediocrity.

If you need to watch premiership un interrupted,just get that 2.4m dish and subscribe to showtime in Dubai.You are guaranteed watching all the matches live and some good foreign contents

please can you tell me how to subscribe to showtime in dubai

plz stop tanishing their image.is not like that.hitv must survive.

afterall the price is much affordable to the common nigerians.

dreday:

Hi people,
Dunno if its just me or its the usual hitv fcukup we've come 2 expect, but hisports and E! have not been showing for some days now.
Hisports is 'scrambled' and E! has audio but is still a 'scrambled channel'.
Anyone else with similar problems?

I've been experiencing the same problem too. Well, i hope they get thier acts together ASAP

Hi gals and guys out there.

I do not know if HITV gets feedback form this forum or if there's a staff who is a member of this forum, but i have noticed a slight improvement over the past few days. first they added three new channels on the Terrestrial platform, CNBC, SKY NEWS and EURO SPORT NEWS and and some how they just advertised a loaded package of Sitcoms slated for transmission on HI MIX. E-entertainments is still not showing though

More commitments on their parts to solving a lot of the problems outlined in this thread will bring them More Friends than Enemies.

More Grease to Elbows for now.

Even if slowly, somethings are changing. guys on terrestrial platform will have to rescan to get those new channels.

@ Stoneman91

They have agents around,am sure of Abuja and I believe they will be in lagos.Am not atheir agent so dont think it's a marketing gimmick.

You can also check www.showtimearabia.com to have a glimpse of their package.No be wayo wayo wey HITV dey do us

@ Goodman

Who am I to tarnish their image?they already did that going by the response on this forum.I reject a nigerian idea is wish washy.

That's my two "kobo"

Guess what, nickelodion is now on!