This is why ABG claims to be the first private TV station in Nigeria. They started selling satellite systems in 1985 and began terrestrial broadcasting in 1991, but it was pay TV.
naptu2: There were many companies that started selling satellite dishes in Nigeria in 1985. Those dishes were twice or thrice the size of the regular DSTV dishes that are common today. Two of those companies were Ultima and ABG (there were many others, but I can't remember their names). They carried a wide variety of international channels like Bop TV, MTV, CNN, Sky News, Sky One, Eurosport, etc.
Ultima was the most popular of these companies initially, but ABG became more popular in 1990/1991 when it started broadcasting in the MMDS format. This format utilised a special antenna that was much cheaper than those gigantic satellite dishes and therefore, many more households could afford to purchase pay TV systems for the first time. ABG became incredibly popular and those antennas were everywhere in Lagos. They were called "cable", even though it was not really a cable system (I can still remember ABG's advert. The song went, "ABG, cable satellite systems" )
Other companies also adopted the MMDS format, but ABG dominated the sector.
In 1993, Multichoice bought over ABG's Lagos operations and they also bought over some of the smaller MMDS companies in other states. They thus became the dominant pay TV operator.
It was a bit difficult for Multichoice to break into the Nigerian market in the beginning. There were quite a lot of complaints between 1993 and 1996 because Multichoice did not show the kind of programming that Nigerians liked. ABG, Ultima and the other older TV companies were Nigerian companies and so they knew what Nigerians liked and gave them what they wanted. Nigerians liked R&B and hip hop music, but Multichoice offered Nigerians Kwaito and other forms of music that they simply did not like. Nigerians worshipped football and track and field athletics, but Multichoice prioritised cricket and rugby over football and athletics. It led to a lot of complaints, before Multichoice began adapting their channels to suit the taste of Nigerians.
The other problem that Multichoice faced was the problem of Nigerian content and copyright ownership. The Nigerian government created the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in 1992 and one of the rules of the NBC was that free to air stations should show 70% Nigerian content, while pay TV operators should show 20% Nigerian content. Multichoice needed Nigerian content, so they approached the NTA (NTA 2 Channel 5) and the NTA sold some Nigerian programmes to them. The problem was that NTA did not own those programmes.
NTA sold the Charlie Boy Show to Multichoice. The Charlie Boy Show was owned by New Wave Productions, which was owned by Charlie Boy. It did not belong to the NTA. They also sold some of Onyeka Onwenu's videos to Multichoice. Those videos did not belong to the NTA.
The NTA was a monopoly up until 1994. The only other TV channels that existed were the state TV channels (Lagos Television, OGTV, etc.) which were restricted to the UHF band. The NTA used its monopoly power to bully independent TV producers. Musicians were forced to sign an agreement that the NTA would not pay them for showing their music videos (they had to agree because the NTA was the only way to become famous). The NTA could increase their airtime charges at will because there was no alternative (until Amaka Isaac-Ene showed that there was an alternative by syndicating Checkmate on state TV stations when the NTA's charges became unreasonable). The independent producers were also subjected to government censorship.
A caller on Morning Ride insulted President Babangida and the producer cut him off. The man called back, began talking about something else, then said that he was the one that called previously and then he insulted Babangida again. This made the NTA adopt extreme censorship methods. Godwin "Dudu" Orumen who produced The Best Of Football was told that he had to submit tapes of his show to the NTA one week before the show was due to be aired. This was a crazy requirement because the football matches that were aired on the show would have become stale by the time the show was aired.
Lola Fani-Kayode produced the most popular soap opera in the country (Mirror In The Sun) in 1985, but the show was taken off air because part of the plot offended members of the Federal Military Government (the part about a senior government officer and his girlfriend).
So it was quite understandable that established TV producers would be quite hostile to the idea of the NTA selling their material.
Charlie Boy picketed the NTA and Multichoice's offices and took them to court. Onyeka Onwenu also picketed the NTA's offices.
ABG still has pay TV operations in some states in Nigeria, while Ultima went into TV productions. Ultima now produces "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and "Project Fame".
First picture below is a picture of an MDDS antenna.
This is the reason why someone is saying that Channels TV started in 1993. Channels actually started broadcasting in 1995. DBN started broacasting in 1994. Minaj also started broadcasting in 1994, but they were in Obosi. They came to Lagos in 1995. I didn't mention AIT here because they started late, in 1996.
naptu2: Oh, yeah! This was on my mind while I was exercising this morning.
Before establishment
The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission was established in 1993 by the Babangida Administration and private radio and TV stations began broadcasting in 1994/1995.
However, there are some popular TV companies that existed long before they were granted TV licenses and long before they started transmitting as independent TV stations. This post is about those companies.
Nigeria qualified for the first ever FIFA Under 16 World Championship, which was held in China in 1985 and Degue Broadcasting Network got the rights to broadcast the tournament. At that time the only stations that existed in Nigeria were the NTA and the various state TV stations.
What sports marketing companies usually did was to buy the rights to tournaments, seek for sponsors that would pay for advertisements and then collaborate with the NTA to show the tournaments on the NTA Network Service. This way the company would make its money, NTA would get the chance to deliver a public service and also make money and the advertisers would get exposure. Viewers would also get the chance to see first class sporting action and to support their teams and everybody would be happy.
It was because of that tournament (China '85) that I knew that the company was called DBN. The sign in front of their office at Awolowo Road in Ikoyi read "Degue" at that time.
They also promoted other tournaments after China '85, but I really can't remember the exact tournaments (was it Mexico '86?).
Anyway, DBN began broadcasting as an independent TV station in 1994 or '95 and they became popular for their sports shows and especially for their coverage of Atlanta '96 (Deji Omotoyinbo and Kessington Ajufo). The station was owned by Osa Sunny Adun.
Remember that I posted a video of Yellowman performing at Reggae Sunsplash? Well Reggae Sunsplash was very popular in Nigeria because it was shown on the NTA in the early and mid-1980s and the concert inspired the creation of a similar concert in Lagos. It was known as Lekki Sunsplash and it was held at the Lekki Beach.
Lekki Beach was quite popular in the mid-1980s because it was a new beach and people felt that the crowd would not be too much and that the beach would be cleaner than the Bar Beach. Besides, the Bar Beach had begun eroding in the mid-1980s and people just wanted to see the new beach that everybody was talking about.
The creation of Lekki Sunsplash coincided with the growth of Reggae in Nigeria. Many new reggae artistes were appearing on the scene at that time and their songs were very popular. These artistes included Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek, The Mandators, Evi Edna Ogholi, Oritz Wiliki, Kris Hanen, etc. and they all performed at Lekki Sunsplah. However, the concert was not just about reggae music and in fact all the major artistes of the late 1980s and early 1990s performed at Reggae Sunsplash. These included Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Blackky, Alex O, Feladey, Edmund Spice and Danny Wilson.
The promoter of Lekki Sunsplash was Toyin Munis. He held the shows in conjunction with the Lagos State Government (who owned Lekki Beach). I remember that, on one occasion, either Prime People or Vintage People reported that he parked his SUV by a bush path in order to stop people from getting into Lekki Beach via those bush paths (you had to pay before you could get into the beach).
To show you how crazy people were about Lekki Sunsplash I need to make you understand that there was no regular bus service through that area in 1986. There were buses that took people from CMS or Obalende just because of the concert, but getting back was a big problem. Many people walked from Lekki Beach to Sandfill in order to get home, while some walked all the way to Falomo.
In 1991 Toyin Munis began a TV service. He bought time on LTV 8 and showed a wide range of interesting programmes. These programs were usually shown on Saturday mornings and at around 4-6pm on weekdays. The name of the TV service was Clapperboard.
They had Clapperboard Raps on Saturday mornings at around 10am. If I remember correctly, it was produced by Obi Asika. It was basically a Nigerian version of Yo! MTV Raps. They showed some foreign and Nigerian raps songs and then they had a segment for Jimmy's Jump Off. DJ Jimmy Jatt usually played songs in this segment, but he also often showcased new and unknown rap artistes who would be allowed to rap over a beat that Jimmy had chosen. I was shocked when I saw someone that I know on the show in 1991. He was an extremely muscular guy and he appeared as a hypeman (or should I say backup dancer, because he didn't really say much, he was just throwing his hands around) to one of the rappers.
Do you know that 2Face Idibia made his first TV appearance on Jimmy's Jump Off on Clapperboard Raps?
Anyway, the Clapperboard time slot on LTV 8 was shown in 1991, 1992, but then it vanished in 1993. Clapperboard later appeared as an independent TV station in 1994. It was the first private TV station in Lagos and it was on UHF 45.
John Momoh was a popular newscaster on the NTA in the 1980s. He usually read the 9 o'clock news. A separate show was created for him sometime around 1989 and it was called "Tonight At 9". It was shown at 9pm on Mondays.
Mr Momoh left the NTA sometime around 1992 and everybody wondered where he went. It was later reported that he had created his own TV production company. The very first programme that was produced by that company (called Channels Television) was an interview of President Ibrahim Babangida on the grounds of the Aso Rock Villa in 1993. John Momoh personally interviewed the president. It was kind of unusual to see an interview of the president outside the usual network news interviews.
Channels Television began broadcasting as an independent TV station in 1995.
Similarly, in combat swimming, military personnel are in uniform and they need to run a certain distance and swim a certain distance and then run again, as if they were at the battle front and have to swim across rivers and streams.
Here's a video of combat swimming at the African Military Games 2024 in Abuja.
naptu2: I know that those people are not serious and as I've said, their posts are meaningless, but I'll explain anyway.
Sport is very important in all armed forces around the world (it's so obvious that I shouldn't have to state this). It's part of their job.
Military personnel might need to engage in unarmed combat and what are judo, taekwondo, karate, boxing, etc? They are sports.
Military personnel need to be physically fit and might need to run during battle and trek long distances. Have you heard about combat marathon? It's a sport in the Nigerian Armed Forces. Troops carry their rifles, backpacks and other heavy equipment and run long distances in a marathon.
Sailors, amphibious forces of the army and airmen need to know how to swim and what is swimming? It is a sport.
Shooting is a sport and so are fencing and archery.
Team sports like football and basketball also improve teamwork and promote bonding and as I said, military personnel need to be physically fit and what is weightlifting? It's a sport.
So how can someone ask why military personnel are engaged in sport? Isn't that funny?
Similarly, in combat swimming, military personnel are in uniform and they need to run a certain distance and swim a certain distance and then run again while carrying equipment, as if they were at the battle front and have to swim across rivers and streams.
Here's a video of combat swimming at the African Military Games 2024 in Abuja.
Nigeria won 16 gold in shooting, 15 gold in Taekwondo, 12 gold in boxing, 11 gold in wrestling, eight gold in archery, six gold in squash, seven gold in badminton, four gold in tennis, two gold in handball and one gold each from golf, combat swimming, basketball and obstacle crossing respectively.
Algeria beat Cameroon 1-0 in the football final, while Nigeria beat Equatorial Guinea 4-0 in the third place match.
G = gold medal, S = silver medal, B = bronze medal.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, delivered the closing address at the Second Edition of the Africa Military Games (AMGA) @Amga_2024games 2024 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja last night.
He commended the sports delegates from all the participating countries for their exemplary conduct and immense display of sportsmanship, while emphasizing the critical role of joint efforts in addressing continental challenges and fostering mutual respect. 💪🌍 #AFRICAMilitaryGames2024
Stanley Nkwocha @stanleynkwocha_
Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, added a festive touch to the closing ceremony of the Africa Military Games 2024 @Amga_2024games by cutting a commemorative anniversary cake at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
Friendly: France Maintain Dominance Over Super Falcons After Securing 2-1 Win
Nigeria’s Super Falcons narrowly lost 2-1 to France in an international friendly game in Angers on Saturday.
It is now fourth wins in four games for France against the Super Falcons.
Eugenie Le Sommer and Amel Majri were the scorers for France while Ifeoma Onumunu got the Falcons ‘ goal.
Sommer broke the deadlock on 29th minute before Majri added the second in the 38th minute.
In three minutes of first half added time Onumonu pulled a goal back for the Falcons which was not enough to avoid defeat.
The Super Falcons welcome back Ashleigh Plumptre who missed the Paris Olympics due to injury.
Veteran defender Osinachi Ohale was sent off in the 97th minute after receiving her second booking.
In goal for the Falcons was Chiamaka Nnadozie while the likes of Christy Ucheibe, Gift Monday, Michelle Alozie, Jennifer Echiegini, Toni Payne, Rofiat Imuran featured for the Super Falcons.
TV/Movies › Re: DITV: Nigeria’s First Private TV Station Suspends Operation by naptu2: 3:15am On Dec 02, 2024
